Even before the words of their prayer for help were on their lips, God had been preparing the deliverer of Israel, so that when their cry came to him, they were merely requesting what God had already promised and prepared for them. When the Spirit says that God remembered
his covenant with the patriarchs, it does not mean that he had forgotten but that God decided that the time had come to honour the terms of the covenant. When his people turn to him and repent of their self-confident reliance on themselves and the gods of Egypt, God hears from heaven and he acts (2 Kings 8:1–29; Psalm 107:1–43). This would be an important lesson for the people of Israel when they were sent into exile, and remains an important lesson for us when we are called upon to endure hardships. The comforting message for the church is that God knows and sees his people in their suffering. Suffering may well be a part of his plan for our lives, but we can also know that it is a hardship that is understood and watched over by a sovereign who will not let it continue without good purpose and result. The end of Exodus 2 anticipates the next chapter when Moses is called, ordained, and sent as an instrument of his salvation.
12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.