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Exodus

The Second Book of the Bible. Book Two of the Pentateuch.

5.1-23

Knowing what is about to come, and trusting in God, doesn't take away the pain of our present afflictions. What we do with that pain, and how we respond to our trials are another matter. We can have all faith, even to the degree of being able to move mountains (1 Cor 13:2), but with an incorrect heart toward God and man, we are nothing. Moses and Aaron delivered the Word of Yahweh to Pharaoh as they had been instructed. Pharaoh responded exactly as Yahweh told Moses he would (3:19). God's plan was going precisely as He had ordained and foretold. Moses had gathered the elders and told them of God's plan and they "bowed low and worshipped" Yahweh (4:31). Yet when things occurred as Yahweh said, the foremen confronted Moses and Aaron and asked Yahweh to judge them for making them "smell foul" and be in danger from Pharaoh (v21). Moses doesn't hesitate to pass the blame right on to God, accusing Yahweh directly, "You brought harm to this people" (v22). Thankfully God is patient with us, just as He was about to demonstrate with Moses. We display these responses and accusations to God in our trials, yet He has given us advance warnings of our circumstances just as He did with Moses. “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). We even have the instructions for why we face trials and how to respond (James 1:2-4; Philippians 4:6-7). It is easy to get excited knowing that God follows His nature with us as He did with Moses, seeing that the Words of God's response to Moses opening the next chapter begin with "Now you shall see what I will do..."

The Second Book of the Bible. Book Two of the Pentateuch.

6.1-30

Twice in this chapter, Moses gives the same excuse for why Pharaoh will not listen to the words Yahweh gives him - "I am of uncircumcised lips." (vv12,30). עָרֵל - arel, is the same word for the unclean foreskin removed as a sign of the covenant between Yahweh and His people; but it is also synonymous here with an inability to speak. God responds by giving Moses and Aaron a command. It is for them to deliver to the sons of Israel and Pharaoh. He commands them to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt (v13). As if to extend the drama of what God is about to say ("then Yahweh says" 6:29), in between Moses' excuses is a genealogy of the lines of the first three sons of Jacob, tracing the line of Levi, through Kohath, and Amram, to Moses and Aaron. The clear lineage of the heads of the households of the Levites, according to their families, names Aaron among them (vv14-26). Moses' identity with Aaron and his people is unmistakable. God's loving-kindness towards His people is on display as He yet again shows patience with them and with Moses' resistance to His directions. The message for the people and Pharaoh is about to be spoken - and demonstrated by God's outstretched arm (v6). Hidden to most in this narrative is an extension of the Biblical record of our (mankind's) historical timeline. The years of the lives of Levi, Kohath, and Amram are listed (137, 133, 137). We already know the ages of their fathers - all of them, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah... back to Adam). And we will soon read of all the days of their son (Moses).

The Second Book of the Bible. Book Two of the Pentateuch.

7.1-25

Yahweh has already declared that He will display His strong hand and His outstretched arm (3:19-20; 6:1,6). He tells Moses the purpose for hardening Pharaoh's heart here, "that I may multiply My wonders in the land of Egypt." (v3). And then, in exerting His hand "upon Egypt," and in "bringing out the sons of Israel from among their midst," the Egyptians will know that He is Yahweh (vv4-5). God has intended all along to display His glory and majesty! 1 Samuel 1:3 is the first reference in Scripture to Yahweh as the "Lord of Hosts." It is used interchangeably in English translations with the "Lord of Armies" 284 times in the Old Testament. The same word for "hosts/armies" is used by Yahweh to describe the sons of Israel here, "I will...bring out My hosts (צָבָא saba), My people..." (v4). This is how God describes His force organized for war, the term used for all the hosts of heaven, the term used for God's army. Out of context, Israel later anticipated this role when the Messiah came - as the "hosts" of Yahweh, as the army for a King who would conquer with signs and wonders. Such is the danger and error of taking portions of Scripture in isolation from the entirety of God's Word. God does not need an Army to accomplish His will. But He will display His signs and His wonders. The audience He most desires are those He loves. Today, as the church, we are still His hosts, whom He dearly loves.

The Second Book of the Bible. Book Two of the Pentateuch.

8.1-32

"If you refuse... behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs." (v2). God warns Pharoah, but how seriously was Pharoah going to take a threat of "frogs?" Well, once they got into everything, including the bowls for their bread (v3), Pharaoh agreed to "let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh." (v8). But then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and his heart became hardened. We, too, will explain away the relief God provides, sometimes by saying that the relief was coming anyway. Other times, we will fail to consider the source/Source of the relief whatsoever and continue life without a thought of gratitude toward God. For the following plague (gnats), God didn't even bother to warn Pharaoh. His magicians finally couldn't mimic it with their sorceries, even conceding this was the "finger of God" (v19). Though given multiple opportunities to see how God deals mercifully with us, and hearing others testify of God's mercy and wrath, we will make excuses for returning to our hardened ways that refuse to acknowledge God. Even when we have "made deals with God." (vv15,19,32). Today, we think of God hardening Pharaoh's heart as a one-time event in order to display his signs and wonders. But consider how many signs and wonders are displayed today yet unacknowledged as the mercies of God.

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