My Thoughts- Exodus 14- 8/19/12

Moses and the Exodus (cont.)

As I was reading I was pleasantly surpised to see that when the Israelites were afraid they called out to God. However even though they call on Him, they don't trust Him and forget His power. I think that's how a lot of us are; I know I am. When I call out to God, I doubt His power. But as the israelites were repeatedly shown His power is great and He can do all things. Vs. 14 is amazing too: "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still". By our own power nothing of consequence can come about, but if we step back enough to let God take control wonderous things will occur.

My Thoughts- Exodus 12- 8/18/12

Moses and the Exodus (cont.)

The entire time I was reading I was wondering why it was so important that they make the bread without yeast? And then when I was finished reading my bible said this "God's instructions for the Passover stress the need for haste. Roasting over fire cooks meat faster than boiling and (unlike frying or baking) requires no pan or oven. Likewise, bread without yeast doesn't need time to rise. The emphasis on speed indicated to the Israelites how terrible this plague would be and how swift they would have to flee from Egypt.". I also wonder why it seems the instructions for the passover are repeated twice; they must have been extremely important and special to God. Thinking about the passover, it's crazy how long this tradition has lasted. It continues all throughout the bible, and churches today still celebrate it. And it's also really cool that God brought them out, exactly 430 years later. So precise!

My Thoughts- Exodus 7- 8/17/12

Moses and the Exodus (cont.)

I've always been taught that when something is repeated in the bible that signifies importance. It talks about Pharaoh's heart being hardened at least 3x's in this chapter, so I think it's probably very important to understand. However in this chapter it never says "God hardened" so maybe it means this was of Pharaoh's own doing. Aside from that I love vs. 5, because even though God is making life miserable for the Egyptians right now, He is still leading them towards ultimate salvation. While I'm sure some saw what the Lord did for the Israelites and ignored it, I'm sure many came to believe as well. I also found in interesting how God used the word "wilderness" and it makes me wonder if He's alluding to the fact that the Israelites will not go straight to milk and honey land.

My Thoughts- Exodus 4- 8/16/12

Moses and the Exodus (cont.)

Vs. 21 (below) highlights something I don't really understand. God has given us free will but when He changes the desires of our heart doesn't that take away our free will? Or maybe He isn't changing anything, He just knows that's how it will be. And the same thing goes with salvation. Many times it says "God hardened/ softened his heart". Is this God's active doing? Or is it just the way of describing what's going on in the person's heart. And in vs. 24 (below) is "him" referring to Moses? Was it because of his fear of what God wanted to do? Obviously if He was dissuaded so easily, He wasn't that passionate about it, so what's the deal?

Exodus 4:21- The Lord said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go".

Exodus 4:24- At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

My Thoughts- Exodus 3- 8/15/12

Moses and the Exodus

The 1st thing I thought about when reading this was about people blaming God. In this chapter God is going to give the Israelites a land of "milk and honey" but they end up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years first. A lot of times I think we can be in the wilderness of life and blaming God for not being in the land of milk and honey when, just like the Israelites, we did it to ourselves. Another think I found interesting is that Moses lived a long time before God used Him, which makes me wonder if there are periods of our lives where we are simply waiting for God to prepare us for something down the road. Where is the line between waiting and apathy?

My Thoughts- Genesis 32- 8/14/12

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cont.)

You can see Jacob's faith in God growing as he prays when he's in a  time of distress. His prayer shows he's counting on God for help and turning towards him instead of counting on himself. I wonder why God decided to wrestle him though. Just to give him a blessing? Or a physical reminder of his presence in his life? And another thing is it says "a man" wrestled him. So does that mean God became man for this situation? Or did her take over an existing mans body? But I do like what the wrestling represents: his struggle to please God. Which is a struggle I think we all have in our lives.

My Thoughts- Genesis 31- 8/13/12

 Abraham, Issac, and Jacob (cont.)

I find it interesting that even though Rachel stole and was worshiping false gods, He protected them. I also really like that God salvaged the relationship between Jacob and Laban. Laban had done all sorts of terrible things to Jacob (tricked him into marrying Leah, changed wages, etc.), and while they don't end up friends, they are able to come to an agreement. It's comforting to know however difficult a person in our life may be, God will help us to make peace with that person. At the end of this chapter my bible has a blurb about Rachel, which I found very interesting.
It says:
"In an age not known for romance, when young people often waited for their parents to arrange their marriages, Jacob fell profoundly in love with Rachel. He worked 14 years to gain her (after being tricked into marrying her sister along the way). Clearly, to him, beautiful Rachel was worth the labor. He loved her from first sight to last breath.
Rachel knew what it was to be deeply loved, but she also knew piercing sorrow. More than anything else she wanted children, and while her sister produced six sons for Jacob and two servants also bore him children, Rachel remained childless. Her rivalry with her sister Leah, told in Genesis 29 and 30, was profound and bitter. Finally Rachel gave birth to Joseph, her first son. Some years later she died in childbirth bearing Benjamin, her second. (Showing love even after her death, Jacob counted these two sons as his favorites).
Rachel's fierce love fro her children became an emblem for Israel. More than a thousand years after she lived, the prophet Jeremiah, mulling over the destruction of Israel, heard "mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more" (Jeremiah 31:15). The same haunting poetry is quoted in Matthew 2:18 regarding the slaughter of babies by King Herod. Even today the phrase: Rachel weeping" serves as shorthand for the sufferings of the Jewish people.
Rachel was a strong woman whose loyalty to her husband and desire for children outweighed every thing else. She and her sister became part of a traditional Jewish wedding blessing: "May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leach, who together built up the family of Israel (Ruth 4:11)."