Day 31 - Exodus 35-38

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 31 - Exodus 35-38 (The Sacrament of Talents)

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“And Moses said to the children of Israel, "See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;  and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship,  to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze,  in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.  And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.  He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver--those who do every work and those who design artistic works.”  (Exodus 35:30-35)

You may be wondering why I entitled my post The Sacrament of Talents.  The word sacrament has its origin meaning to consecrate or make sacred.  I chose to use the phrase because our text clearly teaches that God gives us our gifts and talents in varying measure according to His purposes which of course are sacred.  To Bezalel, God gave a generous outpouring of artistic skill for the specific purpose of designing and creating the articles for the tabernacle including the Ark of the Covenant upon which God would sit and dwell with His people, the Israelites.

No doubt Bezalel acknowledged his gifts as having come from God and that he must have felt humbled and highly honored at the same time for being chosen to oversee all of the design and creation of the articles to be used in worshipping almighty God.  I would have loved to watched his expression when he found out from Moses that he would be in charge of creating the Ark of the Covenant!

The fact is, every gift given by the Holy Spirit to all believers are given for the purposes of God.  Paul clearly teaches this truth in his epistles such as in the passage below:

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.  Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." ... for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,...” (Ephesians 4:7-12)

If you are a believer reading this, you have been given at least one spiritual gift, not to use on yourself, but for the body of Christ, the Church.  Paul writes about the different kinds of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and and also explains that every believer is a vital part of the body of Christ without which the whole body suffers.  That’s how important each one of us is to Christ and to the ministry of the Church.  It really is no different from the gift God gave to Bezalel; and you and I can feel just as highly honored that God would call us for His sacred purpose.

Day 30 - Exodus 33-34

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Day 30 - Exodus 33-34 (What God Said About Himself)
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“Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.  And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,  keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."  (Exodus 34:5-7)

In Exodus 33:18, Moses asks God, “show me your glory.”   To a typical person reading that, it would be natural to regard Moses as impudent.  Imagine asking God to show you His full glory?  Even the angels who ministered before God continually has to cover their faces with their wings so as not to behold the glory of God!  But wonder of all wonders, God complies with Moses’ blod request with one condition; read it for yourself below:

“But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."  And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.  So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.  Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."  (Exodus 33:20-23)

In our text above, God does just that and reveals His glory to Moses, except that he didn’t see God’s face.  I have learned an important truth about God through this episode in Moses’ life; that is, that God is not offended when His children ask Him for anything - even showing His glory.  It does not mean, of course, that God will grant us what we ask just because we ask.  Right after Moses made his audacious request, God answered,  “Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."  (Exodus 33:19)  God owes no one anything and He will show Himself to whoever He wants.

In my simple mind, I would think that what God said about Himself when He revealed His glory to Moses (which for me was the most amazing act God has done for one individual) carries a lot a significance and therefore merits our special attention.  First, God says of Himself that He is merciful and gracious.  Mercy is not getting what we deserve which is punishment for our sins - hell.  Grace is getting what we do not deserve which is what believers get in trusting Christ as Savior - heaven.

God says He is longsuffering or patient.  God’s patience is the reason why all non-believers who are still alive are still alive - God is still giving them time to repent.  He is abounding in goodness and truth.  God is not just good, He abounds in goodness and He IS truth as Jesus claimed in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

God says He forgives sins but by no means clears the guilty.  God has solved the apparent dilemna of His two natures of being merciful and being just by becoming a human in the person of His Son Jesus and taking the punishment of death that we all deserved upon His own body as He hung on the cross.

So this is the God of the Bible as claimed by none other than God Himself.  The question is: will you believe in the one and only true God as proclaimed by God or will you continue to believe in whatever god you may have made up in your mind?  Your choice.

Day 29 - Exodus 30-32

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Day 29 - Exodus 30-32 (Man’s Rebellious Nature Unbelieveably Displayed)

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“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." …  And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"... Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (wild partying).”  (Exodus 32:1.4.6)

Many things are hard to accept in the Bible but the rebellion of the Israelites in our text tops it for me.  God had just delivered the Jews from bondage in Egypt after witnessing the ten horrible plagues culminating in the death of all first-born in Egypt.  The Jews also witnessed the parting of the Red Sea and crossed the same with the wall of water on both sides.  Then they saw the Egyptian army drown behind them when God caused the waters to return as the last Israelite stepped on the other side of the sea.  

There were numerous other miracles these people were privileged to witness first-hand including the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire; God’s voice thundering in their hearing as He spoke to Moses so that they pleaded to Moses not to hear God again; the bread from heaven in the morning and birds in the evening for their food; the water that gushed from the rock after Moses struck it for their drink; and many other miracles.

What made the rebellion of the Jews even more shocking to me was the fact that Aaron consented to it and even fashioned an idol for the people to worship and then lied about it when he was confronted by Moses!  The absence of anyone protesting this disgrace tells me that everyone was in it without exception.

It would be easy for me to say that I would never rebel against God like the Israelites did in the wilderness and perhaps it is true.  But I know that I could easily be guilty of consenting of sin through my silence and apathy.  Abortion is one example.  Millions of Christians who may be against abortion can be contributors to this greatest of all genocide in history by our silence.

I do not have any intention to put any guilt trip on anyone regarding non-involvement in abortion protest or any other anti-Christian movement.  I simply am commenting on how believers today can be guilty of rebellion against God just like the Jews in the Old Testament with the prayer that you and I can avoid falling into the same trap of the devil repeatedly.  Let us heed the words of the apostle Paul:

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea,  all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,  all ate the same spiritual food,  and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.  But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.  Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.  And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;  nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”  (1 Corinthians 10 1-12)

Day 28 - Exodus 28-29

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Day 28 - Exodus 28-29 (HOLINESS TO THE LORD)

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"You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban.  So it shall be on Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.”  (Exodus 28:36-38)

I can only imagine the glory and beauty of the priestly garments worn by Aaron as meticulously designed by God Himself - it must have been a sight to behold.  God never intended for the priestly garments to consecrate the priest who ministered before His presence in the tabernacle.  Rather, as in all the other articles inside the tabernacle, they were intended to be a copy of heaven itself and what took place there.  It was the blood of the animals that were sacrificed on the altar and then sprinkled on all of the articles inside the tabernacle including the priestly garments that consecrated all.

Aaron’s glorious priestly garments did not make him holy nor did any good he may have done make him worthy to stand before God.  If you may recall just a short while back from this time, when Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain in meeting God, this same Aaron fashioned a golden calf and made all the Israelites worship it.  I would not exactly call a person like that holy or worthy to stand before God.  Again, it was the blood of the animal that served as a substitute for the blood of the priest that made him worthy to stand and serve in God’s presence as holy.

On one side of the stage of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ (picture shown on this FB post) reads “Holiness to the Lord” and on the other side reads “So Be Ye Holy”.  Both phrases were taken from Scriptures.  How can we be holy before God today?  Thank God we can be through the blood of Jesus who is the Lamb sacrificed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins!  But God requires repentance and faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Have you asked God to forgive you of your sins through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus?  If you will do that today, the blood of Jesus will wash away all your sins and He will give you new priestly garments of His own righteousness so that you can stand forever before God’s presence.  

Day 27 - Exodus 26-27

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Day 27 - Exodus 26-27 (The Veil That Separated the Holy God from Sinful Man)

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"You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.  You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver.  And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.  You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy.”  (Exodus 26:31-34)

When God instructed Moses to construct a tabernacle or tent for Him to dwell among the people, He told Moses to make a veil which shall separate Ark of the Covenant upon which God would sit and dwell with the Israelites.  The veil signified the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.  Sinful man cannot approach God unless God first consecrates (set apart as holy) him.  “Only the high priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once each year (Exodus 30:10;Hebrews 9:7) to enter into God's presence for all of Israel and make atonement for their sins (Lev 16).” (http://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html)  Consecration always involved forgiveness of sins “and according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)

When Jesus walked this earth, instead of a tabernacle there was the temple built by Herod.  We read, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;...”  (Matthew 27:50-51a)  Josephus, the renowned Jewish historian describes that veilas being 60 feet high and four inches think and that horse tied to each side could not pull the veil apart.

The tearing of the veil of the temple implies what is perhaps the most important truth in all of Scripture, that is, that the way is now open for sinful man to permanently approach God through the shed blood of Christ on the cross and through His ministry to all believers as their High Priest.  As Scripture says:

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,  by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,  and having a High Priest over the house of God,  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”  (Hebrews 10:19-22)  

Day 25 - Exodus 20-22

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Day 25 - Exodus 20-22 (The Ten Commandments)

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“You shall have no other gods before Me.  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God... "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain..."Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ..."Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.  "You shall not murder.  "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal.  "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  "You shall not covet ...anything that is your neighbor's."  (Exodus 20:3-17)

Did you know that there were two sets of tablets of stone upon which the Ten Commandments were written?  The first set were handed directly to Moses by God with the writings by God on both sides of the tablets.  Those tablets were thrown on the ground by Moses (yes, it happened!) in front of the Israelites in his anger at them for making a golden calf and worshipping it when Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain in meeting with God.  Later, God told Moses to cut his own tablet so that God can write the same commandments as in the first set of tablets.

When God says something as when He speaks to one of His prophets who records it and it becomes part of the Scriptures, it is the Word of God that demands obedience from all His creatures.  When God Himself writes His commandments on tablets of stone and twice at that, common sense dictates that God is trying to place added emphasis on those commandments.  Interestingly, God of all ten commandments, God repeats the first two, which is about making and worshipping idols, right after He gives the ten in Exodus 20:23.  Again, common sense tells us the gravity God places on idolatry.

Are you guilty of bowing down to a “carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth?” (Exodus 20:4, 5)  No amount of rationalization can spare you from being guilty of violating the first two commandments if you keep any idol in your home and bow down to it.  Think about it, will God accept whatever reason you might have in praying to an idol?  Will He consider your reason/s an exception to the first two commandments?  Why not ask God to show you if the carved image you are bowing to is an exception to His commandments?  If you are truly sincere, God will reveal the truth to you.

Day 26 - Exodus 23-25

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Day 26 - Exodus 23-25 (Praise God Who Dwells Among Us!)

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“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: …  And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.  According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.  "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; …” (Exodus 25:1, 8-10)

Wonder of all wonders is that the God of the Bible, the only true God, from the beginning of man’s creation in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of man and until the time of the restoration of creation and the redemption of man in the new heaven and the new earth, desires to dwell among us!  

This awesome truth is evident throughout Scriptures.  God spoke to Adam “face to face” in the Garden of Eden and even after the Fall when Adam hid from God.  God called Abraham in an audible voice and told him to go to a land he will show him to make him a father of many nations.  God spoke to Isaac and Jacob to renew His covenant with Abraham.  God appeared to Moses as a man talks with another man and revealed His full glory to him.  Now, in our text, God plainly tells Moses His intention from the very beginning of creation, that is, He desires to dwell among men: “let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”  (Exodus 25:8)

Even after this event, we know from the Bible that God never ceased to dwell among men.  God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”  (Isaiah 7:14)  Later in the New Testament, the apostle Matthew writes, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,"which is translated, "God with us."  (Matthew 1:23)

The incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ was the ultimate goal of God in His desire to dwell with us.  Although man killed Jesus, He rose again from the dead in order to dwell with man, this time, through the Holy Spirit Whom Jesus sent to all those who believe in Him.  Believers today enjoy God’s presence in their lives unlike even Moses because God is constantly and forever with them!  One day soon, Jesus will return to once again be with His followers never to be separated from them.

Does the truth that God desires to dwell with you and me touch move you to awe and praise to God?  If not, I suggest you bow your knees to Him now and ask Him to open your mind to this greatest of all wonders and to help you experience His presence in your life. You will never be the same after you meet God.

Day 24 - Exodus 17-19

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Day 24 - Exodus 17-19 (The HOLINESS of God)

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“Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.  And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish.  Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them." But Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, 'Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.' "  Then the Lord said to him, "Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them."  So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.”  (Exodus 19:20-25)

The Bible says about God: “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness.” (Habakkuk 1:13)  The very nature of God’s holiness is the reason behind all of the strict rules and regulations that He gave to the Israelites in the Old Testament.  In my own limited and simple understanding, I kinda compare it to pure water or sterile surgical equipment that must be free from even the minutest contaminant otherwise it becomes polluted or unsterile and no longer pure.

It is no wonder why God, in our text, goes to great length to instruct Moses concerning the people that they must not come up on Mount Sinai because of their sins and because they have not been consecrated by God as Moses was.  As an aside, my wife and I noted as in today’s reading how Moses had the gall to tell God,  "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, 'Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.' "  I almost laughed when I read God’s response to Moses, “Away!”  I feel  somewhat vindicted whenever someone in my family answers me back when they think I am placing an over-emphasis on a point I think is very important.  Now I can tell them I am just being biblical :).

Back to God’s holiness; the consequence in the Old Testament of a person who touches a consecrated object such as Mount Sinai or the Ark of the Covenant is death.  Many times in the Bible we read that “no one can see God and live” although because of God’s mercy, He has allowed excpetions to that principle as in the case of Jacob, Gideon, and others whom He has called for His purpose.

The holiness of God is the very reason that He chose to take on a human form in the person of His Son Jesus in order to pave the way for all people to approach Him permanently without dying.  You see, Jesus died on the cross in order to pay for our sins in order that anyone who believes (trust Him for salvation)in Him will have be cleansed completely of their sins and be sanctified (made holy, made a saint) so that they are now able to approach God permanently through the merit of Christ’s sacrifice and holiness that is imputed (transferred) in behalf of the believer.  Have you been made yet by the blood of Christ?

Day 23 - Exodus 14-16

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Day 23 - Exodus 14-16 (Israel Crosses the Red Sea; Egyptians Drown in the Red Sea)

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“Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord." And they did so. …  So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon. ... And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians." … Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.”  (Exodus 14:4, 9, 25, 28)

The timing of our Scripture reading for today could not have come in at better timing than now when two movies about the Exodus, one a distorted Hollywood version and the other, an accurate documentary based on the latest evidence, showed in theaters all over almost simultaneously.  Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to watch either one but do intend to soon.

Anyways :) I don’t need any movie to inform me about what actually happened during the Exodus because I can read the Bible to find out the facts; and here is the synopsis from my own reading of the account of the Exodus, particularly the crossing of the Red Sea:  As we read from my last post, Pharoah finally lets God’s people go as a result of the tenth plague of the death of the firstborn.  God tells Moses to lead the Israelites to a location by the edge of the Red Sea and the mountains where there was no way out except going back the way they came from or crossing the Red Sea.  Pharoah hears about Israel’s predicament and decides to go after them in order to kill them all or perhaps return them to Egypt.  The Israelites cry out in panic and God comes to their rescue by parting the Red Sea.  Pharoah decides to pursue them in between the walls of the Sea and his entire army drowns when God orders the waters to return.  Meanwhile, all the Israelites cross safely to the other side.

One would think that if the Exodus and the Red Sea crossing did indeed occur that there would be evidences of the chariot parts on the seabed where it all happened and that’s exactly what explorers find at the site.  I have seen some of those films and pictures on the internet and I am excited to see what the documentary movie Patterns of Evidences does show.

But what does this all have to do with you and me who are living in the 21st century?  Here’s one food for thought: Evidences of historical events recorded in the Bible abound today like never before as a result of technology and these should serve as reason enough for anyone to believe that the Bible is indeed the Word of God as well as the Words of life for anyone who will believe its claims, particularly, its claims about Jesus Christ as the only way, truth and life.  Have you come to that point in your life yet?  If not, I urge you to consider the evidences about the historical accuracy of the Bible and then ask God to reveal Himself to you through His written Word.

 

Day 22 - Exodus 10-13

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Day 22 - Exodus 10-13 (The Passover)

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“For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.  Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.   And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.  So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”  (Exodus 12:12,13,29,30)

The tenth plague - that’s what it took for Pharoah to let God’s people go and leave the land of Egypt with all of their possessions.  It was the plague of death of all the firstborn of all the Egyptians, their servants, and all their livestock.  There was not a house where there was not one dead.

But it was not the case among the Israelites and their livestock for one reason and one reason only: because they followed God’s command for each family to kill a lamb and “they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.” (Exodus 12:7)  For God had said that He would “pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. …And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt ”  (v12-13)

Since that day, Jews all around the world have been observing the Passover as one of their most holy days.  Jesus took special care in the gospels to make sure that all the necessary preparations were made for His last Passover with His disciples and He Himself became the Passover Lamb, Who unlike the animals sacrificed every year is able to save anyone who applies HIS blood over the doorpost of their hearts so that they will not die in hell.

Have you applied the blood of the Lamb of God that taketh the sins of the world?  The Bible says that God will one day pass through the entire earth and not just one country like Egypt and will execute His judgment on sin and on every person who is guilty.  The only escape from that terrible judgment is the application of the blood of the Lamb - the blood of Jesus on the doorpost of a person’s heart through repentance and faith in Christ alone.

Day 21 - Exodus 8-9

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Day 21 - Exodus 8-9 (Who’s in Control of the World?)

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me, for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.  Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.  But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”
(Exodus 9:13-16)

A cursory look at world events today and it would be hard not to despair and lose hope.  We see the Islamist terrorists killing anyone and everyone who does not agree with them and wreaking havoc close to home.  We see our nation’s leaders putting their stamp of approval on the murder of the unborn by the millions every year.  We see tyrants like Putin and Kim Jong-un constantly threatening the the world with nuclear war.  It would not surprise me if most people might be thinking, “Is God in control of the world?”

God answers that very question in our text for today.  He told Pharoah through Moses that He could have killed him at any time during the six times in which he had refused to let Israel go to the wilderness to sacrifice to God but that He did not because it was for this very purpose (Pharoah’s hardening of his heart towards the Jews) that God had raised him up in order to show His power in him and that God’s name may be declared in all the earth.

What a comfort it is for God’s people today who trust in Him to know that He is in control of everything that goes on in the world even when things certainly don’t look that way.  Non-believers look at what’s going on in the world and say, “Everything is falling apart!” but believers look at the world through the lens of Sciptures and Bible prophecy and say, “Everything is falling in place.” because they know that God is in control and that world is marching forward in fulfillment of God’s plan exactly as the Bible said it would.

So, what in the world has all this have to do with you and me?  If you are saved, knowing that God is in control should free you from fear of the evil that is happening in the world today and fear of what the future holds.  If you are not sure you are saved, you need to ask God to forgive you of your sins and to help you to trust Him for your fears and He will.

Day 20 -Exodus 5-7

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 20 - Exodus 5-7 (Why Does God Allow Suffering?)

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“Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why are you dealing thus with your servants?  There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick!' And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people."  But he said, "You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks."  And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, "You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota."  (Exodus 5:15-19)

There is no one right answer to the question that is the title of this post because God does not always reveal the reason why He allows suffering in this world.  In the case of the Israelites in our text, however, we can deduce at least one or two reasons why He allowed them to suffer even more after they were given hope of deliverance through the introduction of Moses and Aaron whom God called to bring them out of Egypt.

In all appearances, Moses’ mission to deliver the Israelites was an utter failure.  Not only did Pharoah not give in to Moses’ request to let the Jews go on a three-day journey to the wilderness, He maintained their production quota of bricks without providing them the fuel.  As recorded above, the Jews knew that they were in serious trouble.

We shall see in the succeeding chapters the How of God’s deliverance of Israel from their slavery in Egypt; but God gives us the Why in the following chapter:  “Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."  (Exodus 6:1)  

The Why of the suffering of Israel after they were given hope is this:  God wanted to glorify Himself before them in even more than He would have been if He had not allowed them to experience their greater suffering.  Oftentimes, God does the same thing to His children in order for Him to receive greater glory.  Do we not give God higher praise and thanks when He answers our prayer for a serious problem compared to a trivial need?  Therefore, one reason God allows suffering is so that He can receive greater glory to Himself.

One may say, “Is it not selfish of God to want to receive more glory to Himself?”  Absolutely not!  It is consistent with God’s nature to want to receive the uttermost glory to Himself - He would not be God if He did not act accordingly.  To put it in terms we can better understand, would it be selfish of us as humans to not want to get the best medical treatment possible even if we can’t afford it?  Why? Because God has put it in the heart of every person to want to live forever.  That is human nature.

Are you struggling with why God allows suffering in your life or in the life of others you care for?  I pray that you would be content to accept that God is in control of all things and that He has His reasons for everything, including suffering in this world and one of that is to gain glory for Himself.

Day 19 - Exodus 1-4

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 19 - Exodus 1-4 (The First Government-Sponsored Abortion Genocide)

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Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."  But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. …  Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.  And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.  So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."  (Exodus 1:15-22)

It had been a very long time since Jacob came with his family to Egypt and now the Israelites have greatly increased in numbers and in strength so that the Egyptians were seriously threatened by them.  So, Pharoah orders the Hebrew midwives to kill all male babies before they are able to come out of the womb.  But, as our text records, the midwives feared God and did not obey the king’s command in what may have been the first civil disobedience recorded in history.  We read that God richly blessed the midwives for their courage and obedience in honoring the sanctity of life and for defending the most defenseless of all people.

This week, pro-life people from all walks of life and beliefs commemorate the sanctity of life in protest of the unjust ruling in the Roe VS Wade case on January 22, 1973  legalizing abortion in the US.  Did you know that close to 60,000,000 babies in the womb have now been murdered in the US since 1973 under the guise of freedom of choice?  

Yesterday at our church, my very good friend Stuart Migdon preached about the sanctity of life in conjunction with Sanctity of Life Sunday observed by many churches in the US.  One important truth I learned in that sermon is that God has endowed every person with the instinct to save lives.  We see that in the Hebrew midwives in our text and we also see that in every culture and society in the world since the beginning of time.

The Ten Commandments were given by God to serve as a mirror for man to see sin as sin and to bring conviction and judgment of sin.  The command “Thou shalt not murder” was given to protect all lives including the unborn.  The Bible clearly teaches that God is the one who forms every life in the womb and that He knows every person before He even created him:

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”  (Psalm 139:13-16)

It is not enough to agree that killing babies is wrong and evil; we need to act to protect the lives of the helpless and to be a voice to the voiceless.  I thank God for the opportunity this Thursday for me and my family to join the March for Life in Washington DC.  Also, I thank God for my friend Stuart whom God is using as a voice to the voiceless babies in the womb.  He has just finished producing a movie entitled Voiceless that will come out in theaters all over beginning next year.  The movie seeks to challenge the church to rise up against the evil of abortion.  We who have been given the knowledge about the evil of abortion must not be content to sit back and do nothing.  Get involved in any way that you can and like the Hebrew midwives, God will bless you richly.

Day 18 - Genesis 48-50

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 18 - Genesis 48-50 (Eyes of Faith)

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And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here." 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

“And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."  Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."  So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”  (Genesis 50:24-26)

God blessed Joseph’s life so that he lived to see his great grandchildren.  Now in our text, Joseph is old and dying and he ask his brethren, the Israelites, to swear to him that they will carry his bones up from Egypt when God visits them to bring them out of there and into the promised land.

Joseph, in all likelihood, knew that the Israelites would have to stay in Egypt for 400 years as God had revealed to his great grandfather, Abraham.  Yet, despite the very long time in the future when God would bring Israel out of Egypt, Joseph did not lose faith that God WILL fulfill his promise.  Joseph was able to see the future as clearly as his physical eyes could see his brothers before him because of his faith in God and His promise.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament is known as the Bible’s Hall of Faith because it records the men and women who had eyes of faith to see the future as God had promised in His Word through their lens of faith.  True believers in Christ also can see the future as written in the Bible through faith.  For instance, they know for certain (Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see - Hebrews 11:1) that they will rise from the dead and be received in heaven to live with Christ forever as Christ promised to all who believe in Him.

Would you like to have faith like Joseph and like so many others who are able to see the future as though it were right before their eyes?  First, ask Christ to forgive you of your sins and to give you the gift of eternal life if you have not done so already.  Then, as you trust God more and more in everything, your eyes of faith will be strengthened until one day you will be able to see the future as promised by God in the Bible as though it were right in front of you.