Good Morning Brothers and Sisters, Blessings on this Resurrection Sunday.
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Good Morning Brothers and Sisters, Blessings on this Resurrection Sunday.
Healing and Discipleship 
Exodus 5 WEB “10 The taskmasters of the people went out with their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’” 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!” 14 The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? 16 No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
17 But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”
19 The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”
20 They met Moses and Aaron, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh. 21 They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”
22 Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people. You have not rescued your people at all!””
Lovely cooler day! A perfect day to snuggle up in a cozy place with God or to spend time in fellowship with family. WOW! Busy-ness… especially drivenness, prevents us from really thinking or hearing anything other than what we are dealing with at hand. Perhaps the most damaging element of modern life is the need to be constantly stimulated by external things leaving virtually no time to sit and reflet on the biblical truth of “Be still and know that I am God”. It takes quiet, set apart times to really listen to, to process, to consider, to count costs, to dream godly visions and to meditate on truths so that they can go down deep and transform our lives. Perhaps in my own life, nothing “steals” more than busy-ness…. Being pre-occupied with the lesser things. Thoughts?
Agreed!! Waiting on the Lord is essential. Listening for His voice, to still the noise and hear His quiet beckoning..
Rob
I have been very thankful for this time to think and meditate more deeply on His Word!
KC
Good Morning.Jesus Lives!! He Lives!!
Rob
Praise God! Truly He is the Risen Lord.
Good morning. He is our light in the Darkness. I was really enjoying your play list this morning Lisa. Dancing in the shower. Hahaha.
Wendy
Praise God! I personally need constant reminding these days to praise Him and to remember who I am in Him!!!
vs 20-24. This smacks of the conversation with God right after the fall. The people blame one another and then in turn someone blames God. “It was the woman you gave me”
Also things got worse, way worse before they got better.
We always want to see things instantly. I’m sure that Moses thought that as soon as he got to Egypt he would start to see things happen quicker for the people in a positive way. His timing is quite often not ours.Isaiah 55:8 “For my thought are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
Wendy
I cannot even imagine that he could have forseen how it would go even though God told him over and over again that major resistance would happen. Perhaps this should be very very encouraging for us right now. We know that things need to get very dark for seasons, we also know for the thief to be exposed, at times God seemingly gives him more room to operate…. Let us be so encouraged by the end of the story and by the blessings on the lives of those who consistently kept their eyes on the Lord. Perhaps we see this in Joshua. He didn’t perhaps the same measure of “wrestling” with God as Moses did. Perhaps we truly can pave the way for the next generation if we are willing to follow Him in the wilderness.
Nothing at all made sense in this scenario humanly speaking to Moses or the people as things indeed seemed to go from bad to worse. They were being asked to do the impossible by Pharoah. Was this Gods purpose to emphasize the ‘impossible’ to reveal that nothing was impossible to Him ? KC
Yes that is a great point Karen. He was making sure that everyone knew that His people were going to be delivered by His hand and His hand alone. So that no one could take the credit. Just like He does with us. In our weakness He is made strong.
Wendy
Good morning all as we rejoice Yeshua our Resurrected Lord and Living Word!
KC
Next passage (I am skipping Exodus 6 not because it isn’t of interest, it is another exchange between Moses and God revealing that Moses wasn’t precisely a believing or unquestioning servant)
Exodus 7 World English Bible (WEB)
“7 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 3 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.”
6 Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did. 7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”
10 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. 12 For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.”
I Love the relationship that Moses had with God. A real relationship, with all the difficult conversations. We have access to the Father thru Jesus. We can have a similar relationship.
Rob
Amen!
KC
Yes!!!!
I wonder if Moses was impacted by God specifically telling him that Pharoah was not going to respond .. “ but Pharoah will not listen to you”.. . Believing Him was the issue and (remaining calm and unperturbed )as it is for us now when God is so gracious to be specific like that but so very difficult for humans..
KC
LOL!!! true. Something to reflect on often. God doesn’t guarantee it will be easy or that people will listen. persistence is definitely a key and to remain unaffected. It took a lot to convince Pharoah.
Oh yes that is so true.” For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”
Hebrews 10:36 NASB
https://www.bible.com/100/heb.10.36.nasb
Wendy
I wonder how it impacted Moses and Aaron that Pharaohs magicians could do the same things as what God empowered them to do. Cool that Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. That is a bit of foreshadowing eh?
Wendy
This is very encouraging to me, that even if “other” gods can compete with God for a season, His Sovereignty (greater than allness) will ultimately be revealed as parlour tricks and even mighty acts (thinking of Job how Satan was able to control the weather and many other elementals powers in the earth) that God will always outdo the little g gods and reveal Himself as the Almighty.
Praying that this will happen for this generation.
This is our faith and our hope in trusting that His timing is and will be perfect! . Oh that I may learn how to perfectly rest in Him!….despite the enemy arrogantly displaying his parlour tricks and observing people ‘buying into them”
KC
Amen!
80 and 83.. it took a long time to get these men ready for this calling. And yet the disciples were able to be equipped in three years time . Perhaps we can never be too young or too old or get fixed ideas on.. is it possible we come up with excuses ,a lot like Moses to try to tell God why we do not fit the bill… Why we are not “mature” enough, or “knowledgeable” enough. We really have to go into everything with “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” echoing loudest in our minds. I can’t imagine being told at 80 and 83 with such a physically vigorous assignment and yet.. he still died at 120, just as strong and healthy as a young man. Do our mindsets age us more than actual physical ageing?
Yes Rob and I just commented to each other about that, they being 80 and 83, which was not like our 80 and 83 today, but maybe that is the truth that our mindsets age us more than even our physical being. We have been so conditioned to aging. It is getting somewhat better because there are those now that are tapping into what we can do to slow this process. But I want that to happen in relationship with Him.
Wendy
Perhaps the key to their strength in old age (as others were clearly ageing normally and dying all around them as Moses was one of the last to die before Joshua led the next generation into the “promised land”) was the time they spent with the Lord. I personally feed convicted that His presence is a place of total healing and renewing of our youth and strength. God had sworn that they would not enter the promised land until that other generation had passed away. Numbers 14 “20 Yahweh said, “I have pardoned according to your word; 21 but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory— 22 because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; 23 surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it” WEB
Joshua 1 shows that God commanded them to cross over right after Moses’ death. This suggests that the whole generation that had believed the evil report had died. So perhaps truly them leading that these advanced ages show that they were really different from the average people of their time.
Yes
Wendy
Mindsets, likely, also the age around us and satan’s lies and deception.
Phil 4:13 Amp
I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]
Rob
Amen, one of my go to verses, that calms my spirit and draws me close to Him and under His wing.
Wendy
Next passage Exodus WEB 14 Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. 16 You shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.” 17 Yahweh says, “In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.”’” 19 Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
20 Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water. 25 Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.”
vs 19 is interesting. Even though they touched only the river even the water in at least certain containers were also transformed. How the Egyptian magicians could also perform such a feat, is of interest. Perhaps we like to assure ourselves by pretending their is not real power in the elemental powers of darkness.. but this tells us that there is genuine (though lesser) power. The magicians certainly had no power to reverse what God had done so everyone had to dig their water out of the ground to get unfouled water.
The central role that the “rod” plays throughout Exodus brings Psalm 23 to mind Psalm 23 World English Bible (WEB)
A Psalm by David.
23 Yahweh is my shepherd:
I shall lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever.
We see elements of all of these things play out through the Exodus journey. How greatly comforted we could be if we took these promise deeply to heart and were to meditate on the how truly God did each of these things for His people through the “valley of the shadow of death” that they walked through for this season.
Yes, Amen. Rob and I recite this Psalm everyday out loud when we go on our walks. It is impactful every time we say it.
Wendy
Didn’t realize it was all bodies of water, ponds and containers.
19 Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
Rob
Yes that is true, that it was in ALL the water in the area, even in the pots.
Wendy
Vs23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart. Wow when God hardens hearts they truly are immovable.
Wendy
Totally crazy!!! Unthinkable even
Vs 23 …reminds me of modern day evil leaders whose decisions don’t even consider the consequences to the people they reign over. “All the Egyptians dug around the water : for they couldn’t find a drink”. This is a heartbreaking picture of how the people suffer under the rule of a godless leader protecting his ‘position of authority’
KC
Yes, that is true. It is happening right now in the world today.
Wendy
Powerful thought! Wow! Just like when the Pharisees were so concerned about discreditting Jesus the sick and hurting became a tool they would use instead of people worthy of care and compassion and respect.
A stand out to me is that the people were not particularly inclined to follow God and the taskmasters were especially loath to let them go. This is very much what we see today. Many have no understanding of being in bondage. I think it was as much about convincing the Israelites to leave and face the unknown as it was about convincing Pharoah to release his slaves. This leads me to ask the question.. Where am I resisting you Lord? What places in my heart and life are still in bondage to Egypt that need to follow you out to the wilderness place where I can learn to truly worship and serve you?
Matthew 6:24 [Full Chapter]
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
I heard a story this week, one that repeats itself often. A person who is bitter with God because a dear one died in a tragic way and God being blamed for the tragedy. Our minds and hearts are truly blinded to the truth when we are held captive. This cuts right to the core of pride. Pride says “I know this, I see this rightly” It takes true humility to admit that we need one another to be able to perceive our own “blindspots”. Imagine how dangerous driving would be if car designers had not included those mirrors to check the spots we cannot naturally see. Scripture is the greatest blindspot revealer of all and submitting to others in accepting and considering correction is essential to our own vision being true. Truly there is safety in many counselors
Yes it is not so much leaving Egypt, but having Egypt taken out of us. Rob mentioned that on a previous day and it has always impacted me a great deal. Still so much to get out, but His Grace is so gentle and loving to guide us and take us through this.
Wendy
Ah yes! I have been SO thankful in my lifetime to God for opening my heart and mind to this truth of our need of each other for confirmation of the truth and safety within the connection of spirit , the relationships ,the many councillors ! So thankful for each one of you as we seek His truth in the Word together1
So thankful for each one of you. This hour is a tremendous reprieve for me each day. It is keeping my focus intensively on God for this set apart time . I feel like I need to go through each one several times. There is so much to be thankful for and amazed in all of these things. Love and hugs and blessings on this day of the Lord!!!
We feel the same Lisa.
Wendy
I lean into the resurrection power that resides in His word today and His powerful name! Blessings all!
KC
Love to you all. We celebrate the resurrection today and all that means for us and what the Father did and planned right from the beginning, to bring us back into relationship with Him. Thank you we praise you and are so grateful.
Wendy