I’m back!
In Why Do People Worship God? | Exodus 4:31 | Part One, we considered the primary and secondary definitions of both the word worship and God using Merriam-Webster.com.
We then reviewed how the stage was set in Genesis 15:12-14 and how the plot developed from Genesis 41:41-43 through Exodus 4:17 before the people in Exodus 4:31 responded to the news Moses and Aaron presented to them by worshipping God.
Today, we will continue our study of Exodus 4, seeking to gain insight into why people worship God.
Why Do People Worship God? |Exodus 4:31 | Reuniting Aaron and Moses
After encountering the Lord while out tending his father-in-law’s flocks, Moses returned to Egypt with his wife and sons. (Exodus 4:18-20)
Meanwhile, the LORD ensured Aaron was on his way.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. [1]
What do you discover about the relationship between Aaron and Moses in these verses? Keep in mind that Aaron is the older brother.
How would you describe the relationship between God and Aaron? God and Moses?
Why Do People Worship God? |Exodus 4:31 | The Immediate Context
29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. [2]
Moses and Aaron gathered the elders of Israel exactly as the Lord instructed Moses to do back in Exodus 3:16.
Aaron did the speaking and Moses did the signs just as God instructed in Exodus 4:16-17.
God had told Moses in Exodus 3:18 that the elders of Israel would listen to Moses.
But Moses doubted and queried the Lord.
Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” [3]
In response to Moses’ query, the Lord gave Moses three separate signs to perform for the elders of Israel. (Exodus 4:2-9)
After Aaron spoke and Moses performed the three signs for the elders, the scripture states the people believed.
Why did the elders believe Aaron and Moses? (See Exodus 3:18; 4:4-5, 8-9)
Why Do People Worship God? |Exodus 4:31 | Brief Review of Back Story
As we learned in the previous post, God had told the Israelites’ ancestor Abraham how long they would suffer before He would deliver them from Egypt. (Genesis 15:12-14)
The book of Exodus opens with descriptions of the afflictions the Israelites were suffering.
12 But the more [the Israelites] were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. [3]
Besides cruel working conditions, the Pharoah had ordered the killing of all male offspring of the Israelites. (Exodus 1:15)
Yet, Moses, a male child of an Israelite couple, was rescued by Pharoah’s own daughter and raised under Pharoah’s own roof with Moses’ mom as his nursemaid. (Exodus 2:1-10)
But after Moses had grown up, he murdered an Egyptian for beating an Israelite. (Exodus 2:11-12)
Once this became known, Moses fled, married the daughter of a Midian priest, and began tending livestock. (Exodus 2:15-22)
Why Do People Worship God? |Exodus 4:31 | God’s Statements to Moses
Review what the Lord said to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3.
“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”[4]
“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” [5]
“And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”[6]
Moses shared these statements from God with Aaron, who shared them with the elders of Israel.
31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. [7]
How do the reasons given in Exodus 4:31 for why the people worship the Lord God relate to the statements from God to Moses in Exodus 3:6-9?
Why Do People Worship God? |Exodus 4:31 | Personal Application
The Israelites responded in worship because they recognized the Lord had visited the people of Israel.
Do you recognize the Lord’s presence in your daily life? Why or why not?
Knowing the Lord had seen their affliction also contributed to the Israelite’s response to worship the Lord.
What afflictions are you currently experiencing in your life?
How is God showing up to help you with this affliction?
Has God provided a Moses or Aaron to help remind you of the Lord’s concern for you?
Remember, there was a significant amount of time from when God told Abraham about the Israelites being subjected to slavery and suffering. Then, four hundred years later, as foretold, Moses and Aaron share the Lord was ready to deliver them from their affliction.
If you are struggling to see the Lord at work in your daily life, I encourage you to reflect on several years’ worth of your days on earth.
Keep in mind the words from Ecclesiastes as you reflect on the years of your life.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. [8]
What “time” are you currently in?
How is God helping you in this “time”?
May your reflection bring you a sense of awe and wonder over God’s attention to the many details of your life. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sees and hears you. He is worthy of your worship.
Blessings,
Barbara Lynn
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 4:27–28.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 4:29–31.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 1:12–14.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 3:6.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 3:7–8.
[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 3:9.
[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 4:31.
[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ec 3:1–8.
This is needed today, time for Gods purpose in our world. Not just for me but worldwide. Thank you.
You’re welcome! Thanks for leaving a comment!