The God who Hears and Sees

The God who sees and hears
Exodus. 1-2
“So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.”

Sometimes the silence of Heaven can be deafening. We see the beauty of God in the creation and we see his power displayed in the heavens. However, for all we see in his handiwork, what we long to see is his activity. When experiencing troubles and difficulties in life, we cry out to God for relief and deliverance. When Heaven seems to remain silent, and our prayers seem powerless, we question God. We find comfort in his word and trust in his promises. However, when there is no end to the struggle we encounter, we begin to wonder if God knows and does he care.
These were the struggles that the people of Israel were facing. In their time in Egypt, they had gone from favored status with the government to being oppressed and enslaved because the government saw them as a threat to national security. To avert a possible take-over, the Egyptians enslaved the Jews.
In verse 23, we discover that the Jews were “sighing because of their bondage.” Then, in 1:15-22, we see the severity of their trials as the Pharoah made a proclamation that commanded all male children to be killed at birth. For 80 years, they cried out in anguish for God to do something but heaved remained silent.
Yet Heaven was not silent, nor had God’s plan for Israel gone awry. In verses 24-25, we find four essential statements that reveal the character of God and give us comfort and assurance in times of our trials and struggles. First, we read, “God heard their groaning.”    God is a compassionate God who hears our prayers. But when he hears, it is not with indifference but with  but he sincerely cares about our needs, and he responds accordingly.
Secondly, we read, “God remembered His covenant.”  Not that God forgot, but the statement reminds us that God is faithful to his covenant and promises. This verse points us to the unchangeable faithfulness of God to his word. When God made his covenant with Abraham, he not only predicted that they would become enslaved, but he also promised that he would deliver them. In Genes 15:14, he not only promised that he would deliver but that they would plunder the nation and “come out with many possessions.”  Even when we doubt God’s faithfulness, we are assured that he remains faithful to his promises to us.
Third, we read God “saw” the plight of the people. When God “sees,” it is often in the context of God acting and providing for people based upon what he sees. In other words, God does not merely take notice of the trials we face, but he works in response. The term often has the sense of providing. God sees every circumstance we encounter and acts and responds accordingly. The omniscience of God (i.e., God’s knowledge of all things) results in action based upon what he sees.
Last we read, “God took notice of them.”   Literally, it reads, “And God knows.” The word means “to know,” but in this case, it speaks of knowledge grounded in a personal relationship. In this statement and the statement that God remembers His covenant, we see the affirmation of God’s personal involvement in our lives. His omniscience is personal and assurance of his knowledge and action on our behalf.
God's action in sending Moses was a response to his character and nature. The same is true for us today. Just as God hears (his compassion), remembers (his faithfulness), sees (His omniscience), and knows (he is a relational God) the situation of Israel, he hears, remembers, sees, and knows us today. So, while Heaven may appear distant and unresponsive to our needs, we have the assurance that he does know and is concerned about you. Then he will act on your behalf to achieve the best outcome possible.