Digging in Deeper: Exodus 12:37-42

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“The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand able-bodied men on foot, besides their families. A mixed crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they were driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared provisions for themselves. The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the Lord’s military divisions went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’m sure we’ve talked about this before, but there are some places in the Scriptures that leave you wondering a bit exactly why they were included. They don’t appear to tell us anything of particular applicational worth. They just give details that we don’t really feel like we need. What is the point of these places? Why would God include them? Can we just skip them without missing much? Today, let’s see about answering some of these questions and more as we talk through what’s happening in these verses, potpourri style.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 12:35-36

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“The Israelites acted on Moses’s word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold items and for clothing. And the Lord gave the people such favor with the Egyptians that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things we have to keep in mind when engaging with the Scriptures is that they were written a long time ago. A very long time ago. They feature stories and people and cultures which were vastly different from our own. The kinds of assumptions they made about what was okay to do and what wasn’t, about what kinds of behaviors were normal and which weren’t can occasionally seem utterly alien to us. This is one of those stories. Let’s talk briefly about what’s going on here, and why it nonetheless reveals something important about God’s character to us.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 12:33-34

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“Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, ‘We’re all going to die!’ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes God’s instructions don’t make any sense. He tells us to do something in a certain way that doesn’t really fit with how we would do it, and our first instinct is to question Him and do it our own way. When God gave the Israelites the instructions to have a feast with unleavened bread, that didn’t make a lot of sense. It seemed arbitrary and random. At least it did until it didn’t. Let’s talk today about God’s odd instructions, and why following them really does make the most sense.

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Morning Musing: Matthew 10:37-38

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“The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Today is going to be just a little bit different than our normal Friday conversations usually go. There are several reasons for this including the priority I endeavor to give to life and ministry (in that order) over writing these. The reason for this particular post as well as next week’s post at this time, Lord willing, is that the adult Bible study I teach on Wednesday nights has been having some powerful and challenging conversations as we have been working our way through Matthew’s Gospel. Our most recent conversation struck me as important enough that I wanted to share a glimpse of it with you. I’m going to keep this pretty short and to-the-point, but it’s worth your time to begin reflecting on the idea because it is a life-changing one. The idea is this: Are you worthy of Jesus?

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 12:29-32

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“Now at midnight the Lord stuck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, ‘Get out immediately from among my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship the Lord as you have said. Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

God is going to one day bring judgment on the earth for all the sin that has been committed on it over the course of human history. Now, a great deal of sin was covered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Actually, all of it was covered, but this covering only extends to those who have been willing to receive it. That’s the problem. Not nearly everyone has accepted His gracious gift. Many have and will yet decide to bear the weight of their sin on their own. They pridefully believe themselves capable of handling the load. They will be proven disastrously wrong in the end. That will indeed be a terrifying day. We know this because the mere snapshots God has given us of judgment in the Scriptures are themselves terrifying to behold. The final plague was a judgment against the sins of Egypt. Let’s talk about what is going on in these hard verses, and why they point us to a God worthy of our devotion.

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