Exodus 16  Again the people of Israel began to grumble.. and the Lord heard their grumbling.. 

I have done my share of grumbling.. haven't you?  We are born wanting what we want.. and when we don't get it.. we grumble.  We are not so different from the Israelites. 

This time the people were grumbling about food. They were thinking about the bread they had back in Egypt.. and the meat they cooked for supper. They forgot about the hours of slave labor.. about beatings and back-breaking loads they had to carry every day..  They just wanted to know how they were going to find food in the wilderness? 

The Lord already had a plan for this.  He would provide quail for their meat.. and he would provide "bread from heaven".. manna for each day. But... there were rules...  First off, they had to go out in the morning and gather the right amount for their families.. for just that day.  Secondly, they were NOT to keep extra except on the day before the Sabbath.  Then, they would not go out on the Sabbath, for God was giving them a day of rest every 7th day. 

So, what did they do?  They tried to keep extra.. they tried to find some on the 7th day.. But, they finally figured it out and were able to trust the Lord each day for their "daily bread". 

This manna was provided for the people of Israel for 40 years... until they finally entered the promised land. 

Jesus taught His disciples to ask for daily bread.  He also taught them that He, Himself, is the true Bread from heaven.  Our Father knows what we need and He has promised to provide.. but He wants us to trust Him.  "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness"  Jesus tells us.. and the Father, who knows us completely.. will provide all that we need.  So thankful, that our God hears us.. even though we grumble.. and He is so gracious to  provide for us anyway.  

Father, turn our hearts from grumbling to gratitude!  Give us today, the daily bread that we need.. and the gracious gift of rest.. of peace.. of faith, hope, and love.  We are thankful for all You have done and continue to do for us. .moment by moment and day by day! Forgive us for grumbling and complaining.. for being impatient or prideful or greedy. May we hear Your voice and obey Your commands to us today. In Jesus ' name we pray. Amen. 

 Exodus 15  Moses and all of Israel broke out in a new song.. "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea." 

They praised and exalted the Lord for His strength and for His salvation. They proclaimed Him to be a "warrior".. "The Lord is His name."!  They had learned so much about the Lord through this amazing miracle...they learned of His majesty.. of His excellent greatness.. of His majestic holiness.. and of His lovingkindness towards them. 

They learned what it meant to be the people of God.. redeemed.. purchased.. and eventually planted "in the mountain of Thine inheritance." 

Yet.. three days later.. there was no water and they grumbled. 

The Lord "tested them"... He gave them a "statute and a regulation.. "  And,  He told them, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I, the Lord, am your healer." (v26)  This is His promise. 

Father in heaven, we are giving heed to Your voice.. desiring to do what is right in Your sight... listening to Your commands and trusting in You.  Be our help and be our healer too.  Help us to know You in deeper and greater ways.. and to exalt and honor Your Name in all we do. We ask this in the name of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

 Exodus 14  If you have never read Robert Morgan's book, Red Sea Rules,  I highly recommend it!  His look at the lessons from this chapter in Exodus are so encouraging and insightful...  Even now as I think on this great event in the redemption of the nation of Israel.. I can't help but remember Morgan's first rule, "Realize that God means for you to be where you are." 

God directed Moses and the people of Israel to a specific place "before Pihahiroth, between Migdo and the sea, over against Baalzephon."  Couldn't get more direct than that!  They were in a place with no way out. The Egyptians were coming after them.. the Red Sea was before them.. BUT..  they were in the exact place that God wanted them to be. 

The Lord hardened Pharoah's heart. The people of Israel were scared and angry at Moses for leading them out of Egypt, thinking that they would be better off to die there.  Moses.. on the other hand.. was learning how to trust and obey.  "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." (v13-14) 

Then Moses lifted up the staff and the waters of the Red Sea divided so that there was water standing "like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." The people walked through the sea on dry ground! When the Egyptians began to follow.. the Lord caused them to get "confused".. the wheels on their chariots began to swerve.. and before they could turn around and run the Lord ordered Moses to stretch out his hand and the water came back down.. washing away the whole army of Egyptians. 

Finally, the Israelites "saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians.. "  Finally, they "feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses." 

Would they have believed if God had not led them to where He did?  They should have believed already.. but, they seemed to forget all that God had already done!  Don't we have that same problem?  God brings us through our struggles and trials.. and we are so thankful.. for a while.  But, when another problem arises.. we begin to worry and fret.. afraid that God won't help us this time.  We need to remember that our God can make a way.. or as Robert J. Morgan writes, "The same God who leads us in will lead you out." We serve a mighty God who cares about us!

Father in heaven,  we never know what another day might hold.. but we are so thankful that You do... and that You lead us right where You want us to be.  We trust Your perfect plans.. even when we are in impossible places.. for You are the God who splits the Sea and moves mountains.. and brings about good for those You call to Yourself.  Help us to remember and believe.. to obey and to keep trusting You.  Teach us Your ways and let Your will be done. We ask this in the name of our gracious Lord,  Your beloved son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

 Exodus 13 As the people of Israel leave Egypt the Lord gave them some instructions.. for the present and for the future.  The first thing that He commands them to do is to "Remember".. 

They were to set apart or "sanctify" every first born son and the first born of their animals.  This would remind them of the fact that God had spared their children and resources from the judgement that He poured out on Egypt.  They were to honor the Lord, remembering His "powerful Hand" that brought them out of slavery and suffering.  

When they arrived into the promised land and established their nation there, the Israelites were to "devote" every first born to the Lord.  He set up a way to "redeem" their first-born sons with a sacrifice offered before Him. 

The Lord also provided a physical sign of His presence with the people of Israel. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night was given to them as they traveled out of Egypt. 

When they left Egypt and followed the pillar.. we are told that "God did not lead them by way of the land of Philistines, even though it was near; "   He didn't want them to "see war" and change their minds and return to slavery in Egypt.  Instead, the Lord led them to the Red Sea.  

In many ways the children of Israel were just that.. "children".. Their faith was weak.. their knowledge of God scant.. their faithfulness untested.  The Lord had done amazing and powerful works in their sight.. showing them, for the first time, Who He is.  He wanted them to remember this! He established His covenant with them, so that they would see themselves as set apart.. "sanctified" as His people.  He gave them these first few instructions.. to help them see themselves in a whole new way.. no longer slaves, but the people.. the nation.. of the Lord's choosing. 

Father in heaven, You have called us Your children.  You have chosen us to belong to Your family.. redeeming us by the blood of the Lamb.  You lead us in Your paths.. which sometimes are not the fastest ways.. but the best ways.. the ways that reveal to us Who You are.  You desire for us to remember and to obey... and to trust You.  We may not see the pillar of cloud or fire.. but, we know that You are with us every day and every night and we are so thankful.  Have Your way in us today, Lord. We are Your people, the sheep of Your pasture.. and we give You praise. You are amazing, God!  Amen. 

 Exodus 5-12   God's message to Moses and Aaron was clear.. He was going to work in such a way that everyone.. even Pharaoh... would know the He is the Lord. God's message to Pharaoh was "Let My  people go... " 

At first things didn't go well for the people of Israel.. they actually got worse!  But, day after day, they began to see the Lord's power displayed.. 

Water turned into blood.

Frogs that covered the land.

Gnats that rose up out of the dust.

Livestock dying in the fields.

Boils breaking out on their bodies.

Hail raining down and destroying the crops... but, not on those belonging to the Hebrews.

Locusts that invaded and stripped every green thing in all the land of Egypt, with the exception of the Hebrew's land. 

Darkness that fell over the land for 3 days.. except for the Hebrew's homes. 

Then.. the final plague.  Death to the first born of every Egyptian "from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on the throne, even to the first-born of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the first-born of the cattle as well." (11:5)

The Lord commanded the people of Israel to prepare for this last show of His power and wonders. They were to prepare for that night. They had to set aside a perfect lamb. They had to prepare the lamb.. taking his shed blood and putting it on the doorposts and lintels of their homes.  The lamb had to be roasted.. the bread had to be unleavened.. they had to stay indoors.. they needed to remember this night forever. 

The day came. Israel obeyed all the Lord commanded them.  The Lord did everything He said He would do. And Israel walked out of Egypt 430 years after they had come in.  Over 600,000 men plus women and children, flocks and herds.. and gifts of silver, gold and clothing from their Egyptian neighbors. 

Father, You are the Lord. Sovereign King and Creator.  Every nation is subject to Your command.  Yet, some still harden their hearts, just like Pharaoh.  May we remember what You did those many years ago.. and acknowledge that You are and always will be  the Lord!  Let Your will be done in our nation today, Lord!  Let our hearts be yielded and ready to obey Your Word. Bring repentance and humble us before Your throne. Change hard hearts, Lord God..  May we know the greatness and wonder of our God.. in new ways.. Shine Your light on us today we pray. In Jesus' name . amen. 

 Exodus 4  God had called Moses to a great mission.. to deliver the people of Israel out of the dominion of Egypt into the promised land.  But, there were a few obstacles... 

First, Moses was concerned that the people of Israel would not believe him or listen to God's message.  To that the Lord gave him some signs that would convince them if they didn't believe at first.  The staff could be thrown down and turn into a serpent and then restored back into a staff.  Moses' hand became leprous and then was brought back to normal. The water of the Nile would be turned into blood. "And it shall come about that if they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign." 

Secondly, Moses was concerned with his lack of eloquent speech.  The Lord rebuked him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"  God promised to  teach Moses what to say.. yet he still hesitated.  So the Lord gave Moses a helper.. his own brother Aaron. 

Moses took leave of his father-in-law, Jethro, and took his wife and sons towards Egypt.  But, there was one more obstacle.. "Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to kill him.." (v24)  This seems like the kind of obstacle that would make you turn back..  to think that maybe you heard it all wrong ... But, this time it was Zipporah, Moses'  wife that acted.. circumcising her two sons right then and there. This seemed to bring things back into alignment with God's plan. 

After all of this, Moses went on and met Aaron "at the mountain of God".  They went together to meet with the elders of Israel.  Aaron did the speaking and Moses did the signs.. and the people believed! Together they all bowed and worshiped God, rejoicing that He saw their affliction and was ready to deliver them. 

Obstacles.. whether they come from our own fears and insecurities.. or from others.. or from the Lord Himself... are part of our journey too.  It is encouraging to know that God's plans contain the obstacles and the solutions too!  God had a plan to give Moses the evidence he would need to succeed in convincing the people to trust Him.  God had a plan to help Moses speak the words that He wanted him to speak.  And God had a plan to keep Moses walking in the Truth.. to fear God and to be obedient to all of His ways. 

Whatever obstacles we are facing today.. may we trust God to overcome them! He has a plan for us too. 

Father in heaven, You are so good to us. Even when we are facing things that we have no strength to deal with.. You are with us and will bring us through. Thank You for the truth of Your word that gives us courage in the midst of our struggles.. You are our Provider, our Strength.. our Shelter in the time of storms!  You are the Rock on which we stand. We give You praise and worship You. amen. 

 Exodus 3 Imagine.. being in the wilderness, just as always, leading the flock of sheep near a mountain that was called "Horeb, the mountain of God."  And, then, seeing a bush burning, but not being burnt up! And, as if that weren't enough the "angel of the Lord" appears. 

Moses knew of God. He had been with Jethro, the priest of Midian, for 40 years at this point. He was 80 years old.... (I wonder why he was out with the sheep and not his sons? ) But, God chose this time to reveal Himself to Moses.,. in a burning bush.  Moses turned aside from his path, from his task, from his sheep.. to see this "marvelous sight".  It is only then that he comes near to God. 

Are we willing to "turn aside" from our business.. from our busyness.. to come near to God?  We may not have a burning bush to see.. but the same God who met Moses in the wilderness.. is ready to reveal Himself to us when we take the time to seek Him.

God had a mission for Moses. He called Moses to be part of His plan to deliver the Israelites from Egypt.  He could have done it a different way.. but He chose to use Moses for this assignment. It was a big job! Moses had no way to accomplish this on his own. God was going to use Moses to reveal Himself to His people in a way that they could never found on their own.  They would come to know Him as "I AM".. the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.. the God who Is and Was.. and forever will be.  It was God's plan to use Moses in the deliverance of His people from Egypt into the promised land.  It would happen according to His plan and by His power.  Moses just needed to cooperate with God. 

Father in heaven, help us to seek You and find You .. every day, so that we can be immersed in Your presence and so that we can be part of Your plan for the people around us.. that they might also meet You and find the deliverance that only You can provide.  Have Your way in us, Lord God.  Be exalted among the nations and to the ends of the earth!  amen.