Exodus 5:22-6:30; Matthew 18:23-35; Psalms 24:1-2; Proverbs 10:15-16
OT: “Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. “Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.” (Exodus 6:2-9 CSB)
When Moses began doubting whether or not God would actually deliver on His promises, God gave Moses a quick reminder of Who He is and His proven faithfulness in the past. Then He underlined His promise once again and said that it would happen. The Israelites didn’t really want to hear promises any more. The word ‘broken‘ here actually means short or impatient. The Israelites would not listen to Moses’ reminder because their hard labor had made them impatient and were not willing to wait for the Lord’s deliverance. After 400 years of living under slavery in a foreign land, they had forgotten who their God was. It is so easy for us to forget things when they aren’t right in front of our face. That is why remembering is so important – and it is something that God is always asking us to do. Thankfully, that is one of the things the Holy Spirit helps us with: remembering. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would remind us of the things He taught. Otherwise, we would be prone to forget and would become easy targets for the enemy’s lies.
NT: ““For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’ Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”” (Matthew 18:23-35 CSB)
As a point of reference, a denarius is about 1 days wage. A talent is worth about 6,000 denarii – or about 20 years wages. The first servant in this story had a debt equivalent to 200,000 yearly salaries – an impossible debt to pay off. It is amazing how quickly we can forget the enormous debt that we have been forgiven, and turn around and not show mercy and forgiveness to others. We are forgiven of our unpayable debt of sin and shown great mercy by God, and then turn around and aren’t willing to show the same mercy and forgiveness to others. We must never forget the mercy that we have been shown and the immense forgiveness we have been given. We must keep that truth ever before our eyes, informing our perspective on others, and keeping us ever humble before the Lord. Our lack of forgiveness doesn’t harm others as much as it brings torture to our souls. Holy Spirit, help me to always remember the debt I was forgiven, that I may never lift myself above others.
Jamie Hicks 