Category: Exodus

Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

I sincerely believe that Moses is asking these questions because he doubts his ability because of the time that he tried to act under his own power (killing the Egyptian) and ended up getting run out of town. Honestly, I think his reaction is perfectly human.

Exodus 4:2-3 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 

Many really good people struggle with doubt for various reasons. And I just can’t believe that God’s response is to sigh and get frustrated. He knows EVERYTHING about us. He knows our doubts and fears. And He loves us fiercely…even when we doubt. (Don’t believe me? Look at what the disciples do in the New Testament and how Jesus reacts—with compassion and reassurance.)

Exodus 4:4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 

God of the Fearful, Thank You that Your response to our doubt is not anger and frustration. Thank You that You meet us where we are and get us to where You need us to be. Help us to love You, trust You enough to move beyond our fear so we can be Your hands and feet. Amen.

Exodus 4:5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 3:20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

The Israelites have been in Egypt for 400 years. Can they even fathom what freedom might be like at this point. They have all been in slavery for generations. I wonder if, as a people, they had given up the hope of being free?

Exodus 3:21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.

The drudgery of a situation you cannot see a solution to and cannot fathom a way out of is beyond difficult. You have to find a way to function just to keep moving forward. But how do you balance the hope of deliverance with the need to function daily in a given situation?

Exodus 3:22a Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. 

Precious Savior, Forgive us when we become so accustomed to a situation that seems hopeless that we–consciously or not–give up hope that You are still working behind the scenes, that You are still making a way in the wilderness, even if we cannot yet perceive it. Help us to hold on to hope. Always. Amen

Exodus 3:22b And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 3:16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 

Again, I wonder what Moses was thinking as he heard these words, knowing that he already tried to establish himself as the one to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and was soundly rebuffed. Does it even occur to him that he failed that first time because he was acting under his own power and strength and not God’s?

Exodus 3:17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

I absolutely get where he might be coming from. He took that first failure as a no. He thought he wasn’t the one to set the Israelites free, so he slunk into the countryside and lived a little life, head down, working hard, doing what needed doing…and growing stronger in the ways God needed him so that he could free the Israelites. But I don’t think he sees this progression.

Exodus 3:18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 

Precious Savior, I totally understand if Moses got into his own head when he was rebuffed as the one to lead the Israelites out of Egypt all those years ago. It’s hard to fail that spectacularly and take a chance a second time. Help us, all of us, to get out of Your way, to quit second guessing what You are calling us to, and to act boldly for You. Amen.

Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 

As I was reading commentary about today’s verses, I was struck by the use of the word “undoubtedly,” a synonym of which is “obviously.” The commenter was stating something he saw as absolutely the case in scripture. I have issues with that on the number of levels.

Exodus 3:6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

And if I’m honest, I think God would take exception to that certainty as well because if we approach His word certain of what it means, what it is telling us, we can’t hear His still small voice whisper to our hearts, and I’ve heard His voice again and again as I struggle with scripture.

Exodus 3:7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 

Lord of the Seeking, Thank You that You meet me in Your word each morning, that You caution me against certainty so that I can seek and ask with my whole heart. Thank You for whispering to my heart time after time, for showing me who You are and who I am to You. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 3:8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

Have a blessed day.