This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 13-15.

    The people of Israel were told that the first born males (human and livestock) belonged to the Lord. They were to sacrifice the livestock (with the option to buy back donkey colts) and buy back their firstborn sons. Part of this is the idea of presenting the first of whatever we produce to God. This idea is given more depth later when the law describes first fruit sacrifices. The idea also goes back to the Cain and Abel story, where God looked favorably on Abel because he sacrificed from the firstborn of his flock. However, there is another point made here that is worth emphasis. They were required to buyback their firstborn sons. They were forbidden from sacrificing their sons. This prohibition was not an after thought, or a concession to human sentimentality. This prohibition was something which set the Israelites apart from the people around them. We know that throughout history almost every other people offered their children as sacrifices to their gods upon certain conditions (some peoples did so more routinely than others).

    When the Israelites left Egypt, God led them on a roundabout path because they were not prepared to face battle (as we see later in this passage). Further, no sooner had the Israelites left Egypt than the Pharaoh once more changed his mind about letting them go. Pharaoh gathered his armies and set out in pursuit. When Pharaoh overtook the Israelites they proved God correct, they were not ready, or willing, to fact battle. However, they were trapped and had no choice, until God provided them with an escape. By doing this God accomplished three purposes. First he forced the Egyptians to accept the departure of the Israelites by destroying the elites of their army. Second, God showed the Israelites that they were NOT an army prepared for battle. And third, God showed the Israelites that He could rescue them when all seemed lost.

This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 10-12.

    Every time I read through Exodus and read about the plagues I am struck by one progression which happens. For the first seven plagues the Bible tells us that Pharaoh was stubborn, or hardened his heart, or for some other reason changed his mind about letting the Israelites go. In those first seven cases, Pharaoh reached those decisions of his own volition. However, with the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness which followed it the Bible tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God took away Pharaoh’s volition. There is an important lesson here. God has given each and every one of us free will. However, if we reject God’s will long enough and often enough, we lose the ability to voluntarily do God’s will.

    The establishment of Passover reminds us of our need to be ready to follow God’s lead on a moments notice. When God tells us that it is time to move, we must be prepared to grab our things and go. We can look at the preparations to see that many of them are important to being ready to travel at a moment’s notice. First, the bread was prepared without yeast. Bread with yeast must be allowed to rest so that the yeast can cause it to rise. Bread dough without yeast travels better, keeps longer unbaked, and can be baked at whatever moment allows. Meat roasted over an open fire can more readily be eaten while on the move than boiled meat.

This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 7-9.

    Despite Moses’ reluctance, Aaron and Moses returned to Pharaoh at God’s direction. First, Moses made the demands of Pharaoh and Aaron cast his staff on the ground where it became a snake. Pharaoh’s advisers duplicated Aaron’s action causing Pharaoh to disregard God’s power…even after the snake from Aaron’s staff swallowed up the serpents from his advisers’ staves. Step by step the situation escalated from there. God would send Moses before Pharaoh to demand that he let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship God. Pharaoh would refuse. God would send a plague. Pharaoh would agree to let the people go, if only Moses would lift the plague. Moses would lift the plague and Pharaoh would have a change of heart.

    Reading between the lines, I am convinced that Pharaoh believed that what Moses was doing were tricks of some kind. When the trouble departed, Pharaoh was sure that Moses could not bring it, or something worse, back. Time and again Pharaoh claimed to be convinced, claimed to believe in the power of God, only to renege on his agreement. The final plague in today’s passage is the hail storm. When Moses warned Pharaoh and his court that a hailstorm which would kill any exposed people or livestock was coming, only a few believed him and took action. So when Pharaoh told Moses that this time he would finally let the Israelites go, Moses told him outright that he knew neither Pharaoh nor his court feared God. They were still convinced that this was all some trick on the part of Moses. They were convinced that, sooner or later, he would run out of tricks.

This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 4-6.

    Moses was reluctant to follow God’s calling to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of there. Actually, Moses was not just reluctant, he resisted the call. First, in yesterday’s passage, Moses asked God what he should tell the Israelites God’s name was. Which one of the gods which the Israelites were familiar with in Egypt was God? God’s response was that Moses was to tell them that He was who He was (“I am who I am”). Moses’ next reason not to go was to ask how he could convince people that he had actually talked to God. In response to that, God gave him three miraculous signs he could perform. Then Moses complained that he was not a very good public speaker, he stumbled over what to say, he put his words together in a way which left people confused about what he intended to say, he got tongue-tied. God’s answer to that was that since God was the one who made it possible for people to speak at all, God was able to overcome Moses’ speech problem. Finally, Moses just came out and said it, “Send someone else. I don’t want to go.” This made God angry, but He still worked with Moses and agreed to call Aaron to work with Moses, to be Moses’ spokesman. There is an important lesson for us here. When God calls us to a task, He will provide us with what we need to accomplish the task.

    When Moses got back to Egypt, he and Aaron told the Israelites what God had said to Moses and Moses showed them the signs God had given him. The Israelites were excited to hear God’s message. They praised and worshiped Him for the deliverance they thought would be shortly theirs. However, it did not work out that way. When Moses spoke to Pharaoh, Pharaoh did not listen to him. Pharaoh did not fear God and saw no reason to do as God commanded. Not only that, but Pharaoh believed that the Israelites request for a three-day journey into the wilderness was an act of rebellion. Pharaoh was determined to crush this rebellion in its infancy. If Moses had been hoping to lead a rebellion against Pharaoh, it all would have ended here. When the Pharaoh cracked down on the Israelites, they lost all interest in following Moses.

    However, this was not Moses leading a rebellion. This was God directing Moses so that Pharaoh would free the Israelites. Moses reiterates his complaint to God that he is a poor speaker. Clearly, God should have chosen someone else, someone with the ability to convince people. Except that God was not God’s plan. God’s plan was to demonstrate His power.

This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 1-3.

    The Israelites remained as a separate people in the land of Egypt. When they had grown into a sizable group, those who controlled the land of Egypt became afraid that they would not remain under their control. One thing we often overlook is that the Pharaoh, speaking as the chief of those who controlled Egypt, was also afraid that the Israelites would leave Egypt. So, the Egyptians had two problems. The Israelites were becoming too many and too powerful to be controlled. Egypt needed the people of Israel (I assume this means that Egypt’s economy would suffer if the Israelites left). This is a problem that any nation will face sooner or later if they allow a group of people to enter the nation without becoming part of that nation. Egypt’s chosen solution, oppressing this unassimilated minority, always leads to trouble for the host civilization.

    As a young man, Moses wanted to use his position of privilege to help his people, the people of Israel. However, his attempt was misguided and misunderstood. It went wrong. What happened with Moses is what always happens when privileged young people attempt to help the oppressed. It was only when Moses was much older and wiser that God was able to use Him to lead His people. However, it is also important to realize that Moses was not wrong about God wanting to use him to free His people. He was guilty only of acting before God’s time. Even so, God used his mistake to prepare him. Moses’ mistake as a young man made him resistant to God’s calling when God was ready for him to act.

    We need to learn two lessons from this passage. First, we need to learn to wait for God’s time and direction before we act. The second is the much harder one. When God tells us that it is time to act, we need to be willing to act, even if our previous actions ended badly. God’s plans were not disrupted by Moses’ flaws, by his reluctance to do what God instructed him to do. However, Moses missed the opportunity to experience the Promised Land for himself because of those flaws.