Week 39, Day 5:
Today’s Reading: Exodus 9:1-35
Some thoughts from the reading…
The signs that God has Moses perform in Egypt intensify in chapter 9. Three more signs are given to Pharaoh. The livestock in the field are killed, the boils on man and beast, and the great hailstorm. Some confusion is generated from what is said in the first sign. This severe pestilence killed “all the livestock of Egypt”. And yet later in this chapter we see it mentioned that those Egyptians out in the field with their livestock were killed by the hailstorm. Some have pointed to this as a contradiction. How can all livestock have died and yet there are still some to be killed by the hail? Let me make some suggestions to explain why this is not a contradiction. 1st – the pestilence was going to kill all the livestock “which are in the field”. This could indicate that those livestock NOT in the field would be spared from the pestilence. Just like in verse 19, where the livestock not “brought home” would be killed by the hail. Only the livestock out in the field were killed by the livestock. So not every single last livestock was killed but ALL of those who were out in the field were. I think this is the most reasonable explanation. 2nd – The time from the pestilence until the hail storm is not mentioned. Could it not be that the Egyptians acquired more livestock from the Israelites after their’s had been killed? Those who jump to saying there is a contradiction here have not considered that clearly there are logical explanations that can be given.
Another observation: I think that in chapter9 we begin to see some indicators that Moses is beginning to “develop” into a leader. Earlier we had seen his hesitance to go to Egypt and speek to Pharaoh. Aaron was given to him to aid him and remove his excuse for not going. So far we have seen that when a sign was performed that Aaron was the one told to do some action to bring about the sign (strike the dust (8:16), stretch out his hand over the rivers (8:5)(7:14), and take his staff and throw it down (7:9). But in chapter 9 God says “let Moses” throw the soot into the sky to bring about the boils (9:8) and Moses is told to “stretch out” his hand toward the sky to bring the hail (9:22). Again, I think that what we are witnessing is the developing of Moses into a spiritual leader. It makes me think of what Paul said in Philip 3:12-16 & 4:13. Paul speaks about pressing on toward the prize of the upward call of God. And he says that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. I may not be who I want to be – yet. But with God’s help I will be who I ought to be. Let us be shaped by God to be the people He desires.
Question: When someone says that there is a contradiction in the scriptures how should you handle it? How do you investigate it to find out the answers?
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Week 39, Day 4: The signs continue
Today’s Reading: Exodus 8:1-32
Some thoughts from the reading…
God continues to “convince” Pharaoh that he needs to heed His commands by sending additional signs. We refer to the signs as plagues because of how they afflicted Egypt. These were not only miraculous events brought about but were also designed to inflict some level of annoyance to Pharaoh and his people. Alright, you want to be stubborn, here is something to help you think about what you have decided to do. Frogs everywhere. In your bed, in your ovens, in your kneading bowls, in your houses and on you. Lice or gnats all over everything. Flies all over everything. It would be enough to drive you crazy. If you have every stepped into a swarm of little gnats and had them all in your face, you can imagine how annoying and frustrating it would be to not be able to get away from them.
We see again that the magicians were able to imitate the sign of the frogs. But when it came to the gnats the magicians were not able to repeat this. They have now been convinced this is the work of God. Slowly but surely the Egyptians are beginning to yield and admit that they must submit to God. Pharaoh begins to go back and forth. He begins to try to bargain to let Israel worship God but wants to negotiate what they will be allowed to do.
Question: What signs would have to be performed before we would obey God’s command? Can you think of a time where you had a hard time accepting or doing a command from God because you believed differently or grew up thinking something different. What did it take before you yielded to God’s will?
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Week 39, Day 3: God begins His signs
Today’s Reading: Exodus 7:1-25
Some thoughts from the reading…
God begins to multiply His signs and wonders in Egypt. Pharaoh has been told to let Israel go and now begins the signs that He does to compel him to drive them out of his land. Pharaoh will stubbornly want to keep Israel as slaves but God will afflict Egypt and force him to finally “drive them out”. It will be a complete change in Pharaoh. He will go from wanting to keep them and thinking who is Jehovah that he should listen to his voice to finally bending his will because of all the signs and wonders performed.
The first sign is the staff thrown down and turned into a serpent. It is remarkable to see that the magicians of Egypt did likewise also. I imagine they were the David Copperfields of the day. Trickery and cunning deceit has been around for a long time. The second sign all the water being turned into blood. Again the magicians repeat this to some extent. Notice that in both cases the magicians were still out done. Aaron’s serpent consumed their serpents and the magicians could not reverse the water turned into blood. They could imitate these signs but they could not outdo or overcome the signs. And still Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn and hard. He went away unconcerned about any of this.
God allows seven days to pass. Seven days to think about these things, relent and obey. Seven days of struggling to get water for the Egyptians. We will see the power of God through these miracles.
Question: Is God’s will ever going to be overcome? Does God ever change His mind about what He is planning to do to a nation or people?
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Week 39, Day 2: Go tell Pharaoh
Today’s Reading: Exodus 6:1-30
Some thoughts from the reading…
After Pharaoh has refused to let the people go and instead Israel has been forced to work harder, Moses had asked why did the Lord bring harm to the people and why did He ever send him? I think these passages are good to consider since we think of Moses as a great leader, but that is not where he is right now. Considering how great a leader Moses was later I find his transition and build up to that point fascinating to witness. The Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh again. Moses goes and speaks to the people but they wouldn’t listen to him and Moses takes this to heart. When God tells him to go to Pharaoh, Moses replies that the people won’t listen to him so why will Pharaoh listen to him because he is unskilled in speech. Moses falters in his confidence at this point. He is blamed for causing the hardships of Israel, Pharaoh dismissed his initial demands. Moses here mentions that he is unskilled in speech. Again, Moses does not feel confident and is uncertain about his abilities. The chapter ends with him referring to this again.
Question: Are there areas of your service that you can see “improvements”? Were there things that you used to be uncertain about doing or places you didn’t feel comfortable going and yet now that you have experience or more confidence you can do these things. How have you grown in your service to God?
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Week 39, Day 1: Israel’s labor increases
Today’s Reading: Exodus 5:1-23
Some thoughts from the reading…
We missed last week’s posts, but we will continue witht he posts from where we last left off instead of skipping any chapters.
Moses goes back to Egypt. Remember that the last time he was in Egypt he had fled for his life. Granted a different Pharaoh is now ruling but I imagine there was still a lot of anxiety about returning and especially to go before the king and demand he release God’s people. Pharaoh’s response is about what you would expect. “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” He then concludes that if the people have enough time to think about going out to worship their God then they must not be busy enough. He commands that they must now gather the straw for making their bricks themselves.
The people are grieved because their labors have been increased greatly. As you would expect the people blame Moses and Aaron. This is interesting since Moses and Aaron had gone to the people and spoken to them before going to Pharaoh (4:29-30). The people knew Moses and Aaron were sent from God to deliver them but because things did not happen in a way that made their deliverance easy, they grumbled. I still see lessons here for us to realize that God will keep His promises. How He chooses to fulfill them or when He decides is the right time is not for us to question. Nor should we despair when things don’t happen when we think they should. Wait for the Lord. Trust that He will take care of you. He cares and He will not forsake you.
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Week 38, Day 5: Moses’ Hesitation
Today’s Reading: Exodus 4:1-31
Some thoughts from the reading…
It is remarkable to me that Moses after seeing these marvelous signs that God gives him to perform before Israel, still has reservations about going back to Egypt. He says that he is not eloquent. He is slow of speech and slow of tongue. The Lord tells Moses that He knows very well what Moses is and what he can do. But Moses still asks to be passed by on this task. God’s anger now burns against Moses. Why? I think it is because Moses is trying to duck out of work that God knows he can do. If Moses were determined to do God’s command he could have found a way to get it done (by using Aaron to accomplish it). But Moses wanted to sit this one out.
Reading this account I sometimes think about how many Christians today want someone else to go. They want someone else to do the teaching or speaking. Why? Is it because they cannot speak? Is it because they do not know anything about God’s commands? Hestitation is natural. Feeling uncomfortable is common. But we are called to do our best to serve the Master. He knows what we are capable of and He expects us to serve Him with our all. Let us not excuse ourselves and just say “I can’t”. If you are not able to do something then find ways to help others or to supply what might be lacking. Take up a part of the work load. Every little bit helps.
Question: What reasons did Moses have for not wanting to go back to Egypt?
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Week 38, Day 4: God responds to Israel’s suffering
Today’s Reading: Exodus 3:1-22
Some thoughts from the reading…
There are many things that could be commented on in chapter 3. I want to call our attention to something that had not occured to me before last night. In chapter 2 we had read about the attempts of Pharaoh to subdue the Hebrews by putting them to hard labor and by having all the male children killed. We were introduced to Moses and how he came to be a part of Pharaoh’s household because his mother was hiding him from this destruction. We are not told if the Pharaoh continued this policy of attempting to kill all the babies but this certainly paints a very bleak outlook for Israel. They are severely oppressed and their children are killed. At some point the sons of Israel cry out for help. The text doesn’t specify if this was at the beginning of their oppression or if the cry for help rose up over some period of time. What we are told is that God took notice of them (2:25). What I want to point out is how long was it before God answered their pleas. Moses was born at some point perhaps near the beginning of the killings. We find out that when Moses was approaching the age of 40 (Acts 7:23) he went to visit his brethren. Think about that. For 40 years Israel has been enduring this hard labor and harsh treatment such as the attempts to kill their children. We are told in this chapter that Moses flees to the land of Midian after it is found out he has slain an Egyptian. He spends another 40 years in this region before the Lord speaks to him from the burning bush (Acts 7:30). So now we are up to 80 years since this kind of treatment of Israel has been taking place. Again, the text does not indicate if the killing of children cocntinued but we certainly know that the slave labor went on. Why would God wait 80 years to answer their cries? Was Israel cyring out during this whole time? Whatever was the timing for when and how often Israel cried out to God it seems clear that did know what was going on in Egypt. He knew what they were suffering. And yet He chose the time to deliver them.
I think there are a few lessons that we can stress from this. Our timing is not God’s timing. We may want something right now but God answers things when it is best. I can think of several reasons why God might have waited until the time had passed before bringing Israel out. 1) He may have been waiting for Israel to get to the point where they recognized their need for God. They could in no way get themselves out of this mess. They needed God to deliver them. 2) He may have been waiting for them to be ready to let go of Egypt and leave. They had prospered abundantly in Egypt. The land of Goshen was “the best o the land” (Gen 47:6). Isreal had to be at a point that they would leave that behind and not want to stay/ cling to Egypt. 3) God wanted to display his power to Egypt and the lands of Canaan (Rom 9:17, Jos 2:9-11, 9:9). Jehovah is the one and true God. He demonstrated to all the world His might and power over all other supposed gods and against those who would fight against His will and 4) He waited until the time when the wickedness in the land of Canaan had been “completed” and was ready to be punished (Gen 15:16).
The point I want to stress here is that God does take note of any time we suffer. He does hear our cries and will answer them. But just because the answer does not come when we want it or how we might expect it, does not mean that God does not care or has deserted us. There may be more at work “behind” the scenes then we know. I am often impressed how we grow because of our times of suffering and how often looking back on things we can see that we have been blessed on the other side of those difficult times. Do not grow weary or give up serving God during those times of difficulty.
Question: Can you think of times when you felt that God was not answering your prayer during a tuff time? Did you keep praying diligently?
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