So I have been participating in a sort of Bible reading challenge. The leader of our group is a friend of mine from college and so far it has been good for me in that it has helped to keep me in my Bible. One of the great things that has been happening as I move through the Old Testament passages is that I feel like I am reading many of them for the first time even though I know in my head that I am not. This just goes to show you the living nature of the Word of God.
One of the times that this became most clear to me recently was when I was reading about the 10 plagues to strike Egypt. I have heard most of my Christian life that when Moses went before Pharaoh that he said something like "God has said for you to 'Let my people go.'" I guess I never really thought much about what Moses actually did say because it never seemed to matter, in the grand scheme of the situation, to me. However, I have new perspective on this and here is why.
Exodus 9:1-NASB with Emphasis Added
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me"
Think about what is going on in this passage. Moses is telling a man who is thought to be a god that he needs to let his servants go so that they can go and serve another god. So not only is Pharoah losing an incredible source of free labor he is losing them to a rival god. This would have required Pharoh to humble himself on two fronts. First, the letting the people go would mean that he is not all powerful. Second, it would mean that he had an equal when it comes to gods.To think that any man in his position would have humbled himself this way is unrealistic. We tend to look back at this event and wonder why Pharoh was so stubborn but ouir vision is skewed by time, culture and knowing what would eventually happen. Pharoh is not really doing anything all that surprising and in fact I believe God knew that it would take a tremendous amount of humility for Pharoah to let His people go. I believe that God wanted Pharoh to be like the servants of Pharoah in Exodus 9:20 who feared the word of the Lord. Sadly it did not happen and Pharoah and Egypt paid a terrible price.
The other part of this passage that struck me is that God states the purpose for the Israelites to be released. Simply stated they needed to be released from Egypt so that they could serve the one true God. This was their purpose, the reason for their existence as a nation and people. This is not unlike the purpose we find for believers today. We see in 2 Timothy 1:9 that when God saved us He did it so that we could participate in His holy calling and do His will. In essence, we were saved to serve Him just as the Israelites we rescued from slavery so that they could serve the Lord.
As I have been thinking about this over the last few days I have started looking at why God has saved me and what holy calling He has for me now. Part of me feels as though I am constantly doing that and not in a good way. I feel like I am like a ship that is just bouncing around in the sea without a heading. There have been plenty of days in which I had Captain Jack Sparrow's compass so I could find the path to that which I desire most. I hope to be in that place someday soon where I truly feel like I am on the right course and that I am at peace with that course. It is my hope and prayer that you are either on that path or will be soon.
One of the times that this became most clear to me recently was when I was reading about the 10 plagues to strike Egypt. I have heard most of my Christian life that when Moses went before Pharaoh that he said something like "God has said for you to 'Let my people go.'" I guess I never really thought much about what Moses actually did say because it never seemed to matter, in the grand scheme of the situation, to me. However, I have new perspective on this and here is why.
Exodus 9:1-NASB with Emphasis Added
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me"
Think about what is going on in this passage. Moses is telling a man who is thought to be a god that he needs to let his servants go so that they can go and serve another god. So not only is Pharoah losing an incredible source of free labor he is losing them to a rival god. This would have required Pharoh to humble himself on two fronts. First, the letting the people go would mean that he is not all powerful. Second, it would mean that he had an equal when it comes to gods.To think that any man in his position would have humbled himself this way is unrealistic. We tend to look back at this event and wonder why Pharoh was so stubborn but ouir vision is skewed by time, culture and knowing what would eventually happen. Pharoh is not really doing anything all that surprising and in fact I believe God knew that it would take a tremendous amount of humility for Pharoah to let His people go. I believe that God wanted Pharoh to be like the servants of Pharoah in Exodus 9:20 who feared the word of the Lord. Sadly it did not happen and Pharoah and Egypt paid a terrible price.
The other part of this passage that struck me is that God states the purpose for the Israelites to be released. Simply stated they needed to be released from Egypt so that they could serve the one true God. This was their purpose, the reason for their existence as a nation and people. This is not unlike the purpose we find for believers today. We see in 2 Timothy 1:9 that when God saved us He did it so that we could participate in His holy calling and do His will. In essence, we were saved to serve Him just as the Israelites we rescued from slavery so that they could serve the Lord.
As I have been thinking about this over the last few days I have started looking at why God has saved me and what holy calling He has for me now. Part of me feels as though I am constantly doing that and not in a good way. I feel like I am like a ship that is just bouncing around in the sea without a heading. There have been plenty of days in which I had Captain Jack Sparrow's compass so I could find the path to that which I desire most. I hope to be in that place someday soon where I truly feel like I am on the right course and that I am at peace with that course. It is my hope and prayer that you are either on that path or will be soon.
