Exodus 2:24
So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
So God heard their groaning
The phrase "So God heard" indicates a divine response to human suffering. The Hebrew word for "heard" is "שָׁמַע" (shama), which implies not just auditory reception but an attentive listening that leads to action. This highlights God's omniscience and His compassionate nature. The "groaning" of the Israelites, "נְאָקָה" (ne'aqah), reflects deep distress and suffering under Egyptian bondage. This groaning is not merely physical but spiritual, a cry for deliverance. Historically, this period of slavery was marked by severe oppression, and the Israelites' cries reached the ears of a God who is both just and merciful.

and He remembered His covenant
The word "remembered" in Hebrew is "זָכַר" (zakar), which in this context does not imply that God had forgotten, but rather that He chose to act upon His promises. The "covenant" refers to a solemn and binding agreement, in this case, the one God made with the patriarchs. This covenant is central to the narrative of the Israelites, serving as a foundation for their identity and God's faithfulness. Theologically, this underscores the unchanging nature of God and His commitment to His promises, offering assurance to believers that God is faithful to His word.

with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
These patriarchs are foundational figures in the history of Israel. The mention of "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" serves as a reminder of the specific promises made to each: land, descendants, and blessing. Abraham, the father of faith, was promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5). Isaac and Jacob continued this lineage, each receiving reaffirmations of God's promises. This phrase ties the current plight of the Israelites back to these promises, reinforcing the continuity of God's plan through generations. It also serves as a reminder of the personal nature of God's relationship with His people, as He is the God of individuals and families, not just nations. This continuity and personal relationship are central to understanding God's redemptive work throughout history.

Persons / Places / Events
1. God
The sovereign Creator who hears the cries of His people and remembers His covenant promises.

2. The Israelites
The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are suffering under Egyptian bondage.

3. Egypt
The land where the Israelites are enslaved, representing oppression and hardship.

4. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The patriarchs with whom God made His covenant, promising them descendants and a land.

5. The Covenant
The divine promise made by God to the patriarchs, ensuring His faithfulness and commitment to their descendants.
Teaching Points
God's Faithfulness
God is always faithful to His promises, even when circumstances seem dire. His remembrance of the covenant assures us of His unwavering commitment.

The Power of Prayer
The groaning of the Israelites reached God, highlighting the importance of bringing our struggles to Him in prayer. God hears and responds to the cries of His people.

Covenant Relationship
Our relationship with God is based on His covenant promises. Understanding this helps us trust in His plans and purposes for our lives.

Hope in Oppression
Even in the darkest times, God is aware of our suffering and is working towards our deliverance. This gives us hope and perseverance.

Historical Continuity
The mention of the patriarchs connects the Israelites' current situation to God's historical actions, reminding us that we are part of a larger account of redemption.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob enhance our trust in His promises today?

2. In what ways can we ensure that our prayers and groanings are aligned with God's will, as seen in the Israelites' cries?

3. How can we find hope and assurance in God's faithfulness during times of personal oppression or hardship?

4. What are some practical ways we can remind ourselves of God's historical faithfulness in our daily lives?

5. How does the concept of covenant in the Old Testament relate to the New Covenant established through Jesus Christ?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 15
God's covenant with Abraham, promising numerous descendants and a land for them.

Exodus 6
God reiterates His promise to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, showing His faithfulness to the covenant.

Psalm 105
A recounting of God's faithfulness to His covenant and His people throughout history.

Hebrews 6
Discusses the unchangeable nature of God's promises, emphasizing His faithfulness.
Moses and ChristJ. Orr Exodus 2:1-25
A Groaning Israel and an Observant GodD. Young Exodus 2:23-25
Death IndiscriminatingT. De Witt Talmage.Exodus 2:23-25
God Hears the Cry of His Suffering ChildrenD. L. Moody.Exodus 2:23-25
God Remembered, RemembersProf. Gaussen.Exodus 2:23-25
LessonsJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 2:23-25
The Bitter Cry of Israel HeardG. F. Pentecost, D. D.Exodus 2:23-25
The Bondage of the IsraelitesW. Landels, D. D.Exodus 2:23-25
The Hour of HelpJ. Orr Exodus 2:23-25
The King Dying, the People Suffering, God ReigningJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 2:23-25
The King's DeathG.A. Goodhart Exodus 2:23-25
People
Gershom, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Levi, Moses, Pharaoh, Reuel, Zipporah
Places
Egypt, Midian, Nile River
Topics
Agreement, Covenant, Groaning, Heareth, Isaac, Jacob, Mind, Remembered, Remembereth, Weeping
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 2:24

     1245   God of the fathers
     1349   covenant, at Sinai

Exodus 2:23-24

     5522   servants, work conditions
     6688   mercy, demonstration of God's

Exodus 2:23-25

     5078   Abraham, significance
     6160   fathers, sin of
     8614   prayer, answers

Exodus 2:24-25

     1348   covenant, with Abraham

Library
The Ark among the Flags
'And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5. And the daughter of Pharaoh came
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Home as a Stewardship.
"Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."--EXODUS II., 9. "For look, how many souls in thy house be, With just as many souls God trusteth thee!" The Christian home is a stewardship. The parents are stewards of God. A steward is a servant of a particular kind, to whom the master commits a certain portion of his interest to be prosecuted in his name and by his authority, and according to his laws and regulations. The steward must act according to the will of his
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home

The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8.
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Motives to Holy Mourning
Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade to such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual limbecs, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity' (Ezekiel 7:16). There are several divine motives to holy mourning: 1 Tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears. It is like a shower
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Faith of Moses.
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to be evil entreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. By faith he forsook
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father,
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Man's Misery by the Fall
Q-19: WHAT IS THE MISERY OF THAT ESTATE WHEREINTO MAN FELL? A: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. 'And were by nature children of wrath.' Eph 2:2. Adam left an unhappy portion to his posterity, Sin and Misery. Having considered the first of these, original sin, we shall now advert to the misery of that state. In the first, we have seen mankind offending;
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Genealogy According to Luke.
^C Luke III. 23-38. ^c 23 And Jesus himself [Luke has been speaking about John the Baptist, he now turns to speak of Jesus himself], when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age [the age when a Levite entered upon God's service--Num. iv. 46, 47], being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son [this may mean that Jesus was grandson of Heli, or that Joseph was counted as a son of Heli because he was his son-in-law] of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Adoption
'As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' John 1:12. Having spoken of the great points of faith and justification, we come next to adoption. The qualification of the persons is, As many as received him.' Receiving is put for believing, as is clear by the last words, to them that believe in his name.' The specification of the privilege is, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' The Greek word for power, exousia, signifies
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant).
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

John the Baptist's Person and Preaching.
(in the Wilderness of Judæa, and on the Banks of the Jordan, Occupying Several Months, Probably a.d. 25 or 26.) ^A Matt. III. 1-12; ^B Mark I. 1-8; ^C Luke III. 1-18. ^b 1 The beginning of the gospel [John begins his Gospel from eternity, where the Word is found coexistent with God. Matthew begins with Jesus, the humanly generated son of Abraham and David, born in the days of Herod the king. Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah's herald; and Mark begins with the ministry
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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