Tag: Exodus

Morning Musing: Exodus 6:1

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“But the Lord replied to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’m sure I’ve used this illustration before somewhere, but one of my favorite types of magic tricks are the ones when the magician seems to make a mistake or have something go wrong with the trick. The best versions of these have you totally buying into the drama of the moment only to leave you absolutely astounded when they pull off an even more impressive trick than it had looked like they were going to do in the beginning. After Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh makes it look like God’s plans were going to be a total bust, God offers Moses a bit of reassurance. Let’s talk about what’s going on here and what it means for us.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 5:15, 17, 20-22

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“So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: ‘Why are you treating your servants this way?’ . . . But he said, ‘You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, “Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.”‘ . . . When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them, ‘May the Lord take note of you and judge,’ they said to them, ‘because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials – putting a sword in their hand to kill us!’ So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, ‘Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We like stories that have a happy ending. Just nearly all of our stories do too. In order to get to that happy ending, though, there is often a journey involved. And while sometimes that journey is short and smooth, there are other times when it is anything but that. Sometimes, in the beginning, it looks like there won’t be any journey at all. Instead, it appears that we are simply bound for failure, and everyone around us is worse off for our efforts. Let’s talk today about Pharaoh’s reaction to Moses and Aaron, and when our best efforts just seem to make a mess of things.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 5:1-2

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“Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.’ But Pharaoh responded, ‘Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Stepping out in obedience to God’s command often takes a lot of courage. He occasionally calls us to big and bold actions to advance His kingdom. Perhaps you have taken just such a step of faith before. And perhaps when you did, everything fell right into place, and you enjoyed success and the blessing that comes with faithfulness. But maybe things didn’t go quite as you were planning. In fact, maybe they went the opposite of that. If that was your experience, you have something in common with Moses and Aaron. Let’s talk about their first encounter with Pharaoh and when things don’t go according to plan.

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How to Respond to a Great Opportunity

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This past weekend we celebrated our graduates. We had a group of 18 terrific kids to show off from preschool through college. It was a ton of fun. Given that graduation season often coincides with a season of transitions in which God calls us to something other than we have been doing, we gave some attention to how we should respond to those calls. Let’s take a look today at the story of Moses’ call to action and how to respond to God’s calls in our own lives.

How to Respond to a Great Opportunity

Did you know that toothpaste doesn’t dissolve very well? In my freshman year of college, I took a chemistry class called Quantitative Analysis. The class was foundational for everything else we would be doing and especially in the various labs we would take because it was all about how to figure out precisely how much of one thing you had in something else. Honestly, that’s the basis of a lot of chemistry—finding out how much of something you have in something else. If you learn how to do that really well, everything else is bonus. In any event, I didn’t particularly enjoy the class in spite of a great professor because it was thoroughly lab-based and practical and I much preferred theoretical and classroom instruction. Also, I was the black sheep of the chemistry department. 

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Morning Musing: Exodus 4:27-31

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“Now the Lord had said to Aaron, ‘Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.’ So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that he had seen their misery, they knelt low and worshiped.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When you don’t have the rhythm or melody of a song, it’s really hard to understand and enjoy it. It makes it harder for other people to enjoy it too. I remember once when I was playing drums for my high school jazz band – and in a competition no less! – and I flipped the beat. I had had my hi-hat foot chomping along on the 2 and the 4, and suddenly I was riding hard on the 1 and the 3. Or, if you’re not a music person at all, I messed up big time. The whole band nearly fell apart, and would have but for our director’s quick thinking and directing like we were a concert band until I could get the beat back in the right place. In a similar sort of way, it’s hard to understand and apply passages of the Scriptures – especially in the Old Testament – when we don’t have their rhythm down. Let’s talk a bit about the rhythm of these verses, and what it might look like to incorporate them into our lives.

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