Jan 23 Exodus 5-11

Panic and Discouragement:

Haven't you often said," I wish God would just tell me what He is going to do." Or as a friend recently said, "Where is the neon sign telling me what to do?". Well God told Moses ahead of time EXACTLY what He was going to do. He even told him that Pharoh would not let the people go until He had to kill Pharoh's firstborn son. (Ex 4:21-23). When Moses and Aaron told the elders of Israel what God had said and that He was concerned about them and had seen their misery they believed and worshiped. (Ex. 4:29-31). But as soon as the going got tough, Moses ran to God in a panic (Ex. 5:22-6:1) and the elders were ready to give up.

God reassured Moses by telling him four times I am the LORD (Ex. 6: 2-9) and reaffirming these great truths:

• I have established My coventant with you and have remembered it
• I will free you from the yoke of bondage
• I will make you My people and be your God
• I will give you a possession or heritage

Moses must have been very encouraged after this talk with God but then, "He reported all he heard to the Isrealites and they did not listen because of their discouragement".

So to sum it up: they had the plan, the neon sign as it were, and even signs, wonders and miracles but they did not listen because they were discouraged. Maybe you are discouraged today. Remind yourself of God's promises, He never fails. (all these promises hold true for us today Galatians 3:6-16)

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The Plagues:

We are all pretty familiar with these, if not from reading through the Bible, at least from the Charlton Heston version of the 10 Suggestions....I mean Commandments. But one thing I noticed that I had never seen before. The plagues begin and end with blood. First the Nile turns to blood and then the firstborn is killed. It's the blood that saves us from all the stuff 'in between'.

As a side note, if you want some entertaining reading, search the web about the plauges and read some of the things 'science' has come up with to explain them. You know, of course, that battles at Sea were very common in that era, and there could have been a horrible battle on the Nile causing it to turn to blood. And the reason that only the firstborn died was that after the plague of darkness (caused by an eclipse) the Egyptians hurried to feed their firstborn (who had a prefered spot in the family) and fed them food that had toxic mold. The Israelists, however took their time and did not have the same preference for firstborn (since when?) Okie, Dokie- that's the best ya got??