I Swear by MY Name

I Swear by MY Name

Exodus 6: 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.”

 

² And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. ⁴ I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 

 

============

 

Moses went back to see GOD, possibly on Mount Horeb. He told GOD that Pharaoh had turned up the cruelty after he said to Pharaoh, “Let MY people go.” GOD responded to Moses by telling him the promise HE made and restated HIS name.

 

My Observations:

• GIOD told Moses that not only will Pharaoh let the people go, he would force them out.
• GOD restated HIS name “YHWH” meaning Yahweh, meaning “I AM WHO I AM.”
• GOD restated the promise that the land of Canaan would be given to HIS people.

 

Problems with the plan immediately popped up when Pharaoh showed some resistance. GOD told Moses that HE met with generations of people, so Pharaoh cannot outlive HIM. HE also states that HE is GOD and that nothing can stop HIS plan.

 

GOD swore by HIS own name that HIS promise would be kept. Nothing can stop the great I AM. Moses was having a hard time being the spokesperson for GOD. You may feel the same way. BUT GOD promises are never broken. HE is who HE says HE is.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about what HE was going to do with HIS deliverance?
• Has GOD promised you anything and swore by HIS name that it would happen?
• Will you believe in GOD’s promises because HE swore by HIS name that it would happen?

When GOD’s Vision Seems Broken

When GOD’s Vision Seems Broken

Exodus 5: ²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

 

============

 

Moses was content in the desert. He got married and had kids. Then GOD appeared to him and gave him HIS purpose to tell Pharaoh to let HIS people go. Moses reluctantly obeyed and went to the children of Israel and performed the miraculous signs GOD was going to do to the Egyptians. Moses told Pharaoh the message and life got harder for the Hebrews. Moses went to GOD to ask “Why/”

 

My Observations:

• Moses expected immediate positive response from Pharaoh because GOD gave him the mission.
• Pharaoh’s cruelty got worse and now Moses felt that he was the cause and now everyone would hate him.
• Moses asked, “Why?” as if to say, “Do something about this!”

 

Questioning GOD’s motive was not the problem here. I believe Moses was questioning the response to his obedience. Things got worse when Moses obeyed. He went to GOD and said that when he spoke in GOD’s name, Pharaoh did more evil to the people. “This is YOUR vision,” is what I would imagine Moses saying to GOD. I have said this as well when things look like they are getting worse.

 

Moses may have gone all the way back to Mount Horeb, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. During the walk, he may have rehearsed what he would tell GOD. Unlike Noah, GOD did not physically walk with Moses. GOD knew Moses thoughts, but chose to appear in a specific place. This journey took time. Meanwhile the Egyptians were treating people worse and worse. The urgency was great. GOD had warned Moses the Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about his return and how he expressed his concerns to HIM?
• Has GOD given you a vision and things seem to have gotten worse?
• Even though things may seem worse, will you believe GOD’s plan accounted for it and HE is in control?

Your Setback is Included in Deliverance

Your Setback is Included in Deliverance

Exodus 5: ¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ 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.”

 

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ 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.”

 

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ²¹ And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

 

============

 

Moses and Aaron performed the miraculous signs that GOD would do to the Egyptians and they believed. Many of them had stopped working because of their belief. This enraged Pharaoh, who quickly gave a wild erratic rule to take away their raw material, knowing it would make life more difficult, so he could beat them and make them feel scared of being disobedient.

 

My Observations:

• When Pharaoh realized that he may be losing power, he exerted force to control the people.
• Pharaoh’s cruel punishment made the children of Israel confront Moses and Aaron.
• The children of Israel felt their situation had gone from bad to worse.

 

At one point the children of Israel were crying out to GOD for deliverance. GOD heard their cries and responded with HIS deliverance plan. When the plan was put into effect, the children of Israel were delighted! Unfortunately, they had more suffering to overcome.

 

Their expectation was that GOD would make this happen swiftly and easily. They did not know that GOD’s plan included the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. They only saw the result coming. We feel the same way. When we get the smallest sign from GOD, we rejoice, but possibly fall to pieces when there is a setback, or so we think. GOD has taken into consideration any opposition you and I face. HE is still going to be the deliverance!

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the cruelty of Pharaoh and the response of the children of Israel?
• Have you ever experienced a setback and wondered if GOD has left you or abandoned the plan HE promised you?
• Can you hold on through the setbacks, knowing that GOD has accounted for them in HIS deliverance?

Oppressed Because You are Blessed

 Oppressed Because You are Blessed

Exodus 5: ⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

 

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

 

============

 

After GOD told Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Let MY people go,” Moses and Aaron went and performed the amazing signs that GOD was going to do to the Egyptians. News spread quickly that the Hebrews would be saved. But Pharaoh was not going to have any rejoicing. He came up with another wild rule to reduce the raw material supply and keep the quota of buildings that needed to be built for his comfort.

 

My Observations:

• GOD’s people were being oppressed at the expense of Pharaoh’s comfort.
• GOD’s people felt they had no way out after they saw the miracles Moses and Aaron demonstrated.
• Things got harder once GOD’s people saw what HE could do.

 

A turn for the worse was taken when Pharaoh saw the people had stopped working. His response was to make life harder for them and beat the people he placed over them. He arranged a hierarchy by choosing Hebrew leaders and making them the focal point of pain if the quotas were not met. This move is still being used to this day.

 

GOD heard the cries of the people way before Pharaoh turned up the heat of oppression. HE prophesied what HE was going to do to the entire Egyptian empire. Those who oppress people and exploit people and take away resources will one day feel GOD’s wrath fall on them. GOD promised it.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the oppressive words from Pharaoh?
• Have you ever felt that the situation has gotten worse after speaking with GOD?
• Will you keep your faith in GOD’s promise of deliverance HE promised you?

An Opportunity to Say Yes

An Opportunity to Say Yes

Exodus 5: Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

 

² And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

 

³ So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

 

⁴ Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

 

============

 

News had spread about the amazing signs Moses and Aaron performed with GOD’s power. People stopped working to see the great things they were doing and to hear a message of hope that they would one day be freed. When Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh, he told everyone to get back to work!

 

My Observations:

• Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh about what GOD said, but Pharaoh did not believe in GOD.
• Pharaoh questioned the power of GOD and said what he would not do, namely let the people go.
• Pharaoh was not intimidated by Moses or Aaron because they were two older men without a huge army.

 

Egyptians revered each Pharaoh as a god. Each person in power could command life or death for the most trivial excuse they could dream up. Pharaoh needed people to work for him and provide him and his family with the comforts of life.

 

Pharaoh’s rule was cruel and unusual. He made the people work with little to no rest. Since he believed he was powerful, he did not acknowledge GOD as the source of life and all things. He was given the opportunity to say, “Yes.” When asked to let the people go. His belief in his own power would be his fall. GOD warned Moses that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened and HE would help it.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about his first encounter with Pharaoh?
• Has GOD ever asked you to do something and you refused?
• Are you refusing GOD’s calling on your life because of a fear of the world?

Leadership Prepared

Leadership Prepared

Exodus 4: ²⁷ And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. ²⁸ So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ³⁰ And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

 

============

 

GOD spoke to Aaron based on Moses’s request, and sent him to meet Moses on top of the mountain of GOD. After they met they wen to Egypt and met with the elders. There they performed the miracles they were going to perform in front of Pharaoh.

 

My Observations:

• GOD interacts with our free will and HIS will in a way that HE can listen to a request and already know the outcome.
• GOD sent Aaron to Mount Horeb, which is also called Mount Sinai, to have Moses show him the bush that didn’t burn up and to discuss all that GOD said.
• Moses and Aaron went to the elders of the children of Israel and performed all the signs that GOD was about to do.

 

Talk about preparation! GOD did some amazing things in this passage of scripture that I have never noticed before in my life! HE sent Aaron to meet Moses on a huge mountain. They found each other. Moses was probably pretty excited as he pointed to a bush that looked like any old bush, but he saw it on fire at one point.

 

Second Observations:

• I believe the preincarnate JESUS went to send Aaron.
• I believe the HOLY SPIRIT led Aaron directly to Moses.
• I believe the FATHER was orchestrating the salvation of HIS people through JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT, because THEY do not need credit for who was doing what.

 

Moses and Aaron probably talked all the way to Egypt and caught up on forty years of low to no contact. When they arrived, they gathered the elders from each tribe who would tell the history to the people. They performed many of the signs that GOD would have them perform. I say “many” because no one died, which was the last plague that would be imposed on Egypt. The people “believed” and they “worshiped.”

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about when Aaron was sent and the signs they performed in front of the children of Israel?
• Have you ever had an encounter with GOD that you were excited to share with people?
• What is GOD preparing you and others for?

Everyone But You

Everyone But You

Exodos 4: ²⁴ And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. ²⁵ Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” ²⁶ So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.

 

============

 

After leaving Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, they encountered the preincarnate JESUS. HE was about to kill Moses, whom HE called to bring the people out of Egypt. Zipporah performed a circumcision on Eliezer. JESUS let Moses go.

 

My Observations:

• GOD would not allow Moses to go to Egypt unless Gershom and Eliezer were circumcised.
• GOD told Abram, also known as Abraham, to be circumcised and from then on, every male was to be circumcised on the eight day.
• GOD would not allow Moses to be HIS leader unless he was serious about following what HE specified.

 

When everyone else could get away with ignoring what GOD said, Moses could not. When Moses said “yes” to GOD’s calling, he also said “Yes” to following GOD the way HE wanted. There were many men who grew up uncircumcised around Moses, but he had to follow what GOD told Abram to promise.

 

Zipporah may not have been privy to how serious GOD was about the covenant of circumcision. What seemed insignificant to her was extremely important to GOD. You would think that GOD would have simply told Moses to perform the circumcision like HE told Abram.

 

He must have circumcised Gershom, but for some reason Eliezer was not. This problem had to be rectified by Zipporah, who may have been against the circumcision. She reluctantly performed the delicate operation and protested. GOD did not harm Moses and it shows that HE is serious about HIS leaders. HE also intervenes.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about this circumcision incident?
• Has GOD said for you to do something that you may have mislabeled as insignificant?
• Do you say, “Everyone else can do stuff, why can’t I?” when GOD is trying to make you HIS leader?