Month: October 2025

Exodus 8:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 

At first blush, “a plague of frogs” sounds a bit humorous to me. However, it doesn’t take long for the horror of a teeming mass of frogs to become clear. Add to that the fact that the Egyptians considered frogs, which were linked to one of their goddesses, to be sacred and were not to kill them. Now this teeming mass of frogs takes a much darker turn.

Exodus 8:2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 

These verses make me wonder about the things in my own life that I have, inadvertently or not, elevated to sacred status, that I have lifted to a place of honor and importance in my own life. Do I even realize that I have elevated them? Do I understand the importance I have given them? Have I placed them above my Savior?

Exodus 8:3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 

Precious Savior, I’ll be honest. I don’t really want to look too closely at this one because I know that my answers will require me to make some changes. Forgive me…for elevating anything above You and for being hesitant to examine them because I know I will have to make some changes. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 8:4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ ”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 7:19a The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ 

What strikes me as I read commentary on these verses is the writer’s insistence that these are literal, not symbolic acts, which may or may not have an explanation in the natural world but whose timing was absolutely explained by God alone. We therefore, the writer of this commentary posits, have no need to think of the events of Revelation as symbolic either but rather literal.

Exodus 7:19b Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

It feels to me like the writer wants to remove my ability to think and ponder what’s happening in these verses, to marvel at God’s actions or His use of the natural world. This commentary writer wants to ensure I see things in only the way that he, the writer, interprets them. Why? What can he gain from that? How does God feel about the writer implying by his words that God’s actions are not strong enough to stand on their own?

Exodus 7:20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 

God of the Curious, Thank You that You love when I ponder and question Your word. Thank You for cultivating my curiosity, a curiosity that You planted within me, that You can and will and do use for my good and Your glory. Help me never to fall into the trap of certainty. Help me to draw closer to You with every question of Your word. Amen.

Exodus 7:21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 7:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 

I am thankful that the Lord seems to have abundant patience.  As much as I want to thump Moses for STILL trying to weasel out of the assignment, I also recognize in myself the many times I’ve acted similarly.

Exodus 7:2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 

I find myself in my personal relationships with other people trying to figure out where the line is, the line between loving like Jesus, with abundant grace, and enabling the other person in their intractability.

Exodus 7:3-4 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 

Precious Savior, You tell me that my place is not to judge, yet not judging is so much harder than it should be. Forgive me and help me to love and encourage your people without being an enabler for their bad habits. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 6:26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 

We have just finished two days worth of genealogy for Aaron and Moses that shows that God was with them before, during, and after their captivity in Egypt. “It was to this Aaron and Moses” – the ones who have just been established as God’s people – “to whom the Lord said….” And still, Moses hesitates. He comes up with excuses for why he is not the right person.

Exodus 6:27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.

Now, on one hand, I want to shake Moses by the shoulders and tell him to get a grip. God has assured him multiple times that He is with him, yet Moses flounders. On the other hand, I want to pull Moses into a hug and tell him that God has been with him this entire time, even that first disastrous attempt, He’s been growing him and molding him, and now Moses is ready.

Exodus 6:28-29 Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

Precious Savior, Thank You for the compassion that You cultivated within my heart. Help me to show this compassion to all that I encounter, including myself. Help me to see others and myself as You see us and to love as You love. Amen.

Exodus 6:30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 6:21-22 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri. The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

Since we are presented with still more names in today’s scripture and my normal commentary barely mentions this extended genealogy, I decided to do a little digging. On the surface, this genealogy of the families of Moses and Aaron seems an utter non-sequitur. It seems to be a list of names inserted into the middle of a different narrative. Why?

Exodus 6:23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

I came across a video this morning that says that this genealogy is a reminder from God to us, the readers, that God has been with this family from the very beginning, through their captivity in Egypt, all the way to their freedom from Egypt. This video posits that the genealogy is a reminder to the reader that God keeps His promises and wants a relationship with His people.

Exodus 6:24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

Precious Savior, I don’t think random genealogies are inserted in scripture for no reason. Thank You for putting this video on my radar this morning, for giving me a possible explanation to ponder. Thank You for the reminder that You are with me, always, even when I don’t understand. Amen.

Exodus 6:25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

Have a blessed day.