The Lord gave me a vision to write a series of devotionals through the Torah. I fell in love with the Old Testament when I read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation for the first time over 10 yrs ago. I have studied through each of the books of the Law inductively through Precept Ministries. My love only grows for these precious books and my desire to share their beauty with the world. In this blog we shall journey past the Torah and all the way to Revelation one day at a time.
The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron
in the wilderness.
Exodus 16:2
I wish I could say that the sons of Israel learned their lesson about grumbling at the waters of Marah, but I cannot. The grumbling at the waters of Marah was just the beginning. The children of Israel are a month and a half into their journey from Egypt. They are now in the wilderness of Sin somewhere between the oasis of Elim and Sinai and what we discover is that the name of this wilderness is very fitting.
The children of Israel have only less than two months ago experienced the mighty arm of God in Egypt. They have just watched God make bitter waters sweet. The children of Israel have had the Lord their Healer lead them to an oasis called Elim, where there were springs and date trees galore. The Lord has delivered them and provided for them over and over and now that it is time for them to set out on their journey again we also find them grumbling again.
The children of Israel have just experienced the deliverance of God. They have walked across the Red Sea on dry land. They have passed through the parted sea as the waters were rolled up as walls on each side of them while Pharaoh and his armies were coming up behind them. The children of Israel have watched the Lord release the sea and they have seen the waters come crashing down upon their pursuers. Now the children of Israel lift their voices in song to their God.
But Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today;
for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
The LORD will fight for you
while you keep silent.
Exodus 14:13-14
The children of Israel have gone out boldly from Egypt (Exodus 14:8) however Pharaoh still pursues them. Yes, the children of Israel had been redeemed. Yes, they had been set free from their slavery. Yet still, the one who once held them in captivity still chases after them in order to enslave them again.
As I read this chapter in Exodus I am reminded of the verse "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8).
How could God possibly be honored through Pharaoh and his army? This Pharaoh rejects the God of the Hebrews. This Pharaoh refuses to bow to the Lord and refuses to honor His word. This Pharaoh mocks the Lord and afflicts the ones who serve Him. So how can someone who so openly dishonors God before men be used by God to bring honor to God before an entire nation?
I am just letting everyone know that I am moving my blog. You will now be able to find me at Proven Path Ministries. I have loved my Blogger... the move is to a personally owned site as I step forward in this ministry and to whatever God has called me to do in each day.
Also, being an approval addict, this new site does not have "followers" or "stats" so it will save me from the heart dropping condemnation I experience when I see no new followers or worse... when I see that I have been "unfollowed". It also will keep me from constantly stopping by the computer just to see if anyone is reading my posts and what countries they are from.
I don't write for the glory of me, but for the glory of God and the building up of His church. I have to be reminded of that constantly... as I catch myself too easily seeking approval and validation from those who are not my Lord and Savior.
Devotional Studies Through The Bible will continue.
Confessions of a Christian Housewife will continue.
Proven Path Ministries will encompass these as well as eventually will make available several Bible studies I have written as I have taught and studied.
I hope you will continue to join me and share in this ministry with me.
I pray that I will be able to continue to encourage you...
Moses and Aaron come before Pharaoh after the seventh plague and they once againrequest that the Hebrews be allowed to go and worship their God. The eighth plague that shall come with Pharaoh's refusal is a swarm of locusts upon the land of Egypt, a swarm that will fill the land and houses in such a way that has never been seen before or ever will be seen again.
This eighth plague is an attack upon the Egyptian god known as Anubis. He was the god of the fields, including cemeteries. It also was another attack upon the god Isis who was supposed to protect Egypt from the locusts and also the god Seth, who was known as the protector of the crops.
As we read this tenth chapter of the book of Exodus we can see that these plagues are beginning to have an impact upon even the servants of Pharaoh. Pharaoh's servants come to him and ask him to let the Hebrews go.
So Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron back in and tells them to go and worship their God, yet he puts his own stipulations upon them. Pharaoh wants to tell them who will be allowed to go. He plans to maintain the reigns on these people by keeping their women and children and flocks and herds under his control. Oh my friend, God doesn't play games with us and He is not in the business of bargaining.
How many come to Christ, and they look up at His cross, at His outstretched arms and they say, "Jesus, I want to have Your heaven and in exchange I'll give you A, B, and C but I'm keeping D through Z."
In Luke 18:18-27 we read of a conversation between Jesus and a ruler who asked Him about eternal life. This ruler wanted to know what he must do to enter the kingdom of God. The ruler had kept the Law from his youth yet Jesus said to him "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." (Luke 18:22) Unfortunately when the ruler heard this, he walked away sad. He had given God A, B, and C but he was not willing to give God D through Z.
God does not bargain with us. We have no right to come to Him with stipulations for our obedience. We have nothing to bargain with, as 1 Timothy 6:7 says "For we have brought nothing into the world." We own nothing and we have control of nothing. God declares in Psalm 50:12, "For the world is Mine, and all it contains."
Pharaoh did not own these Hebrew slaves as he so thought. Pharaoh was not the god he claimed himself to be. Pharaoh still has yet to realize that he sits on his throne only by the power and authority of this God he is fighting so hard against.
But how can a man be in the right before God?
If one wished to dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
Wise in heart and mighty in strength,
Who has defied Him without harm?
Job 9:2-4
Oh precious one, we have not a leg to stand on if we think we can stand before God. There is no one more righteous. There is no god more great. We have no one to appeal to on our behalf. We have no argument that can hold up in court. We have no grip tight enough to hold on to what we are so desperate to control.
Pharaoh's stubborn hardening heart is leading him and the nation of Egypt straight into destruction. The locusts shall come and leave devastation in their wake. Pharaoh will cry out for mercy once again, yet as before, when mercy is received, humility it will not bring.
Pharaoh is a man who is hardened by the mercy of God, convinced in his own mind that he is somehow able to manipulate this God of the Hebrews as he has been able to manipulate everyone else in his life. However, this God, is not a man nor a figment of man's imagination, that He might be manipulated and controlled by anyone. This is the Living God, Elohim, Creator of heaven and earth.
Oh Father,
Forgive me for the times that I have attempted to bargain with You. Forgive me for the times that I have tried to maintain control of a situation instead of just letting go and submitting to Your authority. You are wise in heart and mighty in strength and all the world is Yours and in the midst of all that You are, there is this love that You have for me. You are God, and yet You are mindful of me. This alone should be all the reason I need to humble myself before You. Oh Father I do not desire to fight against You, but to submit to You in all things, in all areas of my life. You alone are in control.
In the midst of the seventh plague, Pharaoh admits he has sinned against the Lord. He calls out to Moses and Aaron and asks them to go before God on his behalf and ask for the thunder and hail to cease. He proclaims that the Lord is righteous and he and his servants are wicked. Could it possibly be that Pharaoh is beginning to get it?
Sadly, no, Pharaoh still is not getting it. Moses goes before the Lord to ask Him to stop thethunder and hail, but it will be so that Pharaoh will know that the earth belongs to the God of the Hebrew slaves. Before Moses asks for this seventh plague to cease he looks at Pharaoh and assures him that he knows that this profession of his sin and wickedness is empty words. Moses is well aware that Pharaoh and his servants do not yet fear the LORD God.
Oh precious one, it is so much more than just admitting that we have sinned and that God is righteous.
Some will look at themselves and admit that they are sinners and then use this admittance to justify their sin. They will then point their finger in the face of God and claim that He has no right to judge them because it's His fault that they are a sinner to begin with. They claim He made them this way. The arrogance of man unrestrained by the Spirit of God has no bounds.
When we look at the many religions in the world, very few profess man as originally good. Most openly declare man as wicked and their god as the one who is the judge of his goodness. In most of the religions of the earth man must work to gain his goodness in order to please his god or, at the very least, to please the men around them who also serve his god. So for Pharaoh to proclaim himself wicked, to admit that he has sinned, does not mean that he is choosing to bow the knee to this righteous God.
Some can see the obvious power of our Creator and submit immediately, others eventually, yet there are and will be many who refuse to the end. They are unwilling to deny themselves and surrender to God's authority.
At the end of the age God will once again display His power through plagues and judgments upon the earth. Just as He did in Egypt, the plagues will begin small and will increase in intensity. God's desire is not for mankind to be destroyed but for mankind to repent and turn to Him and be saved. However, just as in Egypt, many will refuse until the very end and their opportunity will be gone.
In Revelation 6:15-16 we read how the kings of the earth, the great men, the commanders, the rich, the strong, the slave, the free, all hide themselves from God after they have seen His display of power through the breaking of the first six seals.
They could have came to Him in repentance and cried out for His mercy and grace, but instead they hid and cried out to the mountains and the rocks of the earth. We hide from God when we know we have sinned and we do not want to stand before His righteousness. Just acknowledging our wickedness is not repentance.
In Revelation 9:20-21 we read once again how mankind refuses to "repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorcereries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts." This refusal comes after the plagues within the six seals, and after the plagues within six of the seven trumpets that are within the seventh seal.
Twelve plagues later God is still giving mankind an opportunity to repent and be saved. The gospel of God is still being preached. The one-hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from the tribes of Israel are still preaching salvation. Yet, mankind will not submit to the authority of their Creator God. They still will not fear the word of the LORD.
Pharaoh and his servants still would not fear God. Seven plagues behind them and still they shake their fist in the face of God. Why will they not humble themselves? Why do they refuse to honor this God?
They refuse because it would mean that they would have to exalt Him above themselves.
My friend, the root of sin is not evil acts.
The root of sin is self.
Oh Father,
How very stubborn we can be. In Proverbs 18:14 your Word declares, "The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but as for a broken spirit who can bear it?" We can endure our sin when we have pride to stand on. Our strong wills can hold our fist up high and tightly balled for the fight when we refuse humility. Oh, but Father, when you finally choose to break our spirit, to bring our pride crumbling down around us, this we cannot endure. Here is the point we often must reach before we finally willingly submit to Your authority. How thankful I am that You chose to break me.
My Jesus, I love You and it's in Your name I pray,
