“So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.” (Exodus 6:9)

One thing a reading of Exodus makes very clear: God did not deliver Israel from their captivity in Egypt because of the faithfulness of its people, or its leaders. Which actually should be a comforting thought for us.

— We have already seen that it was not due to Moses’ faith that he was chosen to lead Israel out of Egypt. No less than THREE TIMES he told God that he could not do it, because he was not an effective speaker (4:10, 6:12, 6:30). When the Lord reassured him, Moses asked Him to send the message by whomever He would — in other words, by anybody but HIM!

— Then here we read that when Moses DID go to the Israelites, “they did not listen to Moses.” So it was neither the great faith of Moses, nor of his people, that led to their salvation. It was entirely due to the faithfulness of God to bring about His promise.

Which should comfort us today. Our salvation is not dependent upon how faithful we are to God’s promise, but upon HIS own faithfulness to His word. And thankfully so. Who would want to bet their eternal salvation upon their own ability to be completely faithful to God?

But Paul said in II Timothy 1:12 that our own faithfulness is not the guarantee of our salvation: “For I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” And just a few verses later he proclaims: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Thankfully, just like Israel in Egypt, our salvation does not depend upon our own faithfulness, but upon HIS!