January 31, 2019
JESUS, OUR PASSOVER LAMB Among the many instructions God gave Moses concerning the Passover Lamb was that it must be a male without blemish and that they were not to “break one of its bones” in sacrificing it. God was preparing the Israelites not only for their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but ultimately for
January 30, 2019
THE LORD IS GOD Egypt worshiped a multitude of false gods. They had a god for everything. For instance, “Hapi” was their god of the Nile, yet the Lord turned it into blood. “Hekket” was their goddess of fertility and had the face of a frog. Yet it was the Lord who sent a plague
January 28, 2019
THE MOSES’ RETIREMENT PLAN The life of Moses can be divided into three 40-year phases. The first 40 years of his life, he lived as a prince of Egypt, the second, as a shepherd in Midian, and the third, as the deliverer of Israel. It took 80 years for God to get Moses prepared to
January 27, 2019
WHAT’S IN YOUR HAND? When Moses made excuses about his inability to answer God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God asked, “What’s in your hand?” Moses replied dismissively, “A rod” (A shepherd’s staff). It was not a sword to fight with, nor a priceless object to barter, but a piece of well-worn
January 25, 2019
INFANTICIDE AND FEAR OF GOD Pharaoh was worried about the growing Hebrew population in Egypt, so he ordered the midwives to kill all the newborn boys at birth. But his decree had little effect because the midwives feared God more than they feared the king. In the midst of this terrible time of government ordered
February 11, 2018
MOSES THE INTERCESSOR
When the people sinned with the golden calf, God threatened to destroy them and start over with Moses. But Moses interceded, not according to the people’s worthiness, but according to God’s covenant and God’s reputation. Moses remained and interceded even though God had asked him to “leave him alone” to let His anger blaze against the people. Moses took God’s instruction to leave as an invitation to stay and intercede. Like Abraham who interceded for Sodom, Moses interceded for the Israelites and God relented.
February 6, 2018
The Lord commanded that three annual festivals be celebrated in His honor. These festivals were:
1) The Feast of Passover
2) The Feast of Pentecost
3) The Feast of Tabernacles
The Lord may have had other reasons for commanding these festivals, but several reasons seem apparent:
1) To perpetuate remembrance of what God had done.
2) To keep them faithful to the Lord
3) To put seasons of rest and celebration in the annual calendar
4) To offer instruction, as the appropriate Scripture was read at each festival.
5) To renew their corporate identity as they came from all over Israel to the Temple to celebrate together.
6) To pass on the spiritual legacy of God’s people to the next generation.
February 6, 2018
How many of us as teens explained to our parents, “But everyone was doing it”? If your parents were like mine, then that excuse didn’t go over too welll. And it doesn’t go over well with God either. The Bible is clear. We are not to just follow the crowd. Wrong is still wrong even if the majority view it as acceptable. Live for the approval of the Lord, not the crowd. Following Jesus almost always means going against the flow of the crowd.
February 2, 2018
THIS MANNA POINTS TO CHRIST
The Lord faithfully supplied the Israelites with manna every morning, except on the Sabbath, for forty years. It was always just enough for that day, except on the sixth day when the Lord gave them enough for two days to allow them to rest on the Sabbath. In this way, the Lord taught them to depend on Him for life.
We hear an echo of this in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). Jesus taught his disciples to pray for that day’s bread, just as the Israelites had learned. Not next week’s, nor next year’s bread, just pray for today’s bread. Learn to depend on the Lord for daily life.
We hear the fulfillment of this in Christ’s declaration, “I AM the Bread of Life” (John 6:35). For Christ is the true Bread of Heaven come down to give everlasting life to those who believe on Him.
February 1, 2018
NO SHORTCUTS WITH GOD
Why didn’t God lead the Israelites out of Egypt and straight to the Promised Land? The Lord answered this question in Exodus 13:17 saying, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” God knew they weren’t ready for battle. They weren’t an army. They were a rabble of slaves with no training nor confidence. They were free, but they didn’t know how to live in freedom. So, the Lord had to take them the long way, lasting 40 years, in order to prepare them to possess the Promised Land.