Exodus 10 - Locust and Darkness

LINK: Exodus 10

BACKGROUND

Plague 8: Locust

In this particular plague we hear an additional reason why God hardened Pharaoh's heart. It was to show His power to Israel so that future generations would know that God is the LORD!

This time Pharaoh was willing to let just the men go, but God wanted them ALL. So, the locust came and destroyed everything. Not even Nut, the sky goddess, or Osiris, the god of crop fertility, could stop the destruction.

This time Pharaoh went farther than any other time:

"Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once,

 and make supplication to the LORD your God, 

that He would only remove this death from me." (10:16)

Yet, once the plague was removed, Pharaoh hardened his heart one more time.

Plague 9: Darkness

The darkness came without any prior warning from Moses to Pharaoh. This judgment was aimed at Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Pharaoh was a representative of this god.

Pharaoh was willing to let all the people go but not the livestock. Remember, that his livestock were destroyed in the fifth and seventh plague. The Israelites would need the livestock for sacrifices. So, Moses refused the compromise and Pharaoh sent him away. Moses stated this was the last time he would come to offer him the Word of the LORD.

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption

Someone else was in the darkness of a tomb for three days. I am not sure if this is significant, but this is the first time I have noticed this.

APPLICATION

In what ways are you hearing the Word of the LORD and hardening your heart toward Him? Dialogue with God about that today.

PRAYER

Lord, I love You. I want to have a soft heart toward You. Reveal the secret places where there is hardness of heart. I pray this in Jesus' name. AMEN.

Exodus 9 - Plagues that Challenged Egyptian Gods

LINK: Exodus 9

BACKGROUND

Plague 5: Death of livestock

This plague may have been aimed at the different gods that represented livestock. The god Apis or Re represented the bull. The cow represented Hathor, the goddess of love, beauty, and joy. Khnum was a ram-god. Many animals were also considered sacred.

God made a distinction and killed the livestock of the Egyptians and not the livestock of Israel. It should also be noted that the animals were the animals still in the field (9:3) as opposed to those that may have been inside. Therefore, this is why there were still some livestock to flee into the houses in 9:20.

Even with all of this, Pharaoh refused to let the people go!

Plague 6: Boils

The Egyptians worshiped Sekhmet, a lion-headed goddess with power over disease; Sunu, the pestilence god; and Isis, goddess of healing. This was another challenge to their deities who were powerless against the living God, as shown through the powerlessness of even their magicians to overcome the affliction of boils.

Still Pharaoh refused to listen!

Plague 7: Hail

Again, the power of more Egyptian gods was being challenged. Nut was the sky goddess and Set was the storm God, yet they could not stop the hail. Osiris was the god of crop fertility, but he could not maintain the crops during the hail.

Prior to the coming of the hail, the LORD, speaking through Moses, stated His purpose for allowing Pharaoh to remain: "in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth."

Remember that there is a bottom-line message to all of Scripture. God displayed His power so that all the earth would know Him. You may want to underline this phrase and phrases like it as you come to them in your Bible reading. Some Egyptians were beginning to know the power of the LORD as indicated in 9:20 that some of the Egyptians did "fear the word of the LORD" and brought the livestock into the houses.

This time Pharaoh actually acknowledged his sinfulness and God's righteousness; but it was short-lived because, after Moses prayed for the plague to stop, Pharaoh's heart was hardened once again.

APPLICATION

Are you writing what you are learning about God in a journal? 

PRAYER

LORD, I pray that we would always be people who listen to You and do not harden our hearts. LORD, help us to see You as the LORD over everything and not try to control things on our own power. Reveal to us and destroy the other "gods" in our life that we depend on instead of You. We ask this in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Exodus 8 - Frogs, Gnats, and Flies

LINK: Exodus 7:25-8:32

BACKGROUND

This chapter includes three more judgments on the Egyptians:

Plague 2: Frogs

Instead of turning away when the frogs came, Pharaoh asked Moses to "entreat the LORD" (8:8). By this Pharaoh was beginning to acknowledge the power of Moses' God. Moses responded by saying, "May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God" (8:10).

Again, God was setting Himself up as more powerful than the gods of the Egyptians. The goddess Hequet had a frog's head. The breath of life was believed to come out of her nostrils. This goddess was believed to help with childbirth. Interesting that these frogs were invading even the bedrooms! Frogs were considered to have divine power. Consequently, they were not supposed to be killed. The LORD was making a statement that He was LORD and God above all gods. Sadly, even though Moses prayed, Pharaoh went back on his promise to let the people go.

Plague 3: Gnats

The Hebrew word for gnats is kinnim. It could be gnats or mosquitoes. This is the only time this word is used in the Old Testament. Because Aaron struck the "dust of the earth" (8:17), many commentators believe this may have been an attack against Set, the god of the desert. The magicians acknowledged the "finger of God" in the plague. Jesus communicated that he cast out demons by the finger of God in Luke 11:20. Even with this, Pharaoh did not listen, just as God said.

Plague 4: Flies

Moses was directed by God to go to Pharaoh again and say, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me." If he refused, God would send swarms of flies that would go only to the Egyptians and not to His people. Again, He did this so that Pharaoh would know that God is the LORD (8:22) and that His people were set apart from Pharaoh's people. Are you seeing the message that God is trying to get across to the Egyptians?

Pharaoh was beginning to crack. He suggested a compromise of sacrificing to God within the land of Egypt, but Moses stated this would be an abomination to the Egyptians (8:26). The bull represented the god Apis or Re, and the cow represented their goddess Hathor. Consequently, they would not have been sacrificed in Egypt because they were considered sacred. This would offend the Egyptians.

So, Pharaoh said they could go, but not too far. Moses made intercession, God answered Moses, the flies stopped, and Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let them go despite Moses' warning to Pharaoh to not deal deceitfully with him! This is significant since Pharaohs were supposed to be the model of justice and truth.

Will this ever stop? Stay tuned.

REFLECTION

During our training for overseas work, we did a "survival simulation." The goals were to work as a team and survive in adverse conditions. We had a hypothetical situation in which we had to choose the items we would take for survival. I do not remember the list of all the items, but mosquito repellent was on the list, and our team quickly dismissed that as a non-essential item. The reaction from one of our team members named Mark was swift, "NO! We have to put that on the list!" 

We thought he was crazy. Our rationale was that mosquitoes won't kill us (I think it was specified that it was an area where diseases from mosquitoes were not a problem), but there were other, more important things that would help keep us ALIVE!

In our group of eight, it was six and a half against one and a half. (Mark's wife timidlly supported him, probably because she was a newlywed and was trying to be a good wife). It became clear that Mark was more stubborn and peskier than any mosquito ever could be. It did not help that Mark was the "young pup" on our team being in his early twenties while we were all in our late thirties and forties. We listened politely, but we knew we were correct based on our vast number of years of life. (With age comes wisdom, right?)

We debated and argued as Mark related a story about an experience they had with a travel group to Dagestan (a republic in the Russian federation. See here and say a short prayer if you can). The mosquitoes were SO bad there that it took a psychological toll on his whole group. He related one particular hot, summer night where he and his wife thought they were literally going crazy.

More to shut up Mark than anything, we relented and included mosquito repellent on our list of essential items. It was more a way to make peace on the team than anything else because we had to continue to work together for two more weeks.

Guess what was a top essential item?

Mosquito Repellent!

It was for all the reasons that Mark explained. This twenty-something now had a voice and our respect. (By the way, we won the challenge because we included the mosquito repellent.)

I relate this story for two reasons. One is that mosquitoes and little flying insects are nasty things. We experienced exactly what Mark related when we lived on the edge of a Malaysian jungle a few years later. Through experience, we learned how mosquitoes can become your number one enemy when the sun goes down. I could not even put my arms out of my bed to read a book without being attacked. I had to read under the covers at night, and then it got too hot! (In case you are wondering, the cathedral-like ceilings were too high to hang mosquito netting and screens were not possible.) It got frustrating to the point of maddening. Through experience, we learned the discomfort of being covered from head to toe with bites and the subsequent itching that ensued. This does not include the fleas that made my 2 1/2 year old look like he had chicken pox. There were also biting ants. Then there were the rats. I know they are not insects, but they contributed to the psychological toll as they would nibble up my food through layers of protection and knock things over in the middle of the night as they jumped all over my furniture. Then, I would have all sorts of little "droppings" to clean up after their night in my home. Then there were the bats . . . I better stop. You get the picture. Mark was right. Hands down, Mark was right!

It was a form of bondage that I cannot even begin to describe. Suffice it to say that eventually we had to evacuate the place for a number of reasons beyond just the bugs. Later, George's employer fumigated this house and the carnage afterward left every inch of the 6,000 square foot floor covered with the dead carcasses of jungle creatures. It was amazing. I wish I had taken a picture.

I relate this to try to give you a picture of what the gnats and flies plague was like for the Egyptian people without the aid of mosquito repellent! It must have been maddening.

Secondly, I relate this story of Mark's persistence because he was a kind of Moses figure. He was speaking out the truth because he knew from experience, and we were like Pharaoh, we just did not want to listen to it. Although we had the "wisdom of age," Mark had the wisdom of experience.

Moses knew his God from the experience of the burning bush and the events leading up to the plagues. He could speak out truth boldly and stand up for his people because he knew His God even when he was opposed by the "wisdom of the age" in Egypt which included the worship of false gods.

APPLICATION

I love this story because I see Moses experiencing God and becoming bolder as he sees the power of God work in and through him. He did this by initially stepping out in faith even with his doubts about his abilities. As He experienced more of God, he stepped out again and again and again to where he even challenged the Pharaoh to not deal deceitfully with him! That is incredible.

Are you boldly stepping out in faith in your life as God directs you? Are you speaking up to challenge the "wisdom of the age"?

Also, here is a really fun tool for remembering the 10 plagues. It is called the "Passover Plagues Bag," I bought it years ago for my kids, and they love it. They don't make that one anymore, but here is a similar one:

Passover Plagues Bag

PRAYER

Lord, make us not afraid to step out in faith and speak up when You lead us to do so. Thank You that You are the all-powerful God. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Exodus 7 - I am the LORD

LINK: Exodus 6:28 - 7:24

BACKGROUND

In 6:29, God said "I am the LORD" again to Moses just in case he did not get it the other times. In fact, God will say it many more times. Did you know that this personal name of God, Yahweh, occurs 5,321 times in the Old Testament and is the most frequent designation for Him in Scripture? This does not even include all the times it is used in the contracted form and compounded with other words! The Jews called it the Name, the great and terrible Name, the unutterable Name. Remember Yahweh means the Self-existent One. He is complete in and of Himself. He is eternal, always existing. God just had to keep reminding Moses of that, and I think we need to be reminded of that and let it soak into the very core of our being.

Here is another thing you can sit and soak in for a while:

"And the Egyptians will know that 
I am the LORD." 
(7:5)

God wanted Moses and all of Israel to know that He was the LORD, but He wanted the Egyptians to know too. Throughout Scripture, we will see that God wanted the WORLD to know that He was LORD.

With all of this, Moses still struggled with his feelings of inadequacy, and God appointed Aaron as his prophet (one who speaks for another).

Regardless, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, but it was in order for God to display His miraculous power to a pagan culture that worshipped false gods. Many commentators believe it was an attack on specific gods.

Plague 1: Water of Blood

The way He displayed his miraculous power was through the ten judgments (plagues), and
the first judgment occurred when the Nile rose (July-August). The water was turned into blood. Hapi (Apis) was the bull god, god of the Nile. Isis was goddess of the Nile, and Khnum was guardian of the Nile. Also, the Egyptians believed that the Nile was Osiris' bloodstream. Osiris' was a god of the earth and vegetation. Interesting that the Nile turned to blood! Since agricultural was so essential to the Egyptian economy, I am sure this judgement was quite alarming.

I do not know how the magicians turned water into blood. It seems if they were really powerful though, they would have turned the Nile back into normal water so the people would not have to dig in the sand for water to drink! In any event, this caused Pharaoh to harden his heart and not listen and even turn away. (What a picture of turning your back on God!)

REFLECTION (from 2008)

All Moses needed to know and believe was this four word statement of undeniable fact:

"I am the LORD."

It would carry him through to the deliverance of God's people from bondage.

It will carry me and you through too.

Through this simple, ordinary day, God has continued to whisper: "I am the LORD" to me through the happy reality of homeschooling my kids, meeting with four different (and amazing) women, and the not so happy reality that people around me are dying. . .

Yet God continues to whisper:

"I am the LORD."

And I need to listen and receive this gentle reminder that He is the self-existent, relational One who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He is the God who holds everything in His hands, and He is with me and the families of those dying and those who do not have long to live on this earth.

I need to let this wash over me and soak into the core of my being.

He is the LORD.

APPLICATION

Do you believe it when God says I am the LORD? Write this on the tablet of your heart today. You might want to write it on a card or make some kind of visual reminder for yourself. Remember this when circumstances get tough or out of control or when you are feeling inadequate or ineffective. This is all we really need to know.

PRAYER

You are the LORD. I submit to that, and I believe it. I will walk according to that belief no matter what my circumstances. Thank You dear LORD, Amen.

Exodus 6 - I AM and I Will

LINK: Exodus 6

BACKGROUND

God told Moses, right up front, what He WILL do to Pharaoh and who HE IS. God reminded Moses of His character by declaring "I am the LORD" four times in six verses! 

By using the name Yahweh, He was saying that He was "with them" and He would be consistent with His character and lead them out of Egypt back to Canaan. Yahweh was the way He would make Himself known to His people and not just as God Almighty (El Shaddai). He revealed Himself as the God of promise who was personally related to His people (see Background from Exodus 3 about this special name of Yahweh).

In 6:6-8, He says "I will" seven times:

I will bring you out 

I will deliver you 

I will also redeem you 

I will take you for my people 

I will be your God 

I will bring you to the land 

I will give it to you

Those "I wills" are bookended with: I am the LORD!

Again, it was all about "I AM" and not about Moses' unskilled speech (6:12)! Moses was literally saying "I am circumcised of lips" meaning morally unclean and incapable. Moses still did not have the confidence to believe it was all about God and not about his abilities.

The chapter concludes with another genealogy, and we know from Genesis that they are there for a reason! This was a continuation of the genealogy beyond the sons of Israel establishing Moses and Aaron as fitting into the "pedigree" with the authority to lead. We learn from this that they were from the tribe of Levi and the Amramite branch of the Kohath clan.

REFLECTION

As I reflected upon this chapter today, II Corinthians 1:20 kept on popping into my head:

"For as many as are the promises of God, 
in Him they are yes; 

therefore also through Him is our Amen 
to the glory of God through us."

God made many "I will" statements in this chapter. These were promises that Moses could take all the way to the Promised Land.

It made me think of all the precious and magnificent promises (2 Peter 1:3) that have carried me over every pot hole, speed bump, and road block in my own journey with the LORD that started in 1969! 

I have written them on cards and stored them in my heart (Psalm 119:9, 11), and I can stand on them to this day proclaiming to the world that "HE IS! He is the Promise-Keeping God. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and me and you!" I am so grateful that God has granted them to us through His Word!

APPLICATION


What are you standing on right now? I encourage you to see God as the Promise-Keeper and the "I will" God. 

Today, I studied Romans 8 with my Bible Study, and I told them about claiming the promises in this chapter following my breakdown in 1983. I have such precious memories of crying and claiming these verses out loud as I walked along the shore of Lake Washington with Mount Rainier beaming in the distance. God made Himself so real to me in that time!

For more details of my story revolving around Romans 8, you can download it here. 

PRAYER

Let's close in prayer with this hymn:

"Standing on the Promises of God"
 (Maybe you could belt it out to Him right now!)

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let his praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I'm standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to him eternally by love's strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit's call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

(Refrain)

Exodus 4 & 5 - Not a Race

LINK: Exodus 4 & 5  

No BACKGROUND or REFLECTION

This is a reminder to not let this reading become a RACE to get through the Bible or an ACADEMIC exercise where you spend time reading and studying but forget to listen to God in the process.

APPLICATION

Abide and connect with God today as you prayerfully read. :)  

You might like to try to imagine yourself in the scenes playing out in the book of Exodus. Put yourself in Moses' shoes. What do you see, feel, taste, touch, and hear? 

Do you believe that God can speak to you like He did to Moses? 

Hearing God is an excellent book about this subject. It is part of a trilogy by Dallas Willard that includes The Spirit of the Disciplines and The Divine Conspiracy. This is my favorite of all three.

PRAYER

Lord, may we come to Your Word expectant that You do speak just as You spoke to Moses. Open our ears to hear what You have to say to us. Amen. 

Exodus 3 - Not "Who am I?" but "I AM"

LINK: Exodus 3

BACKGROUND

Moses fled to Midian (the land flanking the Gulf of Aqaba on both sides) at the age of 40. The Midianites were the descendants of the son of Keturah, wife of Abraham after Sarah died. In Genesis 25:1-6, Keturah sent them to the "land of the east." Moses also married a Midianite and settled down for forty years as a shepherd. In Exodus 2, his father-in-law is named Reuel (meaning "Friend of God") and in Exodus 3, he is called Jethro (meaning "his excellency"). We don't know why, other than Reuel might be his actual name but Jethro might be his title.

Moses saw a burning bush at Mount Horeb, which is actually Mount Sinai (Compare Genesis 19:10-11 with Deuteronomy 4:10) and in the future, Mount Sinai will play a significant role in the life of Israel and Moses as this will be the place where he is given the Law. An angel of the Lord was in a burning bush. Fire is a symbol of the presence of God, and we will see this in Exodus 19:18. God called and Moses said "Here I am." We saw that response from Abraham (Genesis 22:11) and Jacob (Genesis 46:2). When God identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses was afraid and tried to hide his face, but God spoke only words of care for His people. Note the progression of verbs in 3:7-10:

I have seen the affliction (and oppression)
I have given heed to their cries
I am aware of their sufferings
I am indeed concerned (3:16)
I have come down to deliver and
-------bring them back to the good land
I will send you (Moses) to bring my people out of Egypt

We see a picture of a caring God who has all the power to deliver, but notice the last action verb is "send." Again, God can do ANYTHING, but he calls people to join Him in His work of doing amazing things! This time it is Moses, and Moses has some doubts about his abilities when he says, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"

God's response reveals something that we should all be aware of in the abiding life we lead. In essence, God says, "Moses, the question is not 'Who am I?' the reality is "I AM." It was not about Moses and his ability. It was all about God and His ability! We have to let that stick in the very depths of our souls!

The Meaning of "I AM"

I had to dig out my seminary notes on this one because it is so important! The Hebrew word for "I AM" in 3:14 is 'ehyeh. The Hebrew word for "LORD" in 3:15 is Yahweh. Both are forms of the Hebrew verb "to be." So, Yahweh means "HE IS." Another equally faithful rendering of these words is "I WILL BE/HE WILL BE." The terms "I AM/Yahweh" both speak of his self-existence; but more importantly, they speak of his relationship to His people. His relationship to His people is beautifully expressed in all those verbs above. He is the self-existent one who is not "up there" but is dynamically and powerfully "with us"! Yahweh is His memorial-name and one that is His name forever (3:15).

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption

Oh, this is where it gets so yummy! The relationship between the name "Jesus" and the name "Yahweh" is so crucial to our understanding of the Scarlet Thread. The name "Jesus" is a compound term of the name of God, Yahweh, and the Hebrew verb "to save." I don't know about you, but when I read Exodus 3:8 and that the LORD had "come down to deliver," I immediately thought of Someone else who "came down to deliver." Jesus' name is the ultimate explanation of that verse! In the person of Jesus we see Yahweh coming to deliver us in His final act of redemption! We can say a resounding Hallelujah that "Jesus saves"!

Also, on more than one occasion, Jesus was challenged about His authority in the book of John. In one of those challenges, Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:58).

Jesus was basically applying this Exodus 3 name of God to HIMSELF. Thus, He was asserting His deity! How great is that? (There are other "I AM" statements in John, but many translations add "He".  Only the New American Standard Version puts the "He" in italics. This indicates that the "He" is not there in the original Greek but is added for understanding, yet it takes away from the powerful "I AM" statement He was making!)

REFLECTION

This time it was Moses, but next time it could be YOU!

I always marvel at how God continues to invite people to come and join Him in His work just because He is a relational God! He could have swept down and delivered those Israelites from the Egyptians all on His own, but He chose to work through a person and invited Moses to be part of it all. I LOVE that about God!

Moses had his doubts, and we may have doubts about God's ability to use us too, but God does not look at our inability to accomplish a task, He just looks at Himself and says: "I AM." 

And all we need to know is "HE IS"! In those two words (either in the first or third person) are all the power and might and ability we need to do anything for His glory.

I used to have a plaque in college, long lost in numerous moves since then, that said, "God never asks about our ability or our inability--just our availability." God did not ask Moses if he thought he was up for the job, he just promised to be "with" him (3:12).

How about you? Are you available to Him?

I have been involved in equipping women to disciple other women.  I have heard many "Moses" responses: 

Who am I that I could disciple another person?  

I don't have Bible knowledge.  

I can't teach like you do.  

How can I disciple another person if I have never been discipled myself?  

I've heard it all, but it is not about what you do not have. It is all about what God has and who He is.

But sometimes, there are people like my friend, Rebekah. She had a woman in the Mark Bible study she was attending who had just bought her Bible an hour before she came and knew nothing about it. Rebekah said to me, "I think I would like to meet with her and help her, but what if I don't know the answers to her questions?" 

I said, "Then tell her you don't know. How about if you just read through it with her and just start there?" 

Rebekah said, "I think I can do that!

She was on her way!

When we just open up the Bible and do not try to have all the answers, God is right there "with us." He will use us simply because HE IS! We just need to be available.

A few years ago, I asked a lovely women in my church to consider discipling one of the college women, and she said, "Oh, I've done that before, and I am not very good at it." With some gentle encouragement and a bit of a nudge, she stepped out in faith to help a younger woman in the Lord grow. 

I had not followed up to see how it was going (I left right after that to be with my dying mother), and I asked her how it was going, and she got this funny look on her face, and I thought, "OH NO, it was a disaster!" I misread her look, and she said, "Carol, it is amazing! She is even a dancer, and my daughter is a dancer. I feel like she is my daughter! We have been meeting every two weeks, faithfully." 

YEAH!  I cried because GOD IS! He shows up! Yes, you might get in His way now and then, but that is OK! (I am still amazed that the first girl I discipled in 1980 is still walking with God. I get to see her at my church every Sunday morning as a reminder that God can work through incomplete, inadequate vessels like me!)

One of the hallmarks of the explosive church growth throughout the world is "obedience-based discipleship." Seekers are challenged from DAY ONE of their spiritual journey to begin sharing their faith and helping young believers grow instead of going to the foreign worker for all the answers. Yes, the foreign worker is there to mentor the young disciplers and guide them toward looking at the Word for all the answers, but he takes an invisible role so that a disciple-making movement is rooted in the local culture. 

I should emphasize that it is not about just looking at the Bible for insight into the head but for encounters with the living God in their heart. So, a passage like this is fun to have a person imagine how they would react in this situation by putting themself in the narrative and feeling it with all their senses. Traditionally it is done with scenes from the Gospels, but I find it wonderful with any narrative story.

One of my mentors is a man who was in an African country for four years. He had raised up local people and worked himself out of a job! There are currently 7,000 churches planted from his four-year investment! (2017 update: Now it is 38,000.) This man knew that God is the great, "I AM"!

APPLICATION

What is God telling you to do? What thing is too big for you but not too big for the great I AM?

Seek God, and I guarantee He will show up. Maybe it will not be a burning bush that is not consumed, but He will show up. Remove your shoes and worship. In the midst of that worship, open your hands up to Him and make yourself available to Him.

I promise you that you will not get burned!

PRAYER

LORD, we praise You as the great I AM. You are the God who is there forever. Thank You for coming down to save! Thank You that You are with us, and You want us to join You in great things for You! Show us and make us available to You in whatever You would call us to do. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Exodus 1 & 2 - Persecution and Preparation

LINK: Exodus 1 & 2

BACKGROUND for Exodus

Exodus is a book about redemption. Genesis told us of how man went into the bondage of sin, and Exodus is a picture of bondage to freedom. It has the Scarlet Thread of Redemption written all through it, and I cannot WAIT to dig in. How about you?

It was four hundred and thirty years later in the land of Egypt, and the memory of Joseph's greatness had faded away. The children of Israel (Jacob) were slaves, but they were numerous and made the Egyptians nervous.


BACKGROUND for Exodus 1 & 2

In Exodus 1, we read about the persecution of Israel and a picture of sin that is an ultimate "slave master."  Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34).

In Exodus 2, we begin the story of the preparation of a leader: Moses. Our reading of Exodus will also include a character study of this great leader.

I do not want to take away from the full intensity of this exciting narrative by too much background! Just enjoy the reading and continue to think about what you have learned about God from these first two chapters! You also might want to begin thinking about how God is shaping Moses to be a leader.

REFLECTION
Reflect upon the four verbs associated with God in Exodus 2:24-25:

God heard
God remembered
God saw
God took notice

Talk to God about what those four things about God mean to you. Let it lead you into communion with Him.

APPLICATION

2023 Update: Since writing this, I have a wonderful tool that helps you cement the fact that like above, God hears, remembers, sees, and notices us! It is called Immanuel Journaling. I use it on a regular basis, and it might be a practical way for you to have a heart understanding that He is with you!

Immanuel Journaling

PRAYER

I praise You Lord God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the sons of Israel, and those of us who know You because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. I praise You as a God who knows all about us and loves us and cares. You hear. You remember. You see. And You take notice of us. Thank You. Amen

Put Genesis Back on the Shelf

Congratulations! You have competed your first (and one of the most important) book of the Bible.  Celebrate!

Speaking of Joseph, I have debated about recommending this, but the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical based on the life of Joseph. It was written in the 60's, but there is a newer version that stars Donny Osmond that is quite good and gets the essence of the story. 

Warning: There are some outfits that aren't the MOST appropriate, but they are up on the stage, and you don't see them close up. That is my hesitation about recommending it! You can view a trailer of it at the linked site. 

if you are local, it is available at the Corvallis Benton County Library.

Genesis 50 - Get Bitter or Grow Better?

LINK: Genesis 50

BACKGROUND

Even the Egyptians mourned Jacob for seventy days after he died. Some commentators believe this showed the importance of Joseph and his family as the traditional amount of time for mourning for a Pharaoh was seventy-two days.

Jacob's wish to be buried in the land of Canaan with his ancestors at the Cave of Machpelah was granted. Remember this is where Abraham established a beachhead in the Promised Land.

After his death, burial, and mourning were complete, Joseph's brothers began to worry that perhaps Joseph still bore a grudge for the evil they had caused him. Joseph's assurances in Genesis 45 were not enough to assure the brothers that once the father died, Joseph would not deal out his revenge for how they had wronged him in the past. Joseph had to reiterate his complete forgiveness:

But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? And for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Genesis 50:19-20)

Joseph could see God's higher plan. There are not too many people who have been mistreated like Joseph was mistreated, but Joseph's character was free from bitterness even to the end, and God blessed him for the forgiveness that he showed his brothers.

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption

Only One outshines even Joseph, Jesus was mistreated and stands as a perfect picture of forgiveness. Jesus, too, could see the higher plan:

. . . who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

REFLECTION

It is SO hard to forgive and trust when we do not understand why evil things have happened to us. I have had to do it more than once in my life, and it is not easy, but I can look back and wholeheartedly say that God really "meant it for good," and He did it for higher purposes to place me where He wanted to place me and used those bad things to equip me for the purposes that He has for me today. I am sitting here today looking at what God is doing, and I stand amazed! He really did mean it for good, and I can honestly say there is not one person that I have not forgiven in my life! It was a process, and it does not mean that it happened instantly either, but I can, honestly, see God's sovereignty in all the bad things that have ever happened to me!

Extending forgiveness is a painful step toward maturity, but in that pain comes freedom from a bitter spirit that could eventually destroy us. There is an old saying that says, 

Resentment is like drinking poison
and expecting the other person to die.

Chuck Swindoll sums up Joseph's final years with the following application:

"To grow old, free of bitterness, 
is the finest gift we can leave humanity. 
To face death, right with God and man, 
is the finest way we can enter eternity" 
(Joseph: From Pit to Pinnacle, p. 17).

When it comes to forgiving others for evil done against us, we can either get bitter or grow better. The difference in our life is entirely in the choice we make. Joseph made the better choice. I pray you will make that choice too.

APPLICATION

This article on the hard work of forgiveness is a favorite.  I bolded some parts for emphasis:

The Thing We Don't Do
Forgiveness is hard work 

by Andrée Seu

Forgiving is the hardest thing you will ever do. That's why most people don't do it. We talk about it, cheer for it, preach on it, and are sure we've practiced it. But mostly the illusion of having forgiven is that the passage of time dulls memory. The ruse will come to light with hair-trigger vengeance when fresh offense hurls in to empty out the gunnysack of half-digested grievances.

I asked a few people if they'd ever forgiven anyone, and what it felt like. They gave me answers so pious I knew they'd never done it. I am at the present moment in the maw of temptation, and I can tell you there is nothing exalted about this feeling, this one-two punch to the gut that comes when you even contemplate forgiving, which is as far as I've come.

At first I decided I would forgive the person—and never speak to him again. This felt pretty good, but I saw the dissimulation in it at once. I alternately toyed with going to him to "tell him his fault" (Matthew 18:15), which is my biblical right, so there. I had the decree of rebuke written up in my head, a document of fastidious and plenary detail—all for his own good. A smarmy satisfaction accompanied the plan, so I nixed it. For now.

In C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce, a woman confronted by an angel about forgiving her husband says, "Well, I have forgiven him as a Christian." The phrase is meaningless. She then bulimically seethes for pages about his wrongdoing and her longsuffering.

Keeping one's mouth shut is commendable, and more than I have managed in the past. It will work as long as I don't go near a phone or e-mail. But I am reminded that "Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad" for two whole years after the rape of his sister Tamar, and it ate him alive till in the end he killed the man.

O my brothers, you cannot imagine the exquisite verbal retaliations I have hatched in the idle hours, each more perfect than the last: theologically impeccable, legalistically faultless, poisoned prose polished to a lethal point. Must I now relinquish these? Must I kill the little darlings? Are they not to see the light of day? Such a waste.

Forgiveness is a brutal mathematical transaction done with fully engaged faculties. It's my pain instead of yours. I eat the debt. I absorb the misery I wanted to dish out on you, and you go scot-free. Beware the forgiveness that is tendered soon after injury; be suspicious. Real forgiveness needs a time lag, for it is wrought in private agony before it ever comes to public amnesty. All true acts of courage are thus done in secret.

Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Church in Manhattan shares the following letter from a man who once had to forgive a woman:

"I forgave her and it took me a whole year and I had to forgive her in small sums over that whole twelve months. I paid those sums whenever I spoke to her and kept myself from rehashing the past. I paid them whenever I saw her with another man and refused self-pity and rehearsal inside for what she'd done to me. I paid them whenever I praised her to others when I really wanted to slice away at her reputation. Those were the payments but she never knew them. However, I never knew her payments, but I know she made them. I could tell."

And now the unthinkable: not only to forgive but seek the good. Nature abhors a vacuum and Jesus admits of no middle ground between hate and love. Pray for him.

When you were a child you thought like a child, that pain was something to flee. Now in the adulthood of faith, suck up your hundred denarii, because someone took your ten thousand talents upon Himself (Matthew 18), and like a lamb led to slaughter and a sheep before its shearers was silent (Isaiah 53:7). He did not retaliate but "continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23). Be so awash in the ocean of His love, my soul, that the shortcomings of all human loves will, more and more, seem but a trifling thing. (Copyright © 2006 WORLD Magazine, September 30, 2006, Vol. 21, No. 37)

Can you say AMEN to this!!?? It is easier said than done, but we can DO IT with the help of the amazing love of God "awash" in our hearts.

PRAYER

Lord, Joseph was such an example of forgiveness for us. THANK YOU for letting us see the light of Your love as the pages of his story unfolded to us over these last couple of weeks. Lord, we want to be "awash in the ocean of Your love." We know that human love has its shortcomings and forgive us for the expectation that it would satisfy us when only Your love can really satisfy. Give us the supernatural ability to forgive from the deepest parts of our hearts because Your love is overflowing within us. Wash over us, dear Jesus, because You are the ultimate example of love for us, and it is in Your precious and magnificent name that we pray, AMEN!

Genesis 49 - Israel's Prophecies

LINK: Genesis 49

BACKGROUND

The sins of some of the sons of Israel are remembered as Israel prophesied over each of his sons before his death: 

Reuben did not get a glowing prophecy because of sleeping with his father's concubine in Genesis 35:22. He lost his legal status as firstborn. It states that he was "uncontrolled as water," and his descendants were known for their indecision (Judges 5:15-16).

Simeon and Levi's prophecy foretold a scattering of their tribe because of their violence toward the men of Shechem after their sister, Dinah, had been raped in Genesis 34. This was fulfilled in the tribe of Simeon as they were absorbed into the land of Judah (Joshua 19:1, 9). Levi's descendants became the priests of Israel and were dispersed throughout the land.

Judah was blessed. He started down a wrong path in his dealings with Tamar in Genesis 38, but we have seen his leadership emerging throughout the Joseph story. His blessing was the most significant because it relates to the scarlet thread of redemption. Look closely at the prophecy in Genesis 49:10. Judah is declared as the royal tribe that will beget David and eventually Jesus. Stay tuned! 

Zebulun was prophesied as living near the seashore. His tribe would be ten miles from the Mediterranean Sea and able to feast on its abundance (Deuteronomy 33:19).

Issachar obtained land that was in the lower part of Galilee. Israel prophesied that he would "bow his shoulder to bear burdens and become a slave of forced labor" (49:15). Many commentators believe this indicated that he would have an agricultural way of life and not try to be dominant politically.

Dan's tribe was prophesied to be a "servant." This is fulfilled in Judges 18 where Danites are treacherous and lead Israel into idolatry. Samson was from this tribe (Judges 14-16).

Gad's tribe lived east of the Jordan River (Joshua 13:24-27) along what is called "the King's Highway" which was a north-south trade route. Israel prophesied that he would be raided by raiders but he would attack at their heels. One example of how this prophecy is played out is how effective Gad is at counterattacking the Ammonites in Judges 11-12.

Asher was prophesied to have rich food. The land of Asher was fertile and near the Mediterranean (Joshua 19:24-30). Being close to the coast would also give this tribe the ability to trade with other places in the Mediterranean world.

Naphtali was prophesied to be a doe let loose who gave beautiful words. Some commentators believe this is about their isolated location in the hills north of Galilee (Joshua 19:32-38).

Joseph was given a beautiful prophecy that tells metaphorically his life story. He was described as a "bow" that "remained firm." He would receive abundant blessing in Israel's prophecy. This would be realized through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Ephraim's tribe became prosperous and fruitful as they settled in an area with good rainfall and abundant harvests in the central hill country of what is now known as Samaria. Joshua was the most famous person from this tribe. When the tribes split into northern and southern kingdoms, the northern kingdom was referred to as Ephraim (Isaiah 7:2, 5, 8-9; Hosea 9; 13; 12:1, 8). This will be important to remember when we get to the prophecy books! Ephraim means "twice fruitful" and he is also the youngest; according to the blessing in the previous chapter, he did become greater than his older brother, Manasseh. Ephraim's descendants did "run over a wall" as they expanded their territory (Joshua 17:14-18).

Manasseh's tribe was located on each side of the northern part of the Jordan River dividing it into two half-tribes. There was good rainfall and abundant crops.

Benjamin's tribe was described as a "ravenous wolf" (Perhaps because Joseph kept giving him those HUGE portions of food!). Famous Benjaminites included Ehud (Judges 3:12-30), Saul, and Jonathan (1 Samuel 11-15). We will soon see how "ravenous" this tribe was when we get to Judges 19-21!

This chapter concludes with Israel's charge to bury him in the caves at Machpelah where all his ancestors were buried. We learned from Genesis 22 that Abraham had purchased it and made a "beachhead" in the land of Canaan.

APPLICATION

A possible application for those of you with children is to spend part of today blessing and praying for each of your children! For those of you without children, are there spiritual children that you could pray for?

You may not have prophecies like Israel, but God may tell you some things about your children as you pray that you might want to write down. Often, when I pray for my kids, I will write their names next to the Scriptures God leads me to pray for them. It is fun to look back and see how God has fulfilled those prayers, and I try to go back and write the answer next to the verses too.

Several years ago, two of my friends put "31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids" by Bob Hostetler on business-size cards for me. (A big thank you to Kim and MaryAnn!)

God's timing is so perfect! I woke up early this morning with a strong desire to pray for my youngest son, and then I find that Genesis 49 was the chapter for today! I am going to pray through these virtues as they are right next to my computer!

PRAYER

Lord, thank You that all Your prophecies are true. Help us to believe You and Your Word! Bless our children today. Amen.

Genesis 48 - The Blessing of Joseph's Sons

LINK: Genesis 48

BACKGROUND

Israel adopted Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and gave them a double portion. They had effectively replaced Reuben and Simeon as the firstborn sons and 1 Chronicles 5:1 confirms this when it says that "because he [Reuben] defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph." Remember that Reuben presumptively slept with his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22).

We talked about blessing when we talked about Esau and Jacob and when Jacob blessed Pharaoh in the last chapter. The prime blessing was with the right hand; and in keeping with what we have seen throughout Genesis (Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and Ephraim over Manasseh), the younger brother was the one who received the primary blessing! God's ways are not always man's ways. Even though Joseph was displeased by this, Jacob meant to do this. There will be fulfillment of this later on in the Scriptures; Ephraim becomes the most powerful of any tribe of the Northern Kingdom (Isaiah 7:2, 5, 8-9; Hosea 9:13; 12:1, 8).

Fact: Luz in 48:3 is another name for Bethel.

APPLICATION

What have you learned about the character of God through your reading of Genesis? How can this affect your praise of and trust in Him?

PRAYER

Lord, continue to establish Your Word in us as that which produces reverence for You (Psalm 119:38). Amen.

Genesis 47 - Family and Famine

LINK: Genesis 47

BACKGROUND

In this chapter, Jacob's family arrived, and the brothers met Pharaoh and introduced themselves as shepherds at which time Pharaoh gave them the good land of Goshen (see yesterday's description of this area) and even commissioned some to oversee his own livestock!

It is interesting to note that Jacob blessed at the beginning of his meeting with the Pharaoh and at the end (47:7, 10). To bless someone is "to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc." (John N. Oswalt, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p. 132). What is so unusual about this is that it is usually the blessing of a king to a subject, but in this case, it is the other way around, from a foreign visitor to a ruling king! Yet, Jacob was simply fulfilling what God had promised to Abraham in Genesis 12 and 28 that "through Abraham (and his seed) all the nations of the earth would be blessed." And Pharaoh was blessed because, as the famine continued to ravage the land, he prospered and the people were saved from starvation. This Pharaoh is believed to be Sesostris III (1878-1843 B.C.).

In this story, Joseph continued to rule as a wise administrator of the grain that had been stored. Joseph was in the center of God's will, and he was reunited with his family. He must have been a fulfilled man.

Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years and did not return to Canaan when the famine ended. We do not know why. At the end of his life, he had Joseph put his hand under his thigh and promise to bring him back to the Promised Land for his burial at the cave of Machpelah that we learned Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite back in Genesis 23:17-20.

We have discussed the significance of putting the hand under the thigh when making an oath back in Genesis 24. In this ancient world of the patriarchs, the placing of the hand under the thigh close to the circumcised male sex organ was connected with the covenant with Abraham in which circumcision was the sign. It also was connected with the continuation of Abraham's line through Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants.

REFLECTION

Jacob was a worshipper of the one, true God. Pharaoh was a worshiper of many gods, and in later generations, this particular Pharaoh was even worshiped as a god! Jacob and Pharaoh obviously did not see eye-to-eye with one another on their core beliefs. Still, Jacob blessed, and Pharaoh prospered.

This got me thinking about certain elected officials we have had. There are many who do not share my values and core beliefs, but I need to bless them even if I did not vote for them. This is in keeping with the admonition to pray for "kings and all who are in authority" in 1 Timothy 2:2. Did you know that when Paul wrote those words to Timothy, he was asking him to pray for the notoriously evil Roman emperor, Nero, who even executed his own mother and persecuted Christians? 

APPLICATION

Spend some time "blessing" the people that "rule" over you in your local, state, and national positions today.

PRAYER

We want to bless YOU Lord and worship You as the King of our lives and hearts. Lord, we pray for a blessing upon our president today. Guide him in making good and wise choices as he leads our nation. Help us to bless and not curse or malign as Your word admonishes us to malign no one (Titus 3:2). We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.