Daily Thoughts From God's Word

In the wilderness, “the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness [and] said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger’” (16:2-3).   So, what did the Lord do?  He gave the people bread and meat so that, as Moses explained, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD w

The Lord told Moses to have the people encamp between the village of Pi-hahiroth and the sea.  Furthermore, God, recognizing Pharaoh to be the imbecile he was (I mean, he was stupid enough to ignore Moses’ pleas and warnings.), instructed Moses, “Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in’” (14:3).  This was a moment in which both Moses and the people must trust the Lord.  The site of the encampment surely would

Chapters 12 and 13 tell the story of the first Passover, the consecration of the firstborn, and the feast of unleavened bread.  The first, of course, emphasized to Israel the necessity of blood atonement and pointed to Messiah; the second declared the firstborn of the people (a reminder that, when the firstborn of Egypt died in the tenth plague, the Israelites were spared) of Israel but, also, of their animals (as sacrifices) to be the Lord’s.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread r

The plagues continue, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh, the eighth, and the ninth.  Then, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt’” (11:1).  And, as he brought all initial nine plagues, God will make good on “one plague more.” Pharaoh should have listened to Moses!  I’m thinking about all this and realizing that God means what he says.  If he says he will do something, he will do it.  If he threatens, look out!  If he promises

Making bricks without straw (a much bigger deal than we will ever experience).  Heavier workloads (as if the Israelites were not already maxed out).  The foremen/leaders of Israel beaten unmercifully.  And don’t forget the killing of their babies!  It was bad, and the people cried against Moses, “You have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants” (5:21).  To top it all off, even Moses accused God:  “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people?  Why did you eve

What a story Moses tells us!  Movies have been made of this story, the oppression of Israel in Egypt, the birth of Moses, the Egyptian’s death and the flight of Moses, the burning bush, Moses’ excuses, God’s assurances and miracles, and Moses’ return to Egypt.  Moses spoke to the people in Egypt, and “the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped” (4:31).  Lik

“These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher” (1:1-4).  The story of Exodus is powerful.  It tells of God’s faithfulness.  It introduces us to Moses.  It tells of Israel’s unfaithfulness, complaining, and even idolatry.  It tells us about the first Passover meal and continues to point us to Messiah.  All this, but the opening

It seems, when people approach the end of the book of Genesis, the verses that so powerfully stands out are:  “Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (50:19-20).  Joseph’s brothers had treated him terribly, even committing atrocious crimes against him.  They had lied to their father, Jacob.  Joseph had been wr

Just an amazing story!  Jacob eventually brings his entire family down to Egypt and is told, “The land of Egypt is before you.  Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen” (47:6), which contained rich pasture lands for their flocks.  And there, we know, they flourished.  This was “the best of the land, in the land of Rameses” (47:11).  As for the people of Egypt, when famine came, they sold their lands to Joseph and all

“Now the famine was severe in the land.  And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, ‘Go again, buy us a little food’” (43:1-2).  And so, the brothers were off again, this time, with their youngest brother, Benjamin, in tow.  In Egypt, the brothers “were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house” (43:18) because of the events of the first excursion when the money with which they had paid for grain was found back in t

Not due to any wrong doing on his part, Joseph found himself in jail and in a pickle.  A good reminder that, sometimes, bad things happen to good people.  This is one of those stories that encourage us by reminding that justice is ultimately in God’s hands.  In the prison with Joseph were “the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker [who had] committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt” (40:1).  Not a good thing to get on the bad side of the king!   These t

Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and, as they saw him approaching the city of Dothan, they “saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him” (37:18).  However, when Reuben heard about this plot, “he rescued him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life’” (37:21), and they threw Joseph into a pit, eventually selling him as a slave to a caravan of Ishmaelites who, in turn, sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Another sordid

An unusual, perhaps, thought from this morning’s reading.  When I began these daily words, I explained that they would not be comprised of careful, verse-by-verse expositions or necessarily weighty thoughts, just the thoughts that come to me while reading.  Today’s thoughts certainly fall into this category as I read:  “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age” (37:3).  It’s sort of a given, it seems, that parents often ha

The story of the defiling and humiliation of Dinah, the killing of Shechem and Hamor, and the plundering of their city is one of the most sordid in all the Bible, though, there are others.  Here’s the thing, unlike many, the Bible does not try to sugarcoat the human condition.  It does not flinch from telling the truth about sin and its consequences.  Reading some of these terrible stories leads one to conclude that the Bible simply “tells it like it is.”  And if it tells the

More shenanigans going on with Jacob, his wife Rebekah, and concubines.  Rachel was barren and so, Jacob had a son, Dan, by Rachel’s servant, Bilhah, and a second son, Naphtali.  And then, there’s Leah and Zilpah.  Jealousies, competitions, broken relationships.  Oh my, how could any of this ultimately work out for good?!  After all this family intrigue and the birth of children, Jacob was ready to return home, and he said to Laban, Rebekah’s father, “Send me away, that I may