Then the LORD said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them,

and that you may know that I am the LORD.

Exodus 10:1-2, NIV 

Sometimes we have a hard time understanding why God does the things that He does. That's okay, because we are just men and do not have to know everything, but there are times when God does give us insight as to why He does what He does. The ten plagues are such a case.

It is a fact that God could have  just removed the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians in some peaceful manner, but He didn't. It is true that He could have relented from hardening the heart of the Egyptians so that they would have let Israel go after only a few plagues, but He didn't. And while we as mere men with limited understanding might have wondered for all time why God did what He did, in this case we don't have to because God explained His reasoning:

He wanted Israel and Egypt and all the world to know that He is the LORD!

And though you and I might think that we could have come up with a better way to prove that fact, we would be wrong! God in His infinite wisdom knew exactly what was needed in this situation, and He did it. He did not need the people of that time to tell Him that it was too harsh, for the opinions of men are always a poor substitute for the knowledge of God.

The fact is that Egypt was a mighty nation because God had made them so, yet the Egyptians attributed their might to idols that they had created out of their own imaginations. So God gave the Egyptians irrefutable evidence that their so called "gods" were worthless and that the only true God was the LORD. Do you remember when Pharaoh told Moses, "I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go" (Exodus 5:2)? Do you recall when God stated that He would strike down all of the firstborn of Egypt in order to bring judgment upon their "gods" (Exodus 12:12)?

The point of all this is that God has placed enough evidence in this world for us to understand that He is the LORD. Should we fail to heed that evidence, He will eventually prove to us that He is God in ways that are not as gentle as our simply observing the beauty of His world. One of the reasons that we study all of the Word is so that we may know that He is God and that He must be obeyed in all things. If we will do that, we will enjoy incredible blessings both now and forevermore. But, if we refuse to open our eyes and see what can be plainly seen, there will be a day of reckoning.

Which will you choose, blessings or curses, gentleness or harshness... or do you think that God's punishment for those who refuse to acknowledge Him are only something that He did during Old Testament times?

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,

so that men are without excuse.

Romans 1:18-20, NIV

Today is the 15th day of the 30 day challenge to study the books of Moses, with Exodus 9-12 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you seek to know all that you can about His divine will for your life!

Moses' father in law replied, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is to heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Now listen to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you."

Exodus 18:17-19, NIV 

The setting for this conversation is this: Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. Now they are in the wilderness and the people have the everyday problems that all people have that need to be sorted out. Since Moses is the leader and is in direct communication with God, they naturally come to him for finding out what God's will is for handling their questions. The only problem is that there are well over a million Israelites and only one Moses.

Enter Jethro, the father-in-law to Moses. He sees this long line of people waiting to have their disputes and problems judged and he instantly realizes that it is simply too much for both Moses and the people. So he gives Moses some advice, but it is with this condition: If God so commands. And apparently God did, because we are told that Moses listened to his father-in-law and implemented a system wherein righteous leaders were found who could serve as judges for the people - and the problem was solved!

What can we learn from this situation? For one thing, we can see that wise men do give wise advice and that this wise advice often works. We know that it was wise because Jethro put the stipulation on Moses' acceptance of this advice that it be something that God approved. I believe that there are many such times in our lives when we are also "over our heads" and in danger of wearing ourselves out. Sometimes the solution to our problems is available, but only if we are willing to listen to advice and then compare it to the Word of God to see if it is sound or not.

There is one other point that might be useful for us to consider: It would have been easy for Moses to have been offended at his father-in-law for being presumptuous enough to give he - Moses, the leader of the Israelites - any advice at all. But Moses was not a proud or petty man. And since he was willing to listen to advice and then make sure that it was consistent with God's will before implementing it, he was able to have a huge burden lifted. I believe that we have the same blessings available to us whenever we are willing to "condescend" to heeding the good advice of others.

"If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all of these people will go home satisfied."

Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.

Exodus 18:23-24, NIV

Today is the 17th day of the 30 day challenge to study through the books of Moses, with Exodus 17-20 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you seek to apply sound, godly advice to all of the challenges that life may bring!

Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

Exodus 15:11, NIV

The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us into the desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

Exodus 16:3, NIV 

Have there ever been a people like the Israelites? They escape Egypt via the miracles of God, and they celebrate. The Egyptians come after them and they scream in terror. They miraculously pass through the sea and watch the Egyptian army drown and they celebrate. They get into the wilderness, and they say it would have been better to die in Egypt than in the desert. What was wrong with them that they praised God for His mighty deliverance in one breath, and were terrified that they were going to die because they had no rescuer in the next?

What was wrong with them, was that they were human!

It is human nature to panic when threatened, and to celebrate when delivered - we all do it! Think about how many times you were very concerned about something and thought that the world was about to fall apart. Then when you prayed and it didn't fall apart, you gave thanks to God and were certain that you would never doubt Him ever again, only to be cowering in fear in record time because you were now afraid of the next big threat in your life.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just learn to not do that? Wouldn't it be grand if we were not so schizoprhenic in our daily lives? It is possible, you know, but it requires something that goes completely against human nature...

trust in God!

O house of Israel, trust in the LORD - He is their help and shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD - He is their help and shield.

You who fear Him, trust in the LORD - He is their help and shield.

Psalms 115:9-11, NIV

Today is the 16th day of the 30 day challenge to study the books of Moses, with Exodus 13-16 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you cast aside your fears and learn to trust in Him!

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..."

Exodus 32:1, NIV 

This has to be one of the most shameful moments in human history. The Israelites had just been freed from slavery, rescued from their pursuers, fed when there was no food, given drink when there was no water, and then pledged their loyalty to the LORD. Then a few short weeks later, they were demanding an idol to bow down to. They were like a woman who had been rescued from the gutter, cleaned up, dressed in beautiful clothing, and then wed to the kindest and most thoughtful man on earth, only to commit adultery the first time that she was out of his sight.

It is no wonder that God was ready to wipe out the whole lot of them. The nation of Israel had been given everything, only to effectively spit in the face of their LORD and run after the made up idols of men! Why would they do such a thing?

I guess that we might be able to relate to it in this manner: We have had times in our lives when, for no reason at all other that love and compassion, somebody treated us well. So well, in fact, that we wondered what we had done to deserve it. At first, we had an undying devotion to this person and would have been insulted had anyone even suggested that we would ever betray that relationship. But, after a time had passed, we became accustomed to their kindness - so accustomed that we eventually took them for granted.

And once we began taking them for granted, it was no time before we started looking for greener pastures, even if it was at the cost of betraying our great benefactor. We, like the Israelites, have all probably done just such a thing. The question is will we come to our senses in time, or will we let our guards down and fall prey to those who would lead us away from the greatest Friend that we ever had?

This is what the LORD Almighty says, "Return to Me", declares the LORD Almighty, "and I will return to you", says the LORD Almighty.

Zechariah 1:3, NIV

Today is the 18th day of the 30 day challenge to study through the Books of Moses, with Exodus 32-36 being the text for today. May God richly bless you as you purpose in your heart to never let your guard down, and to always be faithful to your Lord and Master!