“the Whole Story” Series

Exodus 12:1-32

Exodus 12:1-32

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

Use the HEAR method in reading today’s passage: 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

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“Moses on Mission”

This week we’ve been reading about the birth and early days of Moses. We’ve left him at his commissioning at the burning bush and next week we will look at his interactions with Pharoah as he represents the one true God and demands the release of the Israelite slaves. 

Today’s video from the Bible Project is for our visual learners and will act as a bridge between this week’s reading and next’s. Enjoy and join us this Sunday for worship! 

theBibleProject.com

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“When God Cares About What You Care About” – Exodus 3:1-10

Exodus 3:1-10

“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

When Moses saw the mistreatment of his people he was burdened to rescue them from their oppression. But as we saw in our readings earlier this week, his first reaction wasn’t actually constructive and he ended up on the run, a man without a country. A burden is important, it’s something that God puts into our heart to prompt us to work towards change. It’s the fuel that drives a mission. Without proper direction, however, that fuel can move us away from our goal or even off a cliff! 
It probably seemed to Moses that he was on a permanent time out in regards to the plight of the Jewish slaves. He must have felt like damaged goods and completely ineligible to the cause. However, God hadn’t written Moses off. The burning bush was both a redeeming and commissioning moment for Moses. God let him know that He had heard the cries of the Israelites and He was going to do something about it. And Moses was just the man for the job. He would be God’s mouthpiece, an instrument for deliverance. 
When we have a burden we must understand three things: 
  • Our burden is from God and will be the fuel for what he calls us to do.
  • God loves more and before our burden. We don’t have to convince God to have mercy and justice towards that which we are burdened for. He’s already there. We’re the ones late to the party. 
  • God wants to use us to make a difference in the world, but we need to be willing to do it His way. When you walk with Him, wait on Him and rely on Him, He will show you the path to take. 
While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions:
  • Is there anything in your life that you think disqualifies you to be used by God? How might Moses’ story help you turn that narrative around? 
  • Do you have a burden to right a wrong? Take some time in prayer to seek God’s direction in the matter. 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Jon Price, Associate Pastor
Photo by Liam Edwards on Unsplash

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“I Probably Could Have Handled That Better” – Exodus 2:11-22

Exodus 2:11-22

“One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

Did you ever do something that you regret? I have! Said something I shouldn’t, did something dumb, knowingly sinned, missed opportunities, found myself in the middle of controversy, hurt someone’s feelings, knowingly or unknowingly caused strife, and the list goes on.

We all have! Many of us have tried the Moses method of burry it, hide it or run away from it. Moses had a long lesson of what to do with what he had done. Our actions have consequences. We can seek forgiveness for what we have done, but many times it leaves a scar on us or those around us. I John 1:9 has a model to repentance and forgiveness, but as I said – scars. Letting God deal with us can make us better or bitter. Bitterness demands that you live in the past. Forgiveness allows you to change your future. It is true that the present is colored by the past. It is also true that we can choose the colors of the future. All through scripture, God uses broken people in extraordinary ways.
Seek forgiveness, let the scars remind us of where God has brought us from, and trust him for tomorrow.

Never be a prisoner of your past.
It was just a lesson…
not a life sentence.

Use the HEAR method with today’s passage: 

 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Jim Sellers, Minister of Music and YAH Director
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

“I Probably Could Have Handled That Better” – Exodus 2:11-22 Read More »

“A Plan Better than Yours” – Exodus 2:1-9

Exodus 2: 1-9 

“Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.

Moses’ parents were Hebrew slaves in Egypt. The slave population had flourished and were becoming so numerous that the Egyptians began to fear them. The Egyptians were afraid that they would become so strong that they might join their enemies and fight against them. To prevent this an order was given by the Egyptian Pharaoh that all the boys born to Hebrew slaves were to be thrown into the river.

When Moses was born his mother described him as a beautiful child and could not bear to see him killed. She hid her son to protect him, but as he grew, she realized that she would be unable to keep him hidden and safe. I remember the fear that gripped me when my first son experienced a health problem when he was born. He was losing a lot more weight than normal during the first 24 hours and was refusing to take in fluids. On day two, the nurse explained that there was a possible blockage and they would be keeping him in the nursery so they could try to get him to nurse. If he showed no improvement, they would begin to look for a blockage. Even today, nearly 50 years later the remembrance of that nurse’s visit brings a flood of emotions. I spent the entire day crying and praying for my precious son to be alright. I called family and through tears asked them to pray with me. I fought back fear and leaned on God to provide the answer. Moses’ mother must have felt the same fear I did. I am sure she spent a lot of time praying and thinking about a way to keep her son safe. She did not know if her plan would work, but it did. I feel sure God led her to this plan because He had a plan for Moses. 

Her prayers were more abundantly answered than she had hoped. After being found in a basket on the Nile, Moses was brought to Pharoah’s daughter and she had compassion for him. His older sister realized the princess would need someone to nurse the child and offered to find a nursing Hebrew mother. Not only would her son live but she would be able to keep him with her and safe for many months. Then he would grow up as part of the royal family and not as a slave. The solution God provided for her problem was unexpected and much better than any she had dared to dream.

As I think back over my life, I remember times when I was in despair over a situation where I could see no solution. In desperation, I turned to God in prayer. God has often answered my prayers in unexpected and powerful ways. I am learning that the best and first plan should be to ask God to reveal His plan and then listen and wait.

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 

  • When faced with a seemingly impossible situation, where do you turn for advice and help?
  • What kind of problems do you think are impossible for God to solve in your life? 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Brenda Erwin
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

“A Plan Better than Yours” – Exodus 2:1-9 Read More »

“Is God Listening?” – Exodus 2:24-25

Exodus 2:24-25

“And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”

The children of Israel were slaves to the Egyptians, forced to work because the Pharaoh did not like them or was afraid of them. These slaves, tired and insecure, cried out to God with every ounce of energy they had left. Listen, if you are like me, there have been a few times like that in your life. I’ve cried out, “I need your help, God! Are you there? Are you listening?”

These two verses give a powerful description of how all of God’s senses are tuned in to you when you cry out to Him. God is listening when you pray! Look at how many ways God responds to the crisis:

  1. God heard their groaning.
  2. God remembered his covenant. This verse is not suggesting that God forgets. The writer declares that God does not ever forget the promises in His Word. 
  3. God saw the people.
  4. God knew what was happening to them.

Right after this passage is where Moses is born and God prepares to save Israel from captivity.

I don’t know how God will answer your cries for help. But I know that God hears you, sees you, knows what is happening to you, and did not forget every promise He made. Don’t be bashful. Cry out to your Lord for the help you desperately need!

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Do you pray when you hurt? Genuinely, cry out to God knowing He is the only salvation for your pain?
  • Is there something that we can help you pray for? Leave a comment or email us directly at jon@mybelmont.org
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Pastor Stephen Williams

“Is God Listening?” – Exodus 2:24-25 Read More »