Ex 18

This is a remarkable encounter between Jethro, Moses's f-i-l and himself. Zipporah, Moses's wife and his two sons are now in the story where they went to Jethro for a visit. The two sons, Gershom and Eliezer were name such given their situation of being in a strange land and the other being helped by God through Moses' ordeal. Jethro, Zipporah and the two sons came to meet Moses in the desert. Apparently, Jethro was truly a believer himself and was praiseful after hearing the events in Moses and the Israelites' life. After they met, they both burnt offerings and broke bread along with Aaron. He then gave Moses the best advice of his life which was to delegate the responsibility of judging all of the disputes that arose during the day between the Israelites. He told him to choose capable and godly men to settle the disputes between the people and it was Moses' responsibility to be the people's representative between them and God.  Only the difficult cases would be brought to Moses. This is turn set up the concepts of judges in the hearts and minds of the Israelites - a concept that would transcend after Joshua's death. Moses saw the wisdom in this and proceeded to carry this out. Jethro then returned to his own country.

What a God-send, Jethro was! He saw the situation and because of the respect and the wisdom that he imparted preempted a potentially harmful situation for Moses and the Israelites while preserving the integrity of God's intent.  I pray that I may do the same for my sons when the situation ever arises.

So glad that the snow was minimal and should be gone with the warming temps. The next snow blast should come on early Sat morning but should be light albeit with much colder temps. Still looking forward to seeing the SW 3D with Irene and David.

Praise for today: Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharoah, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly. Ex 18: 10-11

Ex 17: 8-17

This is the first battle that the Israelites had to fight on their own (albeit with the Lord's help). This is also the first time that Joshua is mentioned by name in the Bible. The plan was simple, when Moses had his arms raised, they were winning, but when the hands dropped they were losing. It got to the point that he needed help (Aaron and Hur) to prop up his arms to ensure the victory. This battle raged from sunup to sundown until the Amalekites were defeated. The significance of the battle was captured when Moses built an altar and called it the Lord is my Banner. Additionally, the Amalekites would be the sworn enemy of the Lord and the Israelites from generation to generation.

The strength to keep the arms up had to be excruciating. I know what it's like to do that for a short, short time since the blood is draining down and the hands grow numb. What it must be to do that for at least 12 hours and then build an altar of significance. The things we do ....

Long day coming up with a business dinner to boot today. Hopefully the nuisance snow showers won't make the trek too bad.

Praise for today: Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of  his pasture, the flock under his care.  Ps 95: 6-7

Ex 17: 1-7

Again the people who have traveled with Moses become discontent and quarrel with Moses now for water. They again put the Lord to the test and look backward rather than forward to His promises and protection. Unfortunately, Moses get the brunt of their attacks and is near being stoned for all that he has done. When things go well, he gets no credit and when things are bad - he will get all of the blame. In this tenuous situation, God tells him to go ahead and along with the elders, he is to strike the rock with the staff at Horeb. The rock will spew forth water for the people to drink. So often the events in the Bible spawn the names of the places and this was no different. The place was called Massah and Meribah because of the testing and quarreling that took place. In Numbers 20, the event is recalled and there is where the faith of Moses shows impatience and as a result God didn't take him into the Promised Land.

Sometimes I feel that the whole world (or at least the part that is entrusted to me) is on my shoulders. Having done the work gig for over 38 years and being the head of the house has given me a lot of responsibility and burden both financially and spiritually. I am so glad and grateful that the Lord is a part of this and that He is the one that has filled my family with His Spirit. While I will still have concerns and at times angst, I do know that He is in control and He is the One that will see us through.

Praise for today: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all of the earth! Ps 8: 9

Ex 16

Grumblings... the ground swell of the people's dissatisfaction as to their current condition of lack of food had them dreaming of the life of slavery and the last meals that they had. What have you done for me lately? Moses made it clear that in essence they, the Israelites, were grumbling not against he and Aaron but against the Lord himself. God then gave them instructions as far has how they were to eat and when to gather (Sabbath) as a means to test their reliance and obedience. The dew on the ground became the manna or daily bread which was to be measured by the omer. While they were supposed to gather just what they needed for the day, some disobeyed and theirs became maggot infested. The rules for the Sabbath were starting to be set in the Israelites mindset when it came to work  and rest from this passage. There is always some that try to circumvent the rules and they went out to gather food on that day and found none. The bread was white like coriander and was sweet like honey. So that future generations would know what this was - a portion of it was to be jarred and stored. Manna actually was named such after v 15 - what manner of food is this? For 40 years while they were in their wanderings, the Lord provided food in this "manna" for them.

Jesus wasn't kidding when he told us to ask the Lord to give us our daily bread and his word/life as the bread of life. Reliance on God isn't a stored thing but a daily requirement lest we feel overconfident. Church was  good yesterday and through our Ministry fair, at least the need was sounded and hopefully the call was answered. Got home in almost record time from NYC yesterday and in turn, made it down here early as well. Glad to see that the cable box was working and saw the game and the Voice comfortably and quietly. I always wonder how people are passionate about their teams, if they can channel a portion of that to the Lord and his work/people. As  my dad said - you still have to go to work and put your pants on, one leg at a time.

Praying for a quiet week at work and for my family as well.

Praise for today: Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. Ps 40:5

Ex 15: 22-27

Let the games begin! From the Red Sea to the Desert of Shur, they traveled three days without water. They came to the Marah, and found water which was bitter. The place was called such because the name means "bitter". How ironic that Naomi (of Ruth fame) chose that name as her own as she was found defeated and alone in her mind as she felt that her life had no meaning. She felt abandoned and futureless. Similarly, the complaints start and I guess that is the history of the Israelites. Now it's the lack of water. Moses, as their leader, is the one they go to and he, in turn, goes to the Lord who shows him a piece of wood which makes the water sweet and drinkable. A piece of wood??? I guess in the desert anything that the Lord uses can be a game changer. It is there that the Lord gave them the "if - then" statement of obedience doing "right" in order to not suffer as the Egyptians did with the plagues. It was there that He equated himself as the God who heals. After the desert was the oasis of Elim, where water and palm trees were and there they camped.

Decent day but a upsetting night as my cable box crapped out for the second time in the past six months. It seems that Comcast loves to see their customers suffer so they have their equipment fail at least a few times a year. In NJ, Cablevision's equipment has lasted for decades with little hassles. Go figure. I hope to go later and swap boxes later to avoid hassles for Sunday's game.

If that is all I am "inconvieneced" by then there is really nothing to complain about, is there? With all of the people in the world truly suffering what is this compared to that? Looking forward to the weekend and heading north especially with the nice weather we've been having and I wouldn't mind 6 more weeks of 40-60 degree weather with no snow.

Praise for today: Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Ps 63: 3

Ex 15: 1-21

What a response to such an awesome display! The song that all sang was personalized as each person witnessed what the Lord had done for them. Clearly they could take no credit for what had just happened nor should they. They simply said what was the realization that He has no equal and thus laid the groundwork for what should be an easy trek to their Promised Land. What was acknowledged by the Israelites was that it was in God's unfailing love that He was to lead the people. Little did they know or understand the depth of His love. At the end, even Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister got into the act.

It must have been awesome to see what the Lord had just done for them! Too bad their attitude was one of "what have you done for me lately" to measure their loyalty and love. Only time and further reading will bear this out.

Praise for today: Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? Ex 15:11

Ex 14

Now the exodus has begun and the Israelites have left Egypt. God has already revealed his plan to Moses. Pharoah and his officials will have realized that their meal ticket has gone and they will come to their senses and pursue them to get them back. He will take his army with him (600 of his best chariots and others) to where they overtook them at their camp near the Red Sea. Faced with the waters in front of them and the army behind them, they looked to Moses and pleaded with him to let them return to Egypt then to go to the desert or die there. Moses was instructed to wave his staff to part the waters while the angel of the Lord (cloud) went behind them and blocked the Egyptians' way. As they passed, the chariots followed into the land divided by water and then the wheels came off and they were stuck. The Egyptians knew and acknowledged that they were fight the Lord of Hosts and that they were not going to win this one. Trying to escape was futile as the waters flowed over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen. The entire army of Pharoah was destroyed and the Israelites were saved from the hands of the Egyptians and saw their dead pursuers. v 31 at least for then was the conclusion and the basis for their faith.

What a spectacular event and result! If only the Israelites would mark their faith by this day and not doubt God's power. Still we know the rest and how God would deal with them and us through Christ.

Good day overall but tough night sleeping. Going to be a rough one at the gym with a lousy night's sleep - guess this will be my slack day (doing less) and praying for a good day today.

Praise for today: Moses answered the people, "do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today will never see you again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still". Ex 14: 13-14