The bondage has become oppressive. There is no freedom to come and go as you please. People must obey the authorities or there will be serious repercussions. Prayers are going up to God for deliverance. There is the hope and promise of deliverance, but the questions of “how” and “when” remain unanswered. As close as this may sound to your reality right now, this is a description of a time that was far worse.
The Israelites had been in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years. Generations of people lived in slavery with no remembrance of what life was like before. While there was hope that one day they would be freed, there was no clear timeframe as to how or when they might be released and there was no clear direction for how their lives would change when that day arrived.
Many years of toil led to many years of praying to God for deliverance. But generation upon generation died in Egypt without any improvement in their circumstances. There was the promise and hope of deliverance, but the reality was that millions had lived and died without reprieve. For many, hope was dwindling. The desire to see even some small movement of God towards freedom from their oppression must have been overwhelming.
Yet, when God decided to work, he did it swiftly and deliberately over a short period of time. Take a minute to read the entire verse of Deuteronomy 16:3. It instructs the Jewish people to hold a feast to commemorate their release from slavery in Egypt. Within the course of 24 hours, with hardly any advance notice, they were freed from those that had held them captive for centuries. The reason why Jews were to eat unleavened bread at this feast was to have a perpetual reminder of the haste in which God delivered them. In the course of their sudden exodus, there was not even enough time for their bread to rise!
There is an unchanging truth revealed in this verse about God’s nature. God always works deliberately and according to his timing. So, when God is ready to move, He may do so in haste. He created the universe and all living things in a matter of six days. In his time and according to His plan, God acted quickly to deliver Israel. The same is true of our current quarantine, and it is equally true concerning the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
When God decides the time is right, when more come to repentance, and when we least expect it, we will be released from the bondage found in this world. Don’t lose hope. Keep looking forward. Be prepared. The return of Christ will be swift, deliberate, and like a thief in the night….and the end of this quarantine will come as well!