May 18, 2010 (Exodus 1-6)

Exodus - the story of the Israelites exodus from Egypt. It starts off with a story that makes you wonder about truthfulness. Pharaoh gave the order for all Hebrew boys to be killed as soon as they were born. ^1:17 "But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too." So when the king called for them and asked why the boys were alive they said: ^1:19 “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.” Humm, a lie...how does God respond to their lies? ^1:20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own." It reminds me of Rahab and her lies to hide the spies that God had sent. I guess the story here is that sometimes, when it fulfills God's purposes, lies are OK. That's a hard one to wrap my head around.

These chapters were also a good reminder that no matter what we are going through, God sees and God cares.

^2:23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ He looked down on the people of Israel and felt deep concern for their welfare.

^3:7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them...."

And then God spoke with Moses and told him all the things that would happen and gave him miraculous signs that would prove that indeed God was with him and would deliver him. I won't go into the discussion of how Moses argued with Him and debated with Him. That's a whole blog in itself, and it is amazing to me that someone who had seen God's glory and miraculous signs would continue to argue with Him. But again, I said I wouldn't go there.

And so, when Moses relayed the message he had received from God to the people, here was their response:

^4:31 Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

When we go through experiences when we know that God is concerned about us, it's much easier to worship Him. But what about when things get worse? What about when we don't see His hand? So for them, instead of things getting better, and God delivering them, things got worse. And that's when it's difficult to still trust what God has told you, as we see by their response when Moses told them again that God had promised to free them from their slavery:

⁹ So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they wouldn't listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the increasing burden of their slavery.

And so it is with us. When things become discouraging, we are not to focus on the discouraging circumstances, but upon the promises of God. We should have an attitude of worship, regardless of how things go. That shows faith, and that is what God wants to see in our lives.