Category: BIBLE/SCRIPTURE

God’s first rule to the Israelites, before He took them out of Egypt, was to sacrifice a lamb; but not just any lamb.  It had to be a yearling, without blemish. Take note, this was a sacrifice to God so it had to be perfect. It could not be their least desirable animal.  If it were the least desirable it would not be a sacrifice. The definition for sacrifice in our world has the definition of a loss or something you give up, usually for the sake of a better cause. How often have you thought of the sacrifices parents make for the sake of their children?  All a parent has to do is to remember the time and sleep they gave up to rear a child. Even forgetting the financial cost, it is a sacrifice to take total care of another human being. But in the realm of worship a sacrifice is the act of offering something to a deity in propitiation, which is the act of gaining or regaining favor or goodwill of someone or something, such as the ritual slaughter of an animal or person. Or the sacrifice could be used to give homage, respect or reverence to God, or even to someone like the Pharaoh who thought he deserved the treatment that was reserved for God.

This sacrifice was the ritual slaughter of an animal to show total respect for God. On the fourteenth day of the month they weren’t allowed to slaughter it until twilight at the end of that day. From the slaughtering of the sacrifice they were to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts, and on the lintel of the door fame, or the top board of the door frame. That blood was to show the Egyptians that they were killing one of the Egyptian gods and flaunting their action.  They were showing respect to their own God and total disrespect to an Egyptian god.

That very night they were to roast the lamb over an open fire and immediately eat it. It is thought that roasting would be the quickest way to cook that meat but it had a second advantage. Roasting over an open pit would be the surest way to remove all the blood from the meat.  Remember, they were not permitted to eat blood.  Later, the Lamb of God would sacrifice His blood for our sins. If there were any lamb leftovers they were not permitted to eat them the following day.  Now not only were they instructed how they were to eat that lamb, but they were instructed as to their attire while eating that meal. They were to eat it with their loins girded, their sandals on their feet, and have their staff in their hand.  Not only that, but they were to eat in a hurry.  No dawdling over this meal! And not only that, but they were not permitted to eat the leftovers the next day.  They had better eat them all or dispose of them.

Then God tells them why these instructions were so very important:  That night God will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every first born of Egypt, both man and beast. But then He goes one better and says, “I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt.”  This is evidently meant to convince them and us that only God is God and other gods are false.

The sad part of the situation today is that even though every nationality recognizes a god, they don’t know who the God of creation, the God of the Bible, and the one true God is. That truth applies to people in every country of the world God created. In our own nation one out of every four people do not believe in organized religion. These people call themselves the nones.  We are told we need to get used to the nones and their practices because they claim they are not going anywhere, and some believe that in the coming years they may even dominate the cultural landscape. As well as the nones we have people who say they have faith, just not in a God who judges peoples actions. Faith in the one true God has been replaced by ‘spirituality’. A lot of people won’t say the word God because that’s not popular.  But they will say universe.

And of the ones who do believe in religion, well, it is not even God who they believe in. One of the religions that is extremely popular is yoga!  After all the main focus of yoga is meditation because when you are performing the poses, you are meditating and that’s very spiritual in their minds. We look back at the Egyptians and wonder at their lack of knowledge of the One True God and yet we must look around and realize many of us who live in the Christian Nation of the United States of America are no better off than the Egyptians were.

When we go back to the Bible narrative, it says, after telling the Israelites what they were to sacrifice and how they were to do it, God gave more instructions. Those instructions about being dressed for flight when they ate. He informed them that that night He would go through the land of Egypt and strike down every first born in the land of Egypt, including both man and beast. He also said he would mete out or easier to understand, He would pass out in measure, punishments to all the gods of Egypt.

He continued with, ‘the blood on the house where you are staying shall be a sign to you when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 30
⇛ return to Exodus

Prior to the tenth, and the most dreaded plague, God tells Moses and Aaron the list of laws that the Israelites must follow. God has foresight.  He knows that man does not always understand or even listen and it seems very plausible that He is preparing them for their journey out of Egypt. Because God is taking them out of a country they have lived in for over four hundred years and have been slaves in that country, to the Egyptian master, for a little less than 200 years, He wants them to know they will be responsible to Him in their behavior.

Today we use the term, “Freedom is not free.” With freedom comes responsibility. Without responsibility and rules we would end up in anarchy. Following God’s laws will be their responsibility. You can probably imagine what the very first law God gave to Moses was before they left Egypt, it was the law of celebrating Passover.

God said, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.” This month that God is talking about is Nisan. Which is the spring month that includes Passover. It is celebrated as a time of rebirth, renewal, new beginnings, and the Creator of the world. It would be their first “Happy New Year”.

But actually, the Jewish calendar has two different first months. The other is called Tishrei, the autumn month that includes Rosh Hashanah, which is also the New Year. In the Jewish Torah, they celebrate two New Years. Passover takes our minds to when Jesus Christ said, “You are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” He continued by saying, “Whoever sins is a slave of sin.”

That concept is as true today as it was at the time of Moses, and all throughout history. Freedom is a process, not a destination. It is a promise from God’s Word. Maintaining your freedom requires good choices. Once set free, good choices help us remain free. God wanted those Israelites to know they would be responsible for their own freedom. He would set them free but they would have to keep their own freedom. God will not take them out of Egypt until they reaffirm their connection with Him. Then they will only remain free by worshipping God and following His rules. It is a requirement that the Israelites will worship their God.

That all begs the question, “How does one worship God?”

Yes, we can do it corporately in a religious service, but the Bible continually tells us that we worship God with our ethical behavior. Micah 6:8 makes it clear when it says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

The Law is actually there to remind the Israelites they are being liberated from Egypt in order to serve God. After that reminder, God tells them that in order to worship, it requires a sacrifice. In ten verses God outlines the law of the Paschal sacrifice. The first thing we have to know to keep the law is that the word Paschal is nothing more than the Hebrew word for Passover. The entire community must partake of this celebration. On the tenth day of each month every family, or every household shall take a lamb. The only exception is if a family is too small for a lamb, they may share it with another family.

With understanding we can know that the requirements God places on His people are not frivolous, they are an object lesson to teach even the dumbest of His chosen, and they are even meant to teach the Egyptians and anyone else who cares to learn. The lamb was one of many animals worshipped as gods by the Egyptians.  So now the Israelites must slaughter a god of their oppressors. If we remember our first lesson on the plagues, we learned the plagues were not an attack on the people but an attack on the false Gods. The plagues were to prove God was more powerful than their false Gods. Today some people tend to believe the sacrifice of those animals was inhumane. But If anyone objects to the sacrificing, or killing, of these animal we must just remember the sacrificed animals were eaten.

That begs the question, “Who are we to object to eating unless you are a vegetarian. Added to that is the fact that it is an object lesson for Christians. Scripture says, “Jesus Christ is the lamb of God that was sacrificed for our sins.”

Of course we know that sacrificial lamb had to be spotless, without blemish, a male that was taken either from the sheep or from the goats. It must be watched over until the fourteenth day of the month. God’s orders are to be followed precisely. How much easier we have it today. To please God all we have to do is believe in Jesus Christ.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 29
⇛ return to Exodus

The Israelites obeyed the Lord and they went to their Egyptian neighbors and asked for objects of silver and objects of gold. And what does God do? Well, Scripture says he disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. In other words He gave the Egyptians a tendency, toward the Israelites, to give them gold and silver. We can only assume that left to their own devises the Egyptians would not be inclined to give the Jews their valuables.

There are theories as to why that happened but among the many theories is that of Josephus, a name we are used to hearing in our church. He was a first century Romano-Jewish historian, who believed the Egyptians were willing to give the Israelites anything they requested, including their most valuable possessions, just to finally get rid of them. But then we still have the question as to how does that fit with Scripture when it tells us God disposed their hearts favorably toward the people. However, just because we don’t know exactly how God changed their hearts at this moment, what we do know is it could only be accomplished by an all-powerful God.

Following that thought we then have the verse that follows after, that says, “Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people”.  In spite of every plague that came upon the Egyptians, they had great respect for Moses. Then we come upon another paradox. Moses had told Pharaoh he would never see his face again, and now Moses is speaking to Pharaoh. Thus we see Moses did speak again to Pharaoh, although the message was not good. In fact, it may be the worst message Moses ever had to give to Pharaoh. Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians and every first born in the land of Egypt shall die. The first born male in Pharaoh’s family right on to the first born male in the slave girls family, and the first born among all the cattle.”

It all sounds so very cruel to kill all the firstborn under Pharaoh’s control, but then we have to remember this is not an arbitrary decision by a pouting God.  Back in Exodus 4 verses 22 and 23 God told Moses: “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”

And then we get an euphemism that is not really familiar to us.  Pharaoh is told, “Not a dog shall snarl at any of the Israelites, at man or beast, so you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”

Moses ends his conversation with Pharaoh by telling him all his courtiers would come and bow low to Moses and tell him to depart with all that was his. After all the warnings to Pharaoh, Moses got angry and left Pharaoh’s presence.  And as sad as it turns out to be, God warned Moses that Pharaoh would not listen to him “so God’s marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

In spite of the fact that Moses and Aaron had performed all these marvels before Pharaoh, God had hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he would not let the Israelites go.  Pharaoh was not about to turn loose of all these productive workers he did not have to pay. It’s obvious it is going to take something earth shatteringly horrible to change Pharaoh’s mind.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 28
⇛ return to Exodus

We have looked at the first eight plagues placed on Egypt because the Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go worship their God. Now at number nine we have reached the plague of darkness. God told Moses, “Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt”.

Some scholars claim the darkness in Egypt was caused by a solar eclipse. But once again we have the choice of either believing God or just believing the world that it was a scheduled solar eclipse that Moses used for his own purposes. The problem becomes apparent when we learn that the darkness did not cover the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. And let’s face it, Goshen was in the land of Egypt and was the home of the slaves who were the Israelites. Goshen is a region in northeast Egypt along the eastern Nile Delta. The extent of the region is uncertain. Saying the eclipse covered the land of Egypt except for Goshen would be equivalent to saying day and night are reversed at every city or state line border.

Further testimony against it being simply a solar eclipse is the fact God created a darkness that can be touched. Or said another way, ‘the darkness was so oppressive you could feel it’. The darkness could be felt both physically and spiritually, it took away their perception, their ability to recognize others and their ability to make progress. That darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another, and for three full days, no one could get up from where they were, while ALL Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings. This evidently panicked Pharaoh. He summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord and even your children may go with you.”

But once again, Pharaoh being Pharaoh, he insisted their flocks and herds must be left behind. Moses being Moses, and having gained confidence with all the Lord had done for the Israelites, answered, “You, yourself, Pharaoh, must provide us with sacrifices and burnt offering to offer up to the Lord our God.” And then Moses added, “Our own livestock, shall go along with us, not a hoof will be left behind.”

Moses’s intention was to have enough animals to worship the Lord while not knowing what they would need until they get there. With that being said by Moses, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh would not let them go.

Pharaoh then told Moses, “Be gone with you!
Don’t you dare see me again!
You have no rights, You are not my kin.
If you hear from me a simple sigh,
and you look at my face, You will surely die.”

Moses replied, “You have spoken rightly, I will not see your face again.”

Actually, there was no point in seeing each other again. They did all that negotiating and neither were prepared to lighten their stance. It was time for God to take the Israelites out of Egypt. Then the Lord told Moses He would bring one more plague upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt, and then Pharaoh will let you out of here, one and all! God then instructed Moses to tell his people to ask their neighbors if they could  borrow objects of silver and objects of gold.

And of course it sounds good to say you want to borrow something, but it’s not really borrowing when the Israelites will be leaving this land and they will be returning nothing. Now we know God is never deceptive and asking to borrow when there is no plan to return is truly deceptive.

That’s why we have language scholars. Actually the instructions in Hebrew says, “Tell the people to ask for silver and gold items, and to say please.” That was not such a bad idea since the Israelites had diligently worked for the Egyptians and were never paid for their work. So these objects were really due them. Giving to them was surely aided by the fact that the Egyptians were traumatized by the plagues and now they only wanted to get the Jews out of their land anyway they could.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 27
⇛ return to Exodus

In Chapter 10 God tells Moses to once again go to Pharaoh. But the interesting part is the reason why God is sending Moses back to Pharaoh. This time God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh because God has hardened Pharaoh’s heart and now wants to display God’s signs among the Egyptians.  God is making a mockery of the Egyptians to show that He is the Lord. God is giving the Jews a lesson that can be recounted to their sons and their son’s sons.  God is actually instructing the Jews to tell generation after generation about God’s miracles when He was taking the Jews out of Egypt. But it is not only a lesson for the Egyptians and the Israelites, it is a lesson for the whole world through all the generations.  That is why God has preserved the Old Testament writing for us.  These writings give proof that God is The Supreme Being and we are to have no other gods before him.

Following God’s instructions, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and asked how long it would take for Pharaoh to humble himself before God? They followed up that question with an instruction from God, “Let My people go.” IF not, tomorrow you will be converged upon with locusts. Those promised locusts are going to cover the land so it will not be able to be seen, and they will devour all the grain in the field, that was left after the hail, and they will even eat away the trees that were left. And then it gets much worse than that. Those locusts will fill the palaces and the houses of the courtiers and of all the Egyptians. No one has ever seen before such a plague as this. Without waiting for an answer, Moses turned and left.

Pharaoh’s courtiers appealed to Pharaoh.  They asked how long Pharaoh would let this be a snare to them.  They advised Pharaoh to let the people go worship the Lord their God.  They asked, “Are you not yet aware Egypt is lost?”

With that Pharaoh evidently decides to bargain with Moses.  He said, Go, worship the Lord your God,” but then he questioned, “Who are the ones to go?”

Foxy old Pharaoh, he wants to hold the ace card! For Pharaoh being humble is just too hard.  If only a portion of those Israelites go,  He can still be running the complete show. They will surely come back to be with those  who were left behind and were not chose. But Moses would not be controlled.  His answer was “We will all go, young and old, for we must observe the Lord’s festival.”

Pharaoh sarcastically answers Mosses request with, “The Lord be with you the same, as I mean to let your children go with you.  Clearly you are bent on mischief.”

The word in Hebrew that was translated mischief actually translates to evil.  Pharaoh is accusing Moses that he wants his people to leave so they can do something evil – evil like wanting to be free. And while Pharaoh is making accusations to Moses he still doesn’t believe God has total power and he is rude and obnoxious to Moses, disregarding his own advisors advice. He told Moses, “You menfolk go worship the Lord, since that is what you want.”  And then Moses and Aaron were kicked out of Pharaoh’s presence.

And of course it was inevitable that God told Moses to hold out his arm over the land of Egypt for the locusts.   The Lord drove an east wind over the land all that day and all night; and when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. With hindsight, remembering what we have learned about the plagues earlier, we can see God uses natural forces to bring devastation upon Egypt.

It’s kind of a test.  Anyone can believe either the plagues were by nature or by the Hand of the Lord. Today we still have the same conundrum the Egyptians had, was it coincidence or was it God? Throughout the years many, many people have made the mistake of not believing God has power. Even when it comes to our own existence we have to make the choice whether we evolved from a big bang or God created us.

Because of Pharaoh’s unbelief locusts invaded his land. They settled in the territory of Egypt in a thick mass. They hid all the land from everyone’s view, they ate everything green, not just a few. Nothing was left of grasses or green they ate all the fruit which could be seen.

And you probably can’t even imagine what happens next!  –  You are probably right! Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and humbly said, “I stand guilty before the Lord your God and before you.

But there is a hidden problem here in Scripture.  We believe if we sin we can repent before God and he will forgive us.  Polytheists, those who worship more than one God, believe they can sin before only one god while doing nothing wrong in the eyes of another god.  This is why it is so easy to say if he did anything wrong before the Jew’s God,  he is not guilty before any of his own gods. “Forgive my offense just this once” says Pharaoh.  He continues with, “Plead with the Lord your God that he remove this death from me.”

Moses did as Pharaoh requested and God caused a shift in the wind to the west and cleared all the locusts from the territory of Egypt – Not one was left!

And of course experience teaches us, that once again it is not Pharaoh hardening his heart, it is God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 26
⇛ return to Exodus