Category: Exodus

Exodus 32:9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 

I do not want the Lord to ever describe me a stiff-necked and stubborn when it comes to listening to Him, looking for Him, pointing others to Him. However, I’m aware that I can be a pretty intractable person. I hope that I can use that particular trait for my good and His glory.

Exodus 32:10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

I hope that I refuse to be swayed by those who are ostracizing others, no matter the reason. I hope I refuse to be swayed by those who are putting themselves before all others, including God. I hope I refuse to be swayed by those who say they are doing the right thing, but who in actuality are doing the popular thing, the acceptable thing, but not the right thing.

Exodus 32:11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 

Precious Savior, You created me as I am for a purpose. Use me in Your service. Help me to point others to You. Help me to stand up for You and for Your beloved children, especially those who cannot stand for themselves. Help me to shine Your light. Amen.

Exodus 32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 

I wonder what was going through Aaron’s mind at this point? Was he proud of his work? Did he feel like he had brought the Israelites closer to God? Or did he realize his mistake and announce the festival to the Lord in an attempt to bring the Israelites back to God after leading them astray with the golden idol?

Exodus 32:6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Regardless of Aaron’s intentions, the Israelites were not thinking of the Lord as they indulged in revelry. (A quick look at various translations of verse 6 on BibleHub.com shows that there is a definite negative connotation there.) Whatever Aaron might have had in mind when this started, the result was not bringing people closer to God.

Exodus 32:7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I jump at the opportunity to DO SOMETHING like Aaron did. Forgive me when I compound bad decisions with worse ones that lead people further away from You. Help me, in my words, actions, thoughts, to point people to You. Always. Amen.

Exodus 32:8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Today’s passage puts me in mind of Matthew 26:36-46, when Jesus asks the disciples to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane and they fall asleep. In today’s passage, Moses asks the Israelites to stay faithful while he goes up the mountain to talk to God. But in Matthew, the disciples fall asleep and in Exodus, the Israelites need something solid to hold on to, and both examples are eerily similar to what happens today when we have to wait.

Exodus 32:2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 

Waiting is hard. It can be painful and challenging or just plain boring. And when we don’t feel like we have anything solid and real to hold on to, it can be so very tempting to grab on to something, anything that feels solid and real as we wait and wait and wait.

Exodus 32:3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.

Precious Savior, In these seasons when You call me to wait, forgive me when I get impatient, when I get antsy, when I look around for something solid to hold on to. Help me to hold on to You. Always. Help me to draw closer to You in the waiting. Help me to be faithful to You. Help me to wait in joyful hope. Amen.

Exodus 32:4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 5:6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 

Today’s verses make me bitter, angry, and frustrated. Moses and Aaron tried to get time for Sabbath for the Israelites, and Pharaoh increased the work needed (make the same number of bricks, but find your own straw). The Israelites, including Moses and Aaron, are frustrated, and I don’t blame them.

Exodus 5:7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 

But God has a plan, one that they don’t know and can’t understand. One that requires some harshness and unpleasantness to be endured. God is making a way in their wilderness, even if they can’t yet perceive it. They just need to have faith and hang on. That’s often easier said than done.

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.’ 

Lord, I want life to be fair. It’s not. I want obedience to You to be easy. Also, not. What I need is to trust You–Your plan, Your timing, Your sovereignty. Always. Help me to trust. Help me to obey. Help me to endure. Help me to shine Your light. Always. 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 4:18a Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.” …

After all the ups and downs of the last few verses, the burning bush, Moses’s hemming and hawing, God’s burning anger, I’m kind of surprised that it ends like this…. Moses just moseys on back to his father-in-law to say, casually, that he wants to leave.

Exodus 4:18b …Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

And Jethro, the father-in-law whose sheep he was tending that put him in the path of the burning bush in the first place, father of his wife, ostensibly friend of Moses….I wonder what was going through his mind? Was he angry that he was losing his sheepherder? Was he sad that his daughter and her family would be leaving? Did he have any idea that God had orchestrated the events leading up to that moment?

Exodus 4:19 Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” 

Lord, I try to live the philosophy that “We don’t know what we don’t know.” Thank You for reminding me that when it comes to scripture, I often take a lot for granted. Thank You for helping me to read these verses with the curiosity of Moses. Thank You for drawing me closer to You through that curiosity. Help me to always seek You through my curiosity. Amen.

Exodus 4:20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 4:6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

Yesterday I pondered whether Moses asking all these questions, which I’ve always read as his fear, could be serving some other purpose and if so, how would that change things. God is asking Moses to lead 600,000 Jewish slaves–who are very comfortable in their lives–out of slavery. And not only that, audaciously, Moses and the Israelites will do this with the Pharaoh’s blessing and with the Egyptians’ possessions in tow.

Exodus 4:7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

That’s a big ask. Huge. Moses would be a fool to just jump in without any thought to “What ifs.” Are these questions, is this dialogue, a way for God to help Moses work through his fear? Does it help Moses to process the monumental task before him? Is this where and how fear turns to faith? Is this the process?

Exodus 4:8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 

Lord, I want cut and dried answers and a clear path forward, but life is seldom like that. Thank You for the reminder that You can use all people in all ways for our good and Your glory *if* we allow. Help me, like Moses, to work through my fear so that I can do what You are calling me to do. Amen.

Exodus 4:9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

Have a blessed day.