Preparing for my devotion, I found myself reading
Bible passages I don’t recall having ever read before. I am not surprised. I don’t
read the Bible just to be reading it, as one of my good friends does. There
must be a reason before I open the Bible (like preparing for this devotion)!
Sometimes when I see one of our church members holding
a Bible, I like to check it out. When the Bible is well worn around the edges,
and there are places marked inside with little post-its on some pages, I know that
person is a frequent reader of the Bible. Sometimes the little pieces of paper are
different colors, and I want to ask what all the different colors mean. And
when I can catch them with their Bible opened, I see some highlighted passages,
maybe with a note written in the margin. I want to become a reader like that! This
opportunity, the story of Moses, seems to be a great place to start. My
favorite version of the Bible is the New International Version Student Bible
because it has insights and explanations scattered in every chapter that are helpful
as you read.
An insight into the beginning of our scripture tells
me that the Israelites had endured nearly four centuries of oppression before
their exodus. They no doubt believed God had forgotten them. Their large and
growing population had the Pharaoh sure of an uprising, that he commanded every
boy born to a Hebrew mother would be killed.
The mother of Moses hid her son for three months, and after
that time, in order that he would be safe, she placed him in a water-tight basket,
and told her daughter to place the baby in the Nile River among the reeds along
the bank. The daughter watched to see what might happen; when he cried, the
Pharaoh’s daughter found him and claimed him as her own. She named him Moses,
which meant “out of water.” As Moses grew to become a young man, he was among
the elite of the Pharaoh’s court.
Within the second Chapter of Exodus appears another
interesting insight: “After compressing three-and-a-half centuries into a
few verses, Exodus devotes chapters 3-40 to the events of a single year. In
contrast to Genesis’s large cast of characters, Exodus focuses on one main
character, Moses.”
One afternoon, Moses witnessed the terrible beating of
a Hebrew slave by an Egyptian centurion. He became angry, and killed the
centurion, then knew he must flee from Egypt, and he ended up in Midean. He was
welcomed by the town’s priest and his seven daughters and settled in to live
with them. He married Zipporah, one of the daughters, and from her he learned
of the mountain of God, called Horeb.
It is here that Moses discovered the burning bush. The
Lord called out to him by name, and thus began the close and personal
relationship between Moses and God. He said to Moses, “I am the God of your
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” God then told Moses he must return to Egypt
and lead the Hebrews out of that land, saving them from further misery. Moses
resisted the request, believing he was unworthy, with no authority to do such a
thing. But when they arrived in Egypt, God said to Moses, “See, I have made
you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are
to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to
let the Israelites go out of his country….When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a
miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” Knowing God would be with them, Moses and
Aaron did just as God had asked.
I continued reading this fascinating story because I
had no knowledge of what would take place. And when I finally got to the
plagues, I had a vague recollection of something happening, but what. I have
now read to Chapter Seven, well beyond the assigned scripture! Just how far
will this story take me? I eagerly dug in, and there were the plagues!
Do you remember them all? Can you name them in order?
-
Water turned to blood
- Frogs
- Gnats
- Flies
- Diseased livestock
- Boils
- Thunder and hail
- Locusts
- Darkness
- Death of the first born
The plagues, found in Exodus Chapters seven through
twelve, were horrifying. But it took something so ugly, so devastating to successfully
confront the Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave. Reading about them drove home
to me the fact that God is there—always.
He knows how we think, where we stand, and what we can do. It’s amazing!
With God’s help, as well as Arron’s, Moses had the
authority and the power to end the suffering of the Israelites. They knew he
was chosen to take them to the promised land.
Another insight: “The Bible does not is concern
itself with the question of how these natural phenomena occurred; it merely
affirms that something supernatural took place. The miracles were an
unprecedented display of God’s holy power…. A nation was about to be born, and
the Israelites’ uprooting from Egypt called for such power. They had, after
all, lived for centuries in Egypt. It would take a strong incentive indeed to
motivate massive, abrupt departure.”
Then I eventually came to Chapter Fifteen: “The Song
of Moses” and read on. The song is long, they and I’m caught up in it, hearing
every word and seeing in my mind the thousands of Israelites, singing and
dancing for joy! It’s delightful all the way to the end!
“Sing to the Lord, for he is highly
exulted!
The horse and its rider he has hurled into
the sea!
Then I closed my Bible, finished for now. But I know
the meaning of this experience. And it is good.
Diane Feaganes
