Children of Israel, “Just Keep Silent.” -- Exodus 14:13-14

But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear!  Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.  The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”
 
As I began to unpack these two little verses, I found them to be full of powerful phrases that deliver some very commanding lessons.

Those of you who have been following my writings know that I never miss an opportunity to reflect on the Bible’s use of the word “but”.  And up until now, if my memory serves me correctly, the emphasis for the most part, has been on the “but God” phrases.  Man wanted to or planned to do one thing, but God had other ideas and that was the end of that.  Here in the beginning of Exodus 14:13 we have the word ‘but’ but this time it is used in conjunction with Moses – But Moses.  Here we have men wanting to do one thing and one man – a man of God mind you – had a different idea.  We will find a number of such characters through the Scriptures and not unlike the fictional characters that go against a trend in many a book, these men of real history become our ‘Biblical heroes’.  I believe God still develops and uses such men and women today.  They are those who go against the trend of secular society.  They do not all become famous by any means, but they make a difference.  And furthermore, they help advance the plan of God for mankind.  And many do not always know of them.  Sometimes they are national presidents like Lincoln or generals like Washington, but more often they are leaders in their small church, or in their business, their classroom, their club or union, or even among their own family.  Sometimes they are men and women just like you and I.
What matters to God and thus to our relationship with Him is that first of all we know when we are to be that leader, and secondly, that we do the right thing when it is time to speak up or act.  Are you there?

In the previous verses we learned that the people became scared when they heard the hooves of the Egyptian horses pulling their armed chariots towards them, but Moses stands out, perhaps alone with only half-hearted moral support from Aaron, and implores them to do just the opposite – “Do not fear!”  Just exactly how does that work?  How do you tell a person that is afraid not to be?  And even if he/she wanted to heed your instruction, how exactly do they go about it?

My 8-year-old grandson is a growing boy.  On thing he has not grown out of just yet however is his fear of being alone on a single floor in the house, or sometimes even in a room.  We have tried to go through various (and vary creative) exercises with him proving that there is nothing to fear, but somehow we have not succeeded in convincing him.  When he is sent to retrieve something (that he himself wants) from the basement or to go upstairs and take a shower, you will often hear him continuously talking to us or singing out loud so we can hear him and thus allow him to sense the connection with others.  Convincing him not to be afraid is not something I have been able to accomplish yet.

Recently we lost our newborn grandson just six hours after he was born.  How do we tell his loving mother and father not to be afraid, saying “the next time will be just fine”?  As a matter of fact, how do I tell my wife that?  Or closer to home still, how do I really tell myself that?  Fear is not something that is easily overcome with words – especially the words of another person.  Telling people “not to fear” when they’re afraid is about as helpful as telling someone “because!” when they ask “why?”.  It just does not cut the mustard – it just does not succeed in its intent nor meet the other person’s expectations.

Moses realizes that in order for the Hebrews to “not be afraid”, they need to do something.  So he gives them further instruction.  “Stand by and watch.”  At the time when the people wanted to act, perhaps run or put up white flags, or they wanted someone to fight hard for them because of their fear of death, their leader says, “Stand by and watch.”  Yes, that is correct.  The lesson for us is simple – when our lives are in danger and we have taken the physical, practical means of protection that are ‘humanly’ possible, our job is to then “stand by and watch”.  Are you kidding me?  No.  The secret, however, is in “what” we watch for.

Moses told the Israelites to stand by and watch “the salvation of the Lord”.  In other words, watch how God will do wonders and how you will be saved.  In the case of the Hebrews, we know how the story goes and we will cover that in greater detail further along in our study.  Moses was telling them to have confidence in God’s ability to save. But this instruction can also be applied to how we face our fears.  Do you and I have the confidence that God can save us from whatever befalls us?  Are we in such a relationship with God that whether we live or die physically is less important than the fact that we will live spiritually with Jesus in eternity?  Are we prepared like Paul who tells us, in Romans 12:1, to present our bodies a “living sacrifice” (implying physical death) as our “reasonable act of service and worship” (implying spiritual life)?

And then Moses adds these three words -- “for you today”.  What God would be doing, He would be doing for the Hebrews.  And He would be doing it ‘today’.  You see, when the child of God faces “fear”, God is able to address it “for him/her, today”.  By that, I do not mean to say that my grandson will immediately be able to freely go down to the basement without any lights being on nor do I mean my children will be able to say, “God has told us that our next pregnancy will be perfect.”  I pray it will be, but that is not the guarantee God is giving us.  By God addressing our fear today, for us, we mean that God has the means whereby we can rest assured and safe in His arms, knowing He is with us, knowing He has enabled us to face the past and knowing He will continue to enable us to face the future, no matter what it is, and that one day, all wrongs will be corrected, all illnesses will be healed, all losses will be restored a hundredfold.  Our job is to “stand by and watch.”

Moses told the Hebrews that God was doing this “for them”.  They would never see their enemy again and he adds the word “forever” for emphasis.  Are you there?  Do you have an ‘enemy’?  Is it fear?  Is it some sin?  An addiction?  Whatever or whoever it is, God is able to deal with it or him/her.  Just trust Him and obey Him.  Then stand by and watch.

I love the last sentence of this short passage.  “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”  There seems to be a condition attached, but it is one that makes the process work.  When God fights for us, He expects us to keep silent.  In one sense, that is physically the easiest thing to do.  Technically no effort is required – just breathing.  But for some of us still very much attuned to our old human nature, it is the hardest thing to deliver.  Keeping silent is no easy instruction.  But here is what I have discovered.  If I do not keep silent, God works things out in such a way that I have no choice but to be silent, so He can go about His business.  You see, my “speaking up” and not remaining silent, only delays the desired outcome (humanly speaking) and makes the journey more difficult.  Let’s “keep silent” in these situations.
 
At the time of writing, the whole world is watching and waiting to see what will be done with the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.  Such weapons are seen as totally taboo by almost all of the world’s powers as agreed to after World War I.  Even their limited use approximately a century later does not bode well for the world.  Every effort must be made to ensure that no one will use them again.  But how is that to be done without the shedding of more blood?  God calls us to “stand by and watch”.  I do not say that glibly.  I think we all owe it to mankind to do our part in our sphere of influence to deter evil, but when we have exhausted our human means, as the world seems to have, only God can make the difference.  Better to have Him on board from the start.  Is the message that Moses gave to the Israelites, the message that says “stand by and watch” – is that the message that God has for you and I today – be it in global matters such as Syria, or in a very personal matter that only you and God know about?

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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God’s Strategy Works Perfectly -- Exodus 14:5-9

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”  So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.  And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly.  Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, in front of Baalzephon.
 
When we read the phrase, “Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart” we are reminded again of the influence that certain people in authority have over others.  This could be rulers or bosses or parents or teachers.  The responsibility for others is an awesome one.  It is not given to everyone and it comes from God.  It is imperative that we use it wisely and under His direction.  Unfortunately, it can also be greatly misused.

And is it not interesting that what Pharaoh and his own servants were really concerned about was that they lost their personal means of being served through the slavery of the Israelites.  When the responsibility for authority has gone awry, there is often a sense of self-interest or egotism involved.  Here we see the self-interest of both Pharaoh and his servants and in addition, the egotism of Pharaoh.  If we have been granted a role of authority over others, we need to make sure that we check to ensure those two human characteristics are not being felt or exhibited, lest God deal with us in the way He was about to deal with the Egyptians.  And for that matter, in the way He has dealt with every evil leader since then.

To feed their selfishness and Pharaoh’s conceit, Scriptures tell us that Pharaoh got over six hundred chariots ready to go after the Hebrews.  In fact, these were just the “select” chariots. (They must have been souped-up in some form making them superior, or they had won chariot races.  Who knows?)  In addition, the text says he took all the other chariots “of Egypt” with him.  And each group of charioteers driving those vehicles had their own officer to oversee them.  It was a truly impressive posse, being led by their sheriff Pharaoh, to capture the escaped slaves, the children of God.  The Egyptians should have thought it out first and included Him in the equation.

God’s strategy worked perfectly.  Pharaoh allowed his heart to be hardened again.  He pursued the Israelites and found them camping exactly where God had placed them for him to do so.  Several thoughts come to mind here.

First, it always seems to be about the heart.  The text does not say, “God changed what Pharaoh was going to do.”  No, it says, “God hardened the heart of Pharaoh.”  As I study Scripture, I am more convinced that God is keenly interested in our “hearts” – what they are feeling and desiring more than He is in what we do.  That is not to say He will allow us to do anything as long as our hearts are right by Him.  He won’t.  And in fact, when you think about it – when our hearts are right by Him, there is little chance we will do what is unacceptable to God.  When our hearts are right by Him, we will be doing everything we can to please Him.

Second, this brings us to a most interesting dilemma.  Perhaps one that we cannot solve, but let me at least in my attempt to be totally open with you as I write these thoughts, share with you what I had in mind.  Is it possible that while God intends to harden our heart to do evil (as in Pharaoh’s case), we are still able (or perhaps allowed by God) to do the right thing?  That is, is it possible for us to say to God, “No, Lord, I won’t allow you to harden my heart against You.  I will indeed serve You and love You.”?  Put another way could Pharaoh have surprised God?

Okay, I know that puts the discussion on a whole new plain.  God is never surprised.  God is never thwarted in His plans.  Does God still even harden people’s hearts today?  And we do know God does want us to serve and love Him.  This presents a dilemma.

Perhaps the matter can be answered as follows: If God knew that Pharaoh wanted to serve and love Him now, He would not have hardened his heart at this time.  He would have given Pharaoh every opportunity to do just that.  We are left, therefore, with the fact that God is omnipotent and omniscient.  He did what He did with Pharaoh because of what He knew about Pharaoh.  At least that’s my take.  What’s yours?  We may find we would end up in a debate about predestination and I certainly do not want to do so here.

But here is what is more important and to the point:  What does God know about your heart and mine?  And how will that impact how He ultimately relates to, and deals with, us?

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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More Hard News for the sons of Israel -- Exodus 14:1-4

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baalzephon, opposite it, by the sea.  For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’  Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”  And they did so.
 
As I write this, it is in the midst of great global debate as to whether or not there should be military strikes against Syria for their alleged (or ‘proven’ in the minds of some) use of chemical weapons on their people.  Everyone is strategizing and the stakes are high.  And then I read this portion of Scripture and note that God Himself is a great ‘strategist’.  He actually tells the people of Israel through Moses to “turn back” and camp at a certain place.  And He does it for a strategic purpose.  This going forward and then turning back is to make it appear in the eyes of the enemy, that the Israelites are lost and confused.  And as a result, Pharaoh’s heart will once again be ‘hardened’ and he will come after the Hebrews that he so reluctantly allowed to leave Egypt where they were serving him as slaves.

Pihahiroth is translated as a “place where sedge (a plant resembling grass) grows”.  It was the third encampment of the Israelites after leaving Goshen in Egypt and the last one before crossing the Red Sea.  It is between Migdol and the sea.  The word “Migdol” was eventually translated “tower” but previously it meant, “abundance of hills”. It is the name of a town situated in the most northern parts of Egypt.

And specifically they were instructed to camp in front of Baalzephon.  This is a town near the Red Sea.  Its name literally means “lord of the north” or more loosely, “sacred to Typhon”.  This was uncultivated country between the Nile and the Red Sea and thus usually thought to be the “abode of Typhon” the evil demon of the Egyptians.  (Perhaps a fitting name for the location of where the Egyptians were about to be destroyed.)

So God pursues His strategy for a purpose.  Pharaoh falls for it and we have the perfect setting for God to be honored in a way that will tell the Egyptians then, and the world for generations to come, that He indeed is the Lord.

God knew Pharaoh was focused on destroying Israel.  So God arranges for Him to come after Israel by making Pharaoh think they were embarrassed and frustrated in their journey and thus would be easy prey.  But God did this all for the purpose of destroying Pharaoh and bringing honor to the Lord.  He shared this with Moses so he did not ask any questions when given this order.  But could you imagine how the rank and file of the Hebrews felt about this instruction?

As for our part, we could well ask the question, “Why would God lead them into a trap like this?”  Well, for starters, we would have definitely thought this was a trap.  And from all the ‘natural’ geographic evidence before us, it should have been a trap.  Except that we once again have fallen into our own ‘human’ trap as believers of often leaving “God out of the equation”.   Not only was God not intending for His people to be trapped, but He wanted to show them that He is with them and can destroy their enemies, even the mighty armies of Pharaoh, including in an otherwise impossible circumstance.

And so, this portion of the text ends with the phrase, “And they did so.”

What circumstances are you in today?  Do they look hopeless from every possible human perspective?  Have you left God out of the equation for a solution?  Is He providing some instructions to you in your situation that just do not seem like the ones you would take?  My friend, there are only two things you need to do – in fact, only two things that you can do if you want to be blessed in this predicament.  The first is to be willing to “obey Him”.  That’s the only way you and those that watch you can know without a doubt that you are His child.  And then secondly, “trust Him” to do the impossible.  Just put God in the equation and let Him drive the solution.  From the perspective of eternity, it will be the best.  I promise you.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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God Strikes At Midnight -- Exodus 12:29-32

Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.  Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.  Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said.  Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
 
When I sit down to study each portion of scripture, I usually have already entered the text in the document and sometimes even given it a title – like the one above, “God Strikes At Midnight”.   I do that after I finish a preceding passage.  I had done it with this passage after I wrote the last blog.  And then the next day, God gave us for just six short hours, and then took to Himself, our darling little grandson, Ronin.  This past week has been, as you might imagine, a whirlwind of activities as we finally laid our grandson to rest and spent time with family and loved ones, and processed what happened.  God is Good and He is taking us through this pain, this dark valley.  He has strengthened us to be of more help to others in the future.  And He has given us a little guy to love forever more, knowing He is taking the best possible care of our baby.

So God struck, perhaps not at midnight for us, and through an old friend and colleague, we too, found comfort in the words of the poem below.  You will note the poet died at just 40 years of age, but it is clear he had experienced calamity:

"Bitter-Sweet" by George Herbert 1593-1633:

Ah my dear angry Lord,

Since thou dost love, yet strike;

Cast down, yet help afford;

Sure I will do the like.

I will complain, yet praise;

I will bewail, approve:

And all my sour-sweet days

I will lament, and love.

I do not mean to imply that my circumstances these last few days are in any way like those of the Israelites on that night that God struck at midnight; not at all.  But my recent loss has helped me understand what the Egyptians may have gone through.  There really are few words to explain what parents (or grandparents) feel when they lose their child.  But I cannot help but note the difference between a parent who is truly committed to God and one who knows Him not.  For me, solidly in the first category, I can only thank God for allowing us to hold and kiss and love young Ronin for a few hours and then assure us, that for whatever purpose, He wanted him with Him, or He wanted him to be spared life on earth.  Either way, we rest in the fact that he is with his Creator, at peace, and without pain.

On the other end of the spectrum, and yet not so far away, because we all feel the shock of a loss, it just so happened that during these days I have been reading a book which describes in great detail the hate killings that occurred between tribes after the 2007 Kenyan elections in areas and towns where my wife and I had visited twice since then.  At one point, the author, Paul H. Boge, describes the emotion of a young mother who had seen one of her beloved sons killed before her with arrows and another with a machete.  Boge writes, “There were no tears.  Tears come with grief.  And shock is a long way from grief.  Her body was in survival mode, and for a brief moment she hoped that whatever was keeping her going would never leave.  For if she had to process what she just saw, she feared it would be the end of her.” 

For those back in Egypt, God was precisely on time, like clockwork, at midnight.  And there were no exceptions – every single first-born in the land of Egypt, from the household of Pharaoh on the throne, right down to the household of a prisoner in a dungeon, and even of every cattle, the scripture says, was impacted.  The extent and the timing were exactly as promised by God.  When He speaks about the future, one ignores Him at his or her peril.

In the middle of the night, everybody knew that something was wrong and as the tragedy was being discovered household by household, there arose a crescendo of crying in the entire land of Egypt.  That portion of the text bothers me for two reasons.  First, why did people then (Pharaoh, his men of government, others) and why do people now, wait until it is too late to hear the warnings of God the Almighty?  Did they then, and do people now, really think they would or will escape from what is supposed to befall them, if they ignore the Creator?

Second, I feel that this “great cry in Egypt” is indeed symbolic of what is about to arise in the earth when Jesus returns and that Day of Judgment comes upon the earth.  And oh, how I wish people could see that now.  No home will be left untouched one way or another – unto death or unto life.  That is why it is important for us to clearly state what we know to be true, no matter the cost.
Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and the Scripture tell us he literally sent them out of Egypt with all their belongings.  No more negotiating, no more hesitation, no more changing of his mind, at least for now – the evidence of defeat was all around him in the bodies of the first-borns of every household in Egypt.

But Pharaoh did not stop there.  He asked Moses and Aaron to bless him.  Some commentators translate that as “pray for me”.  Chuck Smith says it is interesting that “no matter how pagan a person is, they sure appreciate prayer when they are in trouble.”  Oh, how we see that over and over today.  People want the blessing without the obedience.  They want to survive without the training.  They want to live ‘for self’ but not die ‘to self’.  Pharaoh is no exception – with all his human power and authority, he had no resources capable of dealing the way he wanted to with the Almighty God.  And neither do our friends and relatives today.  Sadly, mankind in general continues merely existing and never learning the lesson.

Finally, at my grandson’s funeral recently, many unbelievers said to me, “Ken, I just don’t know how you do it?”  My reply was courteous and loving.   I would say, “But I think I told you in my talk how I do it. Did you get that part?”  And they would say, “Yes, I know, but.”  And I would say, “There really is no ‘but’ – it’s true.  And it’s worth considering.  Without God, I cannot have gone through what I and my family just went through.”  Pharaoh found that out the hard way.  You don’t have to.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

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This Day Will Be A Permanent Memorial -- Exodus 12:14

“Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.”
 

Before we begin deliberations on this passage, let me state that a friend of mine provided me with an interesting verse about the question we raised concerning the possibility of non-Israelites escaping Egypt in the Exodus. Deuteronomy 29:11 says that there were “alien” people within their camps.  Albeit we cannot say for certain whether they came from Egypt or joined them along the way in the wilderness, Exodus 12:19 which we will study shortly, also uses that word implying that there were ‘aliens’ among the Hebrews from the start.  All this gives us more data for our reflection.  Finally, some think the word “rabble” in Numbers 11:24 that we will come to later or the reference to a “mixed multitude” later in this chapter that we are studying here (Exodus 12) is a reference to non-Israelites.  However, it is also possible it is simply a reference to the different types of people from within the Hebrew ranks.  The point being, we do not know.

Now let us return to Exodus 12:14.  God wanted this day, this Passover feast and night, to be a memorial to all His children.  He wanted it celebrated as a “feast”.  It was to be a permanent celebration.  And it was to be celebrated by all the generations that came after those that left Egypt during the Exodus.

I started thinking about my celebration of the Passover and Easter.  First of all, I consider myself as a Christian to be a “spiritual son” of Abraham (see Galatians 3:7).  Secondly, I was born in Greece and even after coming to Canada as a child, we continued celebrating the major tradition of Greeks having fresh lamb at Easter time.  It seems, however, that over the years, for one reason or another, Christians seem to have moved away from the celebration of the Passover or Easter meal celebration.  It may be that Christmas has become a bigger holiday in North America and taken over.  It may also be that more Christians are failing to recognize their spiritual roots with Abraham, Moses, and the Jews.  Sadly to say, it may also be as one brother told me recently after I had taught on our connection with Israel, that some of us still have some anti-Semitic tendencies.  Perhaps it is time to rethink how we ourselves celebrate Easter.

I note two very strong verbs in this verse.  First, this day “will be” a memorial.  Secondly, “you shall celebrate it”.  No doubt, many can argue that this is all meant for the Jews, and not for us today.  Today we have our Communion Supper and we celebrate that regularly – some annually, some monthly, some weekly because Jesus said “when-so-ever you do it, do it in remembrance of Me.”  He did not give us a command as to when to do it.  We have the freedom to choose the frequency.  And perhaps they that argue that what is talked about here in Exodus 12 is only meant for the Jews, are right.

But let us take a little different perspective.  It may be perfectly all right for us today to neglect this feast celebration God commanded of the Hebrews exiting Egypt three thousand years ago.  But would it be wrong to actually celebrate?  I believe not.  Let me explain.

First, the God of Moses and Aaron is the same God to whom you and I belong.  And our God does not change.  If He wanted that for His children then, but may not demand it of us now – is that a reason for us to neglect following it?  I think not.  You see, God had a purpose for demanding it of His children.  That purpose may well have to do with the idea that we are mere mortals who tend to forget, tend to stray, from remembering what God has done and is doing for us.  We need these celebrations to help remember our history, or in our case, the history of our “spiritual ancestors”.

Secondly, I believe we are indeed part of the “generations” of those very people, albeit “spiritual generations”.  We were grafted into those Jewish roots, the roots of the Children of Israel. (Romans 11:17-21)

Thirdly, I cannot help but believe that when we celebrate the Passover, or Easter in our case, appropriately “with a feast” and with thanksgiving, we make God glad.  This is no different than when a son who has gone to the big city to get educated and become someone in his own mind, returns to his parents’ village and sees his mom and dad stomping on grapes to make wine.  He takes his shoes off, rolls up his pants, washes his feet, and joins in.  His parents are ecstatic.  It is human nature to have your children, even though they have learned new ways to do things, join you in your ways.  And I believe God has a bit of that desire too, if we have it.  After all, we were created in His image.

As an aside, you may wish to take some time to learn about the symbolism in the way the Jewish Passover Meal is celebrated.  You can simply Google that on the Internet.  It is well worth it.

There is a phrase worth noting in this verse.  It is “to the Lord.”  Our celebration of this event is to be feast “to the Lord.”  It is for His honor, not for ours.  Can we really neglect it?  And you will note that it was important enough to God to make it an “ordinance” --  a decree, rule, order, law, edict, dictum, etc.  Get the picture? 

So how do you celebrate Easter?   I know for one, I’ll be doing it a little different come next year.  Maybe I can even talk my daughter or son-in-law into doing at least a leg of lamb on the barbecue.  And as I eat it a little of it with family and friends, I will remember my spiritual ancestors and how they ate on their last night in Egypt.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

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The 5th Plague: Disease on Beasts -- Exodus 9:1-7

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.  For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks.  But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.”’”  And the Lord set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”  So the Lord did this thing on the morrow, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died.  And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead.  But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
 

Have you ever had one of those moments where you know God is directly speaking to you?  And not only that, but you know He is saying, “Go to person x and speak to him or her.”  And then He tells you exactly what to say.  By this point in the story of Moses we know God did that with him on several occasions.  It was pretty much a way of life for Moses these days when God had asked him to lead the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt.

And when it is God who really sends us to someone, He gives us a most compelling story to share.  In this case, if Pharaoh were to refuse to let the Israelites go, a severe fatal pandemic would come to all his livestock, horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. And as the messenger, Moses knew that God would deliver.   In fact, deep down in his heart, Pharaoh knew the same thing but his pride would not allow him to admit it.

Once again God decides to treat the Israelites differently than He was prepared to treat Pharaoh’s people – no livestock that belonged to the Hebrews would be inflicted with the pestilence.  He had done this before with the 4^th plague – that of swarms of insects when God prevented them from afflicting the Israelites (Exodus 8:20-24).  Last time it was primarily for the purpose of showing Pharaoh that God was in the midst of the land.  This time it may well have had a dual purpose – to show the Egyptian ruler that the Lord was indeed Lord and to preserve the livestock of the Israelites for their future use as they exited Egypt.  God is always able to see today with tomorrow in mind.

God also set His own definite schedule on this plague telling Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”  And then we read, “So the Lord did this thing on the morrow….” And it happened just as God had said.  All the livestock of the Egyptians died and all the livestock of the Hebrews lived.

Pharaoh, of course, wanted to check this all out just in case God relented.  He sent his servants to verify what he was hearing and sure enough, it was as Moses had told him God would do.  But instead of having a sincere change of heart and repenting of his rebellion against God, our text tells us once more that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not let the people go.

As I read the account of this particular plague, I see a picture of mankind represented by both the Children of Israel and Pharaoh.  God gives us an opportunity to be part of His Plan for us.  He assures the Hebrews of their position and He warns those opposing them of the consequences of their sin against Him.  He gives them a chance to change their hearts’ attitude towards Him.  He uses men and women to pass on His message.  The rest is up to them.

What’s the meaning we can take from all this?  I think it is fairly clear.  We are either one of God’s children, or we are a type of Pharaoh – blocking the children of God from worshipping Him and hardening our heart towards them and God.  For those of us who have read ahead, we know the “rest of the story”.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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The People Cannot Meet Pharaoh’s Increased Demands -- Exodus 5:10-14

So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw.  You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’”  So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.  And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, our daily amount, just as when you had straw.”  Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not completed our required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

 

Angry at the requests of Aaron and Moses, Pharaoh decides to make the laboring of his Hebrew slaves even harder.  His taskmasters and foremen (two different levels of command) go out and inform the people of his new wishes.  We note that they quote Pharaoh either in order to give the new instructions their proper authority (likely the reason the taskmasters did so) or as a way of indirectly telling the Hebrews it was not they that were doing this (likely the reason the foremen who worked directly with slaves did so).

In order to meet the demands of the Pharaoh, the Hebrews had to scatter throughout Egypt to gather stubble for straw, and then return to where they were making bricks to still manufacture the same amount of bricks as before within the same period of time.  Each day, as fields were scavenged and cleared, the Hebrews had to go further and further, which took up more time.  This resulted in a very tall demand which many would find impossible to accomplish.  While the Egyptians may have had their bountiful sources of straw, the Hebrews could only find ‘stubble’ from fields where the wheat or straw had long been reaped.

Many questions could be asked here.  How far did they really have to go?  How was this organized?  Who supervised them?  And so on.  I think we just have to take the Scriptures at their word that this did indeed happen somehow.  Maybe our ‘time frames’ are out.  Or maybe we are missing some other information that would make it all seem plausible to us.  But we do know some Hebrews could not accomplish the task and the taskmasters would press them to do so.  Those who have seen the old classic movie, The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston may well remember the dreadful scenes of Hebrews being whipped for their inability to keep up.

And then the passage introduces us to the fact that the ‘foremen’ rank (either all of them or just some of them) was comprised of actual Hebrews who were selected to assist the Egyptian taskmasters in getting the work out of their people.  This is very similar to trade union shops where we have management supervisors but union foremen today.  The interesting thing was that the taskmasters beat these Hebrew foremen for their inability to get their charges producing at the required levels.  I suppose the old idea being that since you cannot beat and punish all those falling short, get at least their leaders and thus try to motivate them (for their own sake) to get the others to fall in line.

Chuck Smith in his C2000 series on this passage refers us to the findings of archeologists in the area of one of these cities that the Hebrews built for the Pharaoh.  There the digs provided evidence of bricks with evenly spread straw throughout them in the lower parts of the walls.  Higher up it was uneven straw spread in the bricks and near the top of the walls there was only stubble and even roots to be found in the bricks.  This is a clear testimony to this passage in Exodus.  One can actually see this in the ruins of Pithim.

David Guzik points out that life under the leadership of Moses and his brother, Aaron, was not going too well for the children of Israel.  This had to be very disappointing for them and for Moses.  To whom will the Hebrews turn now that things are even worse?

As I searched for the meaning of this passage for us today, I was led to the commentary of Matthew Henry.  He says it so well:

See here, (1.) What a miserable thing slavery is, and what reason we have to be thankful to God that we are a free people, and not oppressed. Liberty and property are valuable jewels in the eyes of those whose services and possessions lie at the mercy of an arbitrary power. (2.) What disappointments we often meet with after the raising of our expectations. The Israelites were now lately encouraged to hope for enlargement, but behold greater distresses. This teaches us always to rejoice with trembling. (3.) What strange steps God sometimes takes in delivering his people; he often brings them to the utmost straits when he is just ready to appear for them. The lowest ebbs go before the highest tides; and very cloudy mornings commonly introduce the fairest days, Deut. 32:36. God’s time to help is when things are at the worst; and Providence verifies the paradox, The worse the better.

So what do we make of it all.  I believe many of us live in similar circumstances today, either individually or as a society.  We value our freedom, but stand the chance of losing it.  Many recently had their hopes raised as they were promised ‘change’ – whether it was in their home life from a spouse, in their work from a boss, in their church from an elders’ board, or in their nation from a president.  But greater distress, as Henry says, resulted.  What do we do?  Henry suggests we have to ‘rejoice with trembling’ that God is in control.  We have to realize that as God He can take some ‘strange steps’ to deliver us.

Are you and I at our lowest ebb?  If so do not fret, the highest tide is coming.  One cannot value a very clear and fair day unless a cloudy one preceded it.  And here is the clincher for me – to know that as Matthew Henry says, “God’s time to help is when things are at the worst.”  We’re nearly home, friends.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.