The Chapter-A-Day thread. (3)

[brinny]

Genesis 47:

"And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh." ~Genesis 47:7-10

 

[brinny]

Genesis 48:

"And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh." ~Genesis 48:17-20

 

[brinny]

Genesis 49:

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." ~Genesis 49:22-26

 

[brinny]

Genesis 50 (the last chapter in the book of Genesis)

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; butGod meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." ~Genesis 50:20

 

[brinny]

We begin now in the 2nd book of the Bible, Exodus.

Exodus 1:

A new king arises in Egypt

This king does not know anything about Joseph. And is not enamored with Joseph's people. As a matter of fact, he begins to think of them as sorta' "vermin" and finds ways to oppress and persecute them, and chaining them into slavery.

Their troubles are just beginning.

"Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour." ~Exodus 1:9-14

 

[brinny]

Exodus 2:

Moses is born.

It was a bad time for Israelite babies, however, and Moses' mother was compelled to hide him in the rushes in the river, and his older sister stood by, watching out for him. The daughter of Pharaoh sends her maidservant to fetch the ark and she saw the baby and he cried and she had compassion on him.

She adopts him as her son later, and named him "Moses".

 

[brinny]

Exodus 3:

Moses meets God.

Now Moses is minding his own business, tending his father in law's sheep, and he ventures onto Horeb, the Mountain of God. And he sees a startling sight. A bush is burning, and God calls to Moses by name from it. God then tells Moses that He intends to send him on a mission, and to a place that Moses had most likely vowed to never ever return to. Moses is not sure what he is most scared of, the place he left, or this God speaking to him from a burning bush that is not consumed by the flames.

"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy 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 upon God." ~Exodus chap 3, vs's 1-6

 

[brinny]

Exodus 4

God prepares Moses for his mission.

Now Moses wasn't about to go nowhere near Egypt, nor did he want to be a "spokesman" for this God he could not see. He wasn't prepared, and he knew it. So did God. And thus God commences to prepare Moses for this monumental mission that God handpicked Moses for. And a crucial part of being prepared for this mission was "trusting" unflinchingly in this God Who WAS ABLE, even if, on his own, Moses wasn't.

"And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:" ~Exodus 4:1-4

 

[brinny]

Exodus 5:

Pharaoh comes down harder on the Israelites.

Moses goes before Pharaoh and it seems that it caused even more oppression and persecution of the Israelites to a degree never experienced before. Moses most likely was horrified, and thought that he caused this added suffering to the Israelites when he came before Pharaoh.

"Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. ~Exodus 5:15-23

 

[brinny]

Exodus 6:

God tells Moses to speak to Pharaoh.

God speaks to Moses and tells Moses to speak to the children of Israel. He does, and they are under so much bondage and suffering that they do not listen. Then God speaks to Moses again and tells him to go and speak to Pharaoh to tell him to let God's people go. Moses is incredulous. He asks God how Pharaoh will listen to him if even the Israelites would not.

"And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?" ~Exodus 6:9-12

 

[brinny]

Exodus 7:

Pharaoh's Heart Is Hardened.

"And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." ~Exodus 7:3-5

 

[brinny]

Exodus 8:

So now, Pharaoh, STILL stubborn, and not heeding God's warning, has got frogs ev'ry where. i mean EV-ER-Y-WHERE!

Can you imagine that?

When WILL he learn?

 

[brinny]

Exodus 9:

So Pharaoh STILL is stiff-necked (hasn't he learned anything YET ?)

"And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast." ~Exodus 9:8-10

 

[brinny]

Exodus 10:

Soooooo Pharaoh's heart is still hardened (this is an entire study in itself) and God sends yet one more plague to Egypt.

WHEN will Pharaoh LEARN?

"And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh." ~Exodus 10:3-6

 

[Steve L]

What's today? Exodus 11 I gather?

 

[brinny]

What's today? Exodus 11 I gather?

Thanks. Yes it is.

 

[brinny]

Exodus 11:

So Pharaoh's heart remains unchanged and hardened against the living God, and thus God unleashes onto Egypt the most dire curse of all. Every oldest son in every household, including Pharaoh's household will be struck down and die by the angel of death that God will send.

 

[brinny]

Exodus 12:

God tells Moses to re-make their calendar. The new year now starts with the month of their redemption from Egypt. They will now start celebrating Passover, a day to remember and celebrate forever, in remembrance of God redeeming them from Egypt.

A cause for much celebration and joy, amen?

 

[brinny]

Exodus 13:

The firstborn belongs to God.

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel,both of man and of beast: it is mine." ~Exodus 13:1-2

 

[brinny]

Exodus 14:

Just as in the days of Moses, when God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked across the floor of the parted sea on DRY land, so does our God, Who is ABLE, part Red Seas for "us" in any of our overwhelming and seemingly impossible crises and improbabilities. He parts our "Red Sea" and we walk across....on DRY land.

All we need do, is to just be still and KNOW that HE IS God.

Amen.

"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." ~Exodus 14:13-22