Day 33: Exodus 24:1-25:9 “The Old Covenant Confirmed. The Lord Will Dwell Among His People.”

God told Moses to bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders to come worship at a distance. Only Moses was told to approach the Lord.

When Moses told the people all of the laws, they responded, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”

24:4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

A few weeks ago, I was at church. The sermon was great, but in the midst of the service, the Lord spoke to me. I will never forget this moment, because for the first time, I had such a strong leading to write down what the Lord had said. I opened the Notes on my phone and wrote down His instructions. I look at them often as a reminder, and I encourage you to do the same the next time you hear anything specific  from the Lord to you.

The next morning, Moses got up early, built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and had young men make sacrifices. He put half of the blood in bowls and sprinkled the other half on the altar.

24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”

24:8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

I love this, because it reminds me of the words spoken during communion. Communion reminds us of the new covenant with Christ, but this very moment was the blood of the Original Covenant being made with the Israelites.

24:9-11 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Amazing. Oh that we would be reminded that although God is big enough to create the universe, He is also able to be near to us and speak with us face to face.

24:15-16 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 

I rarely have the patience to wait 7 minutes to hear from the Lord in prayer. Lord, give us the ears to hear your instructions, the willingness to obey, and the patience to wait until you speak again.

24:17-18 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

The Lord proceeded to tell Moses what materials the Israelites should give as an offering.

25:8-9 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.”

The Lord had mens’ hearts prompt them to give so that the people would have the materials needed to carry out His plans.

In the preceding verses, the Lord told Moses that some would give blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and some would give goat hair. Not everyone was to give gold or silver. We need to remember that when the Lord prompts our hearts to give, it is on purpose. It may not be giving something that makes sense to us, but if the Lord prompts, let us trust Him and bring forth our offering with confidence that He has a plan.

Thank you for this day. Thank you for Jesus, who made it possible to encounter you personally. Thank you that we no longer need to stand and worship you from a distance. Draw near to us, Lord, and let us draw near to you. Your word says you desire our very lives, so that we may be living sacrifices. You showed us in this passage that your offerings have a purpose. Show us your purpose for each of our lives, and let us trust you. Amen.

 

Day 32: Exodus 20:18-23:33 “God’s Ways Of Justice and The Game Plan For Taking The Promised Land.”

You may have read these before, but as you read them now, notice how they are all meant to look out for and care for people. They are given out of love to protect and keep order.

When the people saw the smoke and heard the trumpet, they were afraid.

20  Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

The Lord told Moses,

23 “Do not make any gods to be alongside me.”

Is there anything that you’re trusting in more than or as much as God? Perhaps a career, relationship, or money? While these are good things, God just wants us to elevate him above all other things and people in our hearts and lives.

In verse 26, God told Moses to not build altars requiring steps. This is interesting considering the many other religions with temples which have so many steps.

Chapter 21 begins with God giving rules about owning servants. They were actually very kind laws. If a Hebrew servant was purchased, he was to be completely released after six years of work. If a woman was sold as a servant, she couldn’t be passed along to foreigners if she did not please her master. If she was purchased for a son, she was to have the rights of a daughter. If she was not provided with food, clothes, and marital rights, she was to be released.

21:12 said that any premeditated murder was to result in the death of the murderer. Verse 13 says that if it was unintentional, his life could be spared, but he should flee to a designated place.

21:15, 16 states that anyone who attacks his mother or father must be put to death, as well as anyone who kidnaps someone.

21:17 “Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”

21:18 states that if someone injures someone else, they must pay restitution to the injured party.

21:23-25 “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

Verse 28 states that if a bull kills a person, that animal must be put to death. If the bull has a history of doing this and the owner has been irresponsible, the owner is also to be put to death.

Chapter 22 continues with cases involving theft. In most cases, restitution was to be made. In many cases, the victim was to be paid back double for his loss.

22:16 says that any man who sleeps with a virgin must pay the bride-price and marry her.

22:18 “Do not allow a sorceress to live.”

22:19 “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death.”

22:20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed.”

22:21 “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.”

22:22-24 “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.”

22:29 “You must give me the firstborn of your sons.”

23:1 “Do not spread false reports.”

23:2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”

23:10-12 says to sow and harvest for 6 years, then to let the poor and animals get food from it on the 7th year; also to work 6 days and rest on the 7th day to be refreshed.

23:13 “Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.”

23:19 “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.”

God doesn’t just want our leftovers (time, money, love). He wants us to love him and honor him first with our best.

I think the 20th verse of Chapter 23 starts one of the most fascinating overlooked passages in the Old Testament. Perhaps for the sake of time and importance, people often highlight the “bigger” stories like crossing the Red Sea or being given the Ten Commandments. I usually skim through the laws, and I have missed the importance of this passage until now.

23:20-21 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says.”

God assured the people that they would be guarded and led. Like the Garden of Eden on Day 1’s post, we see that God had already prepared this place for his people. By natural eyes though, I’m sure it did not appear that way. Let us walk in obedience to His voice so that we never ascertain the situation ourselves by sight and miss out on His prepared promises and goodness.

23:22-23 “If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.” 

God was going to take care of business. Many of the promises of God are conditional though. It is so important to look carefully at what we are instructed to do in order to receive His promise.

23:24 “Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.”

This is something we must be careful of as a nation. Many Christians follow the practices of religions which worship other gods. These practices are often “secularized” and are made common in society (like the use of Reiki, Qi Gong, work with Chakras (which work with gods), and energy work). God forbids this. He, alone, is the Lord Almighty and is more than enough for all of our needs.

23:25-26 “Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

That is an amazing promise given to us. Even though it is phrased differently, note the promise is still conditional.

23:27-30 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. 

I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 

I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites out of your way.

But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

Whew. Isn’t God good? I have missed this passage my entire life. I have always wondered how only Joshua and Caleb could explore the promised land and have the faith to inhabit it after all God had done at the Red Sea, but this makes me wonder how the whole nation didn’t have faith in God to inhabit the land. He had just revealed His game plan. He even included the reasons for why there would seem to be delays so that the people would not get discouraged during that time. God specified it was for their benefit. God asked so little in exchange for providing so much. God said he would take care of things.

23:31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the desert to the River (Euphrates). 

I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you.”

Ah. The conditions before required something between the people and God. This conditional promise required something from the Israelites regarding the people they would encounter.

The Israelites’ fear and consideration of man kept them from their inheritance. Oh that we would never let fear or pleasing people stop us from moving forward.

Chapter 23 ends with instructions to not make a covenant with the other people or their gods and to not let them live in the land since they would influence the Israelites to sin.

Lord, thank you for your ways. They are great, and they show how much you care about your people. Reveal the areas of my life and decisions I make which are not pleasing to you. Show us if there are any practices of other gods which we need to stop. Let us worship you. 

May people who have had things stolen or destroyed be payed back with increased portions. Please restore what has been taken from your people. 

Thank you for your love- that you would encourage your people in your presence so that they would be confident in the journey to come. Let us be confident in the journey as we love, obey, and worship you. Remove any hindrance to us inhabiting the places and opportunities you have prepared for us. Amen.

 

Day 31: Exodus 18:1-20:17 “The First Judge and The Ten Commandments”

Chapter 18 starts with Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, bringing Moses’ daughter and two sons to visit Moses in the desert. Moses told Jethro all about their adventures. Jethro’s response is interesting.

11 “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.”

12 Jethro brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

What a profound picture, but the Bible says God inhabits the praises of his people.

13-14 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When Jethro saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked what he was doing. “Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you?”

15-16 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”

Jethro told Moses that what he was doing was not good and would wear out everyone. He advised Moses to teach the people the decrees and laws and to show them the way to live. He told Moses to select capable men from all the people, men who feared God, were trustworthy and hated dishonest gain, and to have them as officials over increments of people from tens to thousands.

22-23 “Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you. That will make your load lighter. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

Moses did as he was advised and Jethro went back to his own country.

Wow. What a blessing to have a wise father-in-law. It also says a lot about Moses that he stood before God himself, yet knew when to listen to another man for counsel.

Chapter 19 begins by telling of the people camping in front of Mount Sinai three months to the day after leaving Egypt. Moses went up to God, and God gave him instructions to tell the people. If they obeyed, He would make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Moses told the elders of Israel, and they said they would do everything the Lord said.

Moses returned to God, telling him the elders’ response.

9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.”

God told Moses to consecrate the people, have them wash their clothes, and have them ready by the third day. He also told Moses to put boundaries around the mountain because if any man or animal touched it before the long ram’s horn sound, they would be put to death.

19:16-19 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

How cool.

20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.

God told Moses to remind the people that they couldn’t touch the mountain. He also told him to go get Aaron and bring him up the mountain as well.

20:1-17 And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

You shall have no other gods besides me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 

Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Lord, thank you for your directions. You are a God of order, and you love us to live in unity. Help us to be unified as your people and help us to obey your laws and live in a way that is pleasing to you.

 

Day 30: Exodus 15:22-17:16 “Manna, Grumbling, Provision, and Some Stubborn People”

Have you ever felt like God wasn’t providing?

After a miraculous deliverance through the Red Sea, Moses led the people into the Desert Of Shur.

22 For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.

No matter how bad things have been, I am thankful that I have always had access to water.

Lord, let me not take that for granted. Thank you for clean water.

Understandably, the people started to grumble.

25-26 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the (bitter) water and it became sweet. There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”

Once again, Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord answered and provided. He also gave a very specific promise of blessing IF the Israelites did what was asked of them. Whether it was Moses having to ask and then throwing wood in the water or the Israelites having to listen and obey, God often required a person to do something before He acted. He often required participation as part of the condition to his answers.

On the fifteenth day of the second month, the Israelites set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin. Once more, they began to grumble.

16:3 “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

Sometimes the discomfort of deliverance can cause people to have selective amnesia about their past.

The Lord provided, but again, wanted to test the Israelites.

4-5 The Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

Moses and Aaron told the Israelites the plan, and they asked what the point was of grumbling to them.

8 “Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

I once read Beth Moore’s description of the word glory to be (paraphrased) when the presence of God tangibly manifests in some way.

God wanted to be glorified. He wanted the people to know who He was.

12 The Lord told Moses, “Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.'”

The Lord provided quail and manna and Moses gave the people the Lord’s instructions.

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Can you imagine walking between walls of water on dry ground through the Red Sea? Then having bread appear on the ground from God? And yet people still paid no attention to instructions. Oh, that I would not be that stubborn to the Lord’s instructions.

The sixth day came and the people gathered twice as much as instructed so that the seventh day would be a sabbath to the Lord.

27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you people refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?”

The Lord instructed them to take an amount of manna and store it away in order to show future generations what the Lord had provided.

35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

As the people set out from the Desert of Sin, they traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded them.  While camping in Rephidim, there was no water so they quarreled with Moses again.

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

God told Moses to walk ahead with some of the elders and his rod/staff.

6 “I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

Chapter 17 ends with the Amalekites coming to attack the Israelites. Moses told Joshua to choose some men and go fight them while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill with the staff of God.

11-12 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up- one on one side, one on the other- so that his hands remained steady till sunset.

14-16 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it.” Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord.”

We now know that the distance between Egypt and Canaan was not so far that it should have taken 40 years. I wonder though if it took 40 years for the people to start trusting and obeying the Lord. After all, it would take a miracle with faith and obedience to enter into the already-occupied land of Canaan. Maybe God needed to know the people were ready for it.

Sometimes God delivers people from a place of slavery, but they wander the rest of their lives in the wilderness because they’re not ready to fully surrender to the Lord in order to enter the promised land.

I believe God still tests us. I believe He will take us as far as we are willing to obey. This is personally my greatest challenge.

Lord, thank you for answering prayers. You are faithful to provide. Your blessings and promises are amazing, yet I can be so stubborn. Let me hear your voice clearly and obey you. May we lay our stubbornness down and trade in our way for yours.

 

Day 29: Exodus 13:17-15:21 “The Red Sea- God Fights Our Battles, Let’s Not Be Afraid”

Although the Israelites seemed to leave in a hurry, Moses got Joseph’s remains to take with them as had been promised.

The following verses are counted in the top ten most influential passages for my own life.

17-18 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around to the Red Sea.

There is so much to take from this. If I knew I was going to Canaan, I would have been inclined to take the most direct route. But God alone knew what obstacles and challenges were along that path, and instead of risking that the Israelites’ free will could take them back to the land of slavery, he took them another path- towards the Red Sea- never mind that it was a body of water and “naturally” impossible to cross.

21-22 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

14:1-4 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp near Pi Hahiroth by the sea. Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.

The display of power with the plagues hadn’t been enough. God wanted the Egyptians to know that He was the Lord. The Israelites agreed to camp there, but I doubt they understood that Pharaoh would soon pursue them. God’s plan was to be known and glorified, and that involved provoking enemies to pursue God’s people who had been led by Him to be (seemingly) trapped in the desert.

When the king of Egypt was told about the Israelites, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. They took an army of the 600 best chariots with all the other chariots in Egypt.

8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites.

All Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, horsemen, and troops pursued the Israelites.

As Pharaoh approached, the people saw them and were terrified.

11-12 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you, “Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

How quickly people were to blame a person when God was clearly the one who led them out. It’s also interesting how easily they forgot the horrors of their slavery and past life which they had cried out to be saved from for so long.

13-14 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

God told Moses to raise his staff over the waters to divide the water so the Israelites could walk through on dry ground.

19-20 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night, the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

The waters were divided, the Israelites crossed over, and the Egyptians pursued them into the sea.

24-25 The Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

After the Israelites passed through, God told Moses to stretch his hand back over the water, and the waters flowed back over the Egyptians. Not one of them survived.

30-31 Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

You’d think they would have done that after all the plagues. We humans can be stubborn creatures.

Chapter 15 begins with a song that Moses and the Israelites sang to the Lord telling of what He had done.

Below are several verses.

2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.

11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord?

13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

18 The Lord will reign for ever and ever.”

Our strength and our abilities are never required for what God wants to do with us and through us. If He seems to be leading you to a Red Sea, don’t question it. He can move mountains. All things are possible for Him and for us with his power. Oh, that we would rest in His power, trust in His love, and not limit the great works He wants to do so that those around us would know He is the Lord.

Father, you are mighty. In your strength and your love, you have redeemed me from my own slavery. I pray that everyone who is aware of their own weakness tonight would rest in your strength and your love. Your power is enough.

 

 

Day 28: Exodus 11:1-13:16 “The Last Plague, The Passover Lamb, & The Exodus”

4-5 Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.'”

God told Moses and Aaron to begin a new year with the current month.

12:3,5-6 “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. They must be year-old males without defect. Take care of them until the 14th day of the month, then all the people of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.”

7-10 “Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire- head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.”

11-13 “Eat it with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. That same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn- both men and animals- and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

God told them to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a festival to the Lord. For 7 days, people were to eat bread without yeast or else be cut off from Israel. A sacred assembly was to be held on the first and 7th day, and no work was to be done on those days at all except to prepare food for everyone to eat. This was to happen in the first month from the evening of the 14th day until the evening of the 21st day.

Moses told the elders of Israel to go at once and slaughter the Passover lamb.

22-23 “Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out his door until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

Moses told them to continue these instructions as a lasting ordinance for them and their descendants and to tell their children what the Lord had done.

27-28 The people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

The Lord struck down every firstborn at midnight.

30 There was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

Pharaoh immediately summoned Moses and Aaron and told them to go. The Israelites asked the Egyptians for clothing, silver, and gold, just as they had been instructed, and the Egyptians gave it to them, urging them to leave the country. The Israelites had lived in Egypt 430 years to the day.

The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth.

37 There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for generations to come.

God gave Moses and Aaron the regulations of Passover- no foreigner or temporary worker was to eat of it, but an alien living among them could if he and his whole family were circumcised. Also, none of the bones could be broken, and the meat could not be taken out of the house.

13:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.”

And so, the Lord delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians as He had promised.

Thank you for the Passover Lamb, Jesus. Thank you for giving your firstborn son so that death could passover us. Thank you for your blood, Jesus. Thank you for choosing to be sacrificed for me.

 

Day 27: Exodus 9:1-10:29 “More Plagues And More Miraculous Signs”

The plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, and flies weren’t enough to change Pharaoh’s mind. The Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh once again and give him these words.

2-4 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.

6 And the next day the Lord did it. 

Pharaoh sent men to investigate and confirm that not one of the Israelites’ animals had died, yet he remained unyielding.

This plague is the first one to mention the Lord himself carrying out the plague.

Two things are different about the next plague. Verse 8 says the Lord gave instructions to Moses and Aaron, and God didn’t say to command Pharaoh first. Instead, He just told him to take handfuls of soot and toss it in the air in front of Pharaoh. Moses did so and festering boils broke out on men and animals.

11-12 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

The Lord told Moses to confront Pharaoh in the morning and tell him God said to let the people go.

14-19 “or this time, I (God) will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.For by now I (God) could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have spared you for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.”

20-21 Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.

Moses stretched his hand out to the sky, and hail beat down everything in the land.

26 The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

By this time, the Israelites had to have changed their opinions toward Moses and Aaron. God was obviously up to something, and He was clearly sparing their lives and livestock.

Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said he had sinned and was in the wrong. Once again, Pharaoh asked Moses to pray to the Lord and said he would let the Israelites go. Moses said he would do so after he had left the city.

30 “But I know you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”

Moses left the city and prayed, and the hail stopped.

34-35 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts… just as the Lord had said through Moses.

10:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.”

Moses went back to Pharaoh with the promise of a plague of locusts if the Israelites were not released. This time, Pharaoh’s officials told him to let the Israelites go because Egypt was ruined. When Moses and Aaron were summoned to come back, Pharaoh asked who exactly Moses wanted to go, and he said all of the Israelites. Pharaoh insisted that only the men could go “since that’s what you have been asking for.”

That wasn’t what they had been asking for, so the Lord told Moses to stretch his hand over Egypt to bring about the plague. The locusts devoured everything that was left after the hail, and Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron again.

16 “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away.”

Pharaoh knew what the Lord wanted, but he only asked for forgiveness and for the consequence to go away. He still wouldn’t obey.

21 The Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt- darkness that can be felt.”

Moses did so and total darkness covered the land for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place.

23 Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

Pharaoh finally told Moses that all of the people could go worship the Lord. They just had to leave their flocks and herds behind.

Moses answered that they needed all their livestock for their sacrifices, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart again.

Pharaoh told Moses not to come back again or he would die, so Moses agreed to not appear before him again.

Thank you for your word. May your power continually be made known in this world. 

 

Day 26: Exodus 7:1-8:32 “Patience In The Process Of Deliverance & The Plagues Of Egypt”

2-5 The Lord said to Moses, “You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgement I will bring out my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

It’s interesting- God told Moses to do something, but then essentially said it wouldn’t work. “Go tell Pharaoh this, but he won’t listen to you.” Ever feel like God has told you to do something and it doesn’t seem to be working? I think those are the moments when we need to remember this story. God had a plan, and Pharaoh saying no was all a part of it.

Oh, and verse 7 says Moses was 80 and Aaron was 83 at the time. How’s that for a remarkable plan at that age!

I’m often surprised how many people aren’t aware of the power of magic and sorcery. As a young person, I was fascinated with the subject, but then learned that God forbids it. It’s not that other great spiritual forces don’t exist- after all, God is the one who created all spiritual beings. It’s just that God is the most powerful and in his love and jealousy has instructed us to only call upon the greatest power- himself.

Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and it turned into a snake. However, Pharaoh summoned the sorcerers and magicians who each threw down his own staff and had it turn into a snake.

12 But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

In terms of spiritual forces, I understand the excitement in the illusion of being able to conjure up things and perform miracles, however, God is the one and only Most High. He is the absolute supreme power.

The Lord told Moses what to do with Pharaoh the next morning-to take the same staff, tell Pharaoh what the Lord had to say, and instruct Aaron to hold the staff over the waters so that they would turn into blood.

Verse 20 says they did just as the Lord commanded, but it also says he struck the water of the Nile to change it into blood. The fish died and the river smelled. The Egyptians could not drink the water.

22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard.

Again, Pharaoh didn’t believe Moses and Aaron. After all, his magicians had just replicated the same plague.

25, 8:1 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile. Then the Lord said to Moses to go back to Pharaoh.

I imagine those days passed quite slowly for Moses and Aaron.

They returned to Pharaoh with the threatened consequence of a frog “infestation.” This time, however, Aaron stretched his hand over the waters as instructed.

7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts.

Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to pray for God to take the frogs away, and said he would release the Israelites. Moses asked Pharaoh for the exact time he wanted that prayer so that he would know “there is no one like the Lord our God.”

Moses prayed and the frogs died.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

God told Moses to tell Aaron to strike the ground with the staff, and he did so.

17 All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.

It’s interesting that at first, God told Moses to have Aaron stretch out his hand over the water, and he struck the water. The second plague, God told Moses to have Aaron stretch his hand over the water and he did so. The third plague, God told Moses to tell Aaron to strike the ground and he did so. Sometimes, God’s instructions are very specific.

It’s also interesting to note that the Bible says the Lord told Moses the instructions. Aaron must have had great faith to be able to be a part of such an important event while relying on the voice and instructions of the Lord through someone else.

18 When the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.

19 The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

God stepped it up another notch and told Pharaoh about the next plague. Swarms of flies would come on the land, but no swarms of flies would be in Goshen where the Israelites lived.

23 “I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.”

Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron that they could sacrifice to God “here in the land.” It wasn’t what they had asked for, but Pharaoh was trying to bargain.

Moses responded that since their sacrifices were detestable to the Egyptians, they needed to go three days into the desert as God had commanded.

28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

Moses had learned that Pharaoh could change his mind.

29 Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go.”

Moses prayed and the flies left, but Pharaoh still wouldn’t let the people go.

Lord, thank you for your deliverance. Let me be confident in your ways even when they seem to take longer than I like or appear to not be working. Your ways are good and I trust you. Let them know you are the Lord.

 

Day 25: Exodus 4:1-6:30 “Moses Definitely Didn’t Seem Excited About His Calling”

13 But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

Moses had a lot of questions for God. How was this going to work? How would people believe that God had actually told him to say this?

God gave him 3 miraculous signs- the first was to turn his rod into a snake.

3-4 Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.”

I love how the Bible speaks so simply about what I imagine was a humorous sight and a moment of courage for Moses.

The next two signs were to turn Moses’ hand into a leprous hand and back again, and then have water turn to blood as it was poured on the ground.

Moses argued that he had never been eloquent, but God replied that it didn’t matter.

11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

Go, and he will teach you and help you. How many times do we wait to say yes until we know exactly what we need to say or how it will work. Perhaps we need to go anyway and trust God to equip and teach us when the time comes.

After God had done and said all of this, Moses still wanted someone else to do it.

14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron? I know he can speak well.

Notice he didn’t pick the eloquent speaker to begin with.

15 “I will help both of you speak. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.”

It’s remarkable how God just compared the idea of Moses instructing Aaron and using him as a mouth piece to God instructing us and using us a mouthpiece. It really is the same if we learn to tune our hearts and spirits to his voice.

Moses returned to his father in law and asked to go back to Egypt.

19 The Lord had said to Moses, “Go back, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”

He also told Moses to perform the miracles for Pharaoh, even though God would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would say no.

22 “Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'”

Also, remember the king of Egypt had instructed the killing of all the newborn sons of the Israelites.

Apparently Moses’ son was not yet circumcised.

24-25 The Lord met him and was about to kill him, but Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched his feet with it.

Next time you’re having a bad day, just be thankful God’s not about to kill you but your mom saves the day by taking your foreskin off with a flint knife.

Just a thought.

God told Aaron to go meet Moses at the mountain, and Moses told him everything that had happened. They called together the elders of Israel to tell them and perform the miraculous signs for them, and they believed.

31 When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Moses and Aaron went to the Pharaoh as instructed, however the Pharaoh decided that the Israelites should start working harder, so ordered them all to make the same amount of bricks as before, but now instead of Pharaoh’s people supplying the straw, they would have to find the straw themselves. The Israelite foremen started getting beaten for not keeping up with the new, more difficult standards and they blamed Moses and Aaron.

Moses returned to God and asked why He had brought about more trouble.

5:23 “I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Sometimes things get worse before they get better.

God reassured Moses that Pharaoh would let the people go and that the people would inherit the land he promised to Abraham.

6:9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they didn’t listen because of their discouragement and cruel bondage. 

God told a frustrated Moses to go back to Pharaoh, but Moses asked why Pharaoh should listen to him if the Israelites had not.

Chapter 6 ends outlining a family tree and includes in verse 20 that Moses’ mother was married to her brother’s son.

I wonder if it would have been easier if Moses had just trusted God and done what he was told without trying to figure it all out. It seems like a lot of the battle was in his heart. Yes, things had just gotten worse, but in comparison to the peace that Joseph seemed to have in the midst of trials, I wonder if Moses had the same existing relationship with the Lord.

God, thank you for rescuing us. We may not understand your ways, but let us hold firmly to your word and promises no matter what our circumstances look like. Let us not doubt you based on sight, but trust you by faith. I believe you are for us and not against us. I believe your word is true. I thank you for all you have done and all you will do in my life, our lives, and the world. Convict our hearts today and forgive us where we have failed.

 

Day 24: Exodus 1:1-3:22 “Post-Birth Abortion/Murder and Moses”

6-14 Joseph and all his brothers died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. A new king, who didn’t know about Joseph, came to power. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous. We must deal shrewdly with them or they’ll become even more numerous, and if war breaks out, they’ll join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” 

So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly.

The King of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives to kill the babies at birth if they were boys.

17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Since the midwives wouldn’t do it, Pharaoh ordered everyone to throw newborn boys into the Nile.

A Levite couple gave birth to a son, and the mother hid him for three months. When it got harder to hide him, she coated a papyrus basket with pitch and tar and put him in the basket along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s daughter saw the baby as she went down to bathe in the river. The sister approached the woman and asked if she should go get a woman to nurse the baby, and the woman said yes. So the sister ran and got her mother.

9-10 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.”

When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses.

One day, after he had grown up, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. He killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. Pharaoh heard about it and tried to kill Moses, but Moses ran off to Midian.

As he sat at a well, seven daughters of a priest came to water their father’s flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and watered the ladies’ flock. When the girls told their father, Jethro, what Moses had done, Jethro invited Moses to come stay with them. He also gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage, and they had a son, Gershom. Meanwhile, the King of Egypt died.

One day as Moses was tending Jethro’s flock, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2-3 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up, so he went over to it.

God called to him from within the bush.

5-10 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. I have seen the misery of my people, and I am concerned about their suffering. I have come down to rescue them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 Moses asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

It’s so easy for us to assume that our human limitations are a limitation to God.

12 God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out, you all will worship God on this mountain.”

13 “What if I go to them and they ask, ‘What is his name?'”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.'”

God instructed Moses to first go tell the elders of Israel what had happened. He assured Moses that they would listen to him. God told Moses to then go with the elders to the king of Egypt.

18-20 “Say, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ But I know the king will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.”

But wait, there’s more!

21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty handed. Every woman should ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Not only would God deliver the Israelites, he’d plunder the Egyptians and bless the Hebrews on their way out.

Moses wasn’t perfect. He’d already killed a man, but in contrast to Dinah’s brothers, it wasn’t out of violence. Moses was a man who had a heart to rescue others, just as he had been rescued and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. He defended those who could not defend themselves. Although the Bible doesn’t say this, it seems very coincidental that he had been placed as a Hebrew into Pharaoh’s life through his daughter. He had a part in both worlds, and that understanding helped him ask God some very specific questions about the game plan ahead of time.

This story brings about two questions:

Do I limit God working through me based on my own limitations?

Do I limit myself or others based on past mistakes?

Lord, thank you for your Word. Thank you for hearing the cries of your people and delivering us. Thank you for calling people into leadership. I pray for the leaders in this world, that they would fear and obey you. Leaders of homes, companies, countries, churches, ministries, groups, classrooms- please guide them today to honor and serve you and each other. Convict their hearts and speak to them clearly. Give them wisdom. Thank you for your guidance and intervention. Please deliver all who are being oppressed today, and let them come out more prosperous than ever before.