Month: October 2025

Exodus 6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

I believe that there is a time in every person’s life where they learn that God is who He says He is. Prior to that time, God is the God of their ancestors, the God that the believer has heard about since childhood but never actually seen in person.

Exodus 6:2-3 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 

For me, that time involved great loss and great sorrow. It involved stomping around my backyard, screaming at God in anger, fear, pain. There was no lightning bolt, no magic wand, no sudden revelations, just the slow, sure knowledge that God loves me fiercely, that He’s big enough to handle my anger, pain, and fear, that He is making a way in my wilderness, even when I cannot yet perceive it.

Exodus 6:4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for knowing our hearts, for loving us fiercely, completely, even when we are afraid or in pain. Thank You for being with us in the darkness, for holding us, loving us, making a way for us, even if we cannot yet perceive it. Thank You for keeping Your promises. Amen.

Exodus 6:5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 5:10-11 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’ ” 

So many emotions are tumbling around in my head with today’s scripture (and the rest of the scripture for this chapter), but chief among them is anger: anger at the unfairness of the way Pharaoh is treating the Israelites, anger at the unfairness of the expectations here, anger that Moses’s request–given because the Lord’s literally talked to him through a burning bush–has landed the Israelites in this situation.

Exodus 5:12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.  

And I’m not going to lie–there’s a little bit of anger, of disbelief, of incredulity at God, too: Why would You have Moses act in a way that would hurt Your beloved children? I just do not understand.

Exodus 5:13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.”

Precious Savior, Thank You that You are big enough to handle all of my emotions, that You love me enough that I can come to You, be honest with You–even with my anger–so I can move past it. Thank You that I know in my gut there are things I simply do not understand at work here because what I know of You is that You are a loving, compassionate, merciful God. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 5:14 And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 5:5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

Today’s verses are carrying me dangerously close to impotent anger. Anger because of the unfairness of the Pharaoh–Not only will he not grant Moses and Aaron’s request, but also, he tells his people that the Israelites have too much time on their hands and tells them to intentionally make the plight of the Israelites much harder. Talk about not fair.

Exodus 5:6-7 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 

Impotence for a number of reasons: All of this happened so very long ago. I have no connection to the Israelites and their plight, so my anger can do nothing for anyone involved. If there is one thing I’m sure of when it comes to my morning prayer and reading time, it’s that God doesn’t want me to stew in impotent anger. So what am I to do with this emotion?

Exodus 5:8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 

Precious Savior, Impotent anger has no place in my relationship with you, and anger is absolutely not an emotion that fills me with Your peace and love. Show me what to do with this emotion. Show me how to use Your word and the feelings it creates in me to bring You praise and glory. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 5:9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

Today’s scripture has got me thinking about “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” a folktale from India that I often used in the classroom to teach about perspective and remaining aware that “We don’t know what we don’t know.” I encourage you to look it up if you are unfamiliar.

Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Like the blind men in the tale, like Pharaoh in this scripture, I am guilty of steadfastly adhering to the belief that my perception IS reality, when, in truth, my perception is just that–MY perception. It shapes my reality, but there is often much that I don’t know.

Exodus 5:3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

Precious Savior, Moses was convinced that he could not do what You were calling him to do. Pharaoh was convinced that getting back to work was all the Israelites needed to do. I know that there are many, many things that I have convinced myself are true, when, in fact, they are just my perceptions. Help me, help each of us, to cling to Your truths and not our faulty perceptions. Amen.

Exodus 5:4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 4:27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 

Three days ago, when I compared Aaron to an albatross around Moses’s neck, a dear friend reminded me that in God’s master plan, Aaron is more than just a back-up plan, more than just an obstacle for Moses. And, honestly, I needed the reminder. I’m bad to look at a situation from only one angle at times.

Exodus 4:28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

In this situation, Aaron is going to prove to be a hindrance to Moses, but in God’s master plan, Aaron has an important role. Isn’t that the truth for all of us? We can be hindrances, stumbling blocks at times, but there is good in us, God can and will and does use us if we allow.

Exodus 4:29-30 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 

God of the misfits, Thank You that You know my faults and flaws, You know the ways in which I can be a hindrance, and yet Yet choose to use me anyway. Help me not to discount others because of their flaws, just as You don’t discount me because of mine. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 4:31 and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 4:22-23 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”

There seems to me to be a hard left turn between verse 23 and verse 24. Interestingly, commentary doesn’t touch on this significant shift. Commentary just explains verse 24, saying, essentially, Moses can’t have God’s protection if he is deliberately outside of God’s will, having not circumcised his first born eight days after birth.

Exodus 4:24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

But my question, which I can’t find an answer to, is Why? Why this? Why now? Wasn’t that firstborn son here and uncircumcised when God was talking to Moses from the burning bush? It seems odd to me, and I am by no means a Bible scholar, that Moses negotiates this whole deal with God, is finally on his way to comply, and THEN God tries to kill him because of the uncircumcision. Why?

Exodus 4:25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.

Lord of the Seeking, Thank You that I can read and study Your word and ask questions that I don’t understand. Thank You for encouraging me to seek and ask so that I can draw closer to You. Thank You that I am able to draw closer even when I don’t find the answers. Amen.

Exodus 4:26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Have a blessed day.