Reading: Exodus 3:1-10 The Israelites are burdened under Pharaoh’s cruel affliction. When they cry out God acknowledges them (Exodus 2:24). Israel suffers for a long time. Eighty years has passed since Moses is born, and now God leads him to Mt Horeb (also called Mt Sinai). There, from the burning bush, God says “I have… Continue reading Meditation: Exodus 3
Reading: Exodus 2:1-10 Egypt’s king is afraid of the Israelites (Ex 1:8), so he afflicts them with heavy burdens. “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” (Ex 1:12). So Pharaoh makes a terrible decision: the murder of Israelite baby boys. The future of Israel, and the road to Jesus Christ,… Continue reading Meditation: Exodus 2
Reading: Exodus 1:1-22 Exodus 1 begins with the record of Jacob’s family coming down to Egypt. Vs 5 says “All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).” Exodus 12:37 tells us that this family had grown into a nation of 600,000 men in the space of 430… Continue reading Meditation: Exodus 1
Reading: Exodus 1:1-7 The name Exodus means: to depart. Overview of Exodus: In Genesis God begins to gather, defend, and preserve His church which He has chosen to everlasting life through Jesus Christ, as promised in Genesis 3:15. God builds His church through the families of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He makes His covenant with… Continue reading Meditation: Overview of Exodus
Reading: Genesis 50:1-6 and 15-26. Genesis records the great struggle between sin and grace; death and life. Will sin and death prevail? Or will grace and life be victorious? Cain kills Abel, leaves his parents and goes “out from the presence of the Lord” (Gen 4:16). Adam and Eve grieve; one son is physically dead,… Continue reading Meditation: Genesis 50
Reading: Genesis 49:1,2, 8-12 and 28. Jacob blesses his 12 sons, one by one; they are under God’s special care, unlike all other nations. More details are revealed about God’s covenant blessings: for example, Canaan will be pleasant, fertile and rich in food (vs 11, 20). Israel will be preserved against enemies (vs 8, 17).… Continue reading Meditation: Genesis 49
“The beginning of wisdom is the desire for discipline.” That’s a bit of a strange statement, because we have been schooled from childhood that the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” I guess that this is why the statement jumped out in the first place. However, the context was not a scriptural… Continue reading Beginning of wisdom
Reading: Genesis 48:1-16 Jacob gives Manasseh and Ephraim (Joseph’s sons) God’s covenant blessings. Joseph is the second most powerful person in Egypt; his wife is daughter of an Egyptian priest; his sons are Egyptian princes; their Egyptian education is excellent. From a human viewpoint Joseph’s two sons have a very secure future and do not… Continue reading Meditation: Genesis 48
Reading: Genesis 47:1-12 and 27-31 Jacob’s family arrives in Egypt and are allowed to live in Goshen, which is well away from the Egyptians. God separates the church from the ungodly Egyptians and their culture to prevent dangerous mixing of the people. The family must remain strangers in Egypt and free to serve God and… Continue reading Meditation: Genesis 47
Reading: Genesis 46 Jacob realises he must go to Egypt due to the famine, but it is hard to leave the Promised Land. The land is evidence of God’s blessings and His faithfulness to all His covenant promises. Must Jacob now leave the inheritance? The Lord understands Jacob’s struggle and assures him in a vision:… Continue reading Meditation: Genesis 46
