Monday, January 30, 2017

Deliverance and Timing

In my daily Bible reading I am up to the point in Exodus where God sent the plagues and now finally, Pharoah says to go.

As the children of Israel are preparing to leave, there is a verse that states that the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. All those years. All those generations. Now God has sent his deliverer, Moses.

But the number of years. 430, stuck in my mind. Why? I remembered that between the Old Testament and the New Testament is estimated some 400 years of silence from God. Then He sent the ultimate Deliverer, Jesus.

In bondage for 400 years plus. Then the blood of a lamb in the Old Testament and the blood of the Lamb in the New Testament brought on deliverance.

I have studied the connections between the Passover and Jesus' sacrifice before. But I hadn't zoomed in on the similarity of even those 400 some odd years in the accounts.

God waits for exactly the points in time that are perfect, according to His plan.

At just the right time, God sent Moses to Pharaoh to bring the people out.

At just the right time, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us all, once and for all.

And as we who are His children await His second coming, we might think He is slow in returning. No, His timing is perfect. It is even reiterated in scripture that God isn't slow. He delays, wanting all to come to faith in Jesus.

We don't have the exact moment of Jesus' return, just like the children of Israel didn't know the exact moment of their deliverer. And that's just like the people didn't know the exact moment of Jesus' coming the first time.

So what do we do? We are on mission to make sure as many people come to Christ, as God desires for them to do. And when that eastern sky splits and Christ descends, we'll be delivered eternally. Perfect timing!

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