FALSE GODS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.'"

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'"

So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.

But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord."

Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile."

"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."

After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.

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.

Exodus 8:1-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Seven days. A full week.

This is how long the people of Egypt had endured all their water sources, to include the sacred Nile River, filled with blood.

You might think that this first curse sent from God would be enough to convince Pharaoh, the nation’s leader, to let the Israelites leave the country as the Lord commanded but he didn’t.

And so as we see in today’s scripture passage from the first fifteen verses of Exodus, chapter 8, God gives Moses the following orders:

"Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.'"

Well, it’s obvious that a mere threat wasn’t enough for Pharaoh to do as God demanded and so we find Him providing this guidance to Moses:

"Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'"

And so it was. The scriptures tell us that Aaron “stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt” and as he did, “frogs came up and covered the land”. They were everywhere and in what is a bit of biblical comic relief, we read where “the magicians” who served Pharaoh were also able to make “frogs come up on the land of Egypt” by way of “their secret arts” but note that they weren’t able to do what would have helped their fellow Egyptians. Just as they weren’t able to turn the waterways back to water from blood, they also weren’t able to use their sorcery to get rid of the frogs. As we’ll see, only the true God of Heaven and earth could do that.

Well, Pharaoh might have gotten away without being impacted by the blood-filled waterways but the frogs were a different story. For just as God had promised, they infiltrated Pharaoh’s palace, getting into his bedroom, onto his bed, and into his ovens and kneading troughs. It had to be disgusting and frustrating. The frogs also invaded the homes of Pharaoh’s officials all of Egypt’s people.

All of this obviously had gotten Pharaoh’s attention for the scriptures tell us that he summoned Moses and Aaron, asking them to pray and ask for the frogs to be taken. If God would do that, here’s what Pharaoh promised to do:

“I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord."

With this, Moses asks Pharaoh when the prayer should be rendered and Egypt’s leader opted for the next day.

Why did Moses do this?

He tells both Pharaoh and us:

"It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."

Here, it’s important to note that Moses wanted Pharaoh to know that the frogs would be taken away for one chief purpose, so he (Pharaoh) would know without question that there was no one like the Lord God of Israel.

And so it was. We read where Moses did lift up the prayer as asked and God answered it as the “frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields”. There were so many that they were “piled into heaps”, resulting in a reeking odor that went over the while land. In other words, Pharaoh and the Egyptians could all smell the results of God’s mighty judgment that had been carried out on them but as we see at the end of our passage, Pharaoh wouldn’t make good on his part of the bargain. Instead, “he hardened his heart” after he saw the relief had come, choosing not to “listen to Moses and Aaron” all as the “Lord had said”.

Two curses (also referred to as plagues in some translations) were obviously not enough and so we’re going to see the Lord continue to bring punishment on Pharaoh and Egypt over their wickedness.

Now, maybe you might be wondering, “Why did the Lord choose frogs?”

The answer is found in the Egyptian culture. For just as the Nile was sacred to the nation and its people, so were frogs. In fact, they were thought to possess divine powers and the Egyptians actually worshiped a goddess named Heqet, who had the form of a woman but with a frog’s head. They believed that she breathed life into the bodies created by her husband, the god Khnum, from the earth’s dust. Thus, it was against Egyptian religious law to kill a frog and now they had more dead frogs than they knew what to do with.

In the end translation, God had once again turned a false god worshiped by the Egyptians into a curse that worked against them.

This made me think a little bit about us and our culture today. For how many false gods are worshiped by people around the world that God often turns into a curse against them?

Consider and ponder these points.

First, we are a society obsessed with money and typically people are not very good stewards of what the Lord has blessed them with. In fact, this problem has grown in such magnitude that most people don’t even acknowledge that their money is gift from God in the first place.

To take this issue to an even higher level, people have learned to worship money so much that they can get it, even if they don’t earn it through a thing called credit. Yes, that’s right, people can actually spend and spend and spend, getting more and more and more things while going further and further and further in debt.

And then, when the credit runs out, not only does a person lose the ability to purchase outside of their means but they too often then realize that they don’t have enough real money to be able to pay for what they have borrowed.

Indeed, the worship of money as a false god can become a curse to anyone. It’s why Jesus warned that no one can serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24).

To this, we can add the matter of possessions because typically, people use credit to get anything and everything they want, and do it immediately. The instant gratification of credit is like a drug that consumers can’t get enough of. In fact, in general people have lost sight of what’s a want and what’s a need...and there is a distinct difference, believe it or not.

When it comes to possessions born out of an attitude of materialism, unchecked purchasing results in possessions actually possessing the one who has them.

And then there is this false god, the false god of substance abuse which includes alcohol or drugs.

How many people can’t get through life without having their sense of reality altered by these substances?

And let’s not pretend that indulgence only happens at bars or parties. For millions upon millions of people are tethered to alcohol and drug abuse or addiction right in the comfort of their own homes, places that seem to be safer because they are out of the public view.

But think about that for a moment. For there isn't anything we do that is out of of God’s sight. Nothing is hidden from Him.

And when we lean on alcohol and/or drugs in life, substances that impair our ability to think and make proper decisions, we are disconnecting from the power of the Holy Spirit and the Lord who operates within it. Instead of just going to the Lord with our circumstances, we think we can drink, snort, ingest, or inject things into our bodies that can detach us from our worries and stresses.

But here’s the thing.

Once the high goes away, the problem you tried to escape is still there waiting for you to come around. And too often, people complicate their issues through the substance they use to try and get away from it. For many people turn to alcohol and/or drugs so frequently that abuse quickly becomes addiction and addiction is nothing short of worshiping and serving the false god substance that one is addicted to.

Finally, let’s add sex to this category for people obsess over it so much that it becomes a quasi-drug that can also lead to addiction as well as broken relationships through infidelity and sex-related diseases.

When did we lose sight that God gave us the privilege to have sex only within the confines of a marital relationship?

I know, maybe you will say that it hasn’t been like that within your entire lifetime. Think about how sad that statement is in and of itself.

Friends, society has taken something God intended to be beautiful and abused it to where it is a false god that is worshiped. It has led to sinful pornography invading the internet to where people can indulge in it very discretely to satisfy their desires. We’ve also see countless incidents of sexual assault leading to rape in its worst form, people violated so another can fulfill their own sexual wants. It’s a sad state of affairs and one we can’t afford to ignore.

Now, I could keep going but I think the point has been made. If we’re honest, there are as many false gods being worshiped by people today as there were in the days of the Bible where we find the Egyptians, Greeks, and the Romans among others.

And we had better believe that God is just as angered by the sinfulness He sees in our culture as He was back then. Yes, He might not be turning our waters into blood or sending frogs across our nation but He has other ways to send signs and judgment. We shouldn’t underestimate how He might act to address our trangressions.

And so this message comes down to one simple question:

Are you worshiping any false gods in your life?

If so, now is the time to turn to the Lord, the only One worthy of your devotion, desire, and worship, the only One who can show you true joy, peace and contentment in life, the only One who can help you manage and get through any circumstances you might be going through.

Indeed, today is the day you can turn your life around and head in the right direction forever. Place your belief, faith, trust, and hope in God and you’ll never go through a day afterwards when you will regret it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

LIVING WATER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.'"

The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs'-and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars."

Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Exodus 7:14-25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the initial thirteen verses of Exodus, chapter seven, we find Moses and Aaron performing the first of what will be several magnificent acts of God intended to convince Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt.

In this first act, you’ll recall that the staff of God was cast down in front of Pharaoh and became a snake. Then, after Pharaoh’s wise men, sorcerers, and magicians through down their staffs which became snakes, the snake from the Lord’s staff swallowed them up, a sign of His superiority over evil, demonic forces. Despite witnessing this, we saw where Pharaoh refused to set Israel free.

And so as we see in today’s passage, the Lord God Almighty ups the ante in a big way. Look again at our passage for today from verses fourteen through twenty-five:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.'"

The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs'-and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars."

Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Here, we read God attacking the water systems of Egypt, turning the Nile and all streams, canals, ponds, reservoirs into blood.

Can you imagine if that would happen in the waterways around where you might live? I mean, last time I checked, water is a basic survival need for living things, right?

And so put yourself back in ancient Egypt for a moment and your sources of water, to include the sacred Nile River, were now filled with blood and there were some clear second and third order effects from this.

First, all the fish died because they needed the water as much as the people did. Further, fish were a food source for the people and so . Water and fish, two life sustaining resources were now gone.

Second, all the dead fish and the blood filled water bodies gave off a terrible stench. The smell must have been horrific, impacting something else important for survival, the air that was breathed.

Well, indeed, death was in the air in Egypt as Pharaoh’s stubbornness had brought great suffering on his people. The blood shed by the Israelites under the oppression and harsh treatment of their slavery was now visible to all the Egyptians, represented in their blood filled waters.

Another important point of consideration here is that the Egyptians worshipped the Nile, treating it as if it was a god. Now, their river god was rendered completely useless by the one true God. What was once a river teeming with life and promise was now full of death and destruction. The same things happens within anyone who decides to worship false idols and gods today. They become spiritually dead inside.

Well, despite the mighty sign that God had sent, we read where the "Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts". I find it interesting that while they could turn water to blood, they couldn’t reverse what God had done. For if they had any legitimate power that might begin to rival God, then they should have been able to turn the blood filled waters back to their original state.

But they couldn’t.

So what was the outcome of this latest display of God’s incredible power?

The scriptures tell us that Pharaoh's heart hardened once again and he "would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said". Instead, he just “went into his palace and did not take even this to heart."

Here’s something else he didn’t take to heart. He didn’t show an ounce of concern for the people he governed. There’s little doubt that he had clean water stashed away for his own care and so his actions show just how self centered he was. For while he enjoyed the luxuries of being the ruler, his people scavenged for any water they could find. Such is the attitude of someone who is hardened.

As we close out this message, do you know someone who might have or has had a hardened heart?

Maybe you might have had one at some time in your life. I know I have. Not proud to say that but we’re all imperfect people and it’s okay to confess mistakes we have made in our past, especially if it can help someone else in the present.

So what’s bad about a hardened heart?

Well, one thing is that it refuses love others. It also can lead a person into having a bad attitude about life in general. Further, a hardened heart can create a selfish spirit inside, one with little or no compassion for the welfare of others. And finally, it can lead someone to refuse to trust in the Lord, the only One who can soften and cure their hardened heart.

Pharaoh’s hardened heart took away the life sustaining water needed by the Egyptian people. A hardened heart today takes away Jesus from life, the Savior who brings life sustaining water that can quench our thirst forever. He told us so Himself as He spoke to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in the Gospel of John:

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

And the woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." (4:13-15)

Friends, a person is doomed at death without the living water found in Christ Jesus.

So where do you find yourself today?

Is your heart hardened like Pharaoh’s which led to him having no regard for God or concern for anyone but himself as the waters of his nation were filled with blood?

Or have you found the living water of Jesus Christ, a living water that wells up into eternal life so that you will never thirst again.

If you’re like the Pharaoh of Egypt, come to Jesus and change the way you see and live your life forever. He’s ready to receive you with open arms and give you a heart like His own.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PLACE YOUR BELIEF IN GOD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Perform a miracle,' then say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' and it will become a snake."

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.

Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake.

But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Exodus 7:8-13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Early in Exodus, chapter 7, we find Moses and Aaron being sent back to Egypt’s supreme leader, Pharaoh, by God but this time with more than just a request to let the Israelites go to participate in a sacrifice to God. For on the occasion of this visit, they were to "tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country."

In other words, let the Israelites leave for good.

Further, God tells them that "though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he (Pharaoh) will not listen to you." And so, despite their best efforts to convince Egypt’s leader to let the people of Israel go, Pharaoh was still going to stubbornly refuse to listen.

And so the scriptures tell us that God promised to "lay my hand on Egypt” through “mighty acts of judgment” in order to “bring out” His “people the Israelites”. Ultimately, after experiencing His mighty power, the Egyptians would know that He was “the Lord”.

In essence, God was telling Moses and Aaron that there had been enough talk. He was ready to begin acting.

So as we pick up this story in verses eight through thirteen in this chapter, we find God begin to put His power in full display for Pharaoh. We find Him commanding Moses and Aaron to throw down the staff of God before Pharaoh, a staff that Moses already knew held special miraculous qualities. For you will recall that when God called to Moses from the burning bush, he showed Moses how the staff could turn into a snake and indeed, it would be used again for this before Pharaoh.

So we read where Aaron “threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials”, and they all watched it turn into a snake just as God said it would but obviously this didn’t impress Pharaoh. We know this because he turned around and summoned his "wise men and sorcerers” along with “the Egyptian magicians" and they managed to do “the same things by their secret arts." The scriptures tell us that each one threw down their own staff and they also became snakes, obviously the work of the devil and not God.

Well, surely at this point, Egypt’s leader had to be feeling puffed up, gloating over how he had shown these two Israelites that the magic trick they put on display wasn’t unique for even his sorcerers could replicate the act. He must have been thinking that the God of Israel was no more powerful than the gods of Egypt but he was quickly going to see just how very wrong he was.

For just when the staffs of the Egyptian wise men, sorcerers, and magicians turned into snakes, those snakes were swallowed up by the snake from Aaron’s staff. In other words, God’s power had reigned supreme over the dark magic performed by Pharaoh’s men but despite this, we that Pharaoh didn’t surrender himself, just as God had predicted. Instead, we read that his "heart became hard and he would not listen to them" and this was setting the stage for God to up the ante, increase His display of power, and place more pressure on Pharaoh to comply with His wishes.

You know, today we see a lot of modern day Pharaoh-ish behavior in people, don’t we? People who refuse to believe in God despite the consistent, awesome works of His power on full display around them. As you read this today, maybe you have been like that at some time in your own life.

Friends, the Almighty God, the Lord Almighty, is never in hiding. He is always revealing His infinite greatness and goodness to and through His creation. And yet, people still are reluctant to believe in Him, asking for more and more signs that He truly is real. Too many people are like Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, who refused to really acknowledge He had risen from the dead unless he was able to touch Him, putting his fingers into the holes in Jesus’ hands and side.

Pharaoh saw God’s incredible strength on display first hand and still refused to bow down to Him. Unfortunately, he will stubbornly continue to reject the Lord, despite seeing increasingly damaging consequences falling on him and his people.

Today, let’s not make the same mistake and submit ourselves to the One who is our Maker and Master, the One who has given us more than enough evidence that He exists, the One who doesn’t just want us to worship Him but to believe in His Son so He can live with us both now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

NEVER QUIT

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

But Moses said to the Lord, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

These were the heads of their families:

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.

The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.

These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

Amram married his father’s sister, Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

Eleazar, son of Aaron, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.

These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.

Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, He said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything I tell you.”

But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 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 judgment I will bring out my divisions, 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."

Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Exodus 6:9-30, 7:1-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we found God replying to Moses who had wondered why things had actually gotten worse for the Israelites instead of better after he and his brother Aaron had spoken to Pharaoh as commanded. You’ll remember God providing a blessed assurance that things would happen just as He said it would, underscoring his point by referencing Moses’ ancestors – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, former leaders who had experienced the fulfillment of God’s promises. God’s point was that the current circumstances in Egypt would be no different as He would deliver them from the burden of the Egyptian oppression and set them on a path to Canaan.

With this, we find Moses going back to the people of Israel in today’s passage, telling them. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for we read where the Israelites "did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage." It had to be a real disappointment for Moses but considering the mindset of the Israelites, I think we can understand where they found themselves, in a place where a life situation was so hard to deal with that one wouldn’t be receptive to words of encouragement that offer little more than faith in something that is yet to come.

As I put myself in the place of Moses, I started to wonder if this doesn’t happen to us as well today. For how many times do we try to encourage others who are going through difficult times, hoping they will be uplifted and encouraged, only to be rebuffed and rejected. This happens because the pain and anguish a person or persons experience through suffering can simply be too much for them to overcome and while in that state of mind, no one can say anything that’s going to make them feel any better. Yet, as servants of the Lord Most High, we are not to give up even though we find ourselves discouraged. We are never to quit in carrying out what God wants us to do.

In Moses’ case, we find God immediately coming to him after he is rejected by the Israelites, issuing the following command:

"Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

As Moses hears this, we see where he has had enough, venting his frustration while saying:

"If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

Here we find Moses reverting back to his feelings of inadequacy first displayed at the burning bush. By his own words, we see where he doubted himself and his ability to properly carry out what God was telling him to do.

This brings me to a question:

Have you ever been in a place where Moses finds himself here, feeling as if you are inadequate in carrying out God’s will for your life?

Through my sixty-five years of life, more than 30 in Christian ministry, I believe that this is the weapon that Satan uses against us more than any other when it comes to attempting to stop us from doing what the Lord wants, especially in carrying out the Gospel-spreading, Great Commission work Jesus called us to. Our enemy wants us to feel like we fall short and don’t possess the proper skills to be successful.

But here’s the truth the devil conveniently leaves out.

For when the Lord demands that we do something in His name, we won’t be doing it through our own strength or ability. Rather, we will achieve what He wants through His power and the ability He provides. Satan wants us to think we’re answering our ministry calling isolated and alone but the truth is that the Lord is right there with us, walking alongside as we carry out His plan to its fulfillment.

In the midst of our work for the Lord, Satan would tell us to give up but God has a much different message:

"I’ve got this with you. Never quit, no matter what."

In our scripture passage, we see that the Lord never quits on Moses, even when he quits on himself, saying this to him:

"See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 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 judgment I will bring out my divisions, 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."

In other words, Moses and Aaron will speak a lot of words that Pharaoh will reject but God will have the last word and it’s His word that will gain the final victory of deliverance for Israel, just as He has the final word over death and the grave through His Son Jesus that grants all Christian believers deliverance and victory today.

Friends, the takeaway for us today is that we need to stay encouraged in our work for the Lord and ever seek His empowerment to make it through any and all challenges that might come our way. For our God is always with us, especially when we are carrying out what He has commanded us to do. And so we should never, ever quit, no matter how hard things get, staying the course while trusting and believing in a God who never breaks a promise, a God who ultimately brings us to victory.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

BLESSED ASSURANCES

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

 

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.”

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Exodus 6:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message from the fifth chapter of Exodus, we saw where Egypt’s supreme leader, Pharaoh, didn’t know God by his own admission while the Israelite foremen and Moses failed to trust God by their attitude and actions. As the chapter ends, we find Moses questioning God as to why things were happening the way they were as it seemed that His plan had only resulted in additional trouble for the Israelites with no relief in sight.

Well, in the opening verses of chapter six, we find the Lord’s responding to Moses, and while you might think He would bring a rebuke, we instead see Him offer a blessed assurance. Look again at His words here:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.”

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord." Vv.1-8

Here, we find God reaffirming that Moses indeed witness all that He would do to Pharaoh and wants to make it clear that it would be Egypt’s leader who would let the Israelites leave. We will see this happen because God is about to make things so miserable for Pharaoh and the Egyptians that it will be in their collective best interest to allow the Israelites to leave.

To validate His presence and care for His people, we find God reminding Moses of His track record through Jewish history and how He was with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, all of which were ancestors and leadership forerunners of Moses. The Lord makes sure that Moses remembers how He delivered them to the land of Canaan, fulfilling His covenant with them, just as He would soon do for the Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt.

In fact, the Lord makes special mention of the suffering Hebrews in Egypt saying:

"I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant."

He then tells Moses to go back to the Israelites and deliver the following special message, a message meant to encourage and strengthen His people in the midst of their hardship and suffering:

"I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Through His own words, God provided a blessed assurance for the people of Israel and for us as well. Specifically, He promised:

1. That He had remembered His covenant.

Always remember that God remembers His promises and He has never broken one He has ever made.

He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, to always be with us.

He has promised us that He would never allow us a burden we couldn’t bear when we turn to Him for help.

He has promised us that nothing is impossible with Him.

And He has promised to never destroy us, even though through our sinfulness we might deserve it. We only need to look into the sky after a rain and see a rainbow to be reminded of this promise, one that has stood for more than 2,000 years after a covenant He made with His people after Noah, the ark, and the great flood.

2. That He is the Lord.

He is almighty and omnipotent, having no rival.

He is all willing, doing whatever He desires to further His kingdom here on earth.

He is all able with nothing beyond the work of His hands.

He is all loving, so much so that He didn’t wish for anyone to perish in Hell but to have the opportunity for eternal life through belief in His Son Jesus.

He is Creator and Master of all living things.

and...

He is a wonder-working, Maker of miracles. Nothing is impossible with Him and He makes the improbable probable.

Although the Israelites thought they could never escape their captivity (they were powerless to do so), although Pharaoh believed there was no power that could exceed his own (he didn’t know the God he was up against), and even though Moses doubted  that God would actually do what He said He would do (the Lord would help him with his unbelief as He will us), in the end, God would show Himself as God, working with might in accordance with His own time and in His chosen place, in accordance with His will.

The truth of the matter is that God will ALWAYS prove His naysayers wrong and show that He and He alone is God.

3. That He is a God who delivers and redeems.

God made a solemn promise that He would deliver the Israelites out of the bondage of the Egyptians just as He promises to deliver us from the enslavement of sin today, and He does what He says He will do.

Every single time.  

As we’re going to see, the blessed assurance of God’s liberation of the Israelites would be carried out through a series of ten plagues/curses that He would bring on the nation of Egypt and its leader Pharaoh. This will conclude with death passing over the people of Israel before they are told to leave.

The blessed assurance of our salvation came when God chose to come from Heaven to earth and become flesh through His one and only Son, Jesus. Through Him and His willing sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, death also passes over anyone who has chosen to believe in Him as Savior.

Into both these situations, past and present, we find God intervening into a place of hopelessness and bringing sure, guaranteed hope. Let us give thanks today for His goodness, caring, and love.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

DO YOU TRULY KNOW GOD?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the desert.'"

Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword."

But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."

Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'"

So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw."

The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh's slave drivers were beaten and were asked, "Why didn't you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?" Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."

Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."

The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, "You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day."

When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, "May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since 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."

Exodus 5:1-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After meeting with the Israelite elders and sharing God’s plan to free His people, we find Moses and Aaron going to address the Egyptian ruler, Pharaoh, just as God had commanded. Of note, it’s important to see that they make sure the Pharaoh knew that their message wasn’t from them but God.

"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the desert.'"

It was a straight forward command but as we see, it didn’t resonate with Pharaoh because with his own words, he makes it clear that he didn’t believe in the God of the Israelites.

"Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

Well, Moses and Aaron weren’t about to give up and so they double down on God’s demand, saying:

"The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword."

Here, we find Moses and Aaron adding specific consequences that could come by way of “plagues” or “the sword” if they disobeyed God, a claim that have any effect on Pharaoh’s mindset. For we find him replying with sarcasm:

"Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work! Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

In other words, Egypt’s Pharaoh was basically saying to Moses and Aaron, "What part of ‘no’ did you not understand? Stop wasting my time and holding up your people from their work."

And then, he did something much worse than speaking some crass words.

For the scriptures tell us that Pharaoh began to worsen his oppression of the Israelite people, ordering his "slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people" to no longer “supply the people with straw for making bricks”. Instead, the Israelite slaves were to “gather their own straw” but still be required to produce the “same number of bricks as before”. Overall, we find Pharaoh holding the view that the Hebrew slaves were “lazy” and this is why they were asking to leave and offer sacrifices to their God. And so the slave drivers and foremen were told to “make the work harder” so the Israelites would “keep working and pay no attention to lies."

As we can obviously see, the Israelites were being tasked with making bricks to build the structures for Pharaoh’s empire and before had always been given the material to do the work. Now, Egypt’s leader had ordered that important material for the brick making process, straw, was to be withheld which forced the Israelites to have to try and scavenge to find enough to ensure they wouldn’t fall underneath the established production quote.

Well, Pharaoh’s orders were carried out and predictably, this worsened the working conditions for the people of Israel who quickly reached a breaking point with a need for something to relieve the situation.

We see the indications of this as we read that how the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh to air their grievances on behalf of their workers. They appealed to Pharaoh, asking:

"Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."

Well, it should come as no surprise that Pharaoh displayed no sympathy for the Israelites. For we read him saying this in reply to the Hebrew foremen:

"Lazy, that's what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."

And with that, the Israelite foremen, formally rebuffed by Pharaoh, go straight to Moses and Aaron to express their anger and frustration over what was happening, saying:

“May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

In other words, the foremen were placing full blame on Moses and Aaron for what was happening to them. Their point was that their current hardship wouldn’t have happened if Moses and Aaron hadn’t gone to Pharaoh in the first place. The scriptures show us that their pierced the heart of Moses who immediately went before the Lord, saying:

“O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since 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."

I can’t help but think that Moses was going back to the burning bush and feeling affirmed that he wasn’t the right person to carry out God’s plan which seemed to be going off the rails in a big way. For the very people that he (Moses) was supposed to lead out of Egypt now hated him. Moses had done what he was told to do but instead of any positive outcome happening, there was only increased hardship falling on the Hebrew people, the people Moses deeply cared for.

So what are we to do with this passage from the entire fifth chapter of Exodus?

Well, we need to see that there are three main players who all have the same general problem.

They don’t truly know and trust God.

First, there’s Pharaoh who intentionally brings oppression on the Israelite people, fearing their burgeoning population that he sees as a threat to him and the Egyptian nation. And so he puts all the Hebrews under the yoke of slavery.

By his own admission as he speaks to Moses and Aaron, he doesn’t know the Lord and it’s obvious through his attitude and actions. For if the Pharaoh truly did believe in the God of Israel, he would have listened to Moses and Aaron, conceding to God’s desires for His people.

As we move on in our study of Exodus, we are going to see Pharaoh fully coming to know the one true God in a big way, a God of exceeding power and greatness that exceeded any god of Egypt, a God who is going to as much hardship on Pharaoh and the Egyptians as he chose to place on the Hebrews.

Secondly, I propose that the Israelite foremen also didn’t really know and trust God as they should have, displaying a problem that many people of faith have had throughout the ages. For it’s easy to have faith when things are going right but the challenge in life is maintaining faith when times get hard.

Those who truly know and trust God will never waver in their faith, no matter how hard it gets. They hold steadfast, patiently waiting for God to work things out in accordance with His perfect will and way.

Note that the Israelite foremen never go to God themselves to seek His guidance. Rather, they first go to Pharaoh and after his rejection, then rain curses down upon Moses and Aaron hoping for the Lord’s judgment to come down on them.

Perhaps, they should have been just as concerned with the Lord judging them for their unfaithful attitude.

And finally, we have Moses.

Again, going back to his initial calling by God, there were signs that Moses didn’t really trust God in his heart even though he had the benefit of a personal encounter with Him. He wavered when the Lord told him that he was to go and lead the Israelites out of Egypt and here in chapter five, we find him clearly rattled and bothered by the visit from the Israelite foremen as he goes before God and questions Him. Through his interrogation, Moses was basically asking God about His absence, about why He wasn’t showing Himself as present in the midst of everything that was happening.

After all, hadn’t Moses and Aaron done what He told them to do?

And yet, things had gotten worse, not better.

Through his attitude, we see Moses showing an impatience that is not uncommon. For if we’re honest, we want God to do everything right away ourselves, acting in accordance with the timeline we believe is appropriate. And by doing this, we miss the things He is trying to do in, around, and through us in the midst of difficulties, suffering, and hardship.

And so the Word of God would ask us today:

Do you know God? Do you really KNOW God?

Do you trust in Him fully, knowing and trusting in all His assurances and promises as found in His holy Word? And do you even know His word so you can understand His promises for you?

Brothers and sisters, my prayer today and every day after is that we all will make a commitment to know God better, not superficially but intimately. My hope is that we will dedicate ourselves to the study of His Word for this is where He reveals Himself. And I wish we will all connect fully to the power and influence of the Holy Spirit that dwells within every Christian believer.

Ultimately, let’s all seek to build a stronger and steadfast faith along with an enduring patience that refuses to waver in the midst of adversity but stays firm and resolute, no matter our circumstances, all because we truly know our God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.