Exodus 12:41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
The Master of Timing
I don’t know about you, but I am sentimental. Events and traditions are important to me. Some people say, “I don’t think it matters whether you celebrate Christmas on the 25th or the next Tuesday in January.” Well, to me it is important. But, whether you are sentimental or not, all of us are mindful of time. If you waste time, you waste life. Time is what measures life. No matter what your philosophy of time is, time is important.
For four hundred and thirty years the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. That is a long, long time. But after four hundred years of slavery, there was only one night of exodus. It was the night of the Passover where the firstborn of Egypt were slain and Israel was delivered from Egypt.
Exodus 12:41 says, “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” After all that waiting there was an event that took place so fast no one knew what had happened. They didn’t even have the time to grab everything. They just took off.
Now we are the slaves of time, but God is the Master of timing. Sometimes we consider God’s timing to be a euphemism for “really slow.” We think in terms of time, but God thinks in terms of timing. We worry about time, too slow or too fast, but God is the Master of timing no matter how it may be perceived by us. He is not slow; He is not fast. He is the Master of timing.
That means that time is significant and time is a servant. As to its significance, God is the Master of timing. That’s why this Passover was to be remembered at a precise time. Exodus 12:18 says, “In the first month, the fourteenth day of the month at even.” Israel saw eons of waiting, but God was waiting for the perfect time, and His time is always perfect.
God is the Master of timing. It is His servant. He is eternal and self-existent. The way we perceive a thousand years and the way God perceives it are totally different because God is not a slave to time. He masters it and He rules it. That should encourage your heart about the speed of life and the power of God.