Exodus 8

Dear RTB’ers, 

Exodus 8, three plagues today – frogs, gnats, and flies. Pharaoh is beginning to see the power of the Lord, possibly swayed by his own magicians. (Ex. 8:19) As a result, he begins to compromise. During the plague of frogs, he seems to relent: 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.” (v. 8) However, he reneges and the plague of gnats fills the land. Then Moses and Aaron ask for a three-day journey into the wilderness, and Pharaoh meets them halfway: 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. (v. 28) This is his first compromise offer. We will see more.

The Lord has allowed his people to suffer through the first three plagues along with the Egyptians. But now on the fourth plague (and most of the rest) He sets apart the Israelites so that they do not suffer through the swarms of flies: But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land. I will put a division between My people and your people. (vv. 22-23a) In setting apart His people, the Lord is sending a message to Pharaoh. However, it may also be that He is blessing Moses by preparing His people for Moses’ leadership. That’s an important item, because we’ll see down the road that the Israelites challenging Moses’ leadership will be a continuing pattern. More plagues coming…!

Blessings!

Exodus 6:10-7:25

Dear RTB’ers, 

Good morning, folks. I’m trying to get back on track here. I’m still distracted by other things, but we move on!

The writer of Exodus gives us a small genealogy, covering lightly only Reuben and Simeon before moving on to detail with Levi. His clear intent is that we know who Moses and Aaron are, their descendancy: 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.” It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron. (vv. 6:26-27)

God has a plan: 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. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 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. (vv. 7:2-4) And He will carry out His plan as He chooses – in this case through His human agents, Moses and Aaron. And you and me…!

About the plagues… Let me share with you my Study Bible’s note: “The first nine plagues can be divided into three groups of three plagues each…, with the first plagues in each group introduced by a warning delivered to the pharaoh as he went to the Nile.” We can watch for this as we move through these first nine plagues. I recall that these plagues are all related to gods that the Egyptians worshiped. Today’s first plague, the water into blood relates to their god, Hapi, their god of the Nile and its annual flooding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapi_(Nile_god)#:~:text=Hapi%20(Ancient%20Egyptian%3A%20%E1%B8%A5%EA%9C%A5pj),greatly%20celebrated%20among%20the%20Egyptians.

Blessings!

Exodus 4:18-6:9

Dear RTB’ers, 

Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh: Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go…’” (v. 5:1a) Actually, the first of many encounters and the first of many rejections by Pharaoh to Moses’ requests. An aside: I’ve wondered if this Pharaoh is Moses’ grandfather. You may recall that it was Pharaoh’s daughter who pulled Moses from the basket in the river (Ex. 2:5) and took him to herself as her son. But now Moses’ is some 80 years old. How old would his grandfather Pharaoh have to be in order to be Moses’ grandfather? Not likely!

Earlier Moses had disputed with God about even taking on the task that he had been given. Today we find him equally displeased with God at Pharaoh’s harsh reaction to his request: Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.” (vv. 5:22-23) If I’m Moses, I’m thinking, “Isn’t there an easier way? You are God, the Creator and Sustainer of all living things! You can do anything and everything! Why do you trouble me with this mission?” I feel sorry for Moses.

Blessings!

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See also: January 18 (2023) / Exodus 4:18-6:30

Exodus 3-4

Dear RTB’ers, 

Still no word on my brother, Ron. We’ll drop by there as we leave our hotel, headed for home.

Back on May 6 I mentioned Scriptural incidents of the Lord having long one-person conversations, and I mentioned His appearing as a burning bush to Moses in Exodus. That’s where we are today, reading the full conversation. It’s interesting to play the bystander in that incident and to listen to Moses trying to decline the Lord’s call.

Sorry, folks, but I’m too distracted to write more, even though much more could be said. I’ll pick it up again from home tomorrow, Lord willing.

Blessings!

Exodus 1-2

Dear RTB’ers,

A very late post… Today was “ministry” for my brother, Ron. It’s a long story to recount the “swamp” that he has built for himself. For now, he had a late surgery and was still in postop late, so we haven’t yet seen him. So, tomorrow morning…

Today we begin Exodus; we’ll go about halfway through the book before we return to Acts, then back to Exodus, then back to Acts again. It’ll be a good journey!

I see a few key verses today. First, Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. (Ex. 1:8) We all recall from Genesis the king who DID know Joseph, the “king”, Pharaoh, whose dreams Joseph interpreted and who made Joseph “Prime Minister” over all of Egypt. Pharaoh allowed Joseph’s entire family to be brought to Egypt and he settled them in the “Land of Goshen”. This older Pharaoh had the highest regard for Joseph, but some 400 years have passed and dozens of Pharaohs are come and gone; these new “kings” don’t have the same memories. All these Israeli descendants have now become a problem and have been subjected to slave labor. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph…

Then, But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. … So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. … When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket … and … put the child in it and placed it … by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. (Ex. 1:17, 20-21; 2:3-4) I’m struck at what God had to do with the Israelites for their “savior” Moses to be born and to rise to his high position as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. And I often wonder at the many twists and turns in the many roads that I have traveled to bring me to where I am today.

And you? Twists and turns in a few roads in your life? Think back. Thank you, LORD!!

Blessings!

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See also: January 17 (2023) / Exodus 1-4:17

Acts 12:1-24

Dear RTB’ers, 

Chapter 12, our last reading in Acts for a while. James is killed; the Jews are happy; Peter is imprisoned, and the disciples are praying; Peter is miraculously released; Herod has the prison guards killed because his soldiers could not find Peter in the prison; and then Herod suffers big time! Today we see an identification for one of the three “James” names (v. 2) – one of the apostles, the brother of John and son of Zebedee. We had already seen in Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 another “James” name, when Paul visited Jerusalem and met with Peter and “James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19). The third James is listed in the Gospels as “James, the son of Alphaeus” (Matthew 10:2, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15). If you will, there is also possibly a fourth, “James, the Lesser”, mentioned in all three Synoptic Gospels in conjunction with his mother Mary at the cross and resurrection (i.e., …“Mary, the mother of James, the Lesser and Joses”; Mark 15:40). So Luke unravels this mystery a bit – but only a bit!

He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (vv. 2-3) What bothers me here is “…he saw that it pleased the Jews…” The Jewish leaders’ antagonism toward the Christians must have still been very strong. Then we have Herod …intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. (v. 4b) Sounds like a replay of Pilate bringing Jesus out before the people – who then denounced Him. Sad. Herod suffers an excruciatingly painful five days (according to the Jewish writer, Josephus), then death. I know that Jesus loved him to the end, but I wonder at Jesus’ meeting with him at Herod’s personal judgment day. How does Jesus show love when one of his created human beings has chosen to reject Him? Again, sad…

…he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark (v. 12) A footnote in my Study Bible indicated that Mary was Barnabas’ aunt – with a reference to Colossians 4:10, so Barnabas and (John) Mark are cousins. That lends some understanding to Paul and Barnabas splitting in chapter 15 (Acts 15:36-39) when Paul heads off on his second missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take his cousin, Mark, along, but Paul refused; he and Barnabas then went off in different directions. There is substantial evidence later in Paul’s letters that their split was not permanent, but healed over time.

Luke is fond of his “summary verses” (v. 24 today). We’ve already seen them in Acts 2:43-47, 4:32-35, 5:42, and we’ll see more in Acts 16:5, 19:20, 28:31.

Blessings!

Acts 11:19-30

Dear RTB’ers, 

Barnabas’ qualifications: …for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith… (v. 24a) What more could be said of a believer? And how does this “good man” serve the community of believers? …he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. (v. 23b) Here we see Barnabas again encouraging the believers as he did when he gave proceeds from the sale of land (Acts 4:36-37) and when he affirmed Paul to the Jerusalem church (Acts 9:27). One of my favorite Bible characters. …for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith… Well qualified!!

Barnabas was sent to Antioch by the Jerusalem leaders. When he arrived and surveyed the situation he immediately determined that he should find Saul and bring him. This again reflects Barnabas’ confidence in Saul’s conversion and his knowledge of Paul’s gifts. Paul was entirely literate, probably conversant in Greek and Aramaic, and was raised in the Roman city of Tarsus (modern Turkey). So he would have been well qualified to meet with those Hellenistic Christians in Antioch – a cosmopolitan city, third only to Rome and Alexandria in the Roman Empire. It’s amazing how God puts the people he needs in the places where they are needed.

So I ask myself, “Am I where I am needed?” Are you?

Blessings!

Acts 11:1-18

Dear RTB’ers, 

Today I saw two items that struck me: unity within the church and apostolic leadership. First, unity: Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying… (vv. 1-2) There is initial doubt among the Jewish Christians of the Gentiles becoming believers, but then Peter tells his full story. When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God… (v. 18a). My Study Bible also pointed out a number of other unification items that we have seen thus far in Acts 6:5, 11:1, 11:22.

Second, apostolic leadership: the Jerusalem leadership of the church was quick to double-check work that was going on elsewhere. You may recall back in Acts 8 that Peter and John were sent to Samaria after Philip and others had been preaching to the Samaritans. Now we have the church “testing” Peter’s activities in Caesarea. We continue to have that apostolic leadership in our church today. Our priests are subject to our bishops and our bishops to our Archbishop and Archbishop Beach to God Himself. But this leadership is a two-way interaction. Foley Beach, our Bishop and Archbishop offers advice and counsel to rectors in ADOTS, but he also seeks their input and input from other leaders within GAFCON on matters where discussion is needed. Without this model of apostolic leadership unrestrained pastors and teachers can create problems that wisdom “from above” might have forestalled. We at St. Andrew’s are truly blessed!

One more item on this apostolic leadership – think back to our own beginnings in 2003/2004. When this “group of 80” was willing to leave St. John’s and call David Brannen as their rector, the first thing that they did was to seek a “covering” for themselves. This they found in the Ugandan Diocese of Bunyoro-Kitara, wherein they received the Godly leadership of Bishop Nathan, a relationship that is still strong in our church today. GLORY!!

Blessings!

Acts 10:34-48

Dear RTB’ers, 

My apologies for not posting yesterday. We had driven through the night, through hours of drenching rain and arrived at my sister’s, safe but tired. Posting was just not in me!

So, yesterday’s reading (Acts 9:43-10:33) – Peter and Cornelius. The story is relatively straightforward, an angel appearing to Cornelius and the Spirit speaking to Peter, all leading to today’s conclusion. First, a confusing statement, Peter speaking: Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. (vv. 34-35) Obvious question: Gandhi…? Other “good” people? What does it mean to be “acceptable to Him”? How to reconcile Peter’s statement with Jesus’ own words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) But this is a longer theological discussion!!

God raised Him on the third day and made Him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. (vv. 40-41) The Gospels only report on Jesus’ appearances with His disciples, but in reading about these appearances, Jesus is not appearing to anyone beyond His disciples. And Peter makes it clear here that Jesus appeared only to His disciples, which begs the question – why did Jesus not appear to anyone except His disciples? I’m imagining the impact He might have had if He had appeared to Pontius Pilate or to Annas or Caiaphas or other influential Jewish leaders. Look at the impact He had on Paul – and on the entire Christian Church to this day – when He appeared to him. But please bear with me – with all that, it is always clear to me that I am not God!! He did what He did for His purposes.

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. (v. 45) This is a striking outcome, completely unexpected by Peter and his friends. A few years ago I posted about Cornelius’ “expectant faith” – that he had an expectation that things would be done according to what he believed God was doing. So here we have an example of an “un-expectation” – God “showed up” in the form of the Holy Spirit and surprised Peter and his friends. Unexpectant faith! God can and will show up when we least expect Him. That is, when there are “hard cases” out there where we don’t see any possibility for God to act – He can! Have you got anyone or anything in mind right now? Specific people? Ukraine? Israel/Hamas? Pray and wait, wait and pray. Thank you, Lord!

Blessings!

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See also: November 25 (2023) / Acts 10-12

Please see the May 10 post.