Bible Reading Challenge Blog

We are getting closer.  We now have two plagues here, plague 8 and 9.  Before the eighth plague comes we see the magicians and the wise men of Pharaoh’s court come to him and beseech him to let Moses and the people of Israel go.  The country is in tatters and he is only creating more and more problems for the people of Egypt.  It must have been a political nightmare.  So Pharaoh seems to try.  Okay, you can leave, but only your men can go and worship your God in the wilderness.  Leave behind the women and the children and the livestock.

Moses disagrees and Pharaoh goes ballistic.  As a result the locusts come and Pharaoh begs Moses for mercy.  It is interesting because at the beginning of this chapter we find that Moses reveled in the fact that history would remember this encounter as a time when the Israelites made the Egyptians look like fools.  This was to be passed on from generation to generation.  I can’t imagine that this reality helps the situation in the Middle East.

The final plague before the final plague is three days of darkness.  If there was ever a harbinger for the resurrection, this just might be it.  A deep darkness, like death, hung on the Egyptians and it lasted for three days.  That was too much for Pharaoh.  You can go, your children and women can go as well.  But, actually, if you could just leave behind your livestock that would be great.  Sorry, I need them for the sacrifices that we will be performing.  Pharaoh certainly was not someone who was used to being questioned, and this Moses had the audacity to talk back to him often.  As a result, again, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he said no.

This is not the only time that we see a leader who is directly opposed to the will of God who has his heart hardened by God so that God’s purposes could be carried out and a historical happening could take place as a result of God’s people overcoming someone with a hardened heart.  He hardened the hearts of the religious leaders in John and as a result they were able to not hear or see that Jesus was the Messiah.  The fault is not in God, but it is entirely in a will and desire that leads us away from the presence of the Lord.

Notice the pattern of the plagues.  We find ourselves in this chapter looking at plague number 5, 6, and 7.  The first is the disease of the livestock.  The second is the boils which fell on both animal and people.  The third is hail and thunder.  The first two only struck the livestock and people of Egypt.  Pharaoh noticed that all of his people were compromised, while the people of Israel were not.  The third we find the hail falling only in the land where the Egyptians resided where the area where the Israelites resided, Goshen, was not harmed.  

It is after this plague of the terrifying hail and thunder that Pharaoh tells Moses that he will let the people go.  Moses follows through and does what he says he is going to do, but again Pharaoh hardens his heart.  We see that as a constant theme.  God follows through and Pharaoh hardens his heart.  

Take a little time and think about the many, many times that God sends us signs about his presence and directives on turning our lives around and we instead choose to harden our hearts.  But God does not give up and does not go away.  I thank God for that.

Once again the Lord commands Moses to go before Pharaoh and warn him of the plagues to come.  The first plague was turning the water to blood, and then they follow in succession:  frogs, gnats, and flies.  After each of these plagues Pharaoh says that he will let the people go, but then he changes his mind, just as the Lord said that he would.  I think it is interesting that the magicians are able to turn the Nile to blood, they are able to bring out frogs, but when he gets to the gnats, they are at a loss.  It seems like from now on they will be at a loss.

There is a longer dialogue with Moses and Pharaoh, and it almost seems as if he is interested in knowing why the Israelites can’t just go and worship their God in their own homes.  Moses comes up with a good reason, even if I wonder it was simply for the attempt to get the people away from the land and away from their place of slavery.

Did you know that Moses was the little brother?  It is in vs. 7 that we see their ages when they approach Pharaoh.  It is not important for this part of the story, but it was interesting to me because it fits in with the other little brothers who were over their family like Isaac, and Joseph, and Jacob and others.  

The detail of this chapter is really quite rich.  We have read all of these stories in Sunday School, but I wonder since then if we have ever really read them?  I mean have you seen the detail in these stories?  The magicians were also able to throw their staffs down and snakes appear, but Moses’ staff which had turned into a snake ate up the other snakes.  The same way the magicians of Pharaoh were able to turn the water to blood, just like Moses did.  But they were not able to turn it back.

Did you notice that the water remained blood for 7 days?  Moses knew that Pharaoh would not relent, God had told him.  We are in Houston now, rebuilding, and it does feel like a plague has hit this city.  Entire blocks of homes are uninhabited and uninhabitable.  Slowly but surely the city is coming back, but these 7 months have been terrible for the city.  We know it was not the hand of God that caused this, but how can you not question the desires of the Lord in these situations?

There is a common theme here that Moses is a bit unsure of his abilities and as a result doubts that the Lord’s command is going to come to fruition.  This chapter is bookmarked by Moses’ statement that if the Israelites wouldn’t listen to him, then why in the world would Pharaoh.  He says this from experience.  He told the Israelites the promises that the Lord had given him, that God would deliver the Israelites from slavery and lead them to the promised land, a land that was promised to their ancestors.  But we read in vs.9 that they would not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.

It is hard to overcome a broken spirit.  It is hard to bounce back once you have learned that you are helpless.  There is a condition called learned helplessness which is a state where you have learned that no matter what you do it makes no difference what you do, you will always be helpless.  It is not reality, it is not the truth, but some people learn this and think that as a result they will never be able to do anything positive or anything to change the trajectory of their life.

The presence of God lifts our helplessness and provides us hope that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).  The strength of our faith is found in that we are never in a position to think that death, the negative, or evil has won.  God will always conquer which means that we can do all things and that all things are possible, as Mary responds to the angel Gabriel.  A crucial part of our Christian life is to believe that all things are possible.  

We find a genealogy in these verses which serves to place Moses and Aaron right in the middle of history.  This portion of Scripture, yes serves as a reminder that Moses was a reluctant servant, but also shows that both Moses and Aaron are situated in some of the most prominent households of Israel.  The stage is set for a second showdown between Moses and Pharaoh.  

We have to begin this chapter with the end of chapter 4.  We read that Moses and Aaron went to visit the people of Israel while they are yet in Egypt.  As they visit with the people, whom Moses hasn’t seen in decades, they believed the words that they uttered, that God was going to get them out of this mess.  As a result of this belief, that God is going to act, not that Moses is with them, but that God is going to act, the Scripture tells us that they bowed down and worshiped.  The motivation to worship God was a result of “when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.”  Sometimes we just need to know that God cares.

In this chapter we see God kind of become the bad guy.  Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh and ask for a very reasonable request.  Let us go into the wilderness for 3 days to worship God.  They do not ask that Pharaoh set their people free.  That is what we think Moses asks.  Let my people go!  Should really be: Let my people go for three days and then we will be right back…, but that isn’t what we historically have thought.  Pharaoh isn’t excited about letting the Israelites go, and in fact questions who this God is.  He sees this request as manifestation of the laziness of the Israelites who just don’t want to work hard.

So he makes them work harder.  He takes away their straw, has their Jewish foremen beaten when they don’t produce the same amount of bricks as before, and calls them lazy, lazy.  Every since Moses shows up, Pharaoh has become a bit of an ogre and the people of Israel are not happy about that.  Things were going fine before you came along.  In fact, if you turn to vs.22-23 that is exactly what Moses tells the Lord.  Ever since you sent me, Lord, Pharaoh has mistreated the people of Israel far worse than they were treated  before I came.  You haven’t done anything to deliver your people.  I love this story.  Even Moses takes the side against God.  God is about to deliver, but things can’t work out the way that we think or expect.  They have to work out the way God wants them to.  Hold on, and we will be getting there.

Some of you expressed anticipation over  what might come next in the Exodus story.  Yes, Exodus is a story, and it weaves intrigue and mystery all throughout.  Chapter 4 takes us a bit on a journey and gives us a foretaste of what is going to come next.  

Moses is still speaking with the Lord and has already given him two good reasons as to why he is not the right person to lead the mission that God wants him to lead.  The first two objections that we see in chapter 3 are that 1) who am I that I shall go, I’m a nobody.  Answer:  I’ll be with you. 2) who shall I say sent me?  The answer: I am.  Now objections 3 and 4 are next in this chapter.  3)  They will not believe, how am I to prove that I am your messenger?  Answer: I will give you a staff and other miraculous signs to show that I am with you.  4)  I can’t speak, I stutter and no one will listen to me.  Answer:  Okay, now I’m really mad, but just because you asked, I will let you go with Aaron who is quite well versed and glib.  He can help you out.

If you pick up at vs.21-23 you will be able to see that we have a direct reference to God taking the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians.  This is even before he goes into Egypt we hear that this is going to happen.  It is nice to get a sneak peek of what is coming up, especially in light of a terrible plague.  I can’t imagine losing a child.  That comes next…

We also have the very strange account of Moses being attacked by God.  It isn’t the first time we see people wrestling or fighting with God.  Remember Jacob and his wrestling match?  Look back over Genesis 32:22ff.  Here Moses is saved by his wife who was in the process of circumcising their son (not great timing) when the attack took place.  She takes the foreskin and touches the feet of Moses.

Okay, we are going to launch into a PG-13 version of the Bible.  When you hear the term “feet” in Old Testament Scripture in somewhat awkward and unusual circumstances, such as this one, know that it is historically in Hebrew a euphemism for genitals.  There, I said it, but it is true.  I don’t have any deep meaning for why his wife would do this, and certainly don’t have any insight into why this would prevent God’s attack on Moses, but it worked.  I’ll let you sort that out on your own.  I’m done with this topic.  I bet you’ll read Isaiah 7:20 differently now.  Trust me, it is a euphemism. 

We find ourselves at the defining moment of Exodus.  The story of the burning bush is one that is recited often.  Sunday School classes consider it a favorite, I always tell the story of the burning bush at preschool.  We love to hear how  God reveals himself to Moses in a way that is miraculous.  But do we ever wonder if it happens to us as well?  How does God reveal Himself to us?  It really isn’t normally in ways that we can identify easily, like a burning bush.  As a result we sometimes say: if God revealed himself to me that way then of course I would have more faith and I would do what he has to say.

But what part of our life are we currently misinterpreting as if we are autonomous and living by ourselves?  How do we not see that God is revealing himself to us daily?  

We find God’s name revealed to Moses.  He is called “I am”.  In case Pharaoh wants to know which God it is that sent you, tell him “I am” sent you.  It is an indication that there is no other God other than the one that we worship.  This is crucial, we need to understand that the God that we serve is not a God of pluralism, but rather a God who is one, and only one.  The God who calls himself “I am” is the one who rules and reigns and there is no other.

From Exodus 3 we are reminded of the promise of the land of milk and honey.  But that promise is going to be realized by God using Moses to free the people of Israel from slavery.  Moses objects, but God insists in these verses.  Do you notice that God says that not only are you going to liberate the people of Israel, but when you leave you will actually plunder the land.  That part of Scripture is one that I don’t understand, but I just keep reading.

Chapter 2 of Exodus takes us on a fast paced journey through Moses’ life.  We heard about the historical framework in which the people of Israel were  living.  They were slaves.  They were to have their boys killed upon birth.  We then hear about the story of Moses.  His father is a Levite priest, so a man of the cloth, a pastor.  His mom is a pastor’s kid, also a Levite.  Once Moses is born a plan is hatched and it is carried out to completion.  Moses is put into a basket and placed in the Nile with sis watching the whole time.  

God prepares Moses and places him in the position where all he has to do is listen to His will and follow along, and then things will work out the way that God has planned.  But then Moses wants to take things into his own hands by punishing an Egyptian for hurting one of his people.  He actually kills the Egyptian and as a result becomes a persona non grata for Pharaoh.  It is an important reminder that God has things under control and He is moving things so that His people will be able to go into the promised land.   But Moses tries to take matters into his own hands, as if he knows better than God.  

It is interesting that these verses end with God remembering the people of Israel, taking notice of them, and remembering the promises that God made with the people of Israel.  It is nice to know that God remembers us.  

We ended our last challenge with Genesis and the incredible story of Joseph and his brothers and how they were all able to make it to Egypt and as a result the people and the nation of Israel was saved.  I was somewhat convicted today in our young couples Sunday School  class in the study that we are going over.  We are going through Experiencing God and it reminded me today that the story of Joseph is not really about Joseph.  The story of Moses that we are going to be seeing in Exodus, really isn’t about Moses.  As a pastor there is a part of me that wants to make it about these incredible protagonists because they shine bright in Scripture.

But the more I focus on these human protagonists the less God is revealed and the less it becomes about God and the more it becomes about us.  If Joseph had not been the one who continued God’s plan in Genesis, God would have found someone else.  If Moses had not carried out God’s plans, and he does it kicking and screaming as we see later, God’s plans would have still been carried out, but by someone else.  We never, every should think that the plans of God absolutely depend upon us.  They do not.  God is able to bring about all things through God’s means.  Look at Mary and how a child was conceived in her.  God did not need a man, God did not even need a woman, but he chose to use a woman who eventually gave up her will and her desires for that of her Lord.  

As we make our way through Exodus we are going to see incredible people of God, but we should never think that God’s plans were reliant upon these people or else it would not have happened.  God chose these people, but he could have just as easily chosen someone else and God’s plans would not have varied.  

As we begin Exodus we see the generation of Joseph and all of his brothers pass away.  As a result the protection that they provided also passes away and a new king, a new Pharaoh comes around who was threatened by the numbers of the Israelites.  They had truly becomes, as God had promised Abraham, more than the stars of the sky.  As a result Pharaoh commands that all male Hebrew children be killed.  The midwives had different plans, but the command still stands.  The stage is set for God to work through Moses.