Exodus 3:1-2,7-10 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law,
the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and
came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush
burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction
of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their
taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of
the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a
large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of
Israel is come unto Me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the
Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto
Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people the children of Israel out of
Egypt.
The Lord appeared unto Moses in the burning bush and commissioned him to go and deliver His people out of Egypt. So Moses went to Egypt, appeared before Pharaoh and said, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go (Exodus 5:1).
Instead of letting Israel go Pharaoh made their burden greater. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, You shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. Exodus 5:6-7. Then the Israelites accused Moses of only making matters worse. Their working conditions were now more dreadful than before.
Approximately one year passed from the time Moses returned to Egypt until the exodus. During that year ten plagues came upon Egypt. Each time Pharaoh’s heart grew harder, and the situation for Israel only seemed to worsen. To them deliverance from Egypt only seemed to be more impossible. The worst year of their captivity was the period of their deliverance.
This is generally the case when God is working a deliverance for us. The circumstances surrounding our situation seem to worsen. And without an awareness of God working behind the scenes in our behalf, we may find ourselves grumbling and complaining like the Israelites. However this is not the time to despair, for this is our period of deliverance.
Jesus spoke of dreadful things that would come upon the earth, so much so that men’s hearts would fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken (Luke 21:26). Then He tells us what our response to these things should be. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh. Luke 21:28.
Egypt’s period of judgment was a period of deliverance for Israel. The period of judgment upon the earth will be a period of deliverance for the Church. Judgment and deliverance work hand in hand.
So it is on a lesser scale. As we progress from glory to glory, or from level to level in the realm of spirit, we will find a period of darkness just prior to the breakthrough into a new level. God’s day begins with night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:5. Breaking through into a new level in God is like the breaking forth of a new day, and it is preceded by a period of night. So when we find ourselves surrounded by dark circumstances, it may mean that we are in a period of deliverance.
Copyright © 1996 by Henry DuBose