There is nothing that happens in the world that takes God unawares and
when He works, He does so in such a manner that confuses human beings. Can
you understand the ways of God? No. God has His own program/agenda, He
sees what we cannot see and He knows what we cannot know.
In our text, God spoke to His servant Moses, who He called to be His
human agent to bring the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Remember,
in Genesis 15: 13 – 16, God told Abram that his descendants will be enslaved
for 400 years in a foreign land and that He will punish the nation that enslaves
them, as well as return the Israelites to their home with great wealth.
Now, let us look at Moses’ first attempt at effecting the liberation of the
children of Israel, “After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron
went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the
wilderness.” “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I
listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
(Exodus 5:1-2).
You would have thought that this, being the will of God, would
immediately come to pass. What do you think Moses felt or thought? Because
like anyone of us, he probably would have thought that once he mentions the
Lord to Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler would grant the request. However, in
Exodus 5: 17 – 23, Pharaoh increased the hardship of the Israelites. It is
pertinent to note that the Egyptian economy was dependent on the Israelites
who had been in bondage; therefore, the Egyptians were going to do anything
to keep the Israelites enslaved.
In between the first, second (Exodus 8: 20 – 25), third (Exodus 10: 7 –
11) and fourth (Exodus 10: 24 – 29) liberation attempts, God brought
tremendous judgment upon Egypt for His own glory. In Exodus 9: 16, which
says: “But I have spared you for a purpose – to show you my power and to
spread my fame throughout the earth” – we see that God used His dealings
with Pharaoh and the Egyptians to demonstrate His power to the entire world.
Similarly, in Romans 9: 15 – 24, we see that God uses all kinds of vessels
to execute His plans. There are people whom God has raised whose negative
actions will glorify God and there are also those whose positive actions will

glorify Him. Some may ask why should God use bad people, but who are they
to question God?
The liberation of the children of Israel did not happen without a fight; it
was a struggle! After the fourth attempt, in Exodus 12: 29 – 41 “… the Lord
struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of
Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the
dungeon. Even the firstborn male offspring of their livestock were killed…
Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night. “Get out!” he ordered.
“Leave my people – and take the rest of the Israelites with you! Go and worship
the Lord as you have requested… All the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to
get out of the land as quickly as possible, for they thought, “We will all die!… The
people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. In fact, it was on the last day of
the 430 th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land.”
My prayer is that we do not experience similar judgment in Nigeria
before the “criminals” in positions of power will let us go. For Nigeria, the
journey has started and nobody can stop it. Hallelujah! Any further delay will
continue to bring judgement upon judgement until we are free! The earlier
they release us, the better! But if they insist, God will effect our deliverance
one way or the other. We should be comforted that what God has started, He
will finish! Now is not the time to get discouraged.

QUOTES:
“God will effect our deliverance one way or the other. We should be comforted
that what God has started, He will finish! Now is not the time to get
discouraged.”
“There is nothing that happens in the world that takes God unawares and
when He works, He does so in such a manner that confuses human beings. Can
you understand the ways of God? No.”