“Don’t Wait Around to Decide” – Exodus 12:33-42

Exodus 12:33-42

“The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.”

For generations, the Israelites had known nothing but slavery. But it seemed there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. And with the promise of freedom given and then taken away repeatedly during the plagues and Moses’ intercessions with a fickle Pharoah, when the opportunity came they weren’t going to sit around and wait for their captor to change his mind once again. It was time to gather up everything as quickly as possible and head to the door. The time was ripe and every Egyptian was on board with getting them on their way, to the point of handing them gold, silver, and other jewelry as they passed by on the road. Anything to avoid any more wrath from the God of the Israelites. 

The Passover meal was not just their last meal in captivity. It was the beginning of a tradition, the first of an annual communal celebration in remembrance of a faithful and powerful God. Each part of the meal represented an element of their captivity and their rescue. And the unleavened bread represented the rush that they had been in to leave. They hadn’t had the time to wait for their bread to rise as they packed and prepared for their trip to freedom. 
Can you even imagine a scenario where given the chance to trade their hard labor and persecution for freedom and their own land that they would hesitate or procrastinate in making a decision? Not a chance! But isn’t that what we are guilty of so many times? When God provides an opportunity for freedom, peace, and purpose, how often do we put off obedience to weigh our options? I remember sharing the gospel with a classmate when I was in college. I talked about the forgiveness and new life that God offers us through his son. I remember his answer. “It sounds great, but I’m at a time in life where I just want to have fun.” He would think about the offer later when he was a little older. 
In this instance, we should follow the example of the Israelites and respond quickly to the offer on the table. God blessed their immediate response with freedom and the added blessing of unexpected treasures! Who knows what our story will be if we respond the same?  

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Is there a door that God has opened to you that you are putting off walking through? 
  • Have you taken Him up on the most beautiful gift of freedom – salvation through His Son?
  • What other areas has God called us to respond to? Baptism? Giving? Involvement in ministry? Do you believe that these areas include freedom and blessing?  
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

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“I Will Never Forget That Day” – Exodus 12:26-27

Exodus 12:26-27

“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’”

How many plagues would you need to believe God? How many would you need to do what He commands? For Pharaoh, it was ten. God made sure that the Egyptians would be so exhausted with the plagues that they would pay the Israel slaves to leave. Especially the tenth one.

This plague killed every firstborn son and cattle in Egypt, except for those who observed the “Passover”. The Bible does not say, but this looks like retribution for the killing of Hebrew boys 80 years earlier. Nonetheless, God got Israel out of Egyptian captivity after this day. Think of this! God told the Israelites to eat the Passover, cover the doorposts in blood, get dressed and ready to move out by morning.

With this tenth plague, as with everything He did, God gave a gospel message that would never be forgotten. God declared that all firstborn sons would die, unless blood was spread across the doorpost of each house. This day was to be observed each year as a memorial of God’s salvation. It was a direct symbol of the salvation that Christ would bring centuries later.

The point today is that God has offered each one of us redemption through the death of His son Jesus Christ. Do not forget the significance of the day you surrendered your life to Christ and He forgave you of your sins. He removed your sin debt and took away the sentence of hell.

There are significant days that I will never forget, but the most important day I cannot forget is the day Jesus saved me. Every time I think about that day, it reminds me that my hope is in Christ and I belong to Him. My future is secure and I am not a slave to my past or the world. When I think about that day, I forget my complaints and grateful beyond words to be saved.

“I never shall forget the day
When all the burdens from my soul were rolled away
It made me happy, glad, and free
I’ll sing and shout it, for He’s everything to me” Iris Dement

What does that day mean to you?

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Have you surrendered your life to Christ and received His forgiveness? If you have not and want to know more, please email me at pastor@mybelmont.org
  • Follower of Christ, do you remember the day Jesus redeemed you? 
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

 

“I Will Never Forget That Day” – Exodus 12:26-27 Read More »

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

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

“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 »