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Exodus
Contributed by Tom Fuller on Jul 21, 2005 (message contributor)
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1. God's Purpose For Pain
Contributed on Jul 21, 2005
Learn about God giving courage to those who needed to try their faith as he prepares a leader to rescue Israel from slavery to sin and as a picture of God rescuing us from sin as well.
Exodus means "exit, or departure." Exodus is a book of rescues, reintroductions, intercession, and second chances. In it we see God rescue Israel from the evil rulers of Egypt after they intercede - but we also see him rescue Moses from death - multiple times. And we see that despite our own ...read more
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2. Moses - The Reluctant Hero
Contributed on Jul 27, 2005
Most of the time we think of spiritual giants just itching to do God’s work. Moses was actually very reluctant to answer God’s call. This gives us ordinary folks hope. God takes us - whatever we have in our hand - and uses it for His glory.
What are you like when God calls you? Do you actively listen for His voice then jump at the chance to obey? Or are you just kind of going along, doing your job, minding your own business and when God calls you might reluctantly go along if He twists your arm enough? You might think that a ...read more
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3. Moving Ahead When Opposition Comes
Contributed on Aug 11, 2005
When we are on a mission from God and we run into barriers and things don’t seem successful - how do we react? Moses experienced this upon returning to Egypt. We learn how God works with us but keeps on task.
Sometimes we think that battling for the Lord ought to be easy. I mean, here’s a Guy who created the universe by talking! It’s like Bill Cosby said to his son once on The Cosby Show "I brought you into this world and I can take you back out!" We like have a powerful person on our side. The ...read more
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4. Do You Fear The Word Of The Lord?
Contributed on Aug 18, 2005
The plagues of Egypt get closer and closer to home. God warns the Egyptians how to escape His judgment. Some listen, others do not. What is the condition of your heart when it comes to receiving from God’s Word?
The 10 plagues go from remote and objective, to very personal and subjective. A staff turns into a snake - big deal - stay away from snakes. (I wonder why Moses didn’t do the leprosy trick?). Turn the water into blood - the water was something the Egyptians would have to go to get - and they tried ...read more
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5. Afraid Of The Dark
Contributed on Aug 25, 2005
There is no more deep darkness than when you stand in opposition to God - as Pharaoh does in these chapters. But there is also always light and hope for those who have a relationship with God. What darkness covers your life right now?
As the battle between Moses and Pharaoh draws to a close - several things change. Tonight we see 2 of the final 3 plagues - locusts, then darkness - and the final plague is introduced: death of the firstborn. The plagues are different, the purpose is different, and Moses’ actions towards Pharaoh ...read more
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6. The Passover
Contributed on Sep 1, 2005
The Passover is a wonderful picture of the plight of sinful man and the provision of a gracious God - a God who judges sin with death but gives grace through the blood of the Lamb of God.
Chapter 12 of Exodus is one of the most important chapters of this book, and perhaps one of the most important of the Old Testament. The reason is that it paints for us a picture of the human condition, and God’s plan to save mankind. The family of Jacob came to Egypt because of a famine - God ...read more
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7. Stripping Our Power So We Can See God's
Contributed on Sep 8, 2005
God led Israel straight into a trap and then watched their reaction. He does that to us sometimes as well - to let us know whether we trust Him and to show us His great power.
In a way, the final victory over Pharaoh was not the Passover. Yes, that’s what got him to relent and say the people could go - but as we’re going to see this time - Pharaoh once again changes his mind and goes out after the children of Israel. But what we’re going to see also is God purposefully ...read more
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8. Rose Colored Glasses
Contributed on Sep 15, 2005
The blush of first love wears off quickly for the children of Israel as God brings them some small tests to see how much they will trust Him. How much do you trust God? We also see the keys to spiritual warfare demonstrated.
New love is always interesting. We used to have a saying "you’re looking through rose-colored glasses." It meant that no matter how the other person was in reality, they always looked "rosy" to you because you were in love. Having rose colored glasses is a danger sign for a relationship that ...read more
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9. Who Do You Listen To?
Contributed on Sep 22, 2005
Who do you let speak into your life? Is it someone who sees what God has done and worships him or is it someone who is an enemy of God like Amalek? Also - the difference between approaching God at Mt Sinai and at Mt Zion.
There are some strong connections between chapter 17 and 18. They both tell us of encounters with non-Israelites. The Amalekites "greeted" Moses with warfare - and Moses had to respond by appointing men to a task (fight) while he administrated the battle and receiving help from his assistants. In ...read more
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10. The Ten Commandments
Contributed on Sep 29, 2005
Learn about God’s basis for character, worship, relationships, and society.
This may be the most famous portion of the Old Testament to most people. Even today this portion of Exodus is in the news - recently the Supreme Court issued contradictory rulings one upholding one striking down the display of the Ten Commandments. For many people, these commandments represent ...read more
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11. Living God On The Outside
Contributed on Oct 6, 2005
The Book of the Covenant is God’s Law applied to life. It shows us that in man’s sinful nature we try to exploit any system for our own gain. But if we would allow God’s life to live out from inside us, we would naturally love Him and love others - the h
Chapters 21 - 23 of Exodus are known as the Book of the Covenant. They are a series of laws that expand on the Ten Commandments. They are not an exhaustive list of behavior in any and all circumstances - but they gave the Israelites guidelines in how to treat each other and how to worship ...read more