Have you ever had a situation where someone went back on their word?  It can be extremely frustrating and disappointing.  You are expecting someone to come through and then they change their mind or just don’t do what they have said they would.  As the plagues continue for Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Pharaoh does this repeatedly.  Let’s look at one account with the plague of the flies found in Exodus 9.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.22 “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’”24 And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies. 25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”26 But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us.” 28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.” 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 let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.” 30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

At this point Pharaoh hardens his heart knowing that more trouble or plagues will come his way.  It is as if he thinks he can win a battle of wills between himself and God.  The thing is God always wins in a battle of wills.  We can choose to disobey God’s will but His purposes are never thwarted.  He might use someone else.  Like Balam’s donkey.  He might bring you around and not allow you to run away from what He wants like Jonah.  He might redeem you in the midst of your failure like Peter or Saul/Paul or so many others in scripture.  Pharaoh doesn’t know these stories but he is about to find out the lengths God will go to rescue His people.  It truly is great to remember the lengths God goes to redeem those He loves.  Thank God today for his amazing redeeming love.

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and begin to show him signs and wonders and plagues from God.  Pharaoh still refuses to let the people of Israel leave.  Let’s look together at Exodus 7 and the beginning of the plagues that God brings upon the people of Egypt. 

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “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.” 10 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. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 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 wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17 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. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” 19 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 vessels of wood and stone.” 20 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.

For Pharaoh, letting the people of Israel go was not an easy solution.  It would have destroyed their economy as Israel was their primary labor source.  We often focus on the stubbornness of Pharaoh but for him there were power, economic, and social ramifications of letting all of the people of Israel leave.  When God begins bringing plagues on the land he is still not moved at all.  This makes me reflect on my own stubbornness at times in life.  It makes me ask the question – What are the areas in my life that I want my own way in and don’t allow God to direct my paths as I should? This is a good question for us all.  Maybe we think we are stubborn for a good reason.  Perhaps we think we are “right” and it’s ok to argue or put someone else down who is “wrong”.  Maybe we think we are justified in not extending grace or forgiveness to someone else.  Whatever the circumstance we should all examine the areas in our lives where we find we are stubborn.  Perhaps God wants to soften us in those areas a bit and I sure hope it doesn’t take plagues to get the job done!

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

I am often amazed at God’s patience with His people.  Even after time and again He has rescued us and done great and amazing things we often don’t listen.  Moses doesn’t listen.  The Israelites don’t listen to him.  God’s promises to us are incredible and God always keeps His promises.  Let’s look at His words to Israel in Exodus 6.  

 “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. 7 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. 8 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.’” 9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.” 12 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?”

Think of all of the promises God is making in His statement.  He will rescue Israel from the Egyptians and their slavery.  He will bring them to the land He promised to Abraham all those years ago.  He will be their God forever and they will be His people.  The people of Israel know of the amazing works of God.  Despite this all they can see is the current struggle in front of them so they don’t believe or listen.  We can have the same challenge in our lives today.  Think of all of the amazing promises we have from God throughout scripture.  Sometimes, we forget these promises because of whatever is in front of our face at the time.  Our worries, hurts, fears, and circumstances cause us to forget God’s great promises to us.  Take some time today and think of all of the great promises of God.  Rest in them and know that God always keeps His promises. 

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Moses leaves Midian and heads to Egypt.  He meets up with Aaron and they together go to meet with Pharaoh.  I’m sure this was an interesting reunion. While I’m not sure that Pharaoh and Moses were best friends like in the movie Prince of Egypt, they certainly would have grown up in the palace together.  God wants Moses to perform signs and tell Pharaoh that his son is going to die.  Moses takes a gentler approach.  Let’s look at the account and Pharaoh’s response in Exodus 5.

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 wilderness.’” 2 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.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” 6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 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.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

Perhaps Pharaoh is angry at Moses.  Maybe Moses doesn’t deliver God’s message or show the signs yet because of his own feelings for Pharaoh.  We don’t really know.  The only thing we know is that Moses does not completely obey God and things get worse for the Israelites not better.  This becomes a pattern that lasts the rest of the OT for the people of Israel.  I think that often we do what Moses does here.  Even as Moses is obeying God he is doing it his way instead of God’s way.  God gave him clear instructions and Moses thinks that he has a better plan.  The truth is that the Bible tells us over and over again not to trust in our understanding but to do things God’s way.  He even promises to make our paths straight when we do.  Lot’s of pain and trouble can be saved if we simply follow God from the start.  I pray that we will be a people who look to follow God’s paths and not our own.

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

I’d like to spend a little bit of time on the scene with Moses speaking to God through a burning bush.  It is amazing just by itself but the conversation is fascinating as well. I’ve included a portion of it from Exodus 3 but I encourage you to finish the story in Exodus 4 as well.  One thing that I find astonishing is Moses’ reluctance to God even as He is speaking to him through a burning bush.  I don’t know about you but I feel like I would do whatever a burning bush told me or asked of me.  Let’s look at the passage together today. 

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” 13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 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.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. …18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 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. 21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to 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.”

God is promising Moses a great outcome.  He answers all his questions and still Moses resists.  If we are honest we all at times resist that which we know God wants in our lives.  We often choose our path instead of His.  Moses is comfortable right where he is.  He is starting a family, has a job, things are going just fine.  He would prefer to stay in his comfort than have to confront his past and what he knows will be a difficult challenge.  It’s easy to point the finger at Moses as he is arguing with a burning bush but don’t we do the same thing.  We stay in our comfort zones instead of sharing our faith like we know the resurrected Jesus asks us to.  We avoid confrontation and hard conversations so we can remain in our comfort zone and avoid the pain of our past.  We all have a little bit of Moses in us.  My prayer is that we will, like Moses, get past our fears and watch God do great things in and through our lives.  

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

We continue along in the life of Moses today.  After he is found amongst the reeds we have nothing of his life until he is grown. (unless the movie Prince of Egypt counts).  We pick up the story with Moses aware that he is from Israel.  Let’s look at it together today. 

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” 14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” 19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

Moses clearly has a longing to see his people free and as he sees their struggle he kills an Egyptian.  He is eventually found out and he flees to Midian.  This leads to Moses meeting his wife, Zipporah.  He goes along and picks up a whole new life in Midian.  He probably would have lived the rest of his life there, but God has other plans for Moses.  Big plans.  Have you ever thought about what might be different if Moses ignored the burning bush (spoiler alert).  I wonder sometimes if there aren’t smaller burning bushes in our own life that we miss as we go through the business of life.  God wants to use each and every one of us two do great things.  Things to build His kingdom, to reach others for Jesus.  How often do we miss out on the blessing of that because we are caught up in our own agenda and plans.  Be on the lookout for those great things that God wants to do in and through your life. 

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Have you ever been is a tough situation where your only option was a long shot.  Something you hoped might work but you really had no idea how it would turn out.  This is how we are introduced to Moses in the Bible.  His mom tries to hide him but realizes she won’t be able to any longer so makes a basket and places it in the Nile River with Moses inside.  Let’s look at the story together today.  

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

God’s Covenant plan to make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation and lead them into the promised land continues after Joseph’s death but does take another turn.  Let’s pick up the story today in Exodus 1.  

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. 8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

The Egyptians begin to fear the Israelites because they have grown so much.  They are enslaved and worked hard.  God is again using a difficult time to bring about His ultimate plan.  Shortly in the story we will pick up with Moses and his life.  He faced his own difficulties in life, not always as faithfully as Joseph.  God used him to do amazing thing for the nation of Israel.  Ultimately the entirety of the Biblical narrative is the story of God’s faithfulness toward a people that are not always faithful.  It remains our story today.  Take time today and reflect on the faithfulness of God in your own story.  Thank Him and let that encourage us all as we walk through our own difficulties and challenges in life. 

Have you ever heard the expression hindsight is 20/20?  It is sometimes more clear to look back on situations and see clearly what God was accomplishing than you can see in the midst of the situation.  The hardships in Joseph’s life God used for good.  Things don’t get any easier for Israel after Joseph dies either.  God ultimately continues to use difficult situations to bring about His plan and ultimate good.  Let’s look together at the end of Joseph’s story found in Genesis 50.

 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. 22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees. 24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Israel is about to go through another season of difficult times until God raises up another person to follow Him and lead Israel away from Egypt, Moses.  It is amazing to look back and see all of the times that God provided rescue for His people.  It is also interesting to see all of the difficult times along the way when people could have lost faith.  Abraham had a few crisis of faith.  Joseph had many opportunities he could have stumbled along the way.  Moses will face many more challenges.  Yet throughout all of this God continues to faithfully bring His people through.  He tells us in the word that He does the same for us.  Sometimes it takes hindsight to clearly see His hand at work but know that He loves you.  He is with you and He is at work in your life.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave