Day 7 Exodus 29-30

Exodus 32

The People Make a Gold Calf

 ¹ The people saw that a long time had passed and Moses had not come down from the mountain. So they gathered around Aaron and said, "Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what has happened to him. Make us gods who will lead us."

 ² Aaron said to the people, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, sons, and daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."³ So all the people took their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.⁴ He took the gold from the people and formed it with a tool and made a statue of a calf. Then the people said, "Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

 ⁵ When Aaron saw all this, he built an altar before the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a special feast to honor the Lord."⁶ The people got up early the next morning and offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up and sinned sexually.

 ⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go down from this mountain, because your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have ruined themselves.⁸ They have quickly turned away from the things I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf covered with gold, and they have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They have said, 'Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.' "

False Idols = Big Trouble!


When you put your faith in something man made, it's going to fail you.  Human's are imperfect, so anything that we make will be imperfect.  Take computers for instance - have you ever seen the blue screen of death?  You know what I'm talking about.  And you hope that you have everything saved, but when the I.T. guy starts working on it, you've lost EVERYTHING.  


 Or you put material processions ahead of personal relationships - another false idol.  You are not defined by the things that you have, but by the person that you are.  


I think when we all begin to believe in ourselves again, and trust in His love for us, we can begin to put aside the things in our lives that aren't important to us.  I don't know fancy cars, clothes or technology.  I need my family, a place to call home, and my God who loves us dearly.

Day 6: Exodus 16-28

Exodus 16:4-7

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.  On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”  So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt;  and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?” 

I can tell you that over the last few years,  I have seen God provide when there was no possible way.  I've seen it many time in my adult life, and I've heard stories and testimonies of how God has provided.  But I have experienced it.


The economy is tough right now, and the last few years have been exceedingly difficult for out family.  And even though it's tough, and sometimes we don't have enough, God has provided a way.  We've never been without food, clothes and a home.  We don't have many luxuries, but we have each other.  There were so many times that I didn't think we'd make it - that we'd lose the house or car because we were late on a payment.  But God provided.

Exodus 20:1-17   The Ten Commandments

 ¹ Then God spoke all these words:

 ² "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

 ³ "You must not have any other gods except me.

 ⁴ "You must not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land.⁵ You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the Lordyour God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.⁶ But I show kindness to thousands who love me and obey my commands.

 ⁷ "You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly; the Lord will punish anyone who misuses his name.

 ⁸ "Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.⁹ Work and get everything done during six days each week,¹⁰but the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, your male or female slaves, your animals, or the foreigners living in your cities.¹¹ The reason is that in six days the Lord made everything—the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. On the seventh day he rested. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 ¹² "Honor your father and your mother so that you will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you.

 ¹³ "You must not murder anyone.

 ¹⁴ "You must not be guilty of adultery.

 ¹⁵ "You must not steal.

 ¹⁶ "You must not tell lies about your neighbor.

 ¹⁷ "You must not want to take your neighbor's house. You must not want his wife or his male or female slaves, or his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

It's sad to think that today, just about EVERY commandment is disobeyed.  Many think "It's ok to fib every once in a while". And "not everyone can get a day off - some people really do have to work everyday".  And I get it - we all fib a bit - sometimes it's harmless of for the benefit of others, but most of the time it's for ourselves.  And yes, some people do have jobs that keep them working on Sunday - hospital staff for instance.  But you could still keep one day of rest and worship on a day off...


It's sad to see the idols that we have.  People, things, habits.  Anything that would prevent us from growing closer to God.  And jealousy, greed, adultery, murder... you can't turn on a radio or TV without hearing about these things.  Unless it directly affects us, we're not phased by it.  Why?


I think we should all take some time and re-evaluate our priorities:
Are we being good, honest people?
Are we living the life that we should/could be?
Are we being the best examples for our children?
Are we thankful for the blessings that we have?

Day 5: Exodus 1-15

Exodus 3:1-6 

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”  He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

I don't know too many people who wake up one day and announce they're going to drop everything and become something they're not because God told them so.  Most people that I've known that make serious changes in their lives had been seeking God's face about their life and walk with Him.  But God had a bigger plan, and even if Moses didn't want it, he got it.

I saw a documentary a few years ago about the Plagues: Water to Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Livestock, Boils, Hail, Lotus, Darkness, and the First Born.  Scientists and Biblical scholars were explaining the science of how these various plagues occurred.  I don't remember all the details that the scientists gave, but one thought has stayed in my mind every time I hear the stories of the Exodus; maybe God didn't just lower his hand and all these things happened - maybe he did let the natural surroundings affect Egyptian's daily lives.  I've seen miracles performed by doctors, it doesn't mean that God wasn't involved.  And maybe because God allowed the iron ore mix with the nile to make it look like blood, forcing the frogs into the land... etc etc etc... but even then it served a purpose, because Pharaoh wasn't impressed.  And the Israelites saw that Moses had predicted these events and they knew they could trust him.