Month: March 2015

Stubbornness

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 5:1-2; 6:1-8; 7:1-5, 14-18; 8:1-3, 16, 20-21; 9:1-4, 8-9, 13-18, 25-26; 10:3-11, 21-22, 28-29; 11:1-5 (day two) 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.” 7:14

Several weeks ago I came across an internet meme which pictured a billboard which stated  “This year thousands of men will die of stubbornness.” Then, spray-painted just below this was a defiant response…“No we won’t.” The Pharaoh of the Exodus story could certainly relate to the graffiti on that billboard. Defiant and unyielding, he was willing to watch his people, the land, and the livestock suffer greatly rather than relent and show compassion, humility, or even a trace of humanity towards the Israelites. We can be instruments of God’s glory of objects of his wrath. What is he sending your way to get your attention? Do not let your own pride and stubbornness put you in the same category as the Pharaoh. Take off your sandals, find Holy Ground and yield to God’s great plan.

Small/huge step

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 5:1-2; 6:1-8; 7:1-5, 14-18; 8:1-3, 16, 20-21; 9:1-4, 8-9, 13-18, 25-26; 10:3-11, 21-22, 28-29; 11:1-5 (day one) 

“Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, . . . ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’ “–5:1.

It was a HUGE mistake that surely seemed small to Pharaoh.  Just a SMALL matter compared to his normal pressures. But, it had a huge impact.  At first, Moses asked only permission for the Jews to go out in the desert to hold a religious festival.  Just a beginning. No great loss for Egypt.  Had Pharaoh, at this point, recognized their right to religious freedom, had he bent just slightly the Jews would still have left eventually, but without such cost to himself and his people.  Still true.  No step of obedience is small.  It will lead to more.  More obedience, more blessing.  No resistance to God’s will is small, either.  It hardens the heart and leads to judgment. Obedience may seem small, but it never is.

 

Does God get angry?

RE Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14, 4:1-15 (day seven) 
“Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses”--v 4:14.  Does the Lord get angry?  With us, I mean.  Are we in danger of this happening to us?  “Do not put the Lord to the test” is the way Moses verbalized this life-lesson years later. ( Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7)  Yes, the Lord gets angry!  Like a parent with a child who resists His will, asking one question too many, resisting obedience one moment too long. That moment when further hesitation becomes defiance.  Peter felt Christ’s anger. “Get Thee behind me, Satan”—Matthew 16:23.  The Pharisees too.  “He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart“–Mark 3:5. (Did they even notice? Not sure)  Be careful!  The Lord is patient with His people, but eventually anger rises toward hard, unwilling, hearts.  Explains where some are, even today. “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”—James 4:17.  Does God get angry?

Identify

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15 (day six)
Who are you? Who are we? Exodus never lets us forget who these people are; they are the “people of Israel,” the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had a tremendous sense of corporate identity; they were God’s people because of God’s covenant with their forefathers. Even when God moved in the life of an individual it was always in the greater context of a people. Abraham was the father of a nation, and Moses led a people out of slavery; the people were always in view.

Maybe one of the messages of the Exodus, and the people of God, is that we must regain a perspective of our corporate identity. We tend to be so individualistic that it is hard for us to break free and participate in our corporate identity. You see, we don’t do church; we are the church. We don’t go to church for worship; the church worships. We love and serve others not because it is something we are supposed to do, but because it is who we are in Jesus. We are the church, a chosen race, a holy priesthood, called to be the people of God in a very broken world. We are the Kingdom of God breaking into kingdom of the world.

I think that is what Jesus meant in John 17:22-23:

“The glory you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Let’s be His church!

Agree/Disagree

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15  (day five)

God agrees with Moses’ self-assessment of his skills, abilities, and limitations.  If fact, God twice points to His own history of using flawed imperfect people to accomplish His purpose. (3:6 & 4:5- “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”)  We are likely to see these men as “Hall of Faith” members, in awe of their reputation and legacy.  The truth is, they each had significant issues, drama, dysfunction, and baggage. The stories of their lives could fill several soap opera time slots for years. Yet, He describes them in relation to Himself.  “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”.  God always sees the opportunities and potential of a flawed person with a genuinely humble heart and life that will trust Him.  He will disagree and challenge excuses and lack of trust in His strength and power.

Walking By Faith

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14 (day four)
God had known Moses all of his life.  He had been working in his life, preparing Moses for his assignment.  Now, after 40 years or so, Moses is going to meet God.  He has known of Him, but now Moses will not only be introduced to Him, but also asked to respond in faith.  It was not such an easy task to walk by faith.  Moses had all kinds of questions…excuses why he should not obey God.  Moses was dangerously close to rejecting God completely.  God had a task for him though…Moses was to not only lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he was to introduce them to I AM.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (I AM) and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  By walking by faith, Moses gave an example to the children of Israel.  Who is following your example?

Action

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15  (day three)

“I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”  If the universe had a beginning, something other than the universe must necessarily exist in order to have made that beginning possible.  And that “something other” must necessarily have the ability to decide to initiate the universe.  That ability is called will, which means the “something other” is a personal being.  If you’ll believe it, the Bible reveals the personal being is God.  There is nothing that inherently prevents the spiritual realm from continuing to interact with the physical realm.  God interacts with the world.  Regularly.  Moses saw it, paid attention, acted, led a people out of slavery, and built a nation from which came Jesus Christ.  God acts in history now.  The Bible tells you specifically how this goes.  So read.  Heed.  Act accordingly.

Who Am I?

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15  (day two)
“Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you.” vs. 11-12a

Notice God’s reply to Moses? He doesn’t answer the question that was posed, does he? Perhaps in a nod to how Jesus will counter the seeming unending questions from believers and non-believers alike, God carefully focuses Moses attention on what really mattered. There is a tremendous amount of hope in these two verses. God unequivocally states that who you are makes no difference to him. It’s not about you. Alone, you will not accomplish this task. But…GOD WILL BE WITH YOU! The task he is assigning to you is one that will happen with God’s help. Not of your design, skill, or effort, but by his grace and power through you. Has he called you to action? Rest assured he will not leave you alone to see it through.

Still looking

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15 (day one)
“When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from the [burning] bush.”–v 4.

It is a common and crushing condition of the human heart.  We get so defeated, we stop looking for God, for answers.  We grow cynical, negative.  Past disappointments seem larger than future hope.  We aren’t even curious anymore.  In Exodus 3, Moses is man who has experienced significant disappointment.  Some of it self-inflicted.  Even so, he retains a hope that God is alive and active in the world.  When he sees a burning-but-not-consumed bush, he goes to investigate.  God honors this resilient hope, this curiosity and speaks to him.  What about you, friend?  Are you still looking for answers for yourself and your family and your nation?  Or, has your heart grown calloused and unbelieving?  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for”—Hebrews 11:1.  Did you wake today with hope?  Are you still looking for God?

Bitter, not bitter

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 1:8-22, 2:1-10 (day seven)
“They made their lives bitter. . . in all their hard labor, the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.”-v 14.

God comes to people in trouble.  This is the gospel, the good news.  Life is often not fair.  People can be cruel.  Know anyone who is bitter about life?  Only God offers a way out.  The book of Exodus is both history (Israel) and symbol (church) of God’s actions/principles that set people free from slavery and misery.  Reading it, our eyes should see His offer of grace to us.  THEY were slaves in Egypt.  WE were slaves to sin.  He sent THEM Moses.  He sends US Christ.  THEY wiped the blood of a lamb over their doors and were “passed over”.  WE trust the blood of Christ on the cross and we are “passed over” as well.  Make no mistake, this book is not only about Israel.  It is about us and God’s promise to lead us out of bitterness.