Posts that reference the book of Exodus

Don’t Follow the Crowd

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. Exodus 23:2

Don’t follow the crowd.
That’s good enough advice on its own.
As believers we don’t line up with the world.
We’ve always been a minority.

This is bigger, though.
From the Hebrew, from the cultural context, it’s more like
Don’t follow a crowd because you’re afraid you’ll look foolish
Or weird, or backward, or bigoted,
If you don’t.

The second half is don’t take sides
When you have no personal knowledge.
It specifically applies to Israel’s beginning court system.
It applies more broadly to gossip …
To social media rants … To stirring the pot.
Just don’t.

God’s people must be brave enough
To make a stand apart from the crowd.
To stand for righteousness,
For grace, compassion, and love.
Even if that means
Standing alone.

Exploring Exodus: Stand Still

By Paula Wiseman

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:13-14

I love these verses.
Add them to your to-do list.

Do not be afraid.
I know it’s easier said than done.
But you don;t have to be afraid or anxious.
Stand still.
Don’t run.
Stand firm.
See the salvation of the LORD.
Watch for it.
See His deliverance coming just like He promised.
See the Egyptians.
Oh we see the enemies, the problems,
The difficulties, the struggles.
Know the LORD will fight for you.
See God said what He was going to do in verse 4.
Moses was the only one who believed Him.
Be like Moses.
Hold your peace.
Stay calm, the NLT says.
Hold on to the supernatural peace (Phil 4:7)

Stand still.
God has your back.
Actually, He goes before you
And He guards your flanks.

Stand firm.
Hold your peace.
Let God be God.

Exploring Exodus: Testimony

By Paula Wiseman

“You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ Exodus 13:8

Israel was taught to tell the story
Of what the Lord had done.
The exodus was never meant to become dry history.
It was vibrant and personal.

It is a testimony.
You shall tell.
You shall say,
“It is because of what the Lord did for me.”

Things used to be one way
“I was a slave.”
The Lord intervened.
Now things are different.
“I am free.”

The exodus was amazing and miraculous.
It was God’s direct action.
His mighty hand.
There was no doubt, no question
He saved His people from bondage.

But the exodus is a type.
We were held in bondage to sin.
Through God’s direct action,
His mighty hand.
Jesus Christ saved us.

I was lost.
Jesus intervened.
Now I’m saved.

Now, that’s a testimony.
Vibrant and personal.

Do we tell it?

Exploring Exodus: Mixed Multitude

By Paula Wiseman

And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. Exodus 12:37-38

A mixed multitude
These were not descendants of Jacob
But they saw the miracles
The mighty hand of God
And they wanted to be counted with the winning side.

Later in Numbers
Wandering in the wilderness
They were among the first to complain
About God’s great provision
And they spread discontent among God’s people

It still happens today.
People attach to body of Christ
They say the right words,
They want to be on the winning side,
But they spread discontent among God’s people.

Through the parable of the sower,
And experience itself,
We know that when things grow difficult,
When the way leads through the wilderness
The mixed multitude will be the first to walk away.

Don’t join them.

Exploring Exodus: See Through

By Paula Wiseman

Pharaoh retorted, “The LORD will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones! I can see through your evil plan. Exodus 10:10

In Exodus 10, Moses is just doing as God instructed.
He is courageously confronting the Pharaoh.

Pharaoh’s advisors are tired of Moses
They’re tired of the plagues, and the destruction and the suffering.

But when Moses asks one more time to let the people go,
Pharaoh responds with sarcasm and mockery.

Not only that, he accused Moses of the worst motives.
Pharaoh believed he was a living god,
And that he could see exactly what was going on.

So don’t be surprised, or insulted, or scandalized,
If, when you’re just doing what God said,
You meet with resistance and opposition,
Sarcasm, mockery, and even false accusations.

Instead, know that God is at work.
Stay faithful.
Because God is the only one
Who sees through the plans and schemes
And He sees us through as well.

All Things New: The Charge

By Paula Wiseman

As a new year begins, our thoughts naturally tend toward making a fresh start. As believers, we have already experienced the freshest start possible. Our sins have been wiped away completely, and we are a new creation. Paul says as much in 2 Corinthians 5:17. We have a new birth, new life, new position, new nature, new goals, new relationships, a new mission, a new purpose … and many more. But the key to all of this, we learned was God’s divine initiative. We also learned He manifested that initiative through covenants. In Jesus’s last night with His disciples, He issued a new charge that would forever mark them — and us — as His followers. We learn about it from the Apostle John.

The Charge to Love

That night in the Upper Room, before announcing He was leaving, or that He would be betrayed, even before the supper itself, Jesus gave His followers a new commandment.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35

The command to love wasn’t necessarily new. In Leviticus, God had instructed His people to love their neighbors and strangers as themselves (Lev. 19:18, 34). This charge is new for two key reasons.

“As I have loved you.”

Jesus commanded to love as He loved. That means we love sacrificially. Jesus made God’s love real and tangible. We are to do the same. People need to understand God loves them through the things we do, the ways we serve. It is a love not bound to emotions, but by commitment. It is the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love. It is costly because it is deep and loyal but it is our highest calling.

“By this all men will know”

Loving like Christ loves is distinctive. In fact, it is THE distinctive of the new community of believers. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus lays out the principles this new community would operate under.

The Motivation for Love

In Exodus 20, God began the Ten Commandments with the statement, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Exodus 20:2). Because of who God is and what He has done, He has a right to call for our obedience.

John expands on that, though, in his first epistle.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11

That rescue from slavery was a prelude to the ultimate rescue – saving us from our sins. God did that out of His great love for us. Our proper response to His action (to His initiative) is love. We demonstrate our love for God by our love for one another.

The Charge Fulfilled

A principal established in the Old Testament is that obedience brings blessings, not in quid pro quo kind of way, but it is undeniable that living God’s way is best for us. John writes quite a bit about love, both God’s love for us and our charge to love others. If you read the Gospel of John and his epistles, especially 1 John, love is a major theme. I want to highlight three verses in particular.

The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 1 John 2:10 – It is evidence of a transformed life to love others the way Christ loved. Plus, if you think about it, there are a host of sins you will not commit if you love others like Christ. You won’t lie or cheat someone. You won’t commit sexual sins. You won’t be overcome with arrogance. Everything is different.

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 1 John 3:14 – It is evidence and reassurance to us that we love others. If we ever have doubts about our salvation, we can always return to this checkpoint – do we love others?

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12 – Now don’t let the word perfected cause confusion. John doesn’t mean that God’s love is somehow lacking until we get involved. That’s not it at all. This draws on an older meaning of perfected. God’s love is completed when we love others. Think of it like this — God’s love began with God the Father, with His redemptive plan. His love was manifested, made evident in Jesus Christ. God’s love then reaches a final stage when His people demonstrate love toward others, imitating Him.

Of course, we’ll never be able to love perfectly as long as we are in our natural bodies. But that is a post for another day. We’ll wrap up next week when take a closer look at the time when all things, including all of creation, are made new.