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 four) There was a common element in each of the plagues…each was introduced with “Thus says the Lord!” God wanted Pharoah to know who he was dealing with. Moses was a spokesman for the Lord. God did not have to have Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, but He chose to use him. God is able to accomplish His work by himself, yet He chooses to use us as well. What is our response to God when He calls? Do we argue with God like Moses did or do we just ignore what God says, as if we didn’t hear Him? Pharoah ignored God…he claimed he didn’t know Him so why should he obey Him? Pharoah learned the hard way. Moses was slow, but he came to trust God in faith. (He made the Hall of Faith lineup in Hebrews 11!) Trust God when He speaks…”Thus says the Lord!”
Identity
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 three)
“I am the LORD.” This little phrase of self-identification frames much of what God says to Moses at the outset of the confrontation with Pharaoh. The question of identity was an important one to Pharaoh. When Moses demanded freedom, Pharaoh wanted to know the identity of the one behind the demand. Pharaoh placed no credence in the name of the LORD, but God’s repetition of his identity to Moses was more about shaping a people called by his name than introducing himself to Pharaoh. Israel’s Egyptian masters resisted the LORD’s identity, and they would die by that name. The LORD made short work of that. The longer question was this: Would the children of Israel live by that name? And so the question comes to us.
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.