The Cost of Being Bold, Honest, and Clear -- Exodus 5:3-9

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us.  Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”  But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work?  Get back to your labors!”  Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”  So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; the them go and gather straw for themselves.  But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it.  Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’  Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it that they may pay no attention to false words.”
 

The previous passage has Pharaoh saying, “I don’t know this God of Israel, who is He, and I won’t let the people go.”  But Moses and Aaron, undistracted, just keep on with their clear message in their dealings with him.  They only change the description of God from the ‘God of Israel’ to the ‘God of the Hebrews’.  They tell Pharaoh He has met with them and that the people are to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to Him and imply the people will suffer great consequences of they do not.  [I am not sure where they got this second idea from except their own fear of failing to obey God, unless the word ‘us’ was referring to both the Israelites and the Egyptians together, with Moses’ foreknowledge of what God would do the Egyptians if Pharaoh did not let his people go, although I doubt it.  It seems to me to apply to the Hebrews, and that it was a humanly added descriptive to what might happen if they did not go to sacrifice.  It was their way of convincing Pharaoh this was a good thing to do because if the Hebrews die as a result of not going, then he would lose his slaves, according to Bible commentator Matthew Henry.  We often tend to give God’s message a little help when it does not need it.]

Notice Pharaoh addressed them by name.  Was he being paternalistic or did he know them fairly well by now?  We don’t know for sure.  It is possible that this whole thing did not happen in one single occurrence, but over a period of time and a number of meetings.

While Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh on an issue involving the Almighty God, Pharaoh was only concerned about what was important to him – the potential loss of labor.   It was all about greed.  And is not that the case today when we talk to people about God?  They often miss the eternal significance of our words and worry about what they may have to give up in order to please Him.  Certainly Pharaoh was saying, “forget about God, don’t distract the people; let them work and you go back to your labors!”  It is not known whether that last phrase implied Moses and Aaron were to go back to their work as a priest in Aaron’s case and as a leader representative in the case of Moses, or whether they too had some level of ‘slave-like’ duties to perform.  Pharaoh then said to the two of them, “Look you guys, you can’t just have thousands of these people stop their labor.”  I’m sure Moses and Aaron thought, “Well, yes, Pharaoh, you can do exactly that if God wants it stopped.  However, I guess you’ll have to learn the hard way.”  And with that thought, disappointed perhaps in the failure of their efforts, but warned in advance that this would be the case, the brothers left Pharaoh and ended their beseeching him at this time.

But evil does not often abate when good men have raised their concerns and ended their pleadings.  No, sometimes the perpetrator decides to augment the atrocities just to show who is in charge.  And that is exactly what happened in this case.

Notice the passage says, “So the same day . . . ” Pharaoh gave a new order to his taskmasters and their foremen.  From now on, the Hebrews had to gather their own straw to make the bricks they had to make; no longer would the Egyptians bring the straw to them.  And the amount of bricks demanded remained the same within a given period of time – that is, no change in daily quota requirements.  In short, they were being punished because of what their leaders had asked of Pharaoh.

Here clearly is an excellent example of the risks of being a godly leader today, following the commands of God.  Not only do you risk your own life and freedom to do so, but also you risk the welfare of all those you represent, perhaps even more so.  This is an awesome responsibility that cannot be entered into it lightly.  Not only must one be certain of what God expects, but one must also have the intestinal fortitude, the emotional makeup if you like, the courage, the strength, to carry it out – because the consequences can be significant to many.  I am not for a moment suggesting that we shy away from such responsibilities if God gives them to us, but I am suggesting that we enter into them fully aware of the implications.  It also behooves those of us who are represented by such leaders to understand what it takes for them to lead, and to uphold them in our prayers, ready to do our part in following the commands of God.

The closest example I can think of to parallel this is the decision of presidents and generals to engage in a war or battle, knowing that the lives of men and women and even children will be at stake.  The leader that goes with the troops to the extent possible, rather than just sends them, is always the one who is to be respected more highly.  The farthest example I can think of is today’s business union agent or representative who facilitates and encourages members of a local to go on strike for a long time, putting the welfare and livelihood of the workers’ families at high risk, while he continues to enjoy his high salaries and benefits that are provided to him by the rich union coffers held at the national headquarters of the organization.  These types of leaders deserve little respect in my opinion.

Finally, in this passage, we see a ruler’s attempt to explain the actions of those that oppose him.  Pharaoh explains the peoples’ pleas to being allowed to go and sacrifice are not genuine, but are only being made because they are ‘lazy’ workers and people.  He insists they just want time off, totally denying any validity to their requests.  And to offset that, he ordered the men be given heavier work, while explaining his rationale as the need to distract them from such foolish and false ideas that come from their leaders, Moses and Aaron.  That is the way it is today with dictatorships that have gone awry.

While Karl Marx, the German revolutionary socialist/communist thousands of years after Pharaoh, had no use for religion himself, he did see it as an “opium of the people” that allowed them to deal with their sufferings but at the same time held them back from the ability to pursue true freedom from the real enemy, the slavery caused by illusionary religion, in his opinion.  Pharaoh, on the other hand, simply chose to alleviate religion’s impact by piling on extra work.  Neither approach – that of Marx or the Pharaoh’s worked – for true religion is an expression of faith to, worship of, and a personal relationship with, the Creator of the universe.  It is the only thing that satisfies mankind’s innate thirsting need to make sense of his physical reality with his spiritual nature.  My prayer is that each of us has satisfied that need through the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

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The Day America Paused: A Response to Max Lucado’s Prayer on December 14, 2012

On the day that some Christian leaders say ‘evil visited America’, Max Lucado uttered a prayer to Jesus.  Earlier that day the world had heard about a young man who shot his mother at home and then proceeded to the school in Newtown, Connecticut where she taught.  There he killed twenty very young children and six other adults before taking his own life.  A total loss of twenty-eight lives.  America stopped in its tracks and Max offered this prayer on our behalf:

Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord.  These children, Lord.  Innocence violated.  Raw evil demonstrated. 

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas.  But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty.  Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,

Your Children

I do not for a moment now, nor would I ever, presume to even guess how our Lord Jesus might respond to such a prayer, primarily by Americans, but really from all His children.  God has this incredible ability to respond very uniquely just when you think you have Him figured out.  But from own inner experiences in our personal reliant relationship with Him and from His Word, we may well have an inkling of what a grieving loving Father may say to us in return.  I, with millions of others, was literally devastated at the news of what happened in Newtown.  As a father of three and a grandfather of six ranging from age 11 years to minus six months, I cried hard almost my entire twenty-three and a half miles home from the office.

Because of His unique relationship with each of us, and because of where each of us is in our spiritual walk with Him, we would do best to write our own version of what He is saying to us.  This is just mine and so I personalize it.  I wrote it in the wee hours of the morning after as I could not sleep . . .

Dearest Child of Mine,

You call Me ‘Dear’ but I feel there are times when your heart considers Me anything but; when your actions say you don’t even know Me.  But you are still My ‘Dearest Child’ as are all My children.  Don’t try to figure that out logically, it’s just true.  Accept it.

Yes, I was born at night, but I was born at the appointed and the most appropriate time with respect to My Heavenly Father’s plan for you and all your brothers and sisters, including the billions you have not met.  In God’s Plan, son, there were no other times that would have been better.

Child, I am fully aware of the killings that went on today, as I am aware of all calamities that occur throughout the world and have been occurring since the beginning of time.  Do not think these happen only to people you feel closer to; some of My children suffer extremely longer and more painful hurts, although I know your great pain for I know what it is like to lose a child to an eternity without My Heavenly Father.  Yes, they were children.  Yes, they were innocent.  I love them.  I will take care of them.  You must trust Me.  There will, My Child, be more ‘raw evil’ as you call it in the days ahead.  You must be ready.  You have a job to do.  You have a job to do for Me – to be bold, honest, and clear.  You have a job to do for others.  You must love like you have never loved before.  And you must point the way as my cousin John did over 2000 years ago.

Dearest Child, the world is on edge.  Mankind, because I gave them free will has made it such.  Some of your brothers and sisters have not relied on Me for guidance and instructions as to how they could make things better, and so you are all now in this mess.  Now, I have to deal with each one of you separately (even more so than I have done over the centuries).  Now I have to convince you (and others like you) to seek Me, to lean on Me, and to listen to Me.  Then you must obey Me.  Child, the world in which you live may feel like it is “one button-push away from annihilation” but let me, the God of your fathers, assure you no one gets near that button unless I allow it.  And don’t worry; I won’t abandon you before that, through that, or after that.  I will never leave you.  I will never take away from you the strength and the power that I give you to accomplish your jobs for me and to make it safely to the other side.  In fact, you just need to keep reaching out and I’ll be right there – but walk with Me, not ahead of Me.

Yes, the world I and the Father created for you does seem a bit darker now – but only from your limited vision, My son.  You see, for Me, each passing day makes Me realize that the world is just one day (in My time, not necessarily yours) closer to when the Father says to Me, “Son, it’s time to go back.”  And that day will come, just in time, just when it is supposed to, just when it is best for mankind.  Yes, son, I am very familiar with darkness and night in the world.  That’s why I came the first time.  And yes, I brought Light, true Light.  And son, it may seem I have abandoned the world and left it in its darkness as a whole.  In one respect, I understand how one might think that.  But really, as I tried to suggest to you earlier, I have just changed My tactics.  Having come to the world and having being rejected, I continue to focus on individual hearts like yours.  I want to reside there.  I want to express My power, My life, and My love through those hearts.

Son, don’t be too hard on yourself.  You are like the wise men of old.  You sought the Light and you found it.  Now stay in it.  Share it each and every day of your life with friends, loved ones, and those I put in your path anew.  I will heal you and help you and those who accept Me when you share the Truth with them.

Now Dearest Child, pray for those that have suffered a loss – the parents, the siblings, the children who lost adults in their lives.  Do not forget them.  You will even find some like them within your own community.  Pray for them.  Help them.  Love them.  You know what that means.  Now go back to bed, for tomorrow you have work to do.

As ever,

Your Loving Father.

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Moses and Aaron Tell Pharaoh that God Wants His People Freed -- Exodus 5:1-2

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”  But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?  I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

The first thing to note in this passage is that here are two men who belong to an enslaved group, really foreigners in the land, one with speech impediment, and they go before the supreme ruler and say out-rightly, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.”  As I observe the Church around the world today, I don’t see that same boldness, honesty, and clarity coming from the majority of Church leaders.  Instead, we find ourselves looking for ways, if not to accommodate, certainly to refrain from angering, the anti-Christ spirit and thinking prevalent today.  We have valued our own safety and physical freedom at the expense of the truth and the light, as well as ‘the’ Truth and ‘the’ Light.

So Moses and Aaron had followed instructions once again perfectly.  And then you have to chuckle at the Pharaoh’s response only because it is exactly what we ourselves hear today, whenever we do stand up for the truth, assuming anyone is willing to reply to us, “Just Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?  I don’t know Him.  And no, I won’t obey.”

It is possible the Hebrews were not very good “witnesses” in the decades that they were in Egypt and working as slaves.  I am not blaming them; being hard-working slaves under the watchful eye of bosses with whips left little room for telling people about God.  But thousands of years later, the way was paved for us to express our faith with protected freedom of speech.  Yet, still today, many in the world do not know the God of Israel and His Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  And they have no interest or reason to obey His word.  That is the situation that Aaron and Moses found themselves in and that is the situation we find ourselves in today.  In fact, because the Church, the Body of Christ, has let down its defenses for so long, we stand the risk today of being ignored and considered as pests that no longer need to be tolerated.  The is a movement afoot to swat us off the face of the earth.

But here is the good news, both for Moses and his brother, and for us.  God had predicted that Pharaoh would react exactly the way he did and Moses knew it.   Similarly, in His Word, God tells us that the world will indeed go the way it is going.  The New Testament (and the Old) has many references to the end times and what that will be like.  In fact, those of us that know what the Bible says on this issue, know that all that is both happening and not happening today is clearly in the radar screen of the world that God’s Eye is focused on, because He loves us so.  And He is totally in control.

Our job, like that of Aaron and Moses, is simply to be bold, honest, and clear; and to tell the world, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.”  That is my prayer for you and I today as we venture forth at work, school, the mall, at lunch or supper with family and 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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Aaron Meets Moses and They Go To The Israelites -- Exodus 4:27-31

Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.   Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.  Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people.  So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.

Much earlier in this chapter, at the verse 14 point, God tells Moses his brother Aaron is coming to meet him in the wilderness and he will be glad to see him.  And so it happens, just as God arranged and foretold Moses.  The text says they met at the “mountain of God” and there kissed as brothers.  This “mountain” because of how the text refers to it, is likely the same mountain that God had just met with Moses and tried to kill him (see earlier discussion on previous verses to this passage).  The implication is that either Aaron had made great haste to get there, or God had already got him going towards Moses before His meeting and dealing with Moses’ sin of omission.  The mountain is said to be Mt. Sinai in the Horeb range of mountains.  In case you are wondering about the “brotherly” kiss, do keep in mind that they had not seen each other for forty years as we are told in Acts 7:29,30.

Whatever was between God and Moses, God considered it all taken care of.  And God had even arranged for welcoming arms of the person who would help Moses in his task.  Now, what was left was for Moses, with Aaron’s help, to carry out all that God had instructed him to do.

He begins by telling Aaron all that God had said – what the mission was, what tools were available, and how it was going to be carried out.  Because Moses had followed the instructions perfectly, we read of no ‘flack’ from Aaron; he was totally committed.

Together, knowing their roles, they went to the people of Israel as represented through their elders from the various tribes.  Keep in mind that they needed to “assemble” them all together, first.  This could have taken days or longer.  Their numbers were great and the distances some elders had to travel could have been significant, not to mention they didn’t have cellphones with which to text each other.  Once that was accomplished, Aaron shared what God had said to Moses and Moses performed the signs that God had empowered him with in order that the Israelites would accept his authority.  This was crucial as he had left as a man forty years younger and was only now returning to his people.

[As I wrote that last sentence immediately above, an interesting thought came to my mind.  Is Moses the first of many over the ages who have this strong urge to return to their people and do ministry among them?  I have heard of many Christians who may have emigrated to a new land with their parents while they themselves were young; and then many years later, they were called to be full-time missionaries ‘back home’ among their own people.  I think God works that way, moving His workers about the earth for training and then assigning them often to their homeland where they would be most effective.]

Once again, we note, because God’s instructions were followed to the letter, there was no argument from the people of Israel.  The text says they simply believed.  And furthermore, it says, when they heard about the heart of God for them, they “bowed low and worshipped”.  No ifs, buts, or whys.

What are the lessons for us?  First, when God gives us instructions, we are not to try and improve on them.  They come from the master strategist who controls all things.  Our plan and our way is not better;  but it is the ‘best’ when it follows His plan and His way.

Second, when God sends us a messenger or two, and shares His heart with us telling us how much He loves you and me, do we listen, do we believe, and do we bow low and worship Him?  It is important for the Christian to be constantly open to a message from God – through His Word, or His servants (that is in keeping with His Word).  And we are to have our own souls touched by it.  We are to be moved by God’s love for us.  And then we are to “bow low” and worship Him through praise and service and total commitment to His plans for our lives.  It is my prayer today that you have the capacity by which to do that regularly.

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

God Seeks To Kill Moses -- Exodus 4:24-26

Now it came about at the lodging-place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.  Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.”  So He let him alone.  At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” – because of the circumcision.

One cannot read the text above without wondering what on earth is going on.  God had just finished giving Moses an incredible assignment that required him to return to Egypt and now on the journey, God meets him (possibly, as Matthew Henry suggests, via a sword-wielding angel) and seeks to put him to death.  Well, let us see what we can make of it.

Clearly, the overwhelming opinion of almost all who write on this subject is that God was angry with Moses because he had not circumcised his son.  As this was a major instruction as part of the covenant God had made with His people, there was no way God would use Moses as long as this was the case.  Some think he did circumcise his first-born in keeping with God’s commands, but his wife, Zipporah, was so appalled at the blood-filled rite that she out rightly refused to allow Moses to have their second son go through the same experience.  So, when God attacked Moses, it was Zipporah who knew what it was all about and put a stop to it by doing what she did.

But let me go out on a limb here and suggest something very different, only as a possibility. 

The first thing that comes to our attention is that this happened “at a lodging-place” on the way to Egypt.  This phrase may suggest that this account happened during the night, while Moses was sleeping, and that it was all a dream.  We cannot be adamant about that, but the prospect exists.  We also note that the action changes very quickly, without notice or normal transition, from the Lord seeking to put him to death to his wife circumcising his son and yelling at Moses.  [Some would argue that the author of Exodus, Moses himself, did not want to give us all the details but I am not so sure, based on his usual writing style elsewhere, that he would have spared us as many details as he seems to.] All of this leads me to accept the dream hypothesis as a very plausible one.  There is lots of action, with no strong evident connecting points.  It makes even more sense when we consider that Moses was weary from his travels and had much on his mind as he considered the future.

Of course, one could also take the ‘literal’ approach.  But here are the implications -- God in the form of an angel, commences to attack Moses.  Did Zipporah actually see the actual Lord in order to put a stop to the fighting as the text may suggest?  Again, I do not think so.  Moses’ wife, Zipporah, ‘surprises’ God by, rather than coming to Moses’ defense, she actually blames her husband for what is going on.  She expresses her strong feelings by circumcising her son right there and then (could she really do this successfully especially given the fact she thought it so abhorrent? Perhaps) and throwing the foreskin at Moses’ feet (further proof of her anger) while calling him a “bridegroom of blood” which the text says refers to the fact that Moses had tried to introduce circumcision to her family but she had resisted and Moses never insisted on doing so.  As a result of her actions, God stops His attack on Moses, or otherwise, we can surmise, He would have killed him.  For all the above, I tend to think that the account here cannot easily be taken literally.

There is yet another school of thought that makes a lot of sense.  It suggests that Moses was fully aware of his sin and during the night, while examining his relationship with God, he realized its presence.  This may have driven him temporarily mad or to become mentally undone because of his failure to please God, especially as he knew he was going to lead the people of Israel for God.  This in turn may have resulted in a fever or a seizure, causing Zipporah to be greatly alarmed.  Or, this realization of Moses was followed by a one of those husband-wife discussions that turns into an argument, in this case over the matter of the circumcision of their son.  Worried about her husband as well as possibly her own future, she goes out and circumcises her son, not willing to fight it any longer.  (She uses a piece of flint rock readily available in the dessert there – evidence of which I have seen myself in a visit to Israel.)

We will not know the answer to the question of what really took place in the physical world until we can ask our Lord.  But as always, we should try to see what this account given in scripture might have to say to us.  What can we learn from it?

Whether the action portrayed here literally happened or whether it was a direction given to Moses in a dream, does not change the ‘content’ of what God was trying to convey to him, and perhaps to us.  The fact that God is willing to use you and me to accomplish His plan for mankind does not mean that He is willing to accept sin in our lives.  Sometimes He expects us to get rid of it ourselves; other times He’ll see to it that it is eliminated.  Either way, the sin has to go before He fully engages us in executing the plan He wants us to carry out.

Maybe the sin standing in your way is not as obvious as the one Moses committed by failing to carry out a key commandment of God’s.  Maybe it is just an attitude or a desire or a stubbornness based on false premises.  Maybe it is a sin of commission, but it could also be a sin of omission.  Whatever it is, we must identify it, confess it, and end it.

The implication in our passage is that Moses had his sin dealt with – either by Zipporah at the time God was fighting with him, or by his own action afterwards, if this were a dream.  We know that for God, as later verses and chapters tell us, allowed him to live and to carry out the purpose for which He had selected him.  It is my prayer that this be true in our lives as well.  I pray we can all be ready to do whatever it takes to eliminate any sin in our lives preventing God from using us in the way He wants to.

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

God Calls Israel His “First-Born” -- Exodus 4:22-23

"Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My first-born.  So I said to you, ‘Let My son go, that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go.  Behold, I will kill your son, your first-born."'"

We often think of God as “our Father” and there are several passages throughout Scripture that talk of His being just that.  They demonstrate His love and care for us.  But these particular two verses do much more.  They outline unequivocally God’s passionate relationship with Israel, a relationship that carries with it, not only the feelings about one’s ‘first-born’, but also the rights of the first-born.  Here are just some of the thoughts that God has brought to my mind during my study of these verses:

1.     Not everyone will agree that everything we read in the Bible that deals with a specific circumstance, such as this task that Moses has been given, is in fact ‘transferable’ to other aspects of the Christian life and to other times.  I take the position that each and every instance needs to be examined carefully to ensure we are not doing so where there is no other complimentary support for it, or just to support a particular position we may hold.  I also take the position, however, that God’s actual statements, because one of His characteristics is that of being consistent, do in fact apply to all time and all circumstances.

2.     With that in mind then, I believe that whatever God says in these verses, we can share with the world. In this case, it is Pharaoh that represents the world at the time.  The position that God took with respect to the people of Israel is to be heard by us, believed and accepted by us, and shared with others.  At the very least, it cannot be ignored or made insignificant.

3.     God clearly says here “Israel is His first-born.”  I notice in the NASB version of Scripture, at least, there is no capital on ‘first-born’.  This is important because elsewhere we read about Jesus being God’s begotten and/or only Son where the ‘S’ is indeed capitalized. I believe there is a distinction between Christ as the Son of God and part of the Godhead itself, and Israel, God’s ‘first-born’ human ‘son’ or ‘people group’.

4.     With language and emotion so strongly expressed by God, I believe we err if we start thinking that God has abandoned Israel in the 21^st century.  It is my belief He has not.  I am not suggesting He is any more happier with them now than He was with some of them in Moses’ day, or most of them in the days of the prophets and the kings, but I see no Scriptural evidence whatsoever that He has actually given them up.  But He has adopted additional sons and daughters, of which I as a Gentile am one as noted below.

5.     In the passage being studied here, God also does not say, “My only son”.  Staying with the idea of a small ‘s’ on the word ‘son’, the wording is such that there is room in the future for other ‘sons’ that will come into the family of God.  Through the “only begotten Son (capital ‘S’)” salvation and access to God was extended to Gentiles and all the peoples of the earth in addition to God’s ‘first-born’, the people of Israel.

6.     Clearly God stays very much abreast of what is going on with His children.  He knew what was happening to the people of Israel – both to those that had stayed true to Him in their worship, but also to those that were being enticed to forget Him.  He also knew that they were all in bondage.  God was making a critical point in this communication, “My child, my son, is not intended to be in bondage.  He/she is to be free.  Period.  No ifs, buts, or whys.”  And God will take no prisoners to assure us that freedom.  That is one of the greatest gifts we have from God – our freedom to worship Him and live joyful godly lives.  God knows when we are in bondage to our ‘pharaoh’ – be he a real person or some other god or idol we worship or are under the control of.

7.     This passage, as supported in so many other passages in Scripture, clearly indicates that God wants His children (in this case his first-born Israel) to “serve Him”.  There is no getting around this.  You cannot be a true child of God without having the desire to serve God, and then doing all you can to actually satisfy that positive and godly desire.  Many of us try.  But as we look around us, we see so many so-called “members of the body of Christ” living daily for themselves.  We may be one of them.  And I am not talking about having “moments of natural lapses or failures”; I am talking about day after day, month after month, totally existing for one’s own self and pleasure, without regard to what God would have this ‘child of His’ do.

8.     God was also aware that Pharaoh was blocking the children of Israel’s ability to serve Him in addition to keeping them in bondage as mistreated slaves.  He knew Pharaoh had no plans to let them go.  God has not changed.  He knows exactly who our enemies are and/or what exactly it is that has a stronghold on us.  Our job, as it was Moses’ job, and all the people of Israel’s job, is to look to Him and lean on Him for deliverance.  But once free, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we have been “delivered” from our bondage for the purpose of “serving Him”.

9.     In the very last portion of this passage, God is sending Pharaoh a clear warning, “Because you did not let my first-born go, I will kill your son, your first-born.”  In essence, God is saying, “Did you miss the message Moses?  My first-born, my child is not intended to be bound in slavery.  I want them freed.  Now.  Or else.”   Those are very, very strong words for a loving God and many an individual skeptic will take great joy in pointing that out.  The fact remains that God indeed loves; He cares and protects His children.  He gives all mankind an opportunity to enter into that family.  But He is also a God of justice and woe to anyone who ultimately decides to take Him on.  Satan found that out when He was kicked out of heaven for wanting to be equal or mightier than God and started deceiving God’s creation.  Kings and rulers over the centuries have found that out when they start playing God.  The enemies of our Heavenly Father, our enemies, will be taken care of by God one way or another, in God’s appointed time.  You can count on that.  Sometimes, He delivers blows that hurt them greatly – like the loss of their first-born in this case as we will see later in our study – because He stills has a role for them to play in His plan for mankind (Israel in this instance); other times, He takes their own life.

This passage gives a very strong picture of God as a Father who passionately goes to all lengths to protect His children.  He does not want you and me to live as slaves.  He wants us free.  Do you realize that?   I would not want to be the one outside of His family bullying God’s children.  I want to be under His wings as one of His children.  I pray that is your desire as well.  I pray your position is safely in His everlasting arms.
 

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

“Follow All the Instructions but I’ll Harden Pharaoh’s Heart” -- Exodus 4:21

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”

Either before Moses left for Egypt with his family, or on the way, God reminds him that he is to perform all the wonders that He had put in his power once he got to see the Pharaoh.  Following only some of the instructions would not suffice any more than when we are ill, taking only some of our prescribed medicines, or every other dose, ordered by the doctor, would allow the bacterial infection in our body to be cured. We cannot partially obey God if we are to receive His blessing in the particular endeavor we are involved in.

I find the phrase “wonders I have put in your power” of interest.  Few commentaries elaborate on it.  But think of it.  The Almighty God takes an ordinary person like Moses, you, or I; calls him to undertake a task on His behalf; and then actually gives him ‘wonders’ to be used in a prescribed way but under the man’s (or woman’s) own control to provide the power by which the task will be completed.  Entire books can be written about this, but here let us simply remind ourselves that it is possible.  Let us believe it.  Let us not seek it inappropriately or for the wrong reasons, but let us not miss it, either.

In this same passage we are confronted with one of the most difficult actions of God to explain to skeptics.  God tells Moses that He was going to “harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the Israelites go”.  Now why on earth (or in heaven for that matter) would God plan to do that, and furthermore, tell us about in advance?  Did He not know the troubles this would cause us as we went about fulfilling the Great Commission in the future?

Chuck Smith, writing on this in his C200 Series commentary, presents us with an interesting perspective as to what is going on here.  He suggests that the word Hebrew word we have translated as “harden” in this case is a word that literally means “strengthen”.  Smith continues,

““I will make strong his heart”. Now as we read of Moses’ dealings with Pharaoh [later on]. . . we read “Pharaoh hardened his heart”.  The word there in Hebrew is hardened.  “And Pharaoh hardened his heart”.  And then we read, “and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.”  Different Hebrew word.  “The Lord made firm the heart of Pharaoh”, or “the Lord strengthened the heart of Pharaoh.”  In other words, Pharaoh set his heart and God strengthened him in that position.  “You want to be stubborn?  All right, I’ll strengthen you in your stubbornness so I can really bop you good.”  That’s basically what it was. . . . Pharaoh set his heart against the Lord, and God strengthened him in his position . . . [so that] He’ll not let the people go.”

The commentator David Guzik in his study of Exodus reminds us that whenever God hardened (or strengthened) Pharaoh’s heart, He never did it against Pharaoh’s will.  He writes,

Pharaoh never said, "Oh, I want to do what is good and right and I want to bless these people of Israel" and God answered, "No, for I will harden your heart against them!" When God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He allowed Pharaoh's heart to do what Pharaoh wanted to do - God was giving Pharaoh over to his sin (Romans 1:18-32) . . . “God does not harden men by putting evil into them, but by not giving them mercy." (Augustine)
And Matthew Henry in his commentary on this passage, writes,

That Pharaoh’s obstinacy might be no surprise nor discouragement to him [Moses], God tells him before that he would harden his [Pharaoh’s] heart. Pharaoh had hardened his own heart against the groans and cries of the oppressed Israelites, and shut up the bowels of his compassion from them; and now God, in a way of righteous judgment, hardens his heart against the conviction of the miracles, and the terror of the plagues.

So there you have it.  I believe the skeptics will still not be satisfied but then again maybe nothing will satisfy them.  On the other hand, our goal is to have Christians be able to better understand some of the more difficult points in Scripture.  We do not have to defend God’s thinking or rationale or intentions; we just need to try and understand them.  What we still do not understand, we accept by ‘faith’ that it is indeed His Way.

Finally, I cannot leave this section without making reference to one of my favorite words in the Bible, that three-letter word once again – “but”.  God seems to be saying, “Moses do exactly as I tell you; but even though you do, I’ll still harden Pharaoh’s heart.”  Now what is that all about?  It seems that sometimes we do what God says and then He goes and thwarts our efforts. Matthew Henry may have an answer for that.  He warns us, especially those of us who are pastors or ministry leaders, to expect that our labor may often be in vain.  He writes, “we must not think it strange if we meet with those who will not be wrought upon by the strongest arguments and fairest reasonings.” And in Moses’ case, God even tells him in advance that this will happen.  Allow me to suggest something that is really difficult for us (especially those of us who are ‘type-A’ personalities who always want the ‘goal’ to be met) to accept.  The primary point of you following all of God’s instructions is often not the end result or impact your action will have on a situation – God can take care of that totally on His own.  The whole point of you following God’s instructions, and yes, sometimes with no success, is that you learn to be totally obedient to Him and trusting Him to do what is best for you, for others, and for the world.  We must get to the point where, as Charles Price said in a sermon from Isaiah 31, it becomes natural for us to “look to God” in order to “lean on God”, so that we can be able to “listen to God”.

Where are you and I on the path He wants us to travel?

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

Moses Returns To Egypt -- Exodus 4:18-20

Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.”  And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”   Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”  So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt.  Moses also took the staff of God in his hand. 

I like how this passage of Scripture begins with the phrase, “Then Moses departed.”  No more arguments, no more pleas to God.  There was only silence, followed by obedience.  Something happened in Moses’ heart.  Was it simply a desire to return to his people or was it a genuine feeling of, “I cannot argue with the Almighty any longer”?  I suggest the latter.  I believe there comes a point in our lives when we cannot challenge God any longer, we must obey.

So to put that plan into action, Moses now has to turn to his father-in-law and ask him for permission to take his daughter (Moses’ wife) and the children and go to Egypt.  In so doing, it is interesting to note that Moses does not tell Jethro a lie, but neither does he reveal God’s entire plan for the children of Israel coming out of Egypt and what his part in it was to be.  Perhaps if he did, Jethro would have had great resistance in allowing his daughter and grandchildren to go with him.  Instead, God had arranged for Jethro to bless Moses and send him and his family off “in peace”.

During all this, God is also close at hand.  While Moses is still in Midian, God gives him more assurance and comfort.  He informs him that all those who would have had him dead, from the men that eventually heard he had killed an Egyptian to perhaps the Pharaoh himself -- all of them were dead.  The way was clear for him to return and carry out his assignment.  If that had been a secret fear of Moses, that somehow he might fall again into their hands, God dealt with it.  God knows what causes us to have fear or lack of confidence and He can take care of all those things as well when He sends us to do His work.  He did that for Moses.  Robert Jamieson, writing on this verse in his commentary The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus, says, “The death of the Egyptian monarch took place in the four hundred and twenty-ninth year of the Hebrew sojourn in that land, and that event, according to the law of Egypt, took off his proscription of Moses, if it had been publicly issued.”

And with that, Moses, now approximately eighty years old, takes his family, puts them on a donkey (or two) and he returns to Egypt, carrying with him the authority of God as represented physically by the staff he held tightly in his hand.

What we have here is a simple resolve to embark on a difficult journey, but with the knowledge that one is going on God’s business, reassured by God, and in God’s power, carrying His Word.  What a place for anyone to be in.

Where are you today?  Are you still working on your last argument to present to God in apposition to His instructions for your life?  Or are you ready to embark on a life journey with Him as a representative of His interests in the world?

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

Moses’ Fifth and Last Objection To His Calling -- Exodus 4:13-17

But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever Thou wilt.”  Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite?  I know that he speaks fluently.  And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.  And you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do.  Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and it is shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him.  And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

Sometimes I think the word ‘but’ should be banned from our lexicon of words to be used when speaking to the Almighty God.  Then upon further reflection, I realize that God can well handle the ‘buts’ we so often cry out to Him, thank you very much.  He wants us to share our concerns and objections with what He may be asking or doing or not doing because He is indeed able to answer them.  He is also able to give us what we need as we move forward in faith, to carry out His will.

So, it is with Moses, as he tries for the fifth time now to change God’s mind with respect to the assignment He is giving him.   And he even pleads saying, “Please, Lord”.  And what is it Moses is begging God to do?  Well, it’s to send someone else, anybody else, anybody but Moses.  Most of you reading this know the end of the story, so you can imagine what Moses would have missed had God listened to his plea.

Can you imagine knowing the almighty God and turning down His invitation to be part of a great step in His plan for mankind?  [I recently saw the movie Lincoln and I realized that Lincoln was so in tune with not missing the opportunity God was giving him to end slavery in America.  Can you imagine where we would all be today if he didn’t take that risk to do God’s bidding?]  Can you imagine what excitement you could miss if God agreed with your objections to His assignment and gave you a day (or a life for that matter) off?  I would not to miss what He had in store for me.  God picks the very best for us when He hands out His assignments.  He does not want us to miss these opportunities to be further molded and developed in His service.

So it was with Moses and thus the Scripture says, “the anger of the Lord burned against Moses”.   Not a good place to be in, Moses.  Not a good place for any of us to be in – having the anger of the Lord raging against us.  But even at that, God continues to provide a way for Moses to understand that he could do this and that God will be with him.  God knew about Moses’ brother Aaron who did speak fluently (unlike Moses with his stuttering problem).  God knew Aaron was also eager to do what God wanted done.   God would give Moses the words He wanted him to share.  Moses would speak those privately to Aaron.  Aaron would eloquently speak them to the people of Israel and later to the ruler of Egypt.  “And by the way, Moses, don’t forget to take along this staff with which I showed you that you can perform the necessary signs.”

What is the significance of God’s mentioning that Aaron was “coming out to meet” Moses and that he would be “glad in his heart when he sees you”?  Let me suggest this. God knows about the fact that we cannot do everything He asks us to do alone.  So He gives us Brothers and Sisters who are seriously interested, not in their agenda, but in helping as achieve what God would have us do.  I see this in the missions that I am involved in and I see it in my own personal life.  These are people that rejoice in being partners with us.  But in these few verses we also find an awesome responsibility for those that are being helped – perhaps for you and I.

God says to Moses, “I will be with your mouth” and “I will teach you what you are to do”.  And later on, Aaron “will speak for you” and “you shall be as God to him.”  Consider the implication of that for us who lead.   Yes, God will give us helpers.  But we are to get our instructions from God and pass them on to them.  These are not to be the instructions we make up, but the instructions that God gives us.  The responsibility on us as leaders to be in good communion and relationship with God is great.  And the way we are to treat and deal with the partners He has given us (be it our spouse, our family, our team, our friends) is to be like God to them.  In this case, this means we are to treat them with love, kindness, godly direction, and so on.

And let us not forget that besides those that are to help us, we hold in our hands the tools God has given us to do the tasks He has assigned us.  The Word of God, His Promises, and the Holy Spirit are our “staff” which we hold and as He directs, we can do wonders and perform the signs He would have us perform.

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