Devotions

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

a consecrated community

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:43-13:2

⁴³ And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the permanent rule of the Passover: no outsider is to eat of it,⁴⁴ but after you have circumcised him, any slave that a man has purchased with silver may eat of it.⁴⁵ A temporary resident or hired servant is not to eat of it.⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you will not take any of the meat outside the house, and you will not break any of its bones.⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel will keep it.⁴⁸ If a stranger sojourns with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, make sure all his males are circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he will be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person is allowed to eat of it.⁴⁹ There will be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.⁵¹ And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. 13:1 The LORD said to Moses,² “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

a consecrated community

The rules concerning who gets to celebrate Passover, and who must be redeemed for a price both share this common theme: consecration. The community of Israel was not just a family, held together by history and DNA. It was something different. It was a community of faith. The rite of circumcision was the sign of that faith. To be an Israelite, you did not have to be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. An outsider could become an insider by faith. Circumcision was the sign of consecration and commitment to that faith.

The firstborn regulations all pointed back to the first Passover, the night God spared all the firstborn children of Israel whose parents – by faith – put the blood of the lamb on their doorframes. Redemption of the firstborn became a lasting rule, which pointed back to the ownership of everyone in the community by the LORD. God could have required that all people and animals be redeemed by a purchase, but then the regulation would have quickly been disassociated with Passover, and that association is crucial. It was the firstborn who had to die on Passover, so was rescued by the substitutionary death of the lamb. God’s firstborn, Jesus the Passover Lamb, took the place of those who were condemned to die. The community of faith celebrated that redemption by redeeming their firstborn.

LORD, thank you for the reminder that we are part of a community of faith. Thank you for the Lamb of God in whom we place that faith.

Posted in atonement, commitment, faith, Jesus Christ | Tagged Exodus 12, Exodus 13 | 1 Comment

deployed for a mission

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:37-42

³⁷ And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, with about six hundred platoons of foot soldiers, separated from their children.³⁸ An ethnically mixed company also went out with them, and very many flocks and herds of livestock.³⁹ And they had baked unleavened loaves of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, because it had not been leavened, since they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provision for themselves.⁴⁰ The time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.⁴¹ At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.⁴² It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night when the sons of Israel keep watch for the LORD throughout their generations.

deployed for a mission

The way Moses describes the exodus as it first gets under way is less of an escape and more of a deployment. The sons of Israel are collected in groups of foot soldiers – platoons, and sent out as an army. Groups of Israelites who joined from other ethnic groups are with them as well. The objective is to take over the land that the LORD had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The time for Egyptian bondage is over. Now is the time to set our sights on the promised land, and go forth as in battle.

LORD, remove us from our worldly Egypt. May we follow you to our new destiny.

Posted in faith, obedience, submission | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

sendoff

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:29-36

²⁹ At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.³⁰ And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great outcry in Egypt, because there was not a household where someone was not dead.³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go away from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also!” ³³ The Egyptians strongly urged the people to go away from the land quickly. Because they said, “We are all dead.”³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.³⁵ The sons of Israel had also done as Moses told them, because they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.³⁶ And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked for. This is how they plundered the Egyptians.

sendoff

The use of military terms throughout this narrative points to an interesting thought. The exodus was not so much an escape from Egypt as it was a professional strategic advance toward the promised land. God had miraculously provided the means for that sendoff. First, he stayed true to his threat, and sent the destroyer to the households of all the Egyptians. The firstborn of every family died, from the palace to the dungeon – even the pasture. The Egyptians got the point. They said “We are all dead.” So they had every reason to strongly urge the Israelites to leave… and, “here, take my money with you.” So, the sons of Israel plundered the Egyptians.

When the Israelites would commemorate this night, they would celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because they would leave so quickly that they would have to leave out the processing time for leavening their bread. The quick efficiency of their departure also spoke of professional strategic deployment.

LORD, you have rescued us from the bondage of sin. Now, may we follow your call swiftly to advance toward all that you have promised for us.

Posted in commitment, missions | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

brush with death

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:21-28

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Draw out and take lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.²² Take a cluster of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you should go out of the door of his house until the morning.²³ Because the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike.²⁴ You are to observe this ritual as a permanent rule for you and for your sons forever.²⁵ So when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you will keep this practice.²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this practice?’²⁷ you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but delivered our households.'”And the people bowed down low.²⁸ Then the people of Israel went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, this is what they did.

brush with death

The symbol of blood on the doorframes of the houses was not just for the night of Passover itself. It was to be performed at every Passover celebration. It was to be a reminder to every Israelite that judgment and death had come, but that the LORD had passed them over. He saw the blood and passed over them.

For the Christian, the ritual of communion, or the Lord’s Supper, can serve the same purpose. When we regularly partake of the emblem of the broken body and shed blood of our Savior, we remember that we were sinners and deserved the judgment of death. But the LORD chose to rescue us by his grace, taking the punishment for our sin upon himself. He did not just decide to arbitrarily forgive us. He paid the price with his own life.

It is possible that the markings on the door were meant to symbolize the actual word for life. The Hebrew word for life is chayim, which begins with the letter chet.[1] The bloody doorposts were a symbol of death but became a symbol of life. The cross is now the same thing for us. That symbol of cruel torture and shameful, agonizing death is now a symbol of rescue, deliverance and life.

LORD, thank you for taking the punishment of death upon yourself, so that we can know eternal life. May we constantly remind ourselves of this grace, and so worship you with reverence and joy.

[1] A painted doorframe would display the Hebrew letter chet.

Posted in atonement, communion, deliverance, worship | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

signs for the believers

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:12-20

¹² Because I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will condemn all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.¹³ The blood will be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.¹⁴ “This day will be for you a memorial day, and you will keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you will keep it as a feast.¹⁵ Seven days you will eat unleavened bread. On the first day you will remove leaven out of your houses, because if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person will be cut off from Israel.¹⁶ On the first day you will hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work will be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.¹⁷ And you will observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Because of this, you will observe this day, throughout your generations, as a decree forever.¹⁸ In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.¹⁹ For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.²⁰ You will eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you will eat unleavened bread.”

signs for the believers

Signs are proof of the power of God. They are meant for believers to honor as demonstrations of their faith. The Passover was to be a celebration reminding the Israelites that on that night, the LORD decisively condemned the gods of the Egyptians, and rescued his people from their power.

One of those signs was a Hebrew letter,[1] painted on the doorframes of their houses. It stood for a word. Nobody today knows what that word was. It could have been the word for grace, or the word for life. Whatever it said, it was God’s way of saying “I choose to rescue you.”

The other sign was the absence of leaven. Leavening bread was normal for Jewish people. But God told them to set aside a few days to rid their homes of the stuff. They would have to rid their lives of all the things about those condemned foreign gods in that foreign land. The leaven served as a sign of those things. Rescue takes consecration. The LORD is not just taking them out of Egypt. He is taking Egypt out of them.

LORD, thank you for rescuing us from sin, and restoring us to right relationship with you. May we visibly demonstrate to the world around us that you have condemned its gods, and we belong to you, not them.

[1] A painted doorframe would display the Hebrew letter chet.

Posted in atonement, deliverance, faith, relationship with God | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

rescue by grace

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:1-11

¹ While they were still in the land of Egypt, the LORD told Moses and Aaron ² “This month will be the beginning of months for you. It shall be the first month of the year for you.³ Tell all the congregation[1] of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.⁴ And if the household is too small to eat an entire lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor will share according to the number of souls; according to what each can eat you will make your count for the lamb.⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,⁶ and you will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will kill their lambs at twilight.⁷ “Then they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.⁸ They will eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.¹⁰ And you will let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you will burn.¹¹ In this manner you will eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you will eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.

rescue by grace

I wonder how much of the symbolism of the Passover meal was actually understood by the average Israelite who first received these instructions. It is so easy to see Christ in the facets of this memorial event, and he is definitely here. But what would be obvious from the perspective of an Israelite who had been raised in Egypt, and had endured the plagues. What would they have seen in these preparations? Permit me to speculate:

· tenth day: reference to rescue from the plagues.
· first month: a new beginning, free from the bondage of the past.
· sharing a lamb: rescue for the whole community.
· the whole animal: rescue from a specific death, not a general provision.
· perfect animal: God’s provision for rescue, not my second best.
· blood on the doorpost: marked for life, not death.
· roasted: quickest way for a healthy meal, not a slow process.
· unleavened bread & bitter herbs: quickest available sides, no long preparation.
· eat in haste: prepared for soon departure.

This was to be the first of many Passover meals that these people were to celebrate, because although the rescue would happen only once, it would be remembered forever. It would obviously have prophetic significance. But even if someone did not see that, they would see rescue by grace.

LORD, thank you for you intervention, your rescue of us from the slavery of sin by your grace.

[1] Hebrew ‘edah = company assembled together.

Posted in atonement, deliverance | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

a heart too heavy

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 11:1-10

¹ The LORD had told Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will send you away from here. When he sends you away, he will expel you, and it will be complete.² Now tell this in the hearing of the people, so that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.”³ And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. In addition to this, the man Moses was prominent in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.⁴ So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: Around midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,⁵ and every firstborn[1] in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.⁶ There shall be a great outcry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.⁷ But not a dog will stick out its tongue against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, so that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.⁸ And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.⁹ And the LORD had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my miracles may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these miracles before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not send the people of Israel away from his land.

a heart too heavy

It was a great outcry from the Israelites that prompted God to send Moses back to Egypt for their deliverance. The tenth plague would cause a great outcry among the Egyptians. All the people were essentially begging the LORD to leave their land, and take his people with him. The only heart who had remained hard to all the previous plagues was the heart of Pharaoh. Why did he stay so stubborn? Partly it is because God is strengthening Pharaoh’s resolve as punishment for his oppression of the Israelites. The word for “hardened” in verse 10 primarily means “strengthened.” The But there is more to the story.

In The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Pharaoh’s heart was said to have been weighed by the gods at his death.[2] If it was too heavy, he and the people would be punished. That heaviness was not a sign of stubbornness, but of sin. It is no coincidence that Moses sometimes uses a word for “harden” in reference to Pharaoh’s heart that primarily means heavy.[3] He is referring to the sin in Pharaoh’s heart which is causing all the suffering and death all around him.

LORD, soften, weaken, and lighten our hearts. We want to respond to your warnings and you seriously as we aught!

[1] the term refers to the oldest child, regardless of gender.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead

[3] Kaved (7:14; 8:11,28; 9:7,34;10:1.

Posted in repentance, sin | Tagged Exodus 11 | 1 Comment

no more bargaining

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 10:21-29

²¹ Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and let that darkness cause people to feel around with their hands.”²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was deep darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.²³ No man saw his brother, nor did any man leave from under his roof for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.²⁴ Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.”²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may present them to the LORD our God.²⁶ Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, because we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we will not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.”²⁷ But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “Go away from me; keep yourself from ever seeing my face again, for on the day you see my face you will die.”²⁹ Moses said, “You said that right! I will never again see your face.”

no more bargaining

Darkness for three solid days was a felt personally by Pharaoh because it was an attack upon Ra, the sun god, king of the gods of Egypt, and patron to Pharaoh himself.[1] It only took three days of groping around in the daytime, not being able to leave from under their roofs, for Pharaoh to call Moses back to the bargaining table. But what happened then was unprecedented. Pharaoh demanded one more concession – that the Israelites leave their property behind. But Moses responded that the very purpose for their leaving Egypt is their relationship with God. They had to bring their animals because the LORD would require some kind of animal sacrifice. At the time, the law of Sinai had not yet been put into place, so no one but God knew what those requirements would be. So, Moses insisted that “not a hoof will be left behind.”

Pharaoh gave up. There would be no more appearing before him. He told Moses that by saying that he would never again see his face. Moses responded by telling Pharaoh that he had just prophesied. Pharaoh would not see Moses again. Time for bargaining was over.

How is your exodus coming? Are you serving and worshipping God alone, or is there another king who seeks for primacy and control in your life? Have the good sense to call off the bargaining, and get out of Egypt while you have the chance.

LORD, we commit ourselves to serving and worshipping you alone.

[1] see http://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ra.html

Posted in commitment, loyalty, worship | Tagged Exodus 10 | 1 Comment