Fri.’s Devo - The War Begins 1-28-21

Read: Exodus 5:22-7:25; Matthew 18:21-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 5:22-23 Moses went back to the Lord and complained. Things had not turned out quite like he had in mind. He thought it would be a one and done thing. He would tell Pharaoh what God said, Pharaoh would say no and God would show his power, then they would be on their way. But, it all had to take time. It takes time to confront evil and wage a war against it. That is where we are in history. We are waging war against the evil that we didn’t even know about until 2020. I will take time to confront it which is where we are, and see it gone which is what we are waiting for. But like in Moses’ time God doesn’t start a war he doesn’t intend on winning. God assured Moses that everything was going as he had planned. When God was through, Pharaoh would be forcing them to leave. God reminded Moses of the promise he gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised to give them the land of Canaan and he had not forgotten his promise and had no intention of not keeping it. First he was going to judge Egypt for their evil sins against his people. Moses tried to tell the leaders of Israel but they were not interested in hearing anything Moses had to say. God gives the genealogy of the first three sons of Jacob and stops because that is where they were in history. Every son represents a period in history. Reuben represented the age from Adam to Noah. Simeon represents the time from Noah till Moses and now Levi would represent the time of Moses and the giving of the law and establishing the priesthood of worship. God told Moses that he would make him seem like God to Pharaoh and Aaron his brother would be his prophet. Every time Pharaoh refused to let them go, God would bring down his hand of judgment on the land. When Pharaoh asked Moses for a sign, he threw down his staff which became a serpent. His staff represented his authority with God. It was what Moses leaned on and his blessing but to Pharaoh it was a curse. Pharaoh’s magicians could mimic Moses’ miracles but Moses snake ate theirs. Pharaoh refused to listen so Moses stretched forth his staff over the Nile and it became blood. It lasted a whole week. In Matthew, the disciples asked Jesus how many times they should forgive someone but Jesus answered with how they should forgive. “Seventy times seven” means “completely and thoroughly”. He then gave the parable to explain that they had been forgive their sins which was worth millions so shouldn’t they forgive a few dollars worth of offense. He goes right into his discussion on divorce to prove his point. Moses allowed divorce because of their hard hearts. He knew they would commit adultery not only with their spouse but also with Him. Divorce had to be made legal through a document to break the covenant. In Jesus day, they were not making their divorces legal so to remarry was to commit adultery because they were not legally divorced. God divorced Israel and Judah but he said that he would one day remarry them. Jesus explained that committing adultery breaks the covenant just like Israel and Judah broke their covenant with God when they committed adultery so many times with foreign gods. Lord, help us to forever stay true to our covenant with You. Give us strength to wait on You for your timing.