Plymothian

Moses became God to Pharaoh.  You are God to your family, friends and neighbours.  I forget that when people look to understand who God is, what they get to see id me.  I have access to God.  I am made in the image of God.  there is something noble and powerful about our position.  If only we would realize it and show more that we are image bearers.

Exodus 6: 1 – 7:7

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

 ² God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, ^[a] but by my name the LORD ^[b] I did not make myself known to them. ^{[c] 4} I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. ⁵ Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

 ⁶ “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’ “

 ⁹ Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

 ¹⁰ Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”

 ¹² But Moses said to the LORD, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips ^[d] ?”

 ¹³ Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

 ¹⁴ These were the heads of their families ^[e] :
       The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

 ¹⁵ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

 ¹⁶ These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

 ¹⁷ The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.

 ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

 ¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
       These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

 ²⁰ Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

 ²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zicri.

 ²² The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

 ²³ Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

 ²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

 ²⁵ Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
       These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

 ²⁶ It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” ²⁷ They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.

 ²⁸ Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, ²⁹ he said to him, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

 ³⁰ But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

 ¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, ⁴ he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

 ⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Questions

1. When will Moses see what God will do to Pharaoh?
2. Which name does God make known to Moses?
3. Which patriarchs are mentioned repeatedly?
4. Why does God repeat so much now that he has already told Moses?
5. How can you be God to others as Moses was to Pharaoh (7:1)?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What did God establish with the patriarchs?
• What will God do with an outstretched arm and great judgment?
• What is the response of Israel to Moses’ message now?
• When will the Egyptians know that God is the LORD?
• How old were Aaron and Moses?

Interpretation

• Why is the agreement that God made with the patriarchs important?
• Why is the genealogy of Aaron important?
• What role does Phinehas play?
• Why does God choose to act only after no-one is left on the side of Moses?
• What would an Israelite think about the age of Aaron and Moses?

Application

• What are the terms of any covenant God has made with us?
• How does he faithfully follow through on that covenant?
• How is Christ God to us in the most real sense?
• How does Christ empower us to be God to others?
• How do you view man in relation to other members of the animal kingdom?

Ever act on God’s will just to have it all go wrong? Maybe you married the godly man of your dreams and then he gave up on God.  Maybe you decided that you would have a Sabbath rest each week, and then your boss raised your work quota.  Maybe you thought that God was telling you to talk to someone and they laughed in your face.  Maybe you thought you should reach out to a person in need and they were more of a burden than you bargained for.  Maybe you heard God tell you directly to tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go and Pharaoh responded by having God’s people make bricks without straw.  Why does God so often call us to do things and then they get worse?

Exodus 5: 1-23

¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’ ”

 ² Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”

 ³ Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

 ⁴ But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

 ⁶ That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: ⁷ “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. ⁸ But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

 ¹⁰ Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’ ” ¹² So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. ¹³ The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴ The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh’s slave drivers were beaten and were asked, “Why didn’t you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

 ¹⁵ Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? ¹⁶ Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

 ¹⁷ Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ ¹⁸ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

 ¹⁹ The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, ²¹ and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

 ²² Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? ²³ Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” ¹ Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’ ”

 ² Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”

 ³ Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

 ⁴ But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

 ⁶ That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: ⁷ “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. ⁸ But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

 ¹⁰ Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’ ” ¹² So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. ¹³ The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴ The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh’s slave drivers were beaten and were asked, “Why didn’t you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

 ¹⁵ Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? ¹⁶ Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

 ¹⁷ Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ ¹⁸ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

 ¹⁹ The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, ²¹ and they said, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

 ²² Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? ²³ Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Questions

1. Who does Moses confront in this passage?
2. How does the person Moses confronts respond?
3. How does Moses rephrase his request?
4. How do the people feel about Moses and Aaron?
5. Why would God allow someone he has called endure such opposition?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What question does Pharaoh ask in response to Moses request for a festival?
• Moses warns Pharaoh of what two kinds of consequences?
• What does Pharaoh say about the Hebrew work ethic?
• Who went to Pharaoh and complained of the way that they were treated?
• What complaint does Moses finally bring to God?

Interpretation

• How does Pharaoh set himself up as God’s opponent?
• How does God bring plagues and defeat Pharaoh’s army in fulfillment of Moses’ threat?
• Why doesn’t Pharaoh realise that the Hebrews are looking to run away?
• Why would God allow Moses to experience opposition at first?
• How is straw an aid to making bricks?

Application

• When have you seen Christians opposed for doing something right?
• What is the present climate for Christians expressing God’s ideas in public?
• How do Christians bicker among themselves in te face of opposition?
• How could Christians be more united in redeeming the people around them?
• How could Christians present a united front on poverty, the environment, same-sex-marriage, pollution, abortion and education?

It would be appropriate to say that there are times when the meaning of the Bible is difficult to discern.  In the middle of this passage it would seem that Moses has neglected to circumcise his son.  This angers God and Zipporah realises the seriousness of this and cuts off her son’s foreskin and throws it at or touches Moses’ feet with it.  The reference to a ‘bridegroom of blood’ makes no sense to me.  Why this admission?  Sometimes it is hard to say exactly why something is in the Bible.  We do not know how the original audience applied this story to their lives.  Since we have lost the cultural trail and only guess at the meaning, this passage may have served its purpose.  However, we may see that God in his holiness almost kills Moses and a reverent wife saves him.  There may be a lesson in that.

Exodus 4: 18-31

 ¹⁸Moses went back to^(A) Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” ¹⁹And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for^(B) all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” ²⁰So Moses took^(C) his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took^(D) the staff of God in his hand.

 ²¹And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the^(E) miracles that I have put in your power. But^(F) I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²²Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD,^(G) Israel is my^(H) firstborn son, ²³and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I^(I) will kill your firstborn son.'”

 ²⁴At a lodging place on the way^(J) the LORD met him and^(K) sought to put him to death. ²⁵Then^(L) Zipporah took a^(M) flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’^[a] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” ²⁶So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

 ²⁷The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness^(N) to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the^(O) mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸And Moses^(P) told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him to speak, and all^(Q) the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹Then Moses and Aaron^(R) went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ^30(S) Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹And the people^(T) believed; and when they heard that the LORD had^(U) visited the people of Israel and that he had^(V) seen their affliction,^(W) they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Questions

1. Who does Moses return to after meeting with God?
2. What did Moses take with him back to Egypt?
3. Who meets Moses on the way?
4. How has God become active through Moses and Aaron?
5. In what ways can God act through you this week?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What does Moses tell Jethro is his reason for returning to Egypt?
• Who has died?
• What does God do to Pharaoh’s heart?
• What must Moses say about the LORD’s relationship to Israel?
• What is the reaction of the people to the signs that Moses and Aaron perform?

Interpretation

• Why doesn’t Moses tell Jethro what is going on?
• Why would God wait until those trying to kill Moses are dead?
• What does it mean that Israel is God’s ‘first-born’ son?
• How is God’s killing Pharaoh’s firstborn just payment for Egypt’s actions?
• How do God’s sovereignty and mankind’s freedom play out in the life of Pharaoh?

Application

• When God gives you a task, who should you tell and how?
• How is God gracious in waiting until you are ready for a task?
• How have you seen God act in ways that show how he allows people freedom to choose?
• How have you seen God act in ways that show he has overruled?
• What is an appropriate response for seeing God at work?

The theme of the reluctant hero runs through great literature.  Many times in biblical narrative, Greek myth, and modern film making the hero does not want to go on his/her quest.  Perhaps more recently you would have seen this in Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings.  God has called you to a quest.  He has a task that he wants you to complete.  You were created for a purpose.  What is that purpose?  Do you have a clue?

Exodus 3:1 – 4:17

 ¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

 ⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
      And Moses said, “Here I am.”

 ⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

 ⁷ The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

 ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

 ¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you ^[a] will worship God on this mountain.”

 ¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

 ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am . ^[b] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “

 ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, ^[c] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

 ¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

 ¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

 ²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Exodus 4

Signs for Moses

 ¹ Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

 ² Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
      “A staff,” he replied.

 ³ The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
      Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵ “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

 ⁶ Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, ^[d] like snow.

 ⁷ “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

 ⁸ Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. ⁹ But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

 ¹⁰ Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

 ¹¹ The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

 ¹³ But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

 ¹⁴ Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷ But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

Questions

1. What famous phenomenon does Moses observe?
2. What has God heard?
3. What is Moses immediate question?
4. Why does God choose Moses, and why at this time and not earlier?
5. What has your life prepared you to do for God?  Are you doing it?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What did Moses have to take off and why?
• Whose home is the land that God is going to give the Hebrews?
• How many times does Moses question God’s choice of him as God’s man?
• What signs does God give Moses?
• We see the bush burning at the beginning of the encounter, what is burning at the end?

Interpretation

• How has the ground that Moses is standing on been transformed without him moving?
• What does God’s response to the cry of the Hebrew slaves show of his character?
• What does Moses response show of his character?
• Who exactly is delivering Israel?
• Why does God become angry?

Application

• What deficiencies do you us as excuses?
• Are you ever awed by God’s presence?  When or how?
• How do some people draw glory away from God when serving?
• How do some people show clearly that God is acting through them?
• Pray that you might see what special opportunity God gives you in the next 24 hours.

Many times our lives take a detour.  I ‘fled’ England in 1993 to go to Japan.   I ended up in America after spending time in Murree, Pakistan and in Afghanistan.  In America I have found a calling teaching people about God.  I could look on those years traveling the world as ‘exile’ or meaningless.  However, I see in retrospect how God used some wilderness years to shape me.  Have you had years in the wilderness?  Are they over?  What was/is their purpose?

Exodus 2: 11-25

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”

 ¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

 ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

 ¹⁸ When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

 ¹⁹ They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

 ²⁰ “And where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”

 ²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. ²² Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, ^[b] saying, “I have become an alien in a foreign land.”

 ²³ During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

Questions

1. What phrase is repeated in verse 11?
2. Who found out about Moses’ actions and tried to kill him?
3. What does God do when he hears Israel’s groaning?
4. How does a transition occur in this passage from a passive God to an active one?
5. Where have you seen God look on someone and be concerned about them?  Is he that way with you?

Going Deeper

Observation

• Who did Moses see beating whom?
• Why did Moses become afraid?
• What was the occupation of the man from midian who had seven daughters?
• What does Moses name his son?
• What circumstance changes in Egypt by the ned of the passage?

Interpretation

• Why might Moses be discouraged about his interaction with Hebrews?
• Is Moses more culturally Hebrew or Egyptian?
• Has Moses got advantages from being a product of two cultures?
• Is it significant that moses’ father-in-law is a priest?
• What is Moses’ attitude about where he belongs?

Application

• With which people do you most belong?
• How do you contribute to those people?
• How have your contributions come at the wrong time and led to apparent disaster?
• How do political transitions provide opportunities?
• What opportunities do American Christians have under the Obama administration that they did not have under George W. Bush?

Again, God’s direct action seems absent from the writing.  It just so happens that a boy is placed in a papyrus basket in the Nile and is raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Of course, there are no coincidences with God.  Often we work in situations where the name of God is not, even can not, be heard.  It does not mean that God disappears from the scene.  How can you be more conscious of God working in public?

Exodus 2: 1-10

¹ Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

 ⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

 ⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

 ⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, ^[a] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Questions

1. What house are the husband and wife of verse one from?
2. Where is the child hidden?
3. What is the child called?
4. How can you see God at work, even though he is not mentioned?
5. Where do you see God at work, even when his name is not mentioned?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. How long was the child hidden?
2. What was the papyrus basket covered with?
3. Who watched over the basket?
4. What was the reaction of Pharaoh’s daughter upon seeing the baby?
5. Who nursed the baby?

Interpretation

• Why would those reading this think it is significant that Moses is from the house of Levi?
• If the story so far has mirrored the Creation story, how might this story mirror Noah and the ark?
• How does God’s deliverence of Moses foreshadow the deliverence of Israel?
• How does the beauty of literary structure embelish the handwriting of God?
• Would Moses’ adoptive mother hide his identity?

Application

• How does God repeat his acts of saving people in the world today?
• How are you mindful of the godly potential of children?
• Is there a particular child in whom you could invest your time?
• Who reminds you, and who do you remind, that “In all things God works for … good”?
• How do we work with those who have no faith in our God?

The first verse of Exodus in Hebrew is waw.  Apparently waw means and.  The first word is not insignificant because it shows how Exodus should be read as a chapter in the larger story of the Pentateuch.  To understand Exodus 1 we must understand Genesis.  Of course, we can glean meaning by dropping in in the middle of the story.  However, the unfolding account of who God is is progressive.  We need to see already that he is The Creator; that he has mastery over reproduction; and that the people of Israel are in Egypt by God’s design.  Yet God is quite passive in chapters one and two.  Even when we are not conscious of exactly what God is doing, he is working.

Exodus 1: 1-22

 ¹ These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. ⁵ The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy ^[a] in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

 ⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷ but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

 ⁸ Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. ⁹ “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

 ¹¹ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³ and worked them ruthlessly. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.

 ¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” ¹⁷ The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

 ¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

 ²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

 ²² Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born ^[b] you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Questions

1. Which characters are named at the beginning of the book?
2. What was the new king’s knowledge of Joseph?
3. What word is repeated in vv. 7, 9, 20?
4. What is God’s plan for the people of Israel?
5. What does God plan for Christians today?  What can thwart his grand plan?

Going Deeper

Observation

• How exactly does the Bible describe how numerous the people of Israel became soon after Joseph?
• What does Pharaoh deduce this numerous people will do?
• What is the Egyptian view of the Israelites (v. 12)?
• What word is repeated in 13 and 14 to describe how the Egyptians worked the Israelites?
• How did the midwives explain how the boys were living in spite of Pharaoh’s orders?

Interpretation

• Which Pharaoh was this in history?  Does it matter?
• How is God inactive in the text?
• Does God condone the lies of the midwives?
• How is God’s blessing to Abraham still shown?
• Why would people exiting Egypt and entering Canaan need to know this story?

Application

• How do Americans treat illegal Mexican immigrants?
• How has being enslaved shaped black America?
• Do white Americans treat Spanish speakers and blacks as lesser beings?
• If God is God of history, what has been achieved/learned by allowing blacks to endure slavery and hispanics to work below minimum wage?
• How has God been passive while observing your life unfold?  What might be his purpose?

I think of Bob Marley when I write the word ‘Exodus’.  I also remember traveling through Greece and seeing signs with ‘Exodos’ on the highway. We talk of a mass ‘exodus’ at speeches or movie theatres where the content offended the listeners, or from a college that has ceased to attract students.  We hear and see the word exodus a lot.  But for many of us it brings us back to Egypt, to the Prince of Egypt, who was led by God to lead a people out of slavery and into a land of promise.  Exodus, the biblical, book seems overly familiar to some of us.  We think that there is nothing more to learn from the life of Moses.  However, as I have just finished reading through the book of Genesis, I found a lot of fresh insights into the lives of Joseph, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.  More importantly, I obtained a better picture of who God is.

I hope that you will join me here as I reflect on Exodus.  My reflections on Genesis are on Xanga at http://theplymothian.xanga.com However, my friend Allison said that I really should try WordPress.

The way I structure my reflections is 1) A brief reflection of one paragraph on the reading 2) The passage itself that I am reflecting on 3)  A series of five questions relating to the passage.  After that there are usually 15 questions for those who want to go deeper.  These questions are seperated into observation, interpretation, and application sections.  The observation questions can be answered by looking back through the passage for exact answers.  They require basic literacy.  The interpretation questions are questions that I may not even know the answer to.  They are deeper questions that require cultural and sometimes grammatical literacy.  The application questions cause us to reflect on how we might live in light of these verses.  The goal should not be to complete all the questions that I post.  The goal should be to use the questions to stimulate thought about the passage.

My personal daily discipline of reading is to read from the NIV Application Commentary series.  These are published by Zondervan and can be purchased on-line or at bookstores like Lifeway.  If you read a copy of the commentary you will be more likely to be able to answer the interpretation questions.