Exodus 24-25

Don't you love how Moses waited for 6 days one the mountain for God to speak? And then, the first thing he says is, check out 25:1, "...take an offering for Me." We must never lose our sensitivity to money being controversial, not because it has a Biblical sensitivity but because of abuses by spiritual leaders throughout history, today, and most certainly throughout unwritten history. But if we are not careful, we will let the abuses of others displace the primacy of the message of stewardship that every person seeking the depth of eternal life needs to hear hear.

I find it intriguing that while Moses was on the mountain, concurrently in chapter 32, Satan is tempting the people to squander the very resources that were supposed to be used to build the temple. Never forget too that all those riches were given to the people by the Egyptians through God orchestrating favorable circumstances for His new nation. The Israelites, 430 years in the making, a nation that needed a treasury...they enriched the Egyptians and now all that wealth was where it rightfully belonged, in the hands of the Israelites (Exodus 12:35-36). And in Exodus 32, Satan is trying to deceive them into its waste!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 19-23

These are some of the greatest chapters in Scripture that should instruct our pulpits. Without practical steps, the people will never walk in the commandments of God. The big ten are given in chapter 20, timeless truths for every generation to follow and embrace. Then, in chapters 21-23, the people are given culturally relevant, life applicable, step by step instruction that detail the “how to” of the “must obey.” One can take all ten of the Great Commandments and see them lived out through the details of the subsequent ordinances. May it be that our pulpits never stop giving them the truths and never stop giving them the steps so those truths can be lived out in their daily lives. I like to say that our devotion to Christ should be life defining, passion filled, and moment by moment governing. If you are looking for a church, look for one that gives you both “Exodus 20” experiences as well as “Exodus 21-23” instruction!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 16-18

I want to focus on three distinct moments in these chapters. There are several moments of promise and several moments of the miraculous but three moments of miraculous that are accompanied by a specific promise and a command of remembrance.

First, in chapter 15, verses 22-27, we find where they came to a place where the water was bitter until God revealed a piece of wood that was subsequently thrown into the water making it sweet. There is the miracle. Then comes the promise. That if they would carefully listen to the voice of God and do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands and keep His decrees, they would not experience the diseased inflicted upon the Egyptians. I don’t believe that this is God promising an illness free existence to the obedient but rather obedience is the plan of avoidance of God’s judgment. Remember, the sicknesses referenced here are the plagues visited upon Egypt because of their rebellious hearts. Not that we won’t make mistakes as devoted followers of Christ but there is a vast difference between mistakes and being characterized by a rebellious heart. Plagueless living is His promise…His commands sweeten life! And God wanted every generation to follow was to remember this.

Second, in chapter 16, we have the beautiful story of the manna, which in Hebrew literally translates, “What is it?” That’s an Abbot and Costello routine for you, “What’s for dinner?” “What is it?” “That’s what I said, what’s for dinner?” “I know, what is it?” “What?” “What?” “What?” I love how the manna did not spoil on the seventh day like it did every other day if the people gathered more than they needed for daily consumption, and how there was no manna to be found on the seventh day, only the six days prior. And not that one miracle isn’t awe inspiring enough but this miraculous schedule of events was repeated without exception for 40 years! The promise was that God was their sustainer. A measure of the “What is it?” was to be gathered and kept in a jar. Provision living is His promise…His commands sustain life! And every generation to follow was to remember this.

Third, in chapter 17, verses 8-15, we find the famous story of Aaron and Hur holding up the hand of Moses while Joshua led their army in their first battle and their first victory. If Moses hands fell, the battle swung in favor of the Amalekites who were descendants of Esau, signs of the dispute between Jacob and Esau tracking through to successive generations, and if Moses hands remained raised, the battled turned to Joshua and the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. After the battle was ultimately victorious for the Israelites, an altar of remembrance was built to remind the people that God would forever resist the Amalekites attempt to conquer Israel. The lesson for us is in looking to Ephesians 6 where Paul reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities on high. We must never forget that natural realm victories are still spirit realm battles. Victorious (sorry my “p” alliteration efforts cam up short!) living is His promise…His commands secure life!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 11-14

Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Revelation 5:6…”Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God (speaking symbolically of the completeness of God) sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were the holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song…”

This idea of them singing a new song to the Lamb is vital to our theology of the divinity of Christ. Those who do not embrace His divinity fail to see the correlation between chapters 4 and 5 in Revelation. In chapter 4, the four creatures and the elders are worshipping God the Father continually. In chapter 5, not only do they sing a new song of worship but that worship is now re-directed to the Lamb!

Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…He is fully divine and worthy of our worship…worship Him!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 5-10

Oh how guilty we are of what we are reading. Anyone willing to admit that we too neglect the worship of God for work? I know I do. in Chapter 5, verse 4 the first reason given for why Pharaoh will not let them go is that they will stop working...may we all know when it is time to stop our labor and begin our worship!

I see the parable of the sower and the seed in beginning in chapter 4 and culminating in chapter 6. In chapter 4, verse 31 we see that the people believed and bowed in worship to God. We can assume they were so convinced that they were all leaving that they stopped working already, which is what prompted Pharaoh's reply in chapter 5, verse 4. Yet so quickly the people give up. In chapter 6, verse 9 we learn that the people had a broken spirit. They did not listen to Moses. There was God's seed sown into their hearts but no fertile ground upon which it could grow. Any broken spirits reading today? It is hard for God's promises to endure the heart of the broken. I believe that God walked the Israelites through the trials of being promised by Pharaoh and then repeatedly repealed because He was helping them help, re-build their spirit, but even then we see the pattern continuing once they arrive in the wilderness, ultimately an entire generation lost to their own unwillingness to grow in spirit so they could live in promise.

In reading 4:31 compared to the opening of chapter 5, I was convicted of my own impulsiveness. Chapter 5 begins with the word, "later." At the end of chapter 4, we see that the people now have a leader, there is supernatural power at work, everyone is ready to leave! Yet, the word "later" appears. I would have been the one in the room who said, "Okay, let's go wake up Pharaoh right now, what are we waiting for!" Pastor Carter Goolsby, a spiritual mentor of mine always said that when God is moving, speaking, we must ask three question: what is God saying, how is God saying it should be accomplished, and when is God saying..." We so often forget the the third.

I am always intrigued by the difference between what God promised the Israelites and what God instructed Moses and Aaron to request of Pharaoh. The two are very different. God promised them freedom and a return to the promised land. Yet, their request was a three days journey into the wilderness for a time of worship with the implication that they would return. I know there is a rich reservoir of truth in there that I have yet to fully discover and all the research I have done still leaves me lacking...that is the joy of reading every year...the depths of Scripture will always leave more to be found! One is however the great juxtaposition of Genesis 23, the story of Abraham negotiating with Ephron for the purchase of property and now Moses negotiating with Pharaoh. May we be reminded that God honors the upright, Ephron, but His judgment upon the openly rebellious is severe. I believe that when we read that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, what we are to understand is that He will give us over to our depravity if we demand it and then, we become an instrument of His will to our destruction. We are all an instrument of His will, but may it be to life and not death!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 1-4

Make sure you are using a study Bible as you read through this year. If you are using a chronological Bible, if it does not have good study notes, don't abandon your moments of curiosity! There are great online commentaries to choose from on Crosswalk.com or you can read using one translation and benefit from the study notes of another. I believe the best one in stores today is the Apologetics Study Bible. I appreciate their bringing clarity to what secularist call contradictions in the Bible. For example, they may point out that in Exodus 2, Moses' father-in-law's name is Ruel and then called Jethro. Jethro is his first name though and Ruel the name of his clan. Again, in Exodus 1:5 Moses tells us that Jacob's descendants numbered 70 yet in the book of Acts, Stephen says 75, but that is because Stephen is counting the 5 sons of Ephraim and Manasseh. If we think we have found a contradiction, we have actually only found the continuation of our own lack of understanding!

For Moses being saved, have you ever thought what it must have been like for his mother to be able to nurse him, care for him, raise him until he was ready to be weaned? That meant they were living among families whose sons had been thrown into the Nile. Can you imagine the tension that created among them? Humility. With our greatest blessings, may we remember that our gift from God can be a painful reminder of tragic loss to others. We must be humble with our blessings.

Too, we see humility come when Moses goes to seek permission from his father-in-law, a priest of Midian. Would we have asked for permission? Come on, we just talked to God through a bush! I know my inclination would have been to go and tell Jethro Ruel that I was leaving under the mandate of God Himself! Yet, we see Moses, gracious, respectful, humble, having a mandate from God yet submitted to the spiritual authority of his life. How would churches change in the world to today if all operated under such protocol?

Something I am excited to read in Heaven, I hope you have a list like this, I want to read the account of the "burning bush" moment that Aaron had with God. Don't you? God tells Moses that Aaron is on his way to meet him. What? This reminds us that the Israelites had a life defining relationship with God, conversing relationship, worshipping relationship. God was in constant communication with His people. What we observed in the life of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not die with them but lived on now with everyone who were themselves covenant keepers. Can't you imagine Aaron, "Who, Moses? You want me to wander out into the desert to meet Moses, he's been gone for 40 years now, he'll be 80, 80...and he is going to be our leader into the long awaited exodus?" God, "Yes."

Can you imagine Moses walking back into the communities of the Israelites? Possibly the only surviving male of his generation. For us, may we ask the question of God today, what needs to be consecrated in our lives? What needs to be set apart for you? What needs to die so that your plans in me and through me can live?

Pastor Fred

Genesis 49-50

Here we find again the great question of prescriptive vs. descriptive. Chapter 49 opens with, "...and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come." I truly believe this was a prophetic moment, God super-naturally empowering Jacob to speak of what will come; however, I believe what is coming for the these 12 is descriptive, God describing their future that is being created by their unrepentant past and present. Our unrepentant past and present is the prophetic voice of our tomorrows...unless we repent! Repentance is a voice changer!

Take for example Reuben. "He got into my bed." Enough said.

What areas of our lives are in rebellion of God? The Holy Spirit, by Jesus' instruction in John 16, is given to us in part of convict us the unrepentant sin in our lives. Let's covenant to ask Him to bring revelation to us, where Holy Spirit is their unrepentant sin in my life? I want a descriptive, prophetic voice that declares a life that brings deep pleasure to the heart of my God!

A quick note too, the saddest part of Genesis 49 is the reflection on Jacob's parenting. What a sad for him, "...When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and died. He was gathered to his people." Can you imagine that final moments of your life being the pronouncement of misery on the majority of your children? Parent well!

Finally, the final verses of chapter 50 set up one the greatest oath keeping moments in history, the promise to take Joseph's bones with them at the exodus he knew would one day come. A promise passed down from generation to generation, for centuries...that was kept (Exodus 13:19).

See you tomorrow!

Pastor Fred