Devotions

hunger games

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 16:1-9

¹They pulled up from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel entered the Sin desert, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.² And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,³ and the people of Israel said to them, “If only[1] 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.”⁴ Then the LORD told Moses, “See, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk by my law or not.⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,⁷ and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. Because what are we, that you grumble against us?”⁸ And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him- what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the LORD.”⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Approach the face of the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.'”

hunger games

Having successfully complained of bad water at Marah, the Israelites decided to keep up that game and complain about their lack of food. The LORD knew that they needed food, but he also wanted to teach them how to put their faith in him daily for meeting their needs. The manna six days a week was a good way of demonstration his watching over them. Moses and Aaron also explained that complaining about their hunger – as if it is their leaders’ fault – was not proper. Just like the waters of Marah, the hunger was a reminder that the walk out of Egypt was to be a walk into a closer relationship with their God.

LORD, may we always seek for answers to our needs in you, because you care for us, and want us to seek you.

[1] Lit. “Who would give” (us this) – an idiom that expects a negative reply. It was a Hebrew way of saying with contempt that no one can help. This question is contrasted with that in verse 7.

Posted in dependence upon God, Moses, prayer, relationship with God | Tagged Exodus 16 | 1 Comment

bitter water test

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 15:22-27

²² Then Moses pulled up Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the Shur desert. They went three days in the wilderness and could not find water.²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.²⁴ And the people complained about Moses, saying, “What will we drink?”²⁵ And he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,²⁶ saying, “If you will carefully listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the maladies on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they set up camp there by the water.

bitter water test

When Penny and I go hiking on the Appalachian Trail, we always pack four liters of water, a water filter and purification tablets with us. We also plan each hike so that we pass by or camp near a water source each day. That water source is crucial, because without it, we could not go very far along the trail. If we run out of water, we have to turn back, no matter how beautiful the view.

The bitter water test was an opportunity for the Israelites to demonstrate their faith in and dependence upon the LORD. When the water at Marah turned out to be marah (bitter), the Israelites complained about Moses. As God’s chosen leader, he would get an ear full. But Moses did the right thing; he asked God for help.

The solution came in the form of a tree. It was not just a log, or a piece of wood. It was the very same word that Moses had used for the tree of life. It would have been the same word used for the cross. The point is that it was God’s solution to his people’s need. Obedience to God meant applying the tree to the problem.

Some people see this passage as some kind of legal guarantee from God that if we believe and obey him we will never get sick. Not so, even for the Israelites then. The LORD was telling them to trust him to be their doctor, and that if and when they encountered troubles (as they did at Marah) he would be there for them. What the LORD did promise was that if they faithfully obeyed him, he would not condemn them to the kind of judgments that the Egyptians had experienced because of their disobedience. Our days are wilderness journeys, and we should expect to be tested by hardship and illness and pain. Those tests are opportunities for us to seek the help of the one who promised to heal us.

LORD, we seek you help today. We know you are there, and our present hardships are not signs of your abandonment. Come to our bitter water today, and make it sweet.

Posted in dependence upon God, healing, Moses, obedience | Tagged Exodus 15 | 1 Comment

victory songs

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 15:1-20

15:1 At that time, Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for victoriously he has achieved victory; the horse and his rider he has shot into the sea.² The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.³ The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.⁴ “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he shot into the sea, and his elite officers were sunk in the Red Sea.⁵ The depths covered them; they went down into the deep sea like a stone.⁶ Your right hand, LORD, made glorious by power, your right hand, LORD, smashes the enemy.⁷ In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your burning anger; it consumes them like stubble.⁸ At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the depths solidified in the heart of the sea.⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall be satisfied over them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’¹⁰ You puffed your breath; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the grand waters.¹¹ “Who is like you, LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, great in holiness, awesome in praiseworthy deeds, doing miracles?¹² You stretched out your right hand; the land swallowed them.¹³ “You have led by your grace this people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy dwelling.¹⁴ The peoples have heard; they shudder; anguish has taken hold of the those who dwell in Philistia.¹⁵ At that time the chiefs of Edom became disturbed; trembling has taken hold of the leaders of Moab; all who live in Canaan have melted.¹⁶ Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have bought.¹⁷ You will bring them in and place them on your own mountain, the place, LORD, which you have made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have set up.¹⁸ The LORD will reign forever and ever.”¹⁹ For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out behind her with tambourines and dancing.²¹ And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he has achieved victory; the horse and his rider he has shot into the sea.”

victory songs

Moses and Miriam led the people of Israel in victory songs that day. Their fear had turned to praise, and their prayers for salvation had turned to worship. The people did not need the songs to recognize that they were still alive. They needed the victory songs to remind them that it was the LORD who had fought for them. So, today, we who have the faith of Moses and Miriam regularly gather in the LORD’s name and sing songs of praise, worshipping him. We need to regularly remind ourselves that we have a man of war fighting for us, defeating our enemies. We need to rejoice over every win, and anticipate the utter defeat of all sin and Satan at the final judgment. Our faith is in a God who finishes off the enemy.

LORD, we rejoice over you, because you have won the day. You have achieved victory over what we were afraid of. To you we sing victory songs.

Posted in destruction in hell, Moses, praise, worship | Tagged Exodus 15 | 1 Comment

witnessing the great hand

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 14:23-31

²³ Meanwhile, The Egyptians pursued and went in after them ; all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen were there in the middle of the sea.²⁴ At the morning watch the LORD looked down upon the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into panic.,²⁵ clogging their chariot wheels so that they had difficulty advancing. So the Egyptians were saying, “Let us flee from before Israel, because the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”²⁶ Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and the water will return upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD shook off the Egyptians into the middle of the sea.²⁸ The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them survived.²⁹ But the people of Israel had walked on dry ground through the sea, the water had been a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.³⁰ This is how the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.³¹ Israel had witnessed the great hand that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

witnessing the great hand

The great hand of the LORD proved more powerful than the Egyptian armies. He looked down from the pillar of cloud and fire and decided to deal with this enemy once and for all. He turned the water back and the army was left to hopelessly bob up and down in the sea for eternity… What? You say that is not what he did? He what? He destroyed the armies of Pharaoh?

Yes, that is what he did. In this great miraculous event, the LORD is showing us that we should fear him because he is able to destroy all his enemies, body and soul, in the lake of fire. We should follow him because he is leading us to our deliverance. But our enemies cannot follow us there. At the end of the day, the Israelites alone had survived. The Egyptian armies were not stuck somewhere being tormented for eternity. God had defeated them, and defeated them utterly. Their dead bodies washed up on the shore.

It is sad that so many believers are not being taught this truth today. The wages of sin is not an uncomfortable eternal life. The wages of sin is death. In the end, we will witness the great hand of God completely destroy every soul whose name is not in the Lamb’s book of life. Those who by God’s grace will be on the other side of the sea will worship him for eternity, because we will have the life to do so.

LORD, thank you for being the great God with the great hand – the hand which can destroy your enemies, and deliver us completely from sin and Satan.

Posted in deliverance, destruction in hell, judgment, wrath of God | Tagged Exodus 14 | 1 Comment

barriers

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 14:19-22

¹⁹ Then the angel of God who had been going before the army of Israel repositioned and went behind them, so the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,²⁰ coming between the army of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the water was divided.²² And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the water having become a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.

barriers

The presence of God, seen as a pillar of cloud/fire, repositioned so that it stood as a barrier, protecting the Israelites from the advancing army of Egypt. The sea, which had just been nothing but a hindrance to the Israelites’ escape, now also became a barrier as the east wind pushed it into the form of a wall. This was not a measly hedge, but a barrier the size of a city wall, prohibiting entrance into the Israelite caravan.

Oh, pilgrim, on your way to the promised land! You may not see them, but your LORD has placed barriers between you and the enemy. You must trust him to keep you safe, and protect you from invasion, as you press on. As the apostle put it, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”[1]

LORD, thank you for the barriers you have installed between us and those who seek our harm. We trust you to protect us as we seek your will, and to give us courage to walk where there has never been a path before, so that we can reach the promised destination.

[1] Philippians 3:13-14 ESV.

Posted in commitment, dependence upon God, trust | Tagged Exodus 14 | 1 Comment

no way

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 14:15-18

¹⁵ The LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to set out.¹⁶ Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.¹⁷ And I will strengthen the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his riders.¹⁸ Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his riders.”

no way

The LORD responds to Moses as if his solution to the Israelite’s dilemma is the most obvious one. But Moses and the Israelites missed it, because it was only obvious to someone to whom the laws of physics do not apply. God was going to make a way where nobody would think to look. In one act of power he would both rescue the sons of Israel and destroy their pursuers. He was going to use a great obstacle to deliverance to bring it about.

I don’t know about you, but I face some great obstacles in my life. They scare me, because every time I think about them, they remind me of how fickle life can be. I want a way out, but I do not see one. I have to trust that God has a way for me to remain faithful to him, my church, my marriage and family, my ministry. I want to go forward, but then there’s that big Red Sea.

LORD, we are crying out to you, because if there is going to be a rescue here, it has to be you. We cannot make a way. Help us to trust you enough to set out in the right direction, no matter what obstacles remain in our path.

Posted in courage, deliverance, dependence upon God | Tagged Exodus 14 | 1 Comment

you will see the LORD’s deliverance

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 14:1-14

¹ Then the LORD spoke to Moses,² “Speak to the people of Israel and make them turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you will encamp facing it, by the sea.³ Because Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the desert has shut them in.’⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have sent Israel away from serving us?”⁶ So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him,⁷ and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.⁸ And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.⁹ The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and see, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they were very afraid. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.¹¹ They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?¹² Is not this what we told you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”¹³ And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, stand firm, and you will see the LORD’s deliverance, which he will work for you today. Because you see the Egyptians today, you will never see them again.¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to plow in.”

you will see the LORD’s deliverance

In the panic of seeing the Egyptians again, the Israelites forgot the whole of the exodus encounter. All it took was some time and a few hundred chariots. Both the Egyptians and the Israelites were thinking that time and location would make a difference. But what we know about God is that those things are insignificant. You may face a great challenge today. You may be tempted to think that it is too much for you. You need to remember what God has already done for you.

Difficulties and challenges will come in this life. They are not the exception, they are the rule. The purpose for them is that God wants to get the glory over the gods and rulers of the land. He is the God of rescue. All we have to do is plow in. The Hebrew expression was a figure of speech which called for silent trust during times of distress. Moses pointed out that it was actually a good thing that the Israelites saw those chariots coming at them. It meant that God was true in his prediction (vs. 4). So, there was every reason to trust that the deliverance would come as well.

Listen to the apostle Peter’s advice for when we face similar situations: “Be alert; be watching. Your opponent the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Resist him by standing firm in your faith, because you know that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your other brothers throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, validate, strengthen, and establish you.”[1]

LORD, thank you for the showdowns in life. Give us the insight to stand firm, and let you fight our hopeless battles, so that you get glory over our enemies.

[1] 1 Peter 5:8-10.

Posted in confidence, conflict, faith, trust | Tagged Exodus 14 | 3 Comments

going up unprepared

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 13:17-22

¹⁷ When Pharaoh sent the people away, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. Because God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”¹⁸ So God led the people around by the way of the desert toward the Red Sea. And the sons of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt grouped in fifties.¹⁹ Moses took the mummified remains of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly promise, saying, “God will surely visit you, then you are to carry up my mummified remains with you from here.”²⁰ And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the desert.²¹ And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night.²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not leave the presence of the people.

going up unprepared

Everything that happed in the Israelite camp was spiritually significant, just as everything that had happened in Egypt was. No doubt the people were confused at the direction they were taking, the fact that they carried Joseph’s mummified remains with them, their military-like formation, and that strange cloud/fire thing. Rumors spread. There were a thousand explanations. But no one really knew what was going on, except maybe Moses. The thrill of escape from Egypt and the promise of a special land to the north only took the people so far. They had to have faith that the LORD who rescued them from their bondage would bring them to his chosen destination.

The people had the appearance of an army, but they were unarmed and unprepared. That is why the LORD steered them away from the land currently occupied by the Philistines.
Joseph’s mummy was taken because of the Egyptian belief that a preserved king can be resurrected. Joseph wanted to be raised among his own people, in the promised land. That land represented God’s will for his people. The presence of his mummified remains would be a reassurance to the Israelites that the trip was God’s will.
The military formation was also designed to emphasize the mission, and that God was commanding it. Although the people were unarmed, God was not.
The pillar of cloud/fire was a comforting presence, but a confusing one. It would take faith to follow it, but there really was no viable alternative.

The launch of this new mission was filled with far more questions than answers. The prayers these people prayed were probably a mess, filled with all kinds of doubts and unwarranted expectations. But the important thing was that they were moving. They were going up unprepared, except for one basic foundational fact: God was with them.

LORD, may we trust you through the confusing times.

Posted in commitment, dependence upon God, discernment, faith | Tagged Exodus 13 | 1 Comment

the LORD brought us out of Egypt

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 13:11-16

¹¹ “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he solemnly promised to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,¹² you are to set apart for the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s.¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you will redeem with a lamb, or if you choose not to redeem it you will break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you will redeem.¹⁴ And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you should say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.¹⁵ Because when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to send us away, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. For this reason I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’¹⁶ It will be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, because by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

the LORD brought us out of Egypt

More instructions regarding the testimony of faith are found here. One key to getting free is testifying to the freedom that you now have because of the LORD’s intervention. Fathers were to tell their sons about the bondage they were in when they resided in Egypt. The Israelites were to redeem their firstborn animals and children – not just because the LORD instructed them to, but as a testimony of their rescue.

Here is how Doug Stuart puts it: “Our identity is that of God’s chosen people who were rescued from slavery in Egypt and rescued from the death of the firstborn by faith in Yahweh. We keep showing that faith by dedicating all firstborn children and all firstborn male livestock to God.”[1]

The Israelites were required to buy back their children who were devoted to God, and this practice would cause the children some curiosity. That curiosity was to be a link to bringing them to the faith that their parents shared. The parents could then explain to the children the principle of the substitute. The lamb substituted for them was to be part of the testimony of their deliverance. It was to be a sign that they were brought out of Egypt as well.

LORD, thank you for the Lamb, sacrificed in our place, to redeem us from our bondage. May we faithfully proclaim this truth to each generation.

[1] Doug Stuart, New American Commentary, vol. 2 (Exodus).

Posted in atonement, Jesus Christ, witness | Tagged Exodus 13 | 1 Comment

what the LORD did for me

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 13:3-10

³ Then Moses told the people, “Remember this day in which you exited Egypt, out from the house where you were a slave, because by strength of hand the LORD rescued you from this slavery. No leavened bread is to be eaten.⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.⁵ And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he solemnly promised to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you are to keep this ritual in this month.⁶ Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there will be a feast to the LORD.⁷ Unleavened bread will be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread is to be seen among you, and no leaven is to be seen with you in all your territory.⁸ You will tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’⁹ And it will be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the what the LORD instructs may be in your mouth. Because the LORD has brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.¹⁰ You will therefore keep this permanent rule at its appointed time from year to year.

what the LORD did for me

Essential to passing on the faith in the community of faith was the personal testimony of rescue. A father was to pass on the faith to his son by telling him – not just what the LORD did for Israel, but what the LORD did for him personally. The LORD’s Torah – instruction – was not primarily to establish a community religion. It was to pass on a personal faith within that community. Notice the elements of that personal testimony:

1. The LORD did for me what I could not do for myself. I was in bondage, and I could not work or buy my way out. The LORD redeemed me.

2. The LORD set me free. I had been a slave, but by the strength of his hand he cut me loose.

3. The LORD consecrated me to himself. I celebrate each year by eating this bread without yeast. It reminds me that I am different because the LORD chose to rescue me – to take me out of Egypt.

4. The LORD taught me how to share my faith with you. He instructed me to pass on my faith in him because he wants to rescue them too.

LORD, thank you for testimony of faith that we have because of your rescue. Remind us when we have opportunities to share that faith with others.

Posted in faith, freedom, holiness, witness | Tagged Exodus 13 | 1 Comment