When I read Exodus 4 early this morning, these verses stood out to me. "22 Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son." God spoke these words to Moses before he even returned to Egypt, before Moses had even talked to Pharoah, before any of the plagues happened. So, if God already knew that Pharoah was going to say, "No," then why send Moses and Aaron to talk to him? Why go through the other plagues and not just jump straight to this one?
Exodus 12:24 "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27 then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped." God spoke these words to Moses before the night that the death angel passed over. He is already handing them the victory and telling them they will celebrate it for years to come. In fact, Passover is still celebrated today, over 3000 years later! Wow!
Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. Has God taken you on any detours? I would much rather take the short cut most of the time, but I would miss out on the miracle of God parting the Red Sea for me.
Exodus 14:4 "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." Why did God place the Israelites between a rock and a hard place? To gain glory for Himself and so the enemy would know that He is LORD!
Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Does this speak to anyone besides me?
Exodus 14:22 I love that the Israelites walked on "dry" ground, not muddy, or sticky, but dry. God is all-powerful, and I want to see His power in every area of my life!
I think we'll save Exodus 20 for tomorrow. The 10 Commandments will require its own post. Do you know what other chapter in the Bible contains the 10 Commandments?
The ten commandments are again listed in Deuteronomy 5.
ReplyDeleteExodus 14:13 spoke to me also, I don't know if in the same way? I started a search for other verses with "stand firm" and this is what I found.
In 2 Chronicles 20 when the LORD answers Jehoshaphat's prayer verse 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.
Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Isaiah 7:9 If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the LORD, because you know that your labor in the LORD is not in vain.
Luke 21:19 By standing firm you will gain life.
1 Peter 5:9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Psaml 119:89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
Proverbs 12:7 Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.
Matthew 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
I love finding as many verses as I can on something when it speaks to me. Also at the end of v13 "be still" that may be my next search.
Thank you Melinda for posting all those verses!! I really needed to hear the message, "stand firm" and wait for God to show me what HE wants me to do next.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dana for being obedient and starting this study of the Bible. I shared with you that I have tried many times to read through the Bible on my own, but felt I just didn't have enough accountability to finish. Now I have that from several very wise women. I look forward to learning with all of you!!
I am sorry the post was so long. I have felt recently that God is speaking to me about my ability to waiver so easily. I always let myself believe that it's human nature and excuse it at that but God just keeps nudging that something BIG is happening and I had better have a strong hold on Him and only Him.
ReplyDeleteThrough the Bible stories I see it over and over the peoples amazing ability to cling to the LORD and then because they aren't "feeling it or seeing it" they look elsewhere and suffer big consequences.
LORD forgive me, thank you for your loving patience with me.
Ok, new rule.:-) None of us can apologize about our posts being too long. Deal? I absolutely love hearing how God is speaking to your hearts. Honestly, I have found myself trying to keep it short too, but we should all feel the freedom to let the Holy Spirit dictate our writing. Just as the Bible is inspired by God, this blog is inspired as well, and you are all a part of it! Hallelujah!
ReplyDeleteThe verses you listed, Melinda, were the ones I needed to hear from God this morning too. I need to hear the be still search as well. My heart is in a panic over the hectic pace of my summer, and when my mind goes wild, I have to have a Scripture verse to calm my spirit. Currently Psalm 57:2 is my calming verse, "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me."
When I read this section, I am wondering about the Egyptians. I know that Isarel was God's chosen people, but what about all the other people. Didn't he create all humans after his image? So, what about those darn Egyptians, are they just out of luck because they weren't the chosen people? I've always wondered and had questions about God's chosen people and what about those who aren't his chosen? I know I'm tedering on pre-destination, but I really have a lot of questions about all of that. If God knows exactly who is going to become a Christan and who isn't, does that make us his chosen and those not? Why did he only chose the Isarelites to be His chosen? Why not the Egyptians, why did He have a chosen group back then, but now we are all free to become His chosen??? Am I making any sense to anyone?
ReplyDeleteYes, Melissa, I have often wondered that too. Not to sound cold in the following statements, but there are obviously people that will NOT choose God, He knows who they are, so for lack of a better way to say it, why were they created? Ok, please don't think I'm heartless, because it doesn't make sense to me. God created all people with free will, however some will not choose Him, and to restate what I already said, He knows right now who will and who won't. Ok, maybe I'm treading where I don't want to tread so I'm handing off the baton.
ReplyDeleteMelissa and Amy, I agree with what you are saying. At the same time, what should matter to you and me is (1) Do I know Christ personally as my Savior? and (2) Am I sharing with others how they can come to know Christ? The rest we have to leave to God because we do not have a say in who is chosen and who is not. We are responsible for our own faith and for sharing it with others. I think it is tempting to get caught up in thinking it's not fair. God is the ultimate judge of fairness, and as you mentioned, Melissa, it is not our place to question God's plan for our lives. Some take predestination to the extreme by saying that we are not responsible to evangelize because God will save those He wants to save anyway. I believe as 2 Peter 3:9 says that the Lord does not want anyone to perish (to die separated from Him forever).
ReplyDeleteI think God chose Israel rather than Egypt because Israel was humble and Egypt was powerful. God's purpose is to bring glory to Himself, not to people. Through Israel God performed miracles that only God could perform. He does the same with people today. He is looking for willing vessels, people who are not too proud to let God change their lives and prove to the world that He alone is God Almighty.
Dear Ladies,
ReplyDeleteForgive me for being late on replying to these. I do also read a Chronilogical Bible that takes a year to read through, I have now been doing this for about 4 years. So, there are times when I get a little overwhelmed, so sorry about this.
I refuse to not give this my best shot anyway.
Dana, I sure hope that you will understand and this would be OK.
Blessings, Karen
So, where are you in your Chronological reading, Karen? I think the really awesome thing about this online group is that we can all study it at our own pace. At the same time, it helps inspire those of us who may have a tough time sticking to a reading schedule on our own. I pray that everyone will take the time needed to fully hear from God before going on to the next day's reading. We should all throroughly process what we read and not try to just check the reading off our list.
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