Exodus 10:1-29

Exodus 10 (English Standard Version)

Exodus 10

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, ²and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD."

³So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, ⁵and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, ⁶and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.'" Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, "How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?" ⁸So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, "Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?" ⁹Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD." ¹⁰But he said to them, "The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. ¹¹No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking." And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left." ¹³So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. ¹⁵They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. ¹⁷Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me." ¹⁸So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the LORD. ¹⁹And the LORD turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. ²⁰But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

²¹Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt." ²²So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ²³They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. ²⁴Then 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." ²⁵But Moses said, "You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. ²⁶Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there." ²⁷But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. ²⁸Then Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die." ²⁹Moses said, "As you say! I will not see your face again."

Pastor’s Commentary:

In Exodus 10 the tension rises even more. Pharaoh progressively mediates between compromise and harshness. First he will let the men go, but that isn’t good enough for God. Then he will let everybody go, but only they have to leave their flocks and herds behind. But none of this will work. God will bring all His people up out of Egypt.

At the end of chapter 10 Pharaoh tells Moses that Moses will never see his face again and live. This is second to last act in the hardening of heart that has been taking place. Now, not only will Pharaoh not listen to the words of Yahweh, but Pharaoh rejects Yahweh’s chosen means of speaking to Pharaoh. Nothing good for Pharaoh can come of this!

God was going to have His victory over Pharaoh and over the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Why? So that every child of Israel would know that God is indeed the LORD. “That you may know that I am the LORD” is God’s constant refrain throughout the first chapters of the book of Exodus. God’s intention is that the people will remember the great and glorious deeds of the LORD throughout their days and find comfort and strength in these deeds.

So, what has God done for you? What can you point to as you say, “I remember the great and glorious deeds of the LORD”? He has not sent locusts or darkness against your enemies. But He has sent His own dear Son! Jesus came preaching a kingdom of the forgiveness of sins. He came proclaiming the defeat of Satan. He came announcing the end of death. And He didn’t just proclaim it, but He accomplished it! He hung on the cross for our sins. His blood blotted them all out. God no longer sees our sin. We have been freed from slavery to sin. And because we are freed from sin we are freed from death too! Thanks be to God!

Exodus 8:1-9:35

Daily Reading for Wednesday, Week 6

Exodus 8-9:35 (English Standard Version)

Exodus 8

The Second Plague: Frogs

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. ³The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. ⁴The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants."'" ⁵And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!'" ⁶So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then 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." ⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, "Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile." ¹⁰And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. ¹¹The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile." ¹²So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. ¹³And the LORD did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. ¹⁴And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

The Third Plague: Gnats

¹⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.'"¹⁷And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.¹⁹Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

The Fourth Plague: Flies

²⁰Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. ²²But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. ²³Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen."'"²⁴And the LORD did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

²⁵Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." ²⁶But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us." ²⁸So 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. Plead for me." ²⁹Then Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD." ³⁰So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.³¹And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. ³²But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

Exodus 9

The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.²For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,³behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴ But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die."'" ⁵And the LORD set a time, saying, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land."⁶And the next day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. ⁷And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt." ¹⁰So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. ¹¹And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.¹² But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

¹³Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ¹⁴For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. ¹⁵For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶ But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. ¹⁷ You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.¹⁸Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them."'" ²⁰Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, ²¹but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt." ²³Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.²⁴There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.²⁵The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

²⁷Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, "This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." ²⁹Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. ³⁰But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God." ³¹(The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³²But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) ³³So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. ³⁴But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

Pastor’s Commentary:

In our text today we have the second through the seventh plague of the ten plagues of Egypt. Each of these plagues is like God kicking one of the props out from under Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s country, and his religion. The second plague was against an Egyptian goddess named Heqt, who took the form of a frog sometimes. In fact, it was taboo to step on a frog in Egypt. Here God gives them so many frogs that they can’t help but stepping on them and trying to sweep them out of their houses. Imagine the sticky slimy mess that one would make just by walking through your house! Ugh. But this plague served to demonstrate that God was actually in control of the frogs of Egypt, not Heqt.

There are times we would like to think that we are in control. It is usually at times like these that God brings something into our lives to take away that silly thought. No, what God has in store for us is always good. He is in control, and His Word details what is best for us.

The plague of gnats (or perhaps lice) was an embarrassment to the god called Geb. Geb was in charge of the earth of Egypt. Offerings would be made to Geb for the fruitfulness of the earth. But from the earth came these gnats instead! In fact, it is likely that the priests could not enter into their temples to offer their sacrifices since the gnats would have made them unclean. Therefore, they tell Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God. We cannot replicate this plague.”

The fourth plague involves swarms of some kind of insect. The Hebrew is not clear about the kind of insect that invaded Egypt. It could have been the scarab beetle. Or it could have been a gadfly that perhaps caused blindness in some people. Whatever the case, it is probable that this plague was against Ammon Ra, a god of Egypt. Ammon Ra had the head of a scarab beetle. And yet there are swarms of them all around, controlled by God! It’s as if God is saying, “Yeah, your god is nothing but a bug.”

The fifth plague was against all the livestock of Egypt. This is significant, because Egyptians worshiped the livestock in their land. This is especially the case where the Apis bull is concerned. The Apis bull was regarded as a prophet in Egypt. When the Apis bull died, Egyptian priests would go throughout Egypt to find its replacement. But here, they all die at the same time! God stops the false worship of the animals!

The sixth plague was against Imhotep, the god of medicine. Imhotep could not protect even the priests from the painful boils.

The seventh plague was against Nut, the sky goddess. As the hail fell down and destroyed everything an Egyptian would have to wonder where she was, and whether or not his sacrifices to her had worked.

All of these plagues served to show the Egyptians that their gods and goddesses were not in control, but that the God of Moses and the children of Israel really was. Some of Pharaoh’s servants believed God with the seventh plague, but Pharaoh continued to harden his heart against God.

Let us remember that we should look to the true God for every good in this life and beyond. Everything else this world trusts in will indeed fail. But God has worked salvation and peace for us through Jesus Christ our Savior!

Exodus 7:1-25

Daily Reading for Tuesday, Week 6

Exodus 7:1-25 (English Standard Version)

Exodus 7

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

¹And the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. ² 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. ³ButI will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, ⁴Pharaoh 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. ⁵The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them." ⁶Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. ⁷Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,⁹"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'" ¹⁰So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. ¹²For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent.¹⁶And you shall say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far, you have not obeyed." ¹⁷Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. ¹⁸The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile."'"¹⁹And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"

²⁰Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. ²³Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

²⁵Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.

Pastor’s Commentary:

God knew that Pharaoh would not listen to Him. Pharaoh had hardened his own heart against God, saying, “Who is the LORD, I don’t know Him!” Now God would further harden Pharaoh’s heart to get glory for Himself over Pharaoh and over Egypt’s gods and goddesses so that the Egyptians would know that the LORD is God and that there is none like Him.

There are times when we allow ourselves to put the LORD and His promises into the background. We forget to study the scriptures. We act as if going to church is a burden. May God protect us from hardening our hearts against Him! Actually, this is exactly what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “Lead us not into temptation.” Martin Luther’s explanation to that phrase in the Small Catechism reads: “What does this mean? God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.”

God got victory over the gods of Egypt. He started with the Nile. In ancient Egypt the Nile was thought to be divine, because it brought life to the surrounding countryside. But now, God has Aaron hold his staff over the Nile. And the Nile became blood! In fact, all the water of Egypt became blood, even the water that was in the bowls and cisterns! God’s power is amazing. Yet the magicians were able to use satanic power to do the same thing. Therefore, Pharaoh hardened his heart even more.

When we consider how much God has done for us, it is hard to have a hard heart. Think of it this way. If God did not spare His own Son, but graciously gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? The fact is, God gives you whatever He knows that you need, both for this life, and most importantly for eternal life in heaven. This eternal life is secured through Jesus our Savior.

Exodus 5:1-6:30

Daily Reading for Monday, Week 6

Exodus 5

Making Bricks Without Straw

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" ²But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." ³Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword." ⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens." ⁵And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!" ⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, ⁷"You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, 'Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.' ⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words."

¹⁰So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh, 'I will not give you straw. ¹¹Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.'" ¹²So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.¹³The taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw." ¹⁴And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?"

¹⁵Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, "Why do you treat your servants like this? ¹⁶No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, 'Make bricks!' And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people." ¹⁷But he said, "You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.' ¹⁸Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks." ¹⁹The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, "You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day." ²⁰They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; ²¹and they said to them, "The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

²²Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? ²³For 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."

Exodus 6

God Promises Deliverance

¹But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."

²God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD.³I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. ⁴ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. ⁵Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷Iwill take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'" ⁹Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

¹⁰So the LORD said to Moses, ¹¹"Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land." ¹²But Moses said to the LORD, "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?" ¹³But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben.¹⁵The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. ¹⁶These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. ¹⁷The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. ¹⁸The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. ¹⁹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰ Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. ²¹ The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.²²The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.²³Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. ²⁵Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.

²⁶These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: "Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts." ²⁷It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

²⁸On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹the LORD said to Moses, "I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you."³⁰But Moses said to the LORD, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?"

Pastor’s commentary:

Often the workings of God appear very strange at the beginning. Think about it this way. The children of Israel did not think that Moses was doing the right thing. They doubted whether or not God was really going to lead them up out of Egypt. This was because the Egyptians had made their work even more severe. Pharaoh made them make bricks without giving them the straw to use in making them. The people therefore asked God to judge Moses for bringing such hardship upon them, but Moses was only doing what God had commanded! You can understand a bit of frustration in Moses’ words, “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.”

Perhaps you can sympathize with Moses. You know that God has called you to be a mother, a father, a worker, and a Christian. But it seems that only hardship results from that call. Maybe you even doubt God’s good purposes in your life because of all the hardship that comes upon His servants.

But even so, God is merciful and gracious. He will save the people in spite of the fact they would not listen to His word. God will get judgment against Pharaoh and Egypt’s gods and goddesses. Pharaoh foolishly says, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” But by the end of Exodus 15, Pharaoh knows that the LORD is God, and that there is no other.

Therefore, take courage from the LORD. Even in the middle of the uncertainties of this life, be certain of God’s love for you in Jesus Christ your Savior. He has delivered you from the Pharaoh of Satan and the slavery of your sin. He has brought you up out of death with an outstretched arm and a mighty hand. That deliverance sure looked strange when it was worked out. It was Jesus’ death on the cross that bought our forgiveness and life. But three days later the deliverance was as clear as Easter Sunday morning sun, and as sure as Jesus’ resurrected body.

Exodus 3:1-4:31

Daily Reading for Saturday, Week 5

Exodus 3

The Burning Bush

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." ⁴When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." ⁵Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." ⁶And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." ¹¹But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"¹²He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

¹³Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" ¹⁴God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" ¹⁵God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ¹⁶Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, ¹⁷and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey."' ¹⁸And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.' ¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. ²⁰So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. ²¹And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, ²²but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians."

Exodus 4

Moses Given Powerful Signs

¹Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'" ²The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." ³And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ⁴But the LORD said to Moses, "Put out your hand and catch it by the tail"—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— ⁵"that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." ⁶Again, the LORD said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak."And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. ⁷Then God said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. ⁸"If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. ⁹If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

¹⁰But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." ¹¹Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? ¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." ¹³But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else." ¹⁴Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. ¹⁶ He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. ¹⁷And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs."

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." ¹⁹And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead." ²⁰So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²²Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, ²³and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'"

²⁴At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. ²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" ²⁶So he let him alone. It was then that she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.

²⁷The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ³⁰ Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.³¹And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Pastor’s Commentary:

God calls Moses to lead His people up out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Moses at first resists the call. He seems to have good objections. He can’t talk very well. He is pretty much a nobody, tending the flock of his father-in-law. He isn’t one of the great men. “Who am I that I should lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? Why will the people believe me? Send someone else!”

God is patient with Moses, up to a point. God promises to be with Moses. He patiently reminds Moses that He made the mouth of man. God gives Moses several signs to show that God sent Moses to lead them up out of Egypt. God even reveals to Moses His Name, “I AM WHO I AM.” And when Moses finally says, “Send someone else,” then God’s patience is tried enough. “I’ve given you Aaron your brother as a spokesman. He will be very glad when you speak with him.”

The point here is not that God calls some to greatness. But the main point is that God delivers His people through His chosen tools. Moses was to be a tool in God’s hands. God would use Moses to deliver His people from the hand of Pharaoh. Moses was not great in his own work, but God in His greatness used poor humble Moses to accomplish great things.

Your work may not seem so great. You probably are not called to deliver people out of bondage to slavery. You probably are not called in the same way that Moses was, out of a burning bush that didn’t burn up. But God has spoken to you in His Word. God has given you a calling. God in His greatness uses poor humble people to accomplish great things. It’s through farmers that God feeds the world. It’s through mothers that God nurtures children. It’s through fathers that God disciplines children in love. It is through the parents that God teaches children the right way to go. Teachers, pastors, doctors, nurses, cleaning ladies, janitors, and even garbage truck drivers are all knit into this amazing tapestry that God uses to work great things here on earth. Your calling from God is precious and true and God uses it to bless many many people. By God’s grace, you have a high and holy calling.

As part of the proof of God’s call to Moses, God gives Moses His divine Name. God says, “I AM WHO I AM.” The point is, God is unique. There is none like Him. He alone created this world. He calls people to their vocations and He alone redeems His people. He does not give His glory to another. Whenever you see the word “LORD” in all capital letters like that, the word behind that word LORD in the Hebrew is “I AM WHO I AM” or “Yahweh.”

The LORD told Moses, “When you go back to Egypt… Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” To redeem His firstborn son from Egypt, God requires the firstborn of Pharaoh. But to redeem the whole world, God’s Firstborn Son is delivered into our hands. We killed Him by our sin. But He saved us from our sins by His suffering, death, and resurrection. May we bow our heads in worship when we see that God has visited us and redeemed us from sin, death, and the devil!

There is a very interesting hard to understand passage in Exodus 4:24-26. But when you look at what God promised through circumcision, things become a little clearer. God had told Abraham that circumcision was the sign of the covenant between Himself and Abraham. Now part of that covenant promise was about to be fulfilled through God using Moses to bring God’s people to the Promised Land, the land that God had promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But Moses’ son did not bear the sign of the covenant! He was not circumcised! God had told Abraham that all his descendants should be circumcised on the eighth day, and Moses had willfully disobeyed God. Perhaps it was through the influence of Zipporah, his Midianite wife. She was obviously upset with Moses about the circumcision. Really, despising circumcision is akin to denying the promise of God. No wonder God had to further humble Moses. Yet, even so, God continues to work out the salvation of His people.

Exodus 2:1-25

Daily Reading for Friday, Week 5

Exodus 2

The Birth of Moses

¹Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. ²The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. ⁴And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. ⁶When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews’ children." ⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" ⁸And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. ¹²He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?" ¹⁴He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known." ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?" ¹⁹They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock."²⁰He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. ²²She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."

God Hears Israel’s Groaning

²³ During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Pastor’s Commentary:

She named him Moses because she said, “I drew him out of the water.” Moses sounds like the Hebrew word for “to draw out.” Moses was placed into the water by his parents in the hopes that he would be saved from the wrath of Pharaoh. Those hopes were proven true as Pharaoh’s daughter found him, adopted him, and provided for him. Moses would grow up in Pharaoh’s court, with the best teachers and minds of Egypt at his disposal. Still, Moses yearned for the freedom of his people.

Later, God humbled Moses with the realization that Moses could not deliver his people by himself. “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?" At that time nobody had. God had not yet commanded Moses to lead His people up out of Egypt. God had to humble Moses to make sure that Moses understood that it was not by Moses’ power, but by God’s power that the people of Israel would be led out of Egypt. Moses’ sin of killing the Egyptian was found out quickly, and Moses almost died because of it. He had to flee to Midian. He married Zipporah, Reuel’s daughter. Reuel was also known as Jethro. Zipporah gave birth to a son whom Moses called Gershom. Gershom sounds like “sojourner” or “foreigner” in Hebrew.

But all the while, God had His mind on His people. God heard every cry for help that went up to Him from his people. God remembered the covenant that He had with His people, and God planned their rescue. There would be a day when God would deliver His people through the water to the Promised Land.

God has also drawn you up from the water. You too have been adopted into a royal family. You also have all the benefits of living in the household of the King. And yet your salvation is not something that you are able to accomplish. Like Moses, you and I must be humbled from time to time to show that this wonderful salvation is not from us, but from God. In Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection God has worked salvation for us. Through the waters of Holy Baptism we are adopted into God’s family and given a wonderful place in God’s kingdom. Know for sure that God has rescued you from sin, death, and from the power of the devil. He has heard your groaning under the slavery to sin and has indeed saved you! Though you and I are wandering in the Midian of this world, we have a home in heaven through the washing and rebirth that God works at Baptism.