We are in chapter eighteen of Exodus with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. תְּלָאָה hardship, tribulation. It is used 4 times in the Old Testament. We find our word used in the sense of something that causes or entails suffering. What is interesting is that 3 out of the 4 times it is used the qualifier כָּל “all” precedes our word. So, we are not talking about a little rough patch but many troubles. Let’s look at the uses. The first one is in our chapter today. Exodus 18:8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, כָּל־הַתְּלָאָה֙ all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. We see Moses use our word when making a request to Edom to pass through their land. The word describes their experience in Egypt. Numbers 20:14-16 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “This is what your brother Israel says: You know about כָּל־הַתְּלָאָ֖ה all the hardships that have come on us. Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors, but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Our word is used when the Levites are leading the people in confessing their sins recounting their lack of faithfulness throughout their history. Nehemiah 9:32-33 Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let כָּל־הַתְּלָאָ֣ה all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. Notice the people are recognizing that the hardships came about because of their sin against God.
The only time our word is not qualified with כָּל “all” it still has the sense of many hardships because the context is when Jeremiah is lamenting over the city after the exile to Babylon because of the people’s sins. Also notice the qualifier engulfed or surrounded with. Lamentations 3:5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness וּתְלָאָֽה and hardship. The good news is that even when God has to punish because of sin there is still hope because of his great love for us. I’ll close with this great reminder. Lamentations 3:22-25 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him.
