Exodus – Page 12 – Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment.

January 31, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 31: Matthew 5, Exodus 15, Exodus 16 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 5 is about the sermon on the mount, and begins with the Beatitudes. After that Jesus adds the spiritual dimension to the Law. He has not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill the Law. First Jesus deals with murder, where vengeance is out, instead be reconciled with your adversary before you can be reconciled with God. Then He deals with adultery; you are not only not to do it, you are not allowed to even think about it. Likewise, the only time divorce is allowed is for already committed adultery. Piling on, he addresses taking of oaths, this was serious business under the Law, but Jesus says “Let your yes be yes and your no, no”. Furthermore it was said “An eye for an eye” But Jesus tells us to pray for our adversaries, no matter what. And love your enemies.

Exodus 15 tells of the songs of Moses and Miriam, as God had delivered them from the Egyptians. Then they come to the bitter waters of Marah and the sweet waters of Elim.

In Exodus 16 God gives them Manna (what is it?) and quail, and Moses gave the instructions on how to gather it. And they ate Manna for 40 years.

January 30, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 30: Matthew 4, Exodus 13, Exodus 14 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 4 tells of Jesus being led into the wilderness and be tempted of Satan as he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus combated Satan with scripture, but Satan could quote scripture too. In the end Satan left him and Jesus began his ministry and called his first disciples.

In Exodus 13 the feast of unleavened bread is formulated and the consecrating of the firstborn to the LORD. The Hebrews have escaped from Egypt, and a proposed route is suggested.

Exodus 14 then tells of the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and how the pursuing Egyptian army drowned.

January 29, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 29: Matthew 3, Exodus 10, Exodus 11, Exodus 12 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 3 presents John the Baptist, preaching repentance. He came to prepare the way of the Lord. Jesus came to be baptized by John. Afterwards the holy Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus and a voice from heaven said: “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”.

Exodus 10: More plagues, the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness. Now the LORD is hardening Pharaoh’s heart.

In Exodus 11 Moses and Aaron proclaim the tenth and final plague: The death of the firstborn. Interestingly enough the plagues of Egypt are also in the Quran, four are the same, five are different, and one is missing altogether. Guess which one!

Exodus 12 tells of how God instituted the Passover. The name comes from the action that night, that when the angel of death came to kill every firstborn in Egypt, if he sees the blood of the pascal lamb om the doorposts and the lentil of the house, he will pass over that house. The chapter is fantastic, read it and marvel!

January 28, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 28: Matthew 2, Exodus 8, Exodus 9 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

In Matthew 2 we get to meet with the Magi (probably about 15 of them including servants) coming to Jerusalem to ask about the King of the Jews. This worries King Herod and all Jerusalem, and Herod asks the Scribes and the learned men where he was to be born. They answer “In Bethlehem of Judea”, but are otherwise remarkably uninterested. The wise men go to Jesus (he is by now at least a few months old), but do not report back to Herod, but return another way. Meanwhile Joseph s told to get out of there and flee to Egypt. Herod gets furious that he has been had and murders all male children under the age of 2 in and around Bethlehem. Herod dies soon after, and goes back to Nazareth. In the Middle East, Christians are now called Nazarenes.

Exodus 8 is very interesting. It tells of three more plagues of Egypt, the plague of frogs, the plague of gnats and the plague of flies. The Egyptian magicians had no trouble duplicating elements of the plague of frogs, but when it comes to the plague of gnats they throw up their hands and said “This is the finger of God”. From then on they cannot duplicate any of the plagues.

In Exodus 9 there are three more plagues, the plague of livestock, the plague of boils and the plague of hail. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard.

January 27, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 27: Matthew 1, Exodus 5, Exodus 6, Exodus 7 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 1 tells of the spiritual genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham. Joseph was of the kingly line and adopted Jesus. It then tells of the birth of Jesus. It also tells of Mary remaining a virgin until the birth of Jesus.

in Exodus 5 Moses and Aaron goes to Pharaoh and ask for a 3 day reprieve for his people so they can go and worship God. Like all dictators Pharaoh reacts to this petition and makes life even more miserable for the Hebrews, he wants them to gather their own straw and still make as many bricks as before. The Hebrews blame Moses for stirring up trouble for them.

In Exodus 6 the LORD (Jehovah) promises deliverance and will give them the promised land. Then comes an interlude where the names of the heads of the clans of Israel are listed. Moses protests and does not want to talk to Pharaoh any more, so Aaron will speak in his place.

In Exodus 7 God promises Moses to give him all he must say, and Aaron is to tell it to Pharaoh. God also says he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and not let the people go. Aaron threw down his rod and it became a snake. The Egyptians duplicated it. The first plague out of ten occurred, turning the water of the Nile to blood.

January 26, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 26: Psalm 7, Psalm 8, Exodus 3, Exodus 4 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Psalm 7 is a shiggaion, a dithyrambic ode of David. I would love to hear what the music to this Psalm sounded like.

Psalm 8 on the other hand has been set many times to music. Even I have sung it many times, both as a choir number and the first verse as an introit. Looking for the music I found a far better rendition of the Psalm, this one by Marty Goetz.

Exodus 3 is where God reveals himself to Moses in the form of a burning bush and declares “I am that I am”. Jesus makes a similar declaration in John 8:58 “Before Abraham, I am”.

In Exodus 4 God gives Moses his call. At first Moses comes up with one objection after another, but God persuades him with signs that he must go back to Egypt, face Pharaoh and lead his people.

January 25, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 25: Proverbs 2, Exodus 1, Exodus 2 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Proverbs 2 continues where Proverbs 1 left off, telling of the moral benefits of wisdom.

A few hundred years has passed since the end of Genesis and Exodus 1 tells how the Hebrews multiplied and became a perceived threat to the Egyptians. The Egyptians told the Hebrew midwives that every boy they delivered must be thrown into the Nile, but every girl were to be let to live.

Which seamlessly leads into Exodus 2, how Moses when he was born was thrown into the Nile, but he was placed in a papyrus basket and laid crying in the reeds. Pharaoh’s daughter heard it, picked him up and asked her servant to find somebody to nurse him. Of course she found Moses’ own mother to nurse him. After he was weaned Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s household and got educated. He did remember he was a Hebrew, so when he saw and Egyptian mistreat a Hebrew he killed the Egyptian. This became known and Moses fled to Midian, where he spent 40 years tending flocks. Great reading.