Exodus 9:1
“Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
Upon being set free from Egypt, Israel was called to serve the Lord. We get some keen insight about true service as the story continues to unfold. First off, Pharaoh suggests that Moses and the men go, but they leave their families behind. This has been the enemy’s tactic ever since. Moses responds to Pharaoh’s suggestion,
“And Moses said, ‘We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.’” Exodus 10:9
As you move forward in your relationship with Jesus, seek to do all you can to influence your family to a deeper commitment to Jesus. Establishing Biblical guidelines for the home, encouraging family devotions, using life experience to teach Biblical principles, and bringing the family to a solid Bible teaching church, are some of the best ways to get things started.
Exodus 10:24-25
“Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, ‘Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.’ But Moses said, ‘You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’”
Pharaoh made another suggestion about their worship. He stated they should go, but they should not give anything to the Lord. “Keep back all that is valuable for yourself” was the mantra of Pharaoh. Moses realized, all true service is costly. Later, David would state he would not give to the Lord that which cost him nothing (2 Samuel 24:24). At times, it is the cost of doing ministry that keeps us from getting involved. Jesus exhorted us to be like a home builder who counts the cost, before getting to work on building. He did not say that to discourage us from serving, but to understand that no matter the cost, it is worth it.
We have been set free, not from physical bondage to slavery, but from the bondage of sin and it’s consequences. Just as Moses was to lead the people to a life of worship and service, we are called to serve. Pray about ways to get involved in serving the Lord, as He seeks to further His kingdom, one life at a time.
Pastor Jim
In the synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus encountered a man with an unclean spirit. While there is no way of knowing what lifestyle he had lived which led to his condition, we can surmise from other accounts of dealing with demons, he was living in great darkness and difficulty. Whatever turmoil he faced, the solution was encountering Jesus. What the world could not do, Jesus did with seven simple words,”be quiet and come out of him.”
Have you ever wondered how different the story of Exodus would read if Pharaoh had only listened to the Lord? Instead, Pharaoh is an example of what we should not do, when we hear the Word of the Lord. We read, Pharaoh refused to allow his heart to be moved. Before ever hearing the Word of God, he had already determined he would not obey. A good friend of mine went on a vacation to a new hotel that was selling time shares. They received a very inexpensive rate on their room, under the condition that they would sit through a sales pitch. Before entering the meeting, he and his wife made a pact, they would not allow themselves to be swayed into purchasing something, no matter how good it sounded. That may be a good way to approach hard sales, but it is a terrible way to approach listening to the Word of God.
As Matthew 28 opens, we find a few women on their way to Jesus’ grave-site. Filled with despair, questioning how they will get to the body to show their respect, they are met by an angelic messenger with the greatest news they had ever heard. Jesus had risen! Oh, how their hearts must have leapt within, as we read “they went out quickly filled with fear and great joy.” The hope that seemed lost at Calvary, was restored in the garden. Along with the promise that Christ was alive, came the commission, “go quickly and tell His disciple…” When the disciples met the risen Christ, the commission was repeated to them, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” The greatest promise was coupled with the great commission.
All of Pharaoh’s foolish decisions can be traced back to this statement. The fact is, he did not know the power of God, which caused him to view the miracles as parlor tricks, and have his magicians do the same. It was a failure to understand the provision of God. He couldn’t see how releasing his work force would ever be good for the prosperity of his nation. Most of all, it was his failure to comprehend the plans of God, which caused him to harden his heart and resist Moses. Week after week, month after month, Moses preached to Pharaoh. He explained the plans of God, and yet Pharaoh resisted. He failed to realize these oppressed slaves were part of the plan of God, to save the human race. What he saw, was an immigrant work force to further his kingdom. God saw the nation from whom the Messiah would come, and the world would be saved. Pharaoh’s hardened heart and resistance to Moses’ message did not thwart the plans of God, but it did cost Pharaoh dearly. It cost him in this life. He suffered, his family suffered, and his nation suffered, all because he refused to submit to the plans and purposes of God. What a different story we would read, had Pharaoh only accepted the Word of God.
Over the centuries, one of the most lucrative businesses was the spice trade. There were times when certain spices were worth their weight in gold. Names like Magellan, Columbus and Sir Francis Drake, are just of few of the names associated with those who would journey the world, in search of new found flavors. At one time, salt was so valuable the phrase “he’s not worth his weight in salt”, was a common way to express the value of an individual. The word “salary” is actually derived from the Latin word for salt.
While I do not want to tackle the subject of the eternal destiny of Judas, I do see in him an illustration of how the Christian often deals with personal failure or sin. After the initial pleasure received from sin, we are filled with remorse or guilt. That guilt can become overwhelming and lead to discouragement, depression, and even despair. Too often, we follow the example of Judas, attempting to remove our guilt.
Since the incarnation, this is all the more true. He has seen oppression with the eyes of man. He watched the brutal way in which men oppressed men. He saw tax collectors steal from men, to support their sinful lifestyles, soldiers abuse their authority, instilling fear in the people, and religious leaders manipulate the people, to gain power over their lives and attain positions of prominence.
The book of Exodus begins with a love story. A young man and a young woman meet, fall in love, marry and have a beautiful child named Moses. What might have promised a lifetime of happiness, was suddenly interrupted by conditions beyond their control. An edict from the king, put the soldiers on high alert, ordered to put to death all male Hebrew children. These conditions forced Moses’ parents to do the unthinkable, they placed their young child in a crude raft, and set him adrift in the Nile river. Years later, the writer of Hebrews explains that it was not fear, but faith that drove their decision.
Matthew 26 and 27 record the final events in the life of Jesus. The hostility toward Him has reached a climax, and His opponents are seeking to kill Him. Theirs is the most heinous of sins, the murder of the Son of God! But the text reveals that their sin was motivated by what commonly drives you and I to sin; the fear of man. The fear of man might simply be defined as being more concerned with what man thinks, than what God thinks. On the other hand, the fear of God is being more concerned with what God thinks, than what man thinks. Solomon wrote
