The Covenant Keeping God

“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come for you, to lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he vowed to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Genesis 50:24)

WHEN Joseph gradually approached the end of his life on earth after his sojourn in Egypt, he assured the people of Israelites that one day, God would bring the Israelites back to their homeland as He had promised. 

  The word of assurance or God’s promise that Joseph declared to Israelites was given to their forefather, Abraham when he was yet to have a child.  God had promised him a son, but because Abram was looking for confirmation and assurance, he was given a token. 

“Then the Lord brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that too many to count!” …Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?” Then the Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  Abram took all these and killed them. He cut each one down the middle and laid the halves side by side. He did not, however, divide the birds in half.  Some vultures came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.  That evening, as the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. He saw a terrifying vision of darkness and horror. Then the Lord told Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth” Gen. 15:5-16.

  From the beginning of the book of Exodus, the word of God concerning Abraham’s descendants began to unfold. “In time, Joseph and each of his brothers died, ending that generation. But their descendants had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so quickly that they soon filled the land.  Then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.  He told his people, “These Israelites are becoming a threat to us because there are so many of them.  We must find a way to put an end to this. If we don’t and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.”

So, the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves and put brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down under heavy burdens. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centres for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more quickly the Israelites multiplied! The Egyptians soon became alarmed and decided to make their slavery bitterer still. They were ruthless with the Israelites, forcing them to make bricks and mortar and to work long hours in the fields…Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw all the newborn Israelite boys into the Nile River. But you may spare the baby girls”- Exo. 1:6-14.

  For many years, it seemed the Israelites would never come out of the Egyptian’s bondage.  “Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites still groaned beneath their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their pleas for deliverance rose up to God.  God heard their cries and remembered His covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the Israelites and felt deep concern for their welfare”-Exo.2: 23-25.

Prophet (Dr.) Abiara, General Evangelist, CAC Worldwide. [email protected]