May 17, 2017
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:
Exodus 1 (ESV)
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them… Continue Reading
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I’m so glad we’re reading Exodus! Genesis and Exodus are two of my favorite books in Scripture. Here is where I began to learn — early in my faith journey after being born again — who God is, and finally began to be set free from anxiety over things, people, and circumstances I cannot control. I believe many do not have the depth of faith of our Christian forefathers because we toss out or ignore the Old Testament. God has not changed! He is indeed AWESOME in the truest sense of the word.
Insights from Exodus 1 today:
1) You can’t thwart God’s plan for His people. This reminds me of how the Church has grown under persecution! (Psalm 27:14; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 14:24; James 1:12)
“But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.” (Exodus 1:12)
2) God’s people may be persecuted terribly by those who do not know (or fear) God. (1 Peter 4:12-14; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; Revelation 2:10)
“So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.” (Exodus 1:13-14)
3) If they could’ve known a baby would be a boy pre-birth, Pharaoh would’ve ordered abortion as the “solution” to his “overpopulation” problem and his fear of the Hebrews “rising up” against him. Does this sound familiar?
“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” (Exodus 1:16)
4) Fear of God is a good thing. (Proverbs 9:10; Matthew 10:28; Deuteronomy 8:6; Revelation 14:7; Proverbs 16:6) Look at our world to see what happens when we lose our fear of God.
“But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live….So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.” (Exodus 1:17, 20)
5) Expect persecution to ramp up when the kingdom of darkness is thwarted. Stand firm! God is at work! (Proverbs 16:3-5; Romans 9:17-18; Philippians 1:12-14)
“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.'” (Exodus 1:22)
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Heavenly Father, let me never forget that because YOU are God over all circumstances, over all men, and over all of Creation, anxiety should have no place in my life. I am Yours in Christ, and can trust in You no matter what I see with my eyes!
Fear God, not man.
Spending time in Hebrews 7 today and hence also in Genesis 14. It is so amazing how perfectly Melchizedek appears out of nowhere in the story of Abraham, and then God uses him in prophecy about Jesus in Psalm 110. Everything fits the plan!
Pharaoh made his decisions from a position of fear and mistrust
So good to be on the side of truth: to know what the truth is and to be given the power to live in it. It is so easy to fall into fear, but what a great picture we have hear of what God does with the obedience of the few. Psalm 37:1-6 comes to mind…..
God knows we get comfortable in our lives and we do not want things to change when we are comfortable. God has better plans for us, whether its to stay put or move one.
God knew the Israelites would not move back to Canaan (which was His promise and better) because they were comfortable in their lives in Egypt. God needed to make their lives hard and miserable for them to desire what God desires. So God made them slaves so they would be more willing to move back to Canaan .
What drastic measures must God make on me for me to desire what He desires, for me to surrender and trust Him to make changes in me.