Exodus 18: Testify

In Exodus 18 we read of Jethro, Moses's father in law, coming to visit his son in law. Moses has the opportunity to tell him all the good things God has been doing through him, and Jethro was 'deligthed to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said "Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and Pharso...Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly". Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God' (Ex 18:9-12).

Here we see how the testimony of God's goodness in our lives can bring people to God. When God does something amazing for us, we shouldn't be afraid to share it.

Exodus 16: Day by Day

Carrying on from where they left off in chapter 15, 'The whole community grumbled' (Ex 16:2). Now, Joyce Meyer does a lovely bit about how this journey into the Promised Land was only a ten or eleven day hike away but took 40 years to get there: why? Because the people had a negative attitude to their situation. It's food for thought that our attitude affects our outcomes.

In verse 12 God tells Moses "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God'. Basically the people are moaning about not having food, and God turns around and responds to their moaning; what grace! God could have fireballed them all to death for moaning, yet actually treated their groaning like a prayer request and sorted it for them.

God then provides food for everyone, with one stipulation: "No-one is to keep any of it until morning" (Ex 16:19). What stands out here is the importance of a day by day relationship with God - he will give you everything you need for today, so stop worrying about tomorrow, stop regretting yesterday, and focus on today.

Just a small point, but the Manna God gave the people was a honey tasting pancake. I think there's something in that: God wants us to enjoy life, and the fact that he gave them something sweet rather than savoury suggests he is a God of joy.

Finally, Moses tells the people to "Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come" (Ex 16:32). In this verse we see yet another example of the altar building principle; when God does something big for you, buy or make a physical symbol of it to remind you of his goodness.

Exodus 15: Let God take the lead

Well I’m back! A two month hiatus from the blog, but rest assured I’ve been reading my daily chapter throughout that whole time (just one day missed I think), and simply got a bit bogged down at work and didn’t put the time in on the net. However, it’s the summer holidays now, so there’s no excuse not to kick start the blog again.

Exodus 15 gives us a very simple message in the song of Moses and Miriam:

“In your unfailing love you will lead
The people you have redeemed,
In your strength you will guide them
To your holy dwelling” (Ex 15:13-14)

God will lead us! We don’t need to stress about which way to go, just follow his leading! How wonderful to know that God has a plan, a road laid out for us.

The next verse is not so positive, yet a very accurate portrayal of human nature. Fresh from being set free from the Egyptians, Moses is leading the Israelites through the desert and they are struggling to find water. We then read in Ex 15:24 ‘So the people grumbled’. What a joke! God has just miraculously freed his people and now their attitude has turned negative and they’re moaning. Sadly, I can relate all too well to that, and it brings me back to the message of building an altar – we need to remember our past victories with God, to encourage us for our current situation.

Exodus 14: God proves himself in the hard times

In Exodus 14 we see God tell Moses that everything he and his people are going through is all so that the "Egyptians will know that I am God" (Ex 14:4). In the hard times we must trust that God will bring us through and, when he does, it will glorify him.

A bit later, in verse 7, Pharaoh "took siz hundred of the best chariots" (Ex 14:7) to attack the Israelites. In the natural, this would have looked dead scary, but in the spiritual it was nothing to fear as God was going to protect his people. We need to take our eyes off the natural and lift them to the spiritual reality of the situation: we serve a mighty God.

However, the Israelites did see it in the natural and "were terrified and cried out to God" (Ex 14:10). Why didn't they remember God's saving them from the plagues before? We need to learn from their mistake and remember God's acts of the past and not worry about what's going on right now. By focusing on God's faithfulness in the past, we can face crises with confidence rather than fear and complaining.

An epiphany!

On the 19th April I wrote this:

I know my salvation is secure, no matter what - when I die I am going to heaven. However, I strive earnestly (calling on God's help) to live a God honouring life day to day. When I mess up, as we all inevitably do (and as Joseph is here), I often worry about the possible consequences of my mistakes bringing everything crashing down around me. I still don't fully have peace about God not only forgiving us, but protecting us from the possible worst case scenario consequences of our actions. For example, Joseph was out of line here, being deceitful and certainly not Godly, but God didn't bring his whole kingdom falling down around him. I think it probably has something to do with God looking at the heart, but I don't have any clear answer. Much of the Bible talks about the consequences of our sin, but if everything we did wrong was punished in a worse case scenario sort of way, surely no-one would live in victory? Perhaps it's the heart that counts: if you are trying to do the right thing and mess up, God forgives and covers you from getting into trouble? But then what happens when you stop doing something you know was wrong: will God protect you from the consequences of it? Let me try and think of a good example: I download films, which is illegal. Let's say I stop because I am convicted it was wrong: will God protect me from the consequences of the copyright owners finding and prosecuting me?

Well today I had an epiphany and feel like God gave me the answer. In Psalm 103 it says:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavesn are aabout the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed
he remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103 8-15)

All I can say is WOW! This, to me, proves that God will cover up the possible consequences of our sin if our hearts are right, and that just blows me away! It's not a license to sin, because then our hearts wouldn't be right and he would let us fall (possibly), but if we are right inside, then he will protect us from the consequences of our sins being discovered! You don't know how much that means to me right now!

Exodus 11&12: Don't put up with it any longer

Earlier on in Exodus we saw the cocky Pharaoh put off getting rid of the plague until 'tomorrow'. Here in Exodus 12 we see the plagues have moved on, and this time it is the plague of the death of first-born children. When this happens, Pharaoh has a change of heart and 'During the night...summoned Moses and Aaron and said "Up! Leave my people". (Ex 12:21) What a massive contrast to his previous attitude, where we decided (along with John Ortberg) that Pharaoh was just putting up with something he could handle. Now that's all changed, and something so bad has happened he needs to act. It makes me think about how hard times push us to God, but also how they may be avoidable if we would just come to God in the first place.

In Exoduse 12:36 we read how 'The Lord had made the Egyptians favourably disposed towards the peopel, and they gave them what they asked for'. Basically the Egyptian people are here giving the Israelites silver and gold, even though their children had all just died as a direct result of the curse brought upon them by them. This shows how we shouldn't look at the circumstances - if God wants to bless us he will do it, whatever the situation.

Exodus 10: Humble yourself before God does it for you!

A nice verse in Exoud 10:2, where God tells Moses he is doing lots of amazing things so 'that you may tell your chidren and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord'. The notes in my Bible say 'It is important to tell our children aout God's work in our past and to help them see what he is doing right now.' Just a simple, but very valid point I thought.

Also in Exodus 10 we see a message from God to Pharaoh: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?>' As we go on to learn in the new testament, God is definitely a God who gives us opportunities to humble ourselves, and if we don't take them he humbles us himself. Now take my warning: don't leave it to him, but do it yourself!