Jan 21 (Exodus 4-5)

Exodus 4

(v.1) Moses is humble and doubts his ability to achieve this great task...this is just where God wants us to be daily. He doesn't want us to be weaklings, cowering in a corner, but He does want us reliant upon Him for strength.

(v.2) God uses what Moses has and feels comfortable with...he could have had a chicken in his hands, and God would have used it for His glory!!!

(v.12) God says what He has said many times to us..."Go, and I will be with you" but we are still afraid at times. I try to stress with my kids, that there is no greater feeling, than doing something we KNOW God is directing us to do...we are empowered!

(v.21) God purposefully hardens the Pharaoh's heart...why? My kids and I like to explore that. I think we usually come to the conclusion, that God wanted the odds and situation to seem hopeless and only His Hand could make Pharaoh relent.

(v.24) My 10-year-old asked me about this verse...why was God about to kill Moses? The best way that the Lord had me explain it was, that God meant business, and Moses had yet to obey and circumcise his son. God was showing Moses that he had to obey completely, not partially.

The reaction of Zipporah is interesting...was she mad that Moses made her do it? Or was she, being a Gentile, disgusted with this ritual of the Jews? We can only speculate, but we do see that she realizes that God is mad, and she knows that only their complete obedience will see them through...we all can learn from that!

Exodus 5

(v.2) How often do we as believers see this scenario? Trying to explain why we believe in what the Bible says, and do as God commands, seem foolish to the lost. They have turned their hearts away from God, and they don't know Him like we believers do. Of course, we will spend eternity trying to know Him completely, but He does reveal His nature and character to us in His Word!

(v.20) Pharaoh persecutes and takes out his anger on the Jews, and we see the first of many times where the Jews turn on Moses. The Jews were slaves, but they had grown accustomed to their plight. The Jews were not yet of the mind that they were ready to defy Pharaoh, but God would lead them through Moses!

We'll see numerous times ahead that it's much easier to get the Jews out of Egypt, than to get Egypt out of the Jews!