The Fourth Plague: Flies

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Exodus 8:20-32

20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.”’” 24 And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us.” 28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31 And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

 
 

With the fourth plague, the Lord demonstrates His power by distinguishing between the Israelites in the land of Goshen and the rest of the Egyptians. Remember, the Lord wants to teach Pharaoh about Himself, and here that’s what’s happening:

But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. [8:22]

Pharaoh tries to save face by telling Moses that the Israelites can sacrifice to the Lord, but only within Egypt. Moses won’t accept this compromise, and then Pharaoh says that he’ll let the Israelites go to worship the Lord in the wilderness. But, as soon as Moses leaves and the Lord removes the flies at Moses’s request, Pharaoh changes his mind.

Lord, save us from such foolish refusals to repent and change direction!

P.S. Note that the Israelites sacrifice animals that the Egyptians revere as sacred (v. 26). One of the purposes of the exodus is to teach about the Lord, and one of the main lessons is that the Lord is the Creator; everything else is creation and therefore should not be worshipped.

 

The Third Plague: Gnats

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Exodus 8:16-19

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” 17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

 
 

In the first two plagues, the Egyptian sorcerers can imitate the wonders that Moses and Aaron are doing. But here with the third plague and the gnats, Pharaoh’s men are unable to produce them. In fact, Pharaoh’s sorcerers identify what Aaron does as coming from the Lord:

“This is the finger of God” [8:19]

Remember, one of the objectives of the exodus is for the Egyptians and the other nations to learn about the Lord. Here, that objective is beginning to be realized.

And yet Pharaoh still refuses to yield.

 

The Second Plague: Frogs

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Exodus 7:25-8:15

25 Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. 3 The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” 12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

 
 

We have already seen that the Egyptian sorcerers are not without power and are capable of doing some of the wonders that the Lord does through Moses and Aaron. Here, they can imitate Aaron and make frogs. (How ridiculous is it, however, that they—in their sorcery—simply add to the infestation?!)

What’s interesting is that they seem unable to reverse their actions, as Pharaoh needs Moses and Aaron to take away the frogs.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” [8:8]

What is happening here is that Egypt is being uncreated, plague by plague. In Genesis, the Lord brings order to Creation through separation:

  • Light from dark;

  • Sky from sky;

  • Water from land;

  • Etc.

Disorder is chaos. Each of the plagues is a form of chaos and ultimately only the Lord can bring order out of chaos. So, the Egyptians are able, through dark spiritual power, to bring about chaos, but what they cannot do is reverse the chaos they have unleashed.

 

The First Plague: Blood

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Exodus 7:14-24

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

 
 

One of the terrifying themes of Exodus is how there is a connection between sin and its consequences upon the sinner. Pharaoh had ordered the murder of the Hebrew boys in the river Nile, and now the first plague is that the Nile turns into blood.

Lord, save us from the consequences of our sin!

P.S. Note that Moses and Aaron are learning to be completely obedient to the Lord: “Moses and Aaron did what the Lord commanded” [7:20].

 

The Gods Of Egypt

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Exodus 7:8-13

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

 
 

The Bible tells of an unseen realm; today, we would call it the spiritual world. In this spiritual world there are evil influences and powers—one of the terms the New Testament writers use for these kinds of powers is “demons.”

There are demonic powers at work in Egypt, which is how the Egyptian sorcerers can turn their staffs into serpents. However, the Bible is very clear that there is one Lord, and these evil powers are not equal to God— they are just fallen angels. So, there is really no contest between the Lord and the gods of Egypt. In fact, Aaron’s staff swallows up the Egyptian staffs.

Unfortunately, Pharaoh refuses to heed the lesson. Over and over again, Pharaoh refuses to turn back from his path of destruction. He is completely committed to evil, and ultimately, he, like the serpents here, will be swallowed up in the judgment of God.

 

The Plagues Are For The Egyptians?

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Exodus 6:28-7:7

28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

 
 

From the call of Abraham (Genesis 12) onward, the Lord has made His plan clear: one is chosen for the purpose of blessing the many.

Here, the Lord explains His plan to Moses yet again, and reminds Moses that there is more at stake than just the Israelites’ freedom: the Lord is also seeking to instruct the Egyptians.

The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them. [7:5]

What this teaches me is that there is always more at stake than I can see.

You have no idea what hangs in the balance today. Be faithful; the Lord will use your faithfulness to bless and instruct others.

How cool is that?!

 

Your Life Is Not An Accident

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Exodus 6:14-27

14 These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.

26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

 
 

Why does the author interrupt the action with a genealogy right at this point?

Remember, one of the themes of Exodus is about the formation of Moses into a leader. What we read here in the genealogy of Moses and his brother Aaron is proof that the Lord had been working for generations to prepare for Moses and Aaron.

Your life is not an accident. God has placed you in a particular place in a particular time so that you can take part and do your part in the great story of salvation.

Your life matters. Your faithfulness is important. You are an essential link in the chain.

So, how do we know what we are supposed to be doing? How do we fulfil our responsibilities?

Don’t over think it—take the next faithful step today and trust the Lord with the rest.

 

The Lord Explains The Plan

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Exodus 6:1-13

6 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

 
 

The Lord has promised to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery and to bring them to the Promised Land.

Pharaoh opposes the plan;
The people despair of the plan;
Moses questions the plan.

But note—none of that will matter. Neither Pharaoh’s opposition, nor the people’s despair, nor Moses's questions will stop the Lord from fulfilling His promise.

It’s the same with us! It doesn’t matter how things seem, in the end, the Lord wins. We should control our feelings as not to lose spiritual perspective.

Keep going.

 
 
 

P.S. What can the Super Bowl Commercials Teach Us About Being a Man?

That’s the topic of my talk at our men’s breakfast at Asbury this Friday (2/23)!

This is gonna be fun.  Breakfast at 6:30 AM, my talk starts at 7:00 AM, and I promise to have everyone out the door by 8:00 AM.  Friends who don’t go to our church are of course welcome.  Love to have dads and granddads bring their sons and grandsons, too.  It’s free, but it would help us prepare if guys would register here.

Would you help spread the word to the guys you know?

 

Bricks Without Straw

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Exodus 5:6-21

6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” 15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

 
 

The grand theme of Exodus is the formation of the children of Israel into a nation. This is why—as we will see—that the book continues for twenty- five chapters after the miracle at the Red Sea. Israel is free from Egypt, yes, but the people are not yet a nation. It will turn out that you can get the people out of Egypt, but you still have to get the Egypt out of the people. One of the themes to follow is how the experience of the exodus and the wilderness wanderings shapes the people into who the Lord needs them to be.

I don’t want to be too hard on the Israelites here, since they are in a poor position that has just been made worse by Pharaoh’s malevolence, but it is worth pointing out how quickly they despair of God’s deliverance as soon as they face opposition.

To be honest, I’m often the same way—the slightest difficultly, and I lose heart.

So, let’s remind ourselves today of the words of Jesus:

“In this world, you will have trouble;
But, have no fear: I have overcome the world.”

Keep going.

P.S. Note that in v.23 Moses refers to the Israelites as “your people,” not as “our people” or “my people.” Remember that one of the purposes of the exodus is to shape Moses into the leader the Lord needs him to be, and he’s not yet there.

 

The Battle Begins - Exodus Part 2

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exodus part 2 begins today!

Our reading plan in Exodus resumes today, with Exodus Part 2: The Plagues, the Passover, and the Parting of the Sea (chapters 5-15). Part 2 will run for six weeks, concluding on Good Friday, March 29.

The opening letter below appears in the print version of this reading guide.  We include it here. (Today’s scripture reading can be found after the MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19 header below.)

THE BOOK OF EXODUS IS ABOUT THE FORMATION OF A PEOPLE INTO A NATION.

The account begins with the people (descendants of Abraham, called the children of Israel) enslaved in Egypt. In Part 1 (chapters 1-4), we read of how God was faithful to His promises to Abraham and declared His intention to deliver His people from slavery and then lead them into the Promised Land. Part 1 then recounts how the Lord prepared Moses—a man with a unique background as a Hebrew raised as an Egyptian in Pharaoh’s own household—to be the man God would use to lead the exodus of the God's people from Egypt.

In Part 2, we will read of the showdown between the Lord and Pharaoh: the Ten Plagues and then the famous moment of the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army.

WHY DOES IT TAKE TEN PLAGUES?

It’s clear that this isn’t a fair fight—the gods of Egypt (better to say “demons”) are no match for the Lord of all Creation. So:
- Why does it take Ten Plagues?
- Why doesn’t the Lord just deliver the Israelites immediately?
- Why the protracted contest?

THE REASON WHY IT TAKES TEN PLAGUES

Exodus is about the formation of Israel as a people, and the formation of Moses as a leader.

What we will learn as we read along is that the Lord is using the Ten Plagues to accomplish three things:

Objective #1

Reveal His identity as the God of Creation to Israel, Pharaoh, Egypt, and the nations.

Objective #2

Get the people out of Egypt. This is accomplished by chapter 15 and the account of the Red Sea’s parting. (The harder task is to get the Egypt out of the people, a task which will take the rest of the book.)

Objective #3

Make Moses into the leader of Israel.

As we read along, pay attention to how each thing that happens helps realize those three objectives.

HOW THIS READING PLAN WORKS

Remember, consistency is more important than intensity!
That is, don’t try and read the whole Bible in one sitting—rather, pace yourself and make a commitment to be consistent. To that end, the readings are parceled-out on weekdays only—if you get behind, catch up each weekend. Each day I’ve written brief commentary to help you get something out of your reading; the commentary is NOT the point, the Bible is the point. If the commentary helps you, great! If it doesn’t, no worries—just skip it.

THE PROCESS IS THE POINT
I asked above the obvious question: Since the battle between the Lord and

Pharaoh isn’t a fair fight, why does it take Ten Plagues for the exodus to happen?

Spoiler: the Lord is using the process to teach the people. In other words: The process is the point.

That’s true for our own lives as well. My prayer is that the process of reading through this second section of Exodus as we make our way to Easter will be part of God’s preparation of each of us, too.

Let’s GO.

 
 

Monday, February 19

Exodus 5:1-5

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!”

 
 

The battle begins.

Exodus chapters 1-4 (what we are calling Exodus Part 1) is about the background and preparation of Moses to be the man the Lord will use to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. The preparations being complete, the battle can begin.

And immediately as it begins, it begins to go badly! Pharaoh—quite reasonably, if you think about it—demands to know who this “LORD” is who is ordering him to let the Hebrews go: “Who is the Lord?” [5:2]. Remember that one of the Lord’s objectives with the exodus is to teach the nations about who He is; in effect, the Lord will use the exodus to provide an answer to Pharaoh’s question.

It’s interesting to think that the same opportunity is available to us today— difficulty and challenge can be an opportunity we can use to tell people about the Lord.

How can you use the moments in front of you today to make the Lord’s name and character more better-known?

P.S. Note that the goal of the exodus is worship (v.1). In fact, that’s the purpose of freedom everywhere—that people might be free to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

 

Great Short Description of Integrity - Psalm 15

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NOTE: We have taken a week’s break from reading through Exodus; our Exodus readings will resume TOMORROW with the account of the battle between the Lord and Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues. Can’t wait.

I have previously mentioned that I read one psalm a day, every day. I’ll continue doing that. Who’s with me? —Andrew

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
    Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
    and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
    but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
    and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.

 
 

After King David recovers the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines, he eventually moves it to Jerusalem and sets it on Mount Zion, building a tent—the Tabernacle—over it. (You can read about it in 2 Samuel 6.). Later, his son King Solomon builds the Temple in the same spot.

Psalm 15 is about what it means to enter into the Tabernacle/Temple; it’s a description of integrity.

My favorite part?

A person of integrity is so honest that he is the type of person who

“swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

I also like the closing line:

“The person who does these things shall never be moved.”

 

The Practical Atheist - Psalm 14

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Psalm 14

To the choirmaster. Of David.

 1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The practical atheist is not so much a person who flat-out rejects the idea of God, but rather a person who lives as if God doesn’t exist. It is that sort of person the psalmist calls a “fool” in Psalm 14.

 
 

For the director of music. Of David.

1 The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.

Because the fools don’t believe God will hold them to account, they behave in wicked ways.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?

The Lord is searching for faithful people in the midst of a faithless generation—don’t these foolish people know that nothing is hidden from the Lord?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.

People are being eaten up by the wicked, but God has not abandoned the poor and vulnerable—He is with them.

7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Zion is the little mountain on which the Temple was built in Jerusalem, and the Israelites liked to think of it as the Lord’s particular place. Jacob was the Old Testament patriarch who was renamed Israel; thereafter, the entire nation of the Israelites was often called “Jacob” or “Israel”. Nearly all the psalms end, like this one, on a note of hope.

Be hopeful today! The Lord sees.

 

How Long, Lord? - Psalm 13

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Our new Exodus books are in, and our Exodus reading resumes on MONDAY! Part 2 of our Exodus plan will run six weeks: from February 19 to Good Friday, March 29. It will cover chapters 5-15: the Plagues, the Passover, and the Parting of the sea. Here’s how to get your copy:

  • Pick up a book this Sunday at Asbury;

  • Email Sandie Tomlinson, and she’ll mail you a copy;

  • If you live in Dallas, email Sandie and she’ll tell you how you can pick yours up for yourself there in town.

 
 
 

Psalm 13

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

 
 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

The psalmist feels utterly alone—no one to counsel him, no one to encourage him. Worst of all, his enemies are thriving while he is suffering.

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

If the Lord doesn’t quickly respond, the psalmist won’t be able to persevere much longer and his enemies will gloat over his destruction.

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Though there are more psalms of lament than psalms of joy—a fact which teaches us something important about the nature of life on this blue planet—almost all the psalms end on a note of confidence and joy. The psalmist knows that the Lord is faithful forever, and that those who put their trust in him will not be disappointed.

How can you rejoice today, right in the midst of your difficulties?

 
 

 

Where Have All the Decent People Gone? - Psalm 12

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Psalm 12

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

 1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

 
 

“Where have all the decent people gone?” That’s the question David is asking as Psalm 12 opens, and the rest of the psalm is his way of dealing with the problem.

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Remember, though many of the psalms were clearly used in Israelite worship, there are many musical terms we do not understand, and “The Sheminith” is one such example.

1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

Where are all the decent people? That’s what the psalmist is asking here. This psalm is 3,000 years old, and as current as this morning’s headlines. Some things never change.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

Part of the problem is just a general dishonesty between people, says the psalmist.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

People are also arrogant and believe that they will never be held accountable for their lies. The psalmist wants the Lord to cut off their lips! See, the psalms give us language for every emotion! Remember—we pray through our emotions when we read the psalms.

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

But, the psalmist knows that the sufferings of the vulnerable are not being ignored by the Lord. God will act on their behalf!

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

The psalmist has confidence because of what the Lord has said, and compares the Lord’s words to purified silver—both beautiful and 100% genuine. I love this verse, and underlined it in my Psalms book this morning.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

Despite the wickedness that prowls around the decent people, the Lord will keep them safe.

 

I'm Not a Bird - Psalm 11

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Psalm 11

1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
 “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
   they have fitted their arrow to the string
   to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
   what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
   the Lord's throne is in heaven;
   his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
   but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
   fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
   the upright shall behold his face.

 
 

The psalmist is indignant: “I trust in God—stop telling me to fly away like a bird!”

1 In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

The psalmist reminds himself that the Lord is still King and still on duty, and that the wicked will be punished. (He clearly alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.)

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

I like the ending of Psalm 11—the Lord is good, and those who trust him will be rewarded.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face.

 

There Is No God - Psalm 10

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Psalm 10

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

 
 

Have you ever felt as if God were asleep or indifferent or unable or unwilling to come to your aid? That’s what Psalm 10 is about—the psalmist wants to rouse God awake to come and fight for the righteous and the poor against the wicked. Psalm 10 imagines the wicked man saying, “there is no God”—not because he is an atheist, but because he believes he can get away with whatever he wants. To this the psalmist says, “Wake up, Lord!”

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

“Lord, please WAKE UP and DO SOMETHING!” One of the lessons of the psalms is that it is good for us to cry out to God and lodge a protest or a complaint.

2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

This is a common theme in the Psalms—that the wicked end up harming themselves. Haven’t we all wanted that to happen? It would seem to be the ultimate form of justice.


3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

It’s not that the wicked man is an atheist; rather, it is that he believes he is untouchable—that God is weak or indifferent and that therefore the wicked man can get away with all his scheming.

5 His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

Doesn’t it often seem as if the wicked prosper while the righteous languish? The psalmist certainly feels that way. No wonder the wicked man is so arrogant—it really does seem as if he will get any with his evil actions.

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9  he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.

This description of how bad men take advantage of the poor and vulnerable is 3,000 years old, but it could have come out of yesterday’s newspaper. The psalmist is working himself—and us—into a state of desperate outrage.

11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

Once more, the wicked man feels totally untouchable, and he congratulates himself at his boldness and evil.

12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.

After cataloguing all the evils that the wicked inflict on the innocent, the psalmist can’t stand it any more:

“WAKE UP, LORD, AND DO SOMETHING!”

How many times have you and I wanted to scream the same thing at the Lord?

The lesson of the psalms—it’s okay to do so.

Remember, the psalms teach us to pray through our emotions.

13 Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.

And here the tenor of the psalm changes. The psalmist again imagines the wicked man in his arrogance and pride, chuckling to himself and believing that he will escape accountability.

And then come my favorite 4 words in this psalm:

“But you do see.”

It might seem that the Lord is blind and deaf, but that’s not reality—the Lord in fact sees and notes the actions of the wicked and the sufferings of the innocent, and he will not be mocked! Justice will roll down! God have mercy on the arrogant and the wicked when that day comes.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.

Ultimately, the wicked will be brought to justice. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.

The nations that inhabit the land are like renters—the Lord is the owner, and those that oppose him will one day be overthrown.

17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Amen.

 

How to Face Each Day Whole-Hearted and Unafraid - Psalm 9

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NOTE: We are taking a week’s break from reading through Exodus; our Exodus readings will resume on Monday, February 19 with the account of the battle between the Lord and Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues.

I have previously mentioned that I read one psalm a day, every day. So, over the next week, I’d love to have you jump in and join me in my psalms reading plan. —Andrew

 

Psalm 9

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
    you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
    he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
    he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
    I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
    in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
    all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
    and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
    Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

 
 

Want to face each day whole-hearted and unafraid?

The Ninth Psalm gives us a fundamental lesson: begin your day and your prayers with full-throated thanksgiving.

Much of the psalm is a request from the psalmist that the Lord defeat the wicked and remember the oppressed, but the opening two verses are all about praise:

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

There is a place (as we will see in other psalms) for protest before God, but it is instructive that Psalm 9 begins with praise.

Let’s do it today.

 

Look Up at the Night Sky - Psalm 8

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NOTE: We are taking a week’s break from reading through Exodus; our Exodus readings will resume on Monday, February 19 with the account of the battle between the Lord and Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues.

I have previously mentioned that I read one psalm a day, every day. So, over the next week, I’d love to have you jump in and join me in my psalms reading plan. —Andrew

 

Psalm 8

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 
 

Every been somewhere really dark and looked up at the glory of God’s handiwork? It’s as if the Lord screwed each star into place. Psalm 8 comes from that kind of experience—the psalmist has looked up at the heavens and is reflecting on the universe that God has made and man’s place within it.

 

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

“The Gittith” is an unknown musical term that is lost to us.

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

In Genesis 1, we read that God created humankind to rule over the earth in his place—to be stewards and caretakers of all that God has made. The psalmist marvels that God has entrusted his precious creation to human hands.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 
 
 

Everything Is Prepared

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Exodus 4:27-31

27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 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.

 

Moses was afraid that the people would neither receive him nor listen to him, but when he and Aaron arrive back in Egypt, everything goes just as the Lord promised!

Everything is prepared. Now is the time when God will save his people.

Exodus Part 1 concludes here, and Part 2 picks up on Monday [actually, we will take a week’s break and begin Part 2 on February 19]. In the meantime, remind yourself, God always does what he says.

Be not afraid.

 

Two Of The Hardest And Strangest Things In The Entire Book

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Exodus 4:21-26

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

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

 
 

Today’s reading contains two of the hardest and strangest episodes in all of Exodus.

1. Why does the Lord say he will harden Pharaoh’s heart? Doesn’t that just make the entire process more difficult? How is that fair to Pharaoh any way?
2. Why does the Lord try to put Moses to death?

Why does the Lord plan on hardening (The Hebrew word translated “hardening” means "to make strong,” i.e. to strengthen Pharaoh's resolve.) Pharaoh’s heart? Doesn’t that seem to undermine the purpose of Moses’s mission? Leon Kass is helpful:

These questions, if they occurred to him, do not detain Moses from beginning his journey. But we will tarry over them a little, for they can illuminate the meaning of subsequent events in Egypt. Our perplexity diminishes once we recognize that getting the Israelites out of Egypt is not the only goal or even the most important one. How they are delivered, and by whom, matters almost as much: If Pharaoh freely and easily let them go, would not he, rather than the Lord, be seen as their deliverer? There are also considerations of justice: shouldn’t the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt involve retribution for their lengthy oppression? Finally, there is a decisive issue of knowledge: shouldn’t the Israelites—and the Egyptians, and also we readers—learn from their deliverance about the powers that be? Shouldn’t they (and we) learn who or what is highest and mightiest, and who or what governs the world and the people in it? For hundreds of years, the Israelites have lived and suffered in a society ruled by a single human master—an autocrat who is both feared and revered and who thinks and acts as one of the gods— atop the world’s most advanced civilization. To correct their way of thinking, they need to witness a protracted contest between the Lord and Pharaoh through which he and all of Egypt are compelled to acknowledge the superiority of the Lord. Only in this way can the enslaved Israelites learn that Y-H-V-H, their God, is indeed God Almighty.

But if the contest is to be conclusively revealing, there must be no easy victory over Pharaoh. He must be at the top of his game and must not fold his cards too early out of fear or weakness. Pharaoh must remain Pharaonic at the highest level, both to reveal the full meaning of Egypt and his despotic rule and to provide knowledge of the Lord needed for founding the nation of Israel. Thus, Pharaoh must not become dis-heart-ened. If he cannot strengthen or harden his heart by himself, the Lord must help him stay true to himself to the bitter end. Only in this way can the differences between Egypt and Israel, and between the rule of the Lord, be brought clearly to light. —from Founding God’s Nation: Reading Exodus, by Leon Kass

So, the Lord is giving Pharaoh over to himself, not making Pharaoh act against his will. To put it another way, Pharaoh is becoming more of what he already is. The ambiguity in the language reflects this: ten times (including here) we are told that the Lord hardened (or “strengthened”) Pharaoh’s heart; three times we’re told that Pharaoh strengthened his own heart; six times we are just told that “Pharaoh’s heart remained strong.”

The key to understanding the strange episode of the Lord trying to put Moses to death and the circumcision of the son is to note the mention of the “firstborn” in the passage. The Lord calls Israel his firstborn and says that if Pharaoh refuses to let Israel go, then he will kill Pharaoh’s firstborn. When the event comes to pass, it is the blood of the Passover lamb that protects God’s people. Here it is the blood of the covenant of circumcision that protects Moses’s family, and it is his (non-Hebrew) wife who saves him!

“Once again it is a woman who, by her quick-wittedness and insight, saves Moses. [Zipporah] stands in the train of the midwives, Moses’ mother and sister, and the daughter of Pharaoh. Moses owes his very life to a series of actions by women, two of them non-Israelites. ... Moses is thus revealed as one who does not himself stand without need of mediation with God.” —from Exodus: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, by Terence Fretheim

What Zipporah does here is fully pledge her and Moses’s family to the covenant of Abraham. They are now fully God’s people, ready to be used to free God’s people.