Category: BIBLE/SCRIPTURE

I was surprised when I saw in Scripture that God made the east winds to blow all night long to divide the river.

I had always been exposed to the movie version that had Moses hold up his arm to separate the waters.

When I learned it was the wind through the night it didn’t seem so much of a miracle from God as it would have been if it parted on Moses’s command.

We can’t blame the movie producer for the misrepresentation because verse 21 in chapter 14 of Genesis says, “Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and the Lord drove back the sea with a strong wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split.”

God was capable of splitting the sea at any time in any way. He did not need winds to do it.

But God chose to send the strong winds to part the waters.

Like most of God’s miracles He chose to use the manipulation of nature to do this miracle.

It seems likely that God chose to manipulate nature to prove that He was in charge of nature. He was God.  Nature was not a God.

And we all know just how important Mother Nature is today. She actually gets more credit in the world than God does.

On the other hand by using nature God allowed and allowed skeptics to not believe God but to believe nature is in charge.

When we study God’s miracle it is easy to see that God is allowing free will.

God is allowing people to either believe Him or find reasons why they don’t want to believe Him.

By using nature to do His miracles He is allowing people to have free will, the freedom to accept or reject  the God of the universe.

It’s interesting to think of those who  would reject the God of creation when you consider this east wind dried the ground to walk on but also built a wall of water for them, both on their right and their left side’s.

And it worked, after the Israelites passed through the sea, the Egyptians confidently entered on that dry ground to follow the Israelites just as God had previously  predicted the event to Moses.

We are then told it was at the morning watch, which lasted from about 2:00am until to about 6:00 am.

Then we remember that pillar of fire and the cloud, which then threw the Egyptian army into a panic.

God locked the wheels of their chariots. This is when the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt”.

Obviously the Egyptians are beginning to believe the Israelites really did have a God who cared for and protected them.

And though they believed, they believed too late. Alas, it was too late they drowned with that knowledge.

Then once again the Lord told Moses, “Hold out your arm over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, and upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.”

Moses did what the Lord instructed, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal status.

At that time any Egyptians who thought they had a chance to escape the sea, were hurled into the sea by God.

All this is done in a three hour period and daylight breaks at the perfect time for the Israelites’ to see the Egyptians drown.

Pharaoh’s entire army were all swallowed up in the sea. Not one remained.

The Israelites were delivered from the Egyptians. They could be certain of that because Israel saw the dead Egyptians  on the shore of the sea.

And when Israel saw the wondrous power which the Lord had wielded against the Egyptian army, the people feared the Lord. They now had complete faith in God and in His servant Moses.

Well at least in this moment they had complete faith.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 39
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EXODUS 37

The Israelites are on the run, the Egyptians are on their heal ready to capture and enslave them again. The Israelites have the mindset that it is better to be a slave than to fight for their freedom with the risk of being captured or killed.

It was then that Moses said to the people, “Have no fear. Stand by and witness the deliverance which the Lord will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.  The Lord will battle for you, and you hold your peace.”

Then Moses was instructed to hold up his rod and hold his arm over the sea so the waters would split and the Israelites would cross over on dry ground.

Then to add insult to injury to the Egyptians, God told Moses He, God was going “to stiffen” the hearts of the Egyptians so they would follow the Israelites into the river bed.

God was going to gain glory through Pharaoh and all his warriors, his chariots and his horsemen. This was to let the Egyptians know that I God am the Lord.

The angel of God had been going ahead of the Israelite army, but now moved and followed them instead.  The pillar of cloud also went behind them rather than in its front position.

But what or who is the Angel of the Lord? We learn from Scripture that “an Angel” would lead the Israelites into the Promised Land and would keep them safe throughout their travels.

That very same angel of the Lord is mentioned throughout Scripture and usually had the role of leading God’s chosen people.

In fact we remember that Jacob struggled with that very angel. That angel also spoke to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai.

“In Hebrew, the word for ‘angel’ is ‘malak’ or ‘malech,’ which is derived from the Hebrew, ‘l’k, meaning, ‘to deliver a message’.

The ‘angel’ or ‘messenger’ who appeared to Moses and Jacob was Jesus Christ. It was Christ who dealt directly with ancient Israel and Judah.  The Angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and the LORD saw him and God talked to him. That personage told Moses to remove his shoes because he was in a holy place. Joshua had a similar experience.

When created angels have come and talked to people in the Bible removing one’s shoes was never required. Also, we note that when God sent an angel to John and he fell down to worship the angel, theangel quickly told him not to do such things.

From this it follows that Moses and Joshua were in fact communicating with Jesus Christ, “the ‘Angel’ of the LORD”.   It was indeed Jesus Christ who is being identified in these passages as the “Angel” of the LORD, or the Angel of God the Father’s Presence, because Christ said later that those who have seen Him, have seen the Father.

When the LORD said “My Presence” would go with the people, this could imply that it was Jesus Christ’s “Presence” leading the people.   Isaiah’s reference to the “Presence of the Angel” saving the people would then apply to the “Presence” of God the Father, who would have been present through His “Messenger,” Jesus Christ.

And stated once again is the fact the angel of the Lord who had been going ahead of the Israelites now moved and followed behind, and it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel.

Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side, so neither went near the other all night long. Then the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night. And that turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split.

That is not quite the way it is portrayed on the big screen in the movie theatre, but we have Scripture that tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 38
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The Jewish father not only had to redeem his first born child if it were a male child, but he also had to give to the Lord, the firstborn of cattle, or more clearly said, to the priesthood.

This included every animal except a donkey. The lowly donkey was the only Israelite animal that was non-kosher.

Kosher is Hebrew for “fit” or “appropriate” and describes the food that is suitable for a Jew to eat, and therefore was unfit for the sacrifice.

Donkey’s and Pigs are very non-Kosher. Bringing a donkey to sacrifice would be like bringing a pig for sacrifice.

Even though the donkey was unfit for the sacrifice don’t think that they got away without paying any dues.

Actually, if a male colt of a Donkey is the firstborn it must be redeemed with a sheep.

Now if that owner of the colt does not give the priest a sheep, it is ordered that the colt’s neck must be broken to kill that male baby donkey.

Then Scripture turns the subject back to God’s people, the Israelites.

Yes, God is all knowing and He is all wise. He is aware that when these people, who were so happy to be freed from their slavery, could very easily change their minds about freedom when they were faced with war.

Men who have been enslaved for generations are not usually willing to fight for a freedom they never knew.

For this reason God led the people roundabout into the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds.

Moses had taken with him the bones of Joseph. That had been Joseph’s instructions and Moses was assured God would take notice.

They set out from Succoth, and camped at Ethan that was at the edge of the wilderness.

And then we are told that God did not leave them to their own devices.

The Lord led them by way of a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. That way they could travel both in daylight and also at night.

With the Israelites in pursuit the Lord changed the direction of the Israelites so the Pharaoh will think they have lost their way.

He wants the Israelites to camp facing the sea. He then plans to stiffen Pharaoh’s heart so he, Pharaoh, and his army will pursue the Israelites.

God’s plan is to gain glory through Pharaoh and his host. When God inflicts just revenge on evildoers His name is glorified.

Or said another way, God gains glory by rewarding good and punishing evil. And then and only then will the Egyptians come to know that the Israelites God is the Lord.

God’s plan of turning the Israelites back gave the King of Egypt confidence to pursue the Israelites and put them back into slavery.

Pharaoh was so excited about the prospect that he hitched his own chariot rather than wait for anyone to do it for him.

At this time a chariot was regarded as the most advanced military weapon. This gave Pharaoh an extreme advantage over the Israelites, or so he thought.

He took six hundred of his picked chariots and also the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in every one of them,

The Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians advancing upon them and they were greatly frightened. Their freight make them cry out to the Lord.

Think about the situation of the Israelites. They had been in captivity for 400 years, 200 of which they spent as subjective slaves.

Having been slaves for so long  they did not have the mentality that they were capable of freeing themselves.

This could be why God allowed, or planed, for them to be in the wilderness long enough for them all to die leaving a completely new generation to take over and be in charge.

Freedom requires responsibility and they had not learned or understood the responsibility to be free. Or even learned how to be responsible or self-reliant. They did not have the attitude to defend themselves.

Their fear caused them to question Moses intention for taking them out of Egypt.

They reminded Moses that they never really wanted to leave Egypt but instead were willing to be slaves all along. They would much rather do that than die in the wilderness.

We have heard similar complaints in our own country.

Patrick Henry buoyed the spirits during the American War of Independence when his hue and cry was, “Give me liberty or Give me death”. In contrast we have all heard the term “Better Red than dead”. Thankfully that was countered with “Better Dead than Red”.

The Israelites statement made it clear to Moses that they would put up with anything, including the death of their first born sons,in order to be taken care of.

We, in our country should understand this attitude because we have people who will allow their lives to be dictated by unethical politicians for the advantage of being taken care of from the cradle to the grave.

We know when Scripture talks about freedom it is to be free from the law that enslaves us.

But the apostle Paul does tell us, “stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath mad us free, and be not entangle again with the yoke of bondage.”

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 37
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EXODUS 33

In Exodus chapter thirteen, verse 2, the final plague in Egypt was the death of the firstborn of all households. God revealed to Israel the one and only way they would be spared was to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and brush its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes.

Only then would the Angel of Death pass over their homes and spare their firstborn. After the Passover the Lord switched to new instructions concerning the first born child in each Jewish family.

These rules preceded the Levites, when a sub group within the Levites, carried out all the rituals involving animal sacrifice that were designated.  In other words, these menwere set aside for temple service. The Lord’s rule was  Sanctify unto me all the first-born.  To “sanctify” means to “consecrate,” to “set apart” from a common to a sacred use.

The foundation of this duty rested on the fact that the Israelites, having had their first-born preserved by a distinguishing act of grace, from the general destruction that overtook the families of the Egyptians, were bound in token of gratitude to consider them as the Lord’s peculiar property.

At that time in Jewish history a mother’s first child was supposed to be dedicated to the priests. They were consecrated to service for God.

Later in the Torah there was a law that designated that 31 days after the child is born the father could pay a priest five silver shekels to “redeem” or free the child from temple work.

A shekel is 14 grams of silver.

A U.S. silver dollar contains 9.83 grams of silver. And we know that the price of the silver in any coin today sells at a very inflated rate, but at this time in history, and even today, the price was never intended to be a large sum of money. It was not to be a burden for poor people to redeem their first born son.

It may seem extreme to have to give your first born to the temple.   But to sanctify unto God all the firstborn was a reasonable demand when you stop to realize that the existing firstborn of Israel, were spared by God when the Egyptian firstborn were destroyed. 

The firstborn should be regarded as God’s and set apart for His service. But the command is limited, when it says “whatsoever openeth the womb”.
To be clear, in that command we learn it says that every child which is the firstborn of his mother.

So if a man had many wives, either together or successively, his first child by every one of these was a firstborn, and, if a male, he was claimed by the Lord. But if a female came first, and afterward a male, that male was not devoted to God, because it was not the firstborn.

Thus the parents were not to look upon themselves as having an interest in their firstborn, if males, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, and received them back from him again, by special right and title, as being by singular favor preserved from the common destruction.

The firstborn of man, if males, were claimed for the sacred ministrations of the priestly office and the firstborn were to be redeemed at a certain rate, which was part of the priest’s maintenance. But after the Jewish commonwealth was formed, the Levites were chosen to officiate in their stead.

The extension of the demand to existing beasts was also reasonable, since they too had been spared. God’s further requirement, that henceforth all the future firstborn should also be His, was intended to perpetuate the memory of the recent deliverance, and to help to fix it in the mind of the nation.

The substitution of a redemption in the case of unclean beasts was necessitated by the circumstances of the case, since they could not be sacrificed; and the redemption of the firstborn sons naturally followed when the Levitical priesthood was established, and their services were no longer necessary.

Can you imagine giving away your firstborn son to be raised by a priest and committed to temple service for God. It wasn’t meant as a punishment, it was meant as a privilege. And it even carried down in our lifetimes when you think about the fact that in many Old Catholic Families it was a privilege to have your first born son become a priest.

First born sons seem to come equipped for special service or position in most families even today.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 36
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