strong hand – Praying Pint

42.f. “Let My People Go” – 10.c. Remembrance

Exodus 13:1 The LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s. Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

“Israel had been saved through the destruction of Egypt’s first-born, and now they were required to dedicate their own first-born as a constant memorial of their deliverance.” (Thomas)

In remembrance of the destruction of the first-born of Egypt, both of man and of beast, and the deliverance of the Israelites out of bondage, the first-born males of the Israelites were set apart to the Lord. By this was set before them, that their lives were preserved through the ransom of the atonement, which in due time was to be made for sin. They were also to consider their lives, thus ransomed from death, as now to be consecrated to the service of God. (Henry)

In connection with the deliverance from death of the Israelite first-born by the blood of the lamb, and still further to fix the remembrance of the historical facts in the mind of the nation, Moses was commissioned to declare all the firstborn of Israel for all future time, and all the firstborn of their domesticated animals “holy to the Lord.” There was, perhaps, already in the minds of men a feeling that peculiar dignity attached to the first-born in each family; and this feeling was now strengthened by the assignment to them of a sacred character. God claimed them, and also the first-born of beasts, as His own. The clean beasts became his by sacrifice; but the unclean ones could not he similarly treated, and therefore had to be “redeemed” (verse 13) by the sacrifice of clean animals in their place. The first-born of men became at the first institution of the new ordinance God’s ministers; but as this system was not intended to continue, it was announced that they too would have to be “redeemed” (verses 13, 15). The exact mode of redeeming them was left to be settled afterwards, and will be found in Numbers 3:40-51; Numbers 18:16 (Unknown)

Remembrance of what God has done is good for the soul. It is good for the mind of man to remember what God has done by His own mighty hand. It is good to remember God’s mercy, grace, and love. A heart and mind that is ever remembering God’s strength, power, love, mercy, refuge, wisdom, holiness, and promises, will act differently than the world, will see things of God, will be continually thanking God, will serve God, will honor and glorify God, and will display humbleness, gentleness, kindness, peace, hope, faith, and love. It is when we are consumed with things of this world and the busyness of life that we allow ourselves to be neglectful and complacent in remembering, following, repenting, obeying, and relying on God. Remembering God’s love, grace, and mercy is not a burden and yet should not be taken lightly. It is not an obligation, and yet, it pours out of the redeemed soul like a floodgate opened and never-ending. Without it the heart and mind will wander away from God on paths that neither honor nor glorify Him.

41.n. “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.”

Exodus 6:1 But 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.”

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. I 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. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say 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. I will 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. I 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.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

Carrying the story from the previous chapter, Moses was discouraged by what he thought was God’s lack of action and help. God’s reply to Moses showed that He wanted him to know that the Lord was in control of it all. Moses was discouraged because he was too impressed by Pharaoh and not impressed enough by God. God reminded Moses of the great name of God (Yahweh), He confirmed that he remained the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God, who would absolutely fulfill His promise to Moses. (Guzik)

“When all human help has failed, and the soul, exhausted and despairing, has given up hope from man, God draws near, and says, I AM.” (Meyer)

Though the patriarchs knew God Almighty, they did not know Him as extensively and intimately as He would reveal Himself to Moses and his generation. They knew the power of God but didn’t have the same personal relationship and revelation Moses would come to know. For us, God wants to be more than God Almighty – He wants us also to know Him as a personal, promise making and promise keeping God, whom we can trust in everything. Believers should ask themselves if they really know God. Moses was called to remember his God.

In even separate I will promises, God said, “I’m going to do it. You can count on me.”

· I will bring you out.

· I will rescue you from their bondage.

· I will redeem you.

· I will take you as My people.

· I will be your God.

· I will bring you into the land.

· I will give it to you as a heritage.

“Each of these verbs are in the Hebrew past (i.e., perfect) tense instead of the future tense, for so certain was God of their accomplishment that they were viewed as having been completed.” (Kaiser) As is all of God’s promises!

After Moses spoke what God told him the children of Israel were still stuck in miserable unbelief. They probably would have said that they did not doubt God, but they doubted the messenger – Moses. Because of their anguish, this is why Israel doubted both God and His messenger. Their centuries of slavery made them think like slaves instead of people of the covenant. Pharaoh was bigger in their eyes than God was. Ezekiel 20:5-9 shows why God was so small and Pharaoh was so big in Israel’s heart during this time. Ezekiel explained that they trusted the gods of their oppressors, worshipping the gods of the Egyptians. This is why they didn’t trust God, and His messenger Moses. The reason why God did not judge Israel at the time was because He didn’t want His name profaned among the Gentiles.

Many Christians find themselves in the same place. They find it hard to trust God and believe that He is for them. This is why Paul says we must not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2). The children of Israel needed their minds renewed, and we do also. (Guzik)

3.w. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant

Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Leviticus 26:33     And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Deuteronomy 4:27    And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

Deuteronomy 32:28     “For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.

1 Kings 9:6-7    But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,  then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

Ezra was a priest. He was sent to Jerusalem by Nehemiah to start rebuilding the temple and leading the people in commitment to God. Nehemiah’s prayer. This was a very big ask by Nehemiah. He knew they had fallen away from God and this was the reason they were in exile. He also knew from God’s word that unfaithfulness is punished and returning to God is rewarded by the awesome power and steadfast love of God. He prayed confession, praise, and faith. He prayed believing in God’s word. He prayed for success in what seemed impossible.

When our heart is heavy and our burdens overwhelming we don’t have to wait and be overcome with doubt, fear, worry, and restlessness. we can take it straight to the feet our redeemer Jesus Christ. We can know and believe that He is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine. Why do we not ask? Why do we not ask? Why do we wallow in our doubt? Could it be that we think we are not good enough or have not done enough? These thoughts of being and doing are lies from Satan. He wants you to believe that the only way to receive God’s grace and love is to be better, do better, live better and with this lie filling your heart deny the power that is through Jesus Christ who willingly died for the person we were. He did this for the lost sinner. He did this out of His love. He did this to show His love for us. While we were yet sinners He did this. In faith, we come to Him. In faith we can rely on Him. In faith, He is honored and glorified. In faith we are made right with Him, not by being good. We are made good through faith in Him alone and not by what we do.

Come to Him as you are, in faith, confessing, praising, and trusting in Him alone for the trials, worries, and burdens that are seemingly impossible to overcome.

How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?

Exodus 7:7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Exodus 7:10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded.

Exodus 7:20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded.

Exodus 8:17 And they did so.

Exodus 9:14 so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For 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. 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.

Exodus 9:27 Then 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.

Exodus 10:3 So 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?

Exodus 10:16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.”

Exodus 12:28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Exodus 12:50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt

Exodus 13:3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place.

Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.

Can you see the committed following of Moses and Aaron, and as well the hardening of the hearts of the Egyptians. Though they saw first hand the might wonders, signs and works of God they denied them and the power of God.

Before doing what the Lord God asks of us we need to be willing to hear and willing to act. There will be those who oppose God. There will be those who will join God. There will be those who will follow God.

It is apparent who is opposing. They will say and do things that expose their heart of stone. They will try to explain away God. God is not hindered or blocked. His plans and purposes will come to pass.

Joining and following God is more than words. It is a change of heart, mind, and soul. It is permanent. It is life changing. It is life long. True commitment will be seen by their actions “so they did as God spoke“. They want to hear God’s whispers and will hear them speak into their heart. They will act on His leading. They will trust in His promises. They will grow in their humbleness toward Him. They will cling to Him, rely on Him, and trust in Him. They seek and desire to honor and glorify Him.

However, it does not take much hardening to deafen our ears to be able to hear God speak to our heart. The quickest way to hardening our heart is through busyness. We seem to find this excuse permissible and justified in our commitment and walk with Him. We need to be intentional in our walk with Him and be able to discern when busyness over takes us. We need to know what is non-value added into our lives and say “no more”. We may need to say no to some good things to be in control of our intentional walk with Him.

I don’t know how many lives of people I have seen where God intervened in their busyness by some trial or troubling event. God did not take them through and easy path – He led them straight to the Red Sea where there was no way back and no way forward but by the Hand of God. These people were changed because there was a new “God induced”, “God priority” set in their lives. If this is what it takes to renew, refresh, recommit, and establish a new level of commitment to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow, and obey, I wish it on all people, rather than watch them spend another day without God being their joy, peace, love, hope, courage, strength, power, refuge, and guiding light.

21. Broken Spirit

Exodus 5:22 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.” But 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.” God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I 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. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say 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. I will 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. I 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.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

We can easily see why the people would not listen to Moses. He, through Aaron, had gone before the people and proclaimed what God had told him. He had done signs in sight of the people and they believed, bowed their heads and worshiped. Then after Moses spoke to Pharaoh their slavery became immediately worse. They thought they were being delivered from their bondage but ended up worse.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. What is it that diminishes your hope and faith? We have all been there, where we have are close to God, He speaks to our heart through promises in His word, and we find hope, peace and rest in what He revealed to us. Then what happens? Time happens. Our anticipation, hope, peace, and rest in the promises of God got tested by time. Our expectation left no room for time to happen. Our expectation of God’s promises left no room for His purpose and plans.

Our dependence and reliance on God’s promises are not dependent of our expectation of the time when we expect our situation to change. The moment God speaks promises into our heart and soul nothing changes from the aspect of what God will do. Nothing.

Now add time to our situation and soon we think God has changed. Our faith was wasted. Our hope was wrong. Our thought of what He can and will do was abandoned. Yet, God never changed, He will never leave us or forsake us, He will guide us, He will strengthen us, He will bless us, He will lead us, and He will give us courage for each new day.

The next time doubt enters your mind say this “forgive my doubt, I TRUST YOU. If you have to say this a thousand times do it and you will find the doubts soon turn into praises of faith and hope.

Old and New Stories of Faith

“Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.”

“Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

Psalms 44:1 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old; you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob!

Isaiah 38:19 The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.

Exodus 13:14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Psalms 105:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

Psalms 78:3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

Deuteronomy 4:37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,

Romans 9:10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

God has done wondrous acts of power, might, compassion, and mercy. We read of these acts in scripture and they give us hope. We are to retell these stories over and over again to our children and their children – being able to tell of the hope that is within us”. However God is not dead. He is still active in the all things. Walking close to God should and will add to the stories of old, stories of how God was and is active in our life. Stories of how we were defeated in our heart and God lifted us up. Stories of how God directed us to help someone at the same time they were praying for help. Stories of how God healed our sickness. Stories of how God provided when there was no means to provide from ourselves. Stories of how He gave us strength when we were weak, hope when we were hopeless, joy out of sadness, love replacing hate, patience replacing anxiousness, and faith replacing doubt. These are everyday stories we need to tell our children and each other. We do this because we know God to be true and we honor and glorify Him by telling of His mighty, powerful, amazing, awesome, work in our lives.