Exodus 6:28 - 7:7 - July 28th, 2009

Exodus 6:28 – 7:7 – July 28^th, 2009

Once again, God tells Moses that He is God, and then tells Moses what to do.  Then, Moses responds with his lack of ability.  It is almost overwhelmingly repetitive.  God says “I AM”, Moses says “I can’t”.  To be honest, it makes me feel a little better about when I lack faith.  Still, God will empower Moses, and Aaron will do the speaking.

The command of God is to go into Egypt and to say all that God speaks through him to Pharaoh.  However, the words will fall on deaf ears, and Pharaoh will not respond.  However, verse 3 is what gets me thinking.  In Exodus 7:3 God tells Moses that God Himself will harden Pharaoh’s heart.  In other words, when Moses goes into Egypt, and God will speak to Moses.  Moses will do exactly as God tells him, and Aaron will speak on behalf of Moses for God – exactly what God speaks to Moses.  During this time God will do amazing and wondrous signs.  God’s power will be displayed to those in Egypt.  However, Pharaoh will not listen.

Exodus 7:7 tells us that at this time, when all this takes place, Aaron is 83 years old, and Moses is 80.  Can you imagine what might go through your head?  “Hey, God, I know you are God and all, but I am 80 years old, and really don’t have the patience at my age for this!”  “If you are going to use me in Egypt, can it at least work?”

God will speak to Moses, Moses will show powerful things to Pharaoh, Aaron will speak the words God tells Moses to speak, and Pharaoh will not listen.  Frustrating.

The key to this passage is verses 3-5.  God is the one who causes Pharaoh not to listen. He is the One who hardens Pharaoh’s heart.  He does this that the people of Egypt may know He is God.

As we look closely we can see parallels from Moses to Jesus.  Moses was called by God many hundreds of years before Jesus became Man.  However, often in the New Testament we read about Jesus performing miraculous signs and wonders, and speaking amazingly powerful messages to the people.  Yet, although this is true, the religious leaders of the day primarily didn’t believe anything Jesus said.  In fact, they sought to kill Him instead. 

How is this like Moses?  Jesus came and taught us that the words of Isaiah were coming true, that though they were hearing they did not understand.  I suppose the only difference is that Jesus knew that God had a plan, and trusted in it more than we do.

Why would God not only allow people to not “get it”, but even cause them to not act favorably?  Again, the answer is in verses 3-5, it is all about God being able to make Himself known through it.  What if it is more important for God to be know, than for what we are doing “for God” to be successful?  Is that something we can do?  It must have been difficult for Moses, I know it is difficult for me in ministry, but it clearly follows what God did throughout the Bible.  What if we remembered what we do for God is simple obedience?   We obey, He provides the outcome.

Grace & Peace,

Jeff Ludington.

Exodus 6 - July 25th, 2009

Exodus 6 – July 25^th, 2009

“I AM”.  Two of the most frequently used words in the English language.  I am hungry.  I am thirsty.  I am late.  I am Jeff.  It is all about a state of being.  When we hear the words “I am”, we are always looking for words to qualify them (hungry, thirsty, late, Jeff).  The important words are the words that follow the “I am”.  Not true in the case of God.

“LORD” in the Bible has a unique spelling.  There is “lord”: an honorable title.  There is “Lord”: used as a personal greeting or title of a specific person.  And, there is LORD: all capitals, but the last three are smaller font.  The final one, in all capitals, is a way of spelling YHWH – God’s own personal name for Himself.  It is translated as “I AM” – eternally.  It is “I AM” in the past, “I AM” presently, and “I AM” in the future.  I AM – eternally.

Take for example the wording in verse 2.  God says, “I am the I AM (LORD).”  God has chosen to make Himself known as the I AM of Scripture.  Jesus repeats this significant phrase over eight times in the Gospel of John.  Each time Jesus does it, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of claiming to be God, and on several occasions they seek to kill Him.  Clearly the “I AM” of Exodus is very significant.

Why is it so important?  God uses this phrase fourteen times in chapter 6 alone.  Clearly, God is making a point.  God spends a lot of time revealing who He is in the first five verses.  He is the I AM, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He is the God of the Covenant.  It is He that is going to deliver Israel from its oppressor. 

God makes a promise to deliver the people.  But, the focus is not on the promise itself.  The focus is on the One who promises. 

How does this impact us today?  Imagine you are a Hebrew slave in Egypt.  And, imagine that you are focused on the promise of deliverance from Egypt.  What happens to you when the first try to deliver you fails?  What happens if efforts fail numerous times?  If you are focused on the promise, you will feel as if God has not been able to fulfill His word.

If we focus on the God who has promised, and we focus on His abilities, we tend to see things differently.  The God who is I AM can do anything.  If that is the case, and we know He can, then we know that all things must line up with His plan, and that something is going on that God is sovereign over.

In my life, a God who is able is the God who I need.  When I know God has given me a promise or a vision for something, it is good to remember Him who promised. That way, when things are not going in my timing, I remember that God will do exactly as He said, because He is able.

 

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Jeff Ludington.

Exodus 4:18 - 5:23 - July 21st, 2009

Exodus 4:18 – 5:23 – July 21^st, 2009

For Israel, things just keep getting worse.  In the days of Moses, Israel is held in slavery by Egypt.  God is calling Moses to go and lead them out.  However, there is still Pharaoh that has to be included in this equation.  Pharaoh isn’t just going to let his entire work-force go without a fight.

Now, picture this from the point-of-view of a Jewish slave.  Not only are you already a slave, and have no real hope of any future change.  Now, due to this Moses guy, your work load just doubled.  Pharaoh has eliminated providing you with straw to make bricks, instead you have to gather the straw yourself and still produce just as much!  Imagine what you might be thinking.  And, that is exactly how they explain themselves to Moses.

Moses, on the other hand, who is not a slave, and is not made to work for Pharaoh, gets upset with God.  Moses cries out, “Lord, why have you done this evil to the people?”  But, why?  Why does Moses do this?

It is because Moses didn’t listen to God in the first place.  At the end of chapter 4, God tells Moses that Pharaoh will resist.  And, of course, Pharaoh does just as God said he would.  Meanwhile, Moses is blaming God for doing just what God said would happen.

Why don’t people listen?  I guess in some cases it is lack of faith.  Clearly, that was an issue that Moses dealt with.  Moses believed that he was not qualified for the job to begin with.  This just added to his issues about his qualifications.  Yet, now, it offered him an opportunity to also blame God with an “I told you so”.

It often gets worse before it gets better.  At least that is how the saying goes.  In this case it sure is true.  God has promised that the people will be delivered; but God didn’t promise a timeframe.  It is critical to listen to God, and be prepared to be challenged in the meantime.

Grace & Peace,

Jeff Ludington.

 

 

 

Exodus 4:1-17 - July 20th, 2009

Exodus 4:1-17 – July 20^th, 2009

Just like in the last chapter, Moses is struggling with who he is.  He doesn’t find the character of someone whom God could use inside of himself.  He is looking at the man, and not the Creator who is equipping the man.  His first words in this chapter are about the people and whether they will believe him or not.

What does God do?  God proves that He can work through Moses.  He doesn’t try and tell Moses that Moses is capable – just that He is capable.  God performs miracles in and through Moses that only God could do.  Moses was completely incapable of turning a staff into a snake, or making his hand become leprous or well.  Moses is incapable, just as he believes, but God proves that it isn’t about his ability, it is about the power of the One working through him.

What does Moses do upon seeing the power of God?  Moses still questions God!  Yeah, Moses is a guy just like you and me.  He questions the Creator too.  He asks God to send someone else.  It says right in verse 14 that God gets angry with Moses.  I can just picture God’s frustration with Moses and his disbelief.

I wonder how many times I have angered God with my disbelief.   Probably too many times to count, or at least more than I would really want to know about.  Moses just doesn’t believe he can be useful!  I know the feeling.  So, God allows Aaron to go with Moses. 

How many times have we questioned our own ability, when in reality it wasn’t about us?  How many times have I wondered if I am capable, when in reality it isn’t about my capabilities, but God’s ability to use me?  I also wonder what God would choose to do through me if I just got out of the way.

What is the truth?  We are not capable.  We don’t have the ability.  We are not able to do the God-sized things that God gives us to do.  BUT!  That is actually the good news.  The good news is that though we are not able, God is able to use us.  In fact, the more we are not able, the more God gets the glory.  In our weakness, He is made strong.

Moses has Aaron go with him.  I wonder what Moses lost out on by not being faithful enough to go alone.

Grace & Peace,

Jeff Ludington.

 

 

Exodus 3 - July 16th, 2009

Exodus 3 – July 16^th, 2009

“I want you to go and tell the king of the largest nation on Earth that God has commanded you to releases millions of people.”  Imagine God said that to you.  What would your first thought be?  God, who am I?  Why would a king or president listen to me?  No one really listens to me, never-the-less a king!  Who am I that anyone would choose me to do such a huge task?

Many people feel inadequate; many people feel ill-equipped.  In fact, if I were to guess, most people don’t feel all that secure about themselves.  Moses clearly feels like he is the wrong choice.  God has called him to a huge task, probably greater than any challenge I will ever face.  I know I would have questions.

Look at the call of God on Moses.  First God tells Moses to go back into Egypt: a country that Moses left because he murdered someone there.  Second, God tells Moses that Pharaoh will say no at first.  So, this is no easy task, rather it is a long tedious process.  If that isn’t enough, then God tells Moses the goal is to lead out over a million people and take them to a land that is plentiful, but other people live there.  Not just people, tribes and nations inhabit the place.  Oh yeah, one more thing.  God says that on the way out of Egypt, the Hebrew people are to ask the Egyptians to give them silver and gold from their own houses – yes, pay them to leave.  And I think the things God calls ME to are hard!

Moses is just like the rest of us.  He feels insecure.  He feels ill-equipped.  He is extremely aware of his own shortcomings.  But, is that what God really needs?  Does God need a man or woman who is skilled and fully equipped? 

The story actually tells us that it isn’t about the person that God asks.  It is about the God who goes with the person.  Moses asks God to reconsider.  He says, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  God responds with the answer that I need to hear too.  God says who He is.  It isn’t about Moses and who Moses is.  It is about the God who created the Earth and who He is.

We often want to make life about us; therefore the challenges and call of God are limited to what we think we are capable of doing.  Maybe God has given a difficult marriage, or a tough boss to work with.  Maybe God has not blessed us with overflowing finances.  Yet, in all this, God calls us to do tough things.  Normally, we want to say live like it all depends on our abilities.  When, in reality, it doesn’t.

What are you going through in your life?  Is God asking you to do difficult things in spite of your abilities?  The answer is not in you.  The answer is in the God who is with you.  Remember, the God who called Moses spoke from a bush that was on fire and yet didn’t burn. Sound impossible?  So do many of the trials we face in life – but they aren’t.  Not for the God who created life!

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Jeff Ludington.

 

Exodus 2 - July 15th, 2009

Exodus 2 – July 15^th, 2009

The story resumes with the birth of Moses.  Moses is born in the usual way, but to an unusual time.  It is a time of persecution for the Hebrew people.  The existing Pharaoh in Egypt has put an edict out to kill all male Hebrew babies.  Moses is a male Hebrew baby in danger of death by virtue of his birth. 

Instead of dying as many Hebrew baby boys did, Moses is taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter to be raised in the palace with her.  He grows up somehow knowing he is of Hebrew origin, and though he lives as an Egyptian prince, he identifies with the Hebrew people.  That tension culminates in a decision Moses makes to defend a Hebrew against an Egyptian who is abusing him.  Again, the Hebrew people are under persecution.

In the next scene we see the people of Israel quarreling.  It is in this setting that Moses finds out that his crime against the Egyptian is not a secret.  Moses is a criminal and runs for his life.  While hiding in the desert Moses meets who will become his wife and in-laws.  He gets married, has children, and begins living the life he believes he will live.  Moses goes so far as to identify himself as a foreigner destined to live in a foreign land in the name of his first child.

All of this about Moses: what about the people of Israel?  Moses’ life is seems to come together well.  He may be a foreigner and stranger in the land in which he dwells, but he was never punished for murder, neither does he live the life of oppression his people live in.  Has God chosen this one to excel while others suffer?  Of course not!  The final words of the passage end with God hearing the cries of the people.  God remembers the covenant He made with their ancestor Abraham, and is “concerned about them”.  God is ever mindful of His people.

Let’s admit it: we often feel as if God has forgotten about us, or about things we desire.  As the pastor of a church I am often able to hear the thoughts and feelings of people.  God is often perceived as far away.  But, is He?  Is God truly far away?

If we take the picture of the Hebrew people in Egypt as a way that God may be working, we see that there are many things going that we don’t know about.  Moses will become the deliverer of Israel from the slavery in Egypt.  Does Israel know it?  Does Egypt know it?  No, in fact, Moses doesn’t even know it.  The only “person” in the know is God Himself.  However, that is enough.

God is making a godly man out of a hotheaded and violent man.  Moses results to physical confrontation against an Egyptian, and again against the shepherds in Midian.  He has a habit of acting in un-godly ways.  God cannot use a man like that, but God has His hand on Moses.

The Hebrews will be set free.  Moses will lead them out.  Egypt will relent to the power of God.  It just won’t be in this chapter.  When you feel alone and that God is far away – remember.  God is at work doing things that you cannot see, many of which are His plan to work in the lives of His people.  In the mean time: keep the faith.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Jeff.

 

 

 

Exodus 1 - July 14th, 2009

Exodus 1 – July 14^th, 2009

 

In the first chapter of Exodus the story resumes where Genesis left off.  Joseph led his family safely into Egypt under the favorable reign of a pharaoh.  That doesn’t last forever.  It is after the death of the pharaoh that was so kind to the family of Joseph – Israel and sons – that the tide changes. 

 

Persecution breaks out against the children of Israel.  What was once a group of 70 family members has now become an ever growing community of people.  The people of Israel are growing in number so much that the Egyptian people become weary of them: specifically their number.  This prompts the first persecution of the People of God by another nation.  They are taken as slaves, made to do difficult forced labor, and oppressed by what Scripture calls “ruthless” slave masters.  The king of Egypt even goes so far as to attempt to control the population by killing male born children.  This, of course, doesn’t work.

 

We read that God was kind to the Hebrew people.  The question I asked myself is “why did God allow His people to be mistreated?”  In Ezra/Nehemiah, and in the prophets, we find that the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity had to do with the disobedience of the people.  God, at least at this point, has not said that this is the reason for the Egyptian captivity.  In fact, up until this point in Moses’ writings, the people of God are on a good track.  Jacob/Israel was worshiping God until his final breathe, and Joseph was a man of God – incredibly so.  We see redemption in the lives of several of Joseph’s brothers.  Even the midwives in Exodus 1 are obedient to God.  Why would God allow this?  The final words of the chapter are Pharaoh giving an order to kill every male child to Israel.

 

What I see in the passage is simple.  It is the plan of God to multiply the people of God.  When looking through the history of the Church, the Body of Christ tends to explode with growth under persecution.  Look at what Moses records: in verse 7 it says that the Hebrews were “fruitful and multiplied and became exceedingly numerous”; in verse 9 they are again called “numerous”; verse 12 says that “the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied”; and finally, in verse 20 Moses pens that “God was kind and the people increased and became even more numerous”.

 

What we find out is that Israel entered Egypt as 70 people in the middle of a terrible famine, without having enough food to eat.  The people will leave under Moses a great nation, having plenty of resources to do what God has called them to do.

 

How in our lives do we view trials and oppression?  Do we see it as a potential opportunity for growth?  Or, are we too consumed with the pain?  May Scripture give us greater insight into what might truly be.

 

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Jeff Ludington.