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 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.