A Remnant Delivered (Advent 19, 2022)

The remnant of faith always arises from within the larger culture. Oftentimes, the remnant is persecuted or maligned, ridiculed or insulted, or in this case, enslaved. The Hebrews, as a remnant people, were enslaved and mistreated for 400 years (as God had previously spoken).

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
(Genesis 15:13-14)

It was now the very time of their deliverance from that land of slavery into a beautiful land of plenty. But even that would take a while as God continued to separate the remnant from the overall.

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”…That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant.” (Exodus 14:13-14, 30-31)

Questions for further thought:

What was the outcome of the deliverance? Aside from plundering the Egyptians on their way out (as had been foretold and to fund their journey), what did the deliverance do spiritually?

In Exodus 15, they open with a song, but by verse 24, they’re grumbling against Moses. By Exodus 16, that’s just one chapter and the fifteenth day of the second month after they came out of Egypt, they not only grumbling against Moses, but Aaron, too. Discontent and ingratitude are contagious.

Exodus 16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

What does it say about human nature that we forget the goodness of God and His deliverance so quickly?

Prayer:

Forgive us, Father, for forgetting Your deliverance and goodness, taking for granted the salvation that You provided at the high cost of the Son of God and His precious blood shed for us. We praise You for Your mercy; we praise You for Your grace; and we praise You for Your love that is beyond all comprehension and beyond anything we could ask or imagine. We praise You for Your perfection and plan of salvation that is from old. We ask, Lord, that You would ignite it afresh in our hearts this day, in Jesus Name. Amen.

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Advent began Sunday, November 27, 2022 and continues to Saturday, December 24th as we explore the remnant spoken of in Scripture and awaken as the end draws near.

By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Awaken, Remnant” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

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Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:

The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times. Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence. His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology. They began November 29, 2015.
Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols. You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives. They began November 30, 2014.
The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John. It began December 1, 2013.
The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story. It began December 1, 2012.