Divine Deliverance Series

Psalm 91:15, says,“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” (AFV)

As we continue our meditation based on Psalm 91, we will dwell on the aspect of God who delivers us in this study.

The Israelites multiplied greatly

We read in Exodus 1:7, “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased very much and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty. And the land was filled with them.” (AFV)

The people of Israel who are the descendants of Abraham, lived in the land of Egypt. There are three words in the above mentioned verse that best described the people of Israel as they dwelt in the land of Egypt, they were fruitful, increased, multiplied and were also exceedingly mighty. The reason for this increase was that God had made a covenant with their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that this would be so, and God was faithful to fulfill the same.

Here’s the promise of God as mentioned in Genesis 17:6, “And I will make you exceedingly fruitful,” (AFV)

Therefore, as the blessing of God remained on the Israelites, it was evident in the way they increased and grew from strength to strength. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt was not too pleased with this increment in the population of the Israelites and wanted to hinder it somehow. What Pharaoh failed to realize was that this growth was entirely because the hand of the Lord was on them.

The prophet Isaiah says it this way in Isaiah 14:27,“For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who shall reverse it? And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" (AFV)

Let us be assured that the plans and purposes that God has decided to fulfill through us, can never be thwarted by any man or any authority on the earth.

Pharaoh’s schemes to quell the growth

• The first plot

We read in Exodus 1:10-11, “We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!" The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things.”(ERV)

The first hatch from Pharaoh was to make the Israelites slaves to the Egyptians, thereby subjecting them to hard labor and also crushing their spirits. He used the Israelites to work extremely hard and build the cities of Pithom and Rameses.

In spite of all that Pharaoh did this was the result as recorded in Exodus 1:12, “The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them.” (ERV)

The more Pharaoh tried to suppress them, the Israelites grew stronger and became a force that Pharaoh could not reckon with. This was simply because the hand of the Lord was with the Israelites and God’s powerful might was no match for Pharaoh’s cunning schemes.

As children of God we too may face evil schemes from those who seek our downfall. However, we should never be fearful or get discouraged, for we can be certain that God’s purposes will always prevail over every wicked scheme of men. This will be applicable to anyone who has made God their stronghold. In the midst of all our affliction we can be sure that God will give us the increase and the strength to overcome all the challenges we encounter.

The early church is a great example of those who triumphed over such oppositions that they were confronted with.

In Acts 11:21, we read, “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” (AFV)

The hand of the Lord was with the early church and therefore, no animosity or resistance from men could hinder their growth and expansion.

The secret to our victorious living is that the hand of the Lord should remain with us. If this is so, we can be confident that we can overcome every challenge

• The second plot

We read in Exodus 1:15-16, “And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. And he said, “When you midwife the Hebrew women, and look on the birth stools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him. But if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”” (AFV)

The second scheme of Pharaoh was a crueler one wherein, he wanted to destroy all the male babies, thereby stopping the population from growing further. Pharaoh instructed the midwives to kill the baby boys at birth itself, thereby putting an end to an increase among the Israelites.