1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” -Exodus 5:1-2 You would think that God would call Moses, let him announce freedom in... Read more
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” -Exodus 4:13 Moses is one of history’s greatest leaders. Yet he began as a person who said, “Please send someone else.” God’s response? Where God calls, he provides. God sent his brother Aaron and gave him signs to show to the people of Israel. When God calls us today, we often makes excuses, just like Moses. When we run out of excuses, we are forced to fall back... Read more
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. -Exodus 3:11-12 Before the Ten Commandments, there was the burning bush. Before God revealed his law, he revealed himself to Moses–personally. At first, Moses made excuses. One of them was asking, “Who am I?” Moses considered himself inadequate for the task at hand–leading the entire people of Israel out... Read more
“23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” -Exodus 2:23-25 For 400 years, the people of Israel had lived as slaves. They knew no other life. Yet... Read more
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of... Read more
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. -Genesis 50:20-21 When bad happens, we can blame God or trust God. Joseph chose to trust God. Joseph’s brothers thought he might seek revenge for their evil act of selling him into slavery.... Read more
29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.... Read more
15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, 16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.” -Genesis 48:15-16 A father’s blessing can make a tremendous... Read more
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of... Read more
2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. 3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” -Genesis 46:2-4 A word of... Read more
Holy Writ
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