May 21, 2017
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Reading along with us in Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:
Exodus 5 (ESV)
Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”… Continue Reading
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Persecution after proclaiming- never fun.
God’s timing and ours rarely look the same.
Just like the old joke of a little boy asking God how much is a million dollars to God. God responds it is like a penny. The boy asks, ” May I have a penny?” And God responds, “Yes, in just a minute.”😆
Pharaoh said he did not know God
Isn’t Pharaoh’s issue the issue that many unbelievers have..”Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?” Therefore he acts in the retaliatory way that we would expect anyone outside of God to act. Let me protect what is mine and hurt anyone that threatens or apposes me. But Romans 1 tells us that God’s divine nature and eternal power are so evident in creation that man is without excuse if they do not see Him there.
And we have less of an excuse, don’t we? We do know Him and have received salvation from Him. So let’s act In a way that is consistent with His character rather than the character of the flesh!
Pharaoh’s reaction to Moses’ request to let God’s people go was to make their work impossible, and beat their foremen when the people failed to meet their daily quota! Nice guy.
In his horror over the cruel treatment of his brothers and sisters, Moses seems to momentarily forget what God has promised: He will exact vengeance on Pharaoh at a later date, when Pharaoh will pay for his continual rejection of God’s authority with his firstborn son. And we know now, looking back from this side of the cross, that what is coming for Pharaoh is a foreshadowing of what God is going to do for all of us: give HIS Son as a sacrifice for our rejection of Him, and then accept His sacrifice on our behalf and save us if we will have faith in Him.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17
Moses is about to be the front row witness to the power and authority of God! I wish God had given Moses a glimpse of what all of this would mean for the entire world. Because I think of what’s coming, and know that THIS is the God who loves ME! Who can stand against those whom God has chosen? NOTHING!
“I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:18-25
“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined He also called, those He called He also justified, those He justified He also glorified. What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.” Romans 8:28-34
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39
Father, let me never forget that what I can see with my own eyes is not even about me, but is part of a much larger story I’m not able to see. Help me to have faith to keep my eyes on YOU when what I am experiencing here makes me want to moan and complain! You are at work in everything, and I am part of YOUR story. What an awesome thought. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.