Grateful...

That one word sums up my heart attitude this morning - grateful. Reading through the book of Exodus and all of the ceremonies and rules and details of the old covenant...the manner in which Aaron and his sons were anointed for service, the offerings made, the process, the ceremony. It's enough to make my head spin. How ever did they keep all those details straight?  It's not like they had a simple way of recording the words of God.  They could not just quickly download them as a .pdf file and store them on their laptop for future use. Did God bless Moses with a superhuman ability to remember? He told all of these things to Moses on the mountain...and Moses had to remember them and put them into practice after he descended to once again be with the people of Israel. I suppose much of my trouble in reading through this passage comes from the fact that it is so unfamiliar to my current-day Christianity...animal sacrifice, priestly garments, law, law, law.

Jesus made it clear in Matthew 22:37-38, the greatest commandment is to "'love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Two commands...this sums up the law and the prophets. Yet, even with only two commands, I mess up royally on a moment-by-moment basis.

Through Jesus, a new covenant was made. His blood flowed, and by it I am washed clean. His death purchased for me the righteousness of God. May I live in the light of this promise, filled with the knowledge that He died in my place...that I am reconciled to God, cleansed of my sin...completely and wholly undeserved. Thank you Jesus! May my heart continue to overflow with gratefulness for all You have done for me.

Little by Little

In Exodus 23:29-30, God tells the Israelites that He will deliver them into the Promised Land, which is currently filled with other peoples (Hittites, Canaanites, Hivites, etc.). However, the Lord says that He will not drive them out all at once, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would overrun the land.  So, instead, He tells them, "Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land."

Though it frustrates me at times, it seems this is also the way the Lord works in my life...clearing things out little by little.  Sometimes, I'd like Him to just clear it out all at once and get it over with.  Pruning hurts!  But, I must trust in the wisdom of God and lean into Him.  He wants me to "increase" as He takes over more and more areas of my life.  He wants me to grow!

Don't Just Stand There! Do Something!

The Hebrew people are encamped near the Red Sea and nothing but wilderness separates them from the approaching Egyptian army, fully armored, brandishing weapons and kicking up loads of dust as their mighty chariots advance. Imagine the mass of quivering Israelite humanity...600,000 Hebrew men, plus all of their women and children, all traveling on foot...watching the Egyptian army quickly covering the ground that separates them. They challenge Moses, demanding to know why he hadn't left them in Egypt. After all, weren't there enough graves in Egypt for all of them...why did they have to come out into the wilderness to die?

Moses calmly reassures them, "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again.  The LORD himself will fight for you. You won't have to lift a finger in your defense!" (Exodus 14:13-14 NLT)

Side question...how did Moses communicate to what must have been at least 1.2 million people, over the din of panic, the braying animals, and the crying children?

Then the Lord tells Moses, "Don't just stand there...do something."  Well, not exactly in those words, it was more like:  "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!"  (v. 15)  God commanded Moses to stretch out his staff over the waters of the Red Sea and divide it.  Moses had seen the miraculous ways God had used this same staff in his many meetings with Pharaoh.  Moses didn't hesitate.  The pillars of cloud and fire move in between the Hebrew people and the Egyptians, hiding the Hebrews from their view.  I've always pictured the pillars as not much more than a column on the front of a large museum.  This pillar hid 1.2 million people...I guess that's more like the whole museum and then some!  Further amazing descriptions of how God uses the pillars in verse 20: "The cloud settled between the Israelite and Egyptian camps. As night came, the pillar of cloud turned into a pillar of fire, lighting the Israelite camp. But the cloud became darkness to the Egyptians, and they couldn't find the Israelites."

With the pillars in place, Moses stretches his hand over the sea and God parts the waters.  All through the night, God caused a wind to blow on the exposed seabed (but, this wind did not blow away the pillar of cloud and darkness that separated the two people groups).  In the morning, the Israelites walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.  What must it have been like, walking between two walls of water, the fish and sea creatures staring at you from the temporary God-made boundaries of their watery home?  The Red Sea at it's deepest point is 1.3 miles deep.  Just imagine the height of those walls of water! Ahhh, the magnificent power of God!

The Egyptian armies pursued the people of God into the sea, only to have the waters collapse on them.
I find it interesting that the Pharaoh and his armies were drowned in the Red Sea...sounds a bit like "what goes around, comes around."