February 8, 2012

"I Am the Lord their God" (2/8)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 28-29.

Amidst the detailed instructions regarding the pattern for the tabernacle, its furnishings, the priests, and the sacrifices, God reminds the people why they were to obey.

“I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God” (Exodus 29:45-46).

Why were they to follow the instructions? The instructions came from the Lord their God.
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February 3, 2012

They Saw the Egyptians Dead on the Seashore (2/3)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 13-15.

Following the tenth plague, Pharaoh finally consented to let the children of Israel go. But after they had departed, he changed his mind and pursued them. This led to one of the memorable events of the Bible: the crossing of the Red Sea. God parted the waters; the Israelites crossed on dry ground; the Egyptians followed; the water closed back up and destroyed Pharaoh and his great army.

“Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:30-31).

God delivered the people from those that threatened them. Once God was through here, the Israelites no longer had to worry about Pharaoh. They could plainly see the evidence of the Egyptians’ destruction with their own eyes.
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February 2, 2012

God’s Plan for You

Sunrise

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

People often wonder what God’s plan is for their lives. The above passage suggests that God knows these plans. Yet people want to know what the future holds so badly that they often run wild in speculation about every circumstance, decision, or consequence that exists in their lives, trying to determine some greater significance to these events.

The Bible certainly does address this issue about God’s plan for our lives. But we can only know what God has revealed to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). People often get caught up in trying to find God’s plan for them in the details of life – jobs, homes, hardships, etc. – even though no such divine plans for us can be found in the revealed will of God. By devoting our mental effort to mere curiosities and speculations, it becomes easier to ignore the big picture. Sadly, many have done this and have become “choked with worries… of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14).

I know what God’s plan is for you. And I can show you this plan in the Bible.
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February 2, 2012

Tell Your Sons and Your Grandsons (2/2)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 10-12.

The plagues with which God afflicted Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt were designed to do a couple of things: to cause Pharaoh to let the people go and to prove to all who heard of these events that the Lord was the one true God over all things. But this was not only for the benefit of that generation. It was to help those of future generations to develop their own faith as well.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord’” (Exodus 10:1-2).

Those who descended from Moses’ generation needed to know about these works of God. They needed to hear of His miracles. They needed to be told of the foolish and futile attempts of the Egyptians to oppose the Lord. If the future generations were not told, they could not know.
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February 1, 2012

God Reminds Pharaoh of His Place before Him (2/1)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 7-9.

After suffering through several plagues, Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship God. After the sixth plague, God told Moses to deliver a message to Pharaoh, reminding him of his place before the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go’” (Exodus 9:13-17).

These words were meant to remind Pharaoh of some facts he had allowed himself to ignore:
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January 30, 2012

The Midwives Feared God and Let the Boys Live (1/30)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 1-3.

“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8).

This new king was fearful of the children of Israel. As the people multiplied, he worried that they might turn against him and depart. So he “afflicted them with hard labor” (Exodus 1:11), hoping that would keep them in check. But the Israelites continued to increase.
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January 27, 2012

"God Sent Me Before You" (1/27)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 43-45.

When Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, he did not lash out at them for what they had done. Instead, he told them that God was working through these circumstances to bring about good.

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come closer to me.’ And they came closer. And he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life’” (Genesis 45:4-5).

God preserved the family of Jacob on account of the promise He gave to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). This was not just for the benefit of Joseph and his brothers, but it was so that this people and Abraham’s lineage would be preserved. This was part of preparing the way for Christ – the one through whom God’s “eternal purpose” was “carried out” (Ephesians 3:11).
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