Tues.’s Devo - Moses’ Complaints and God’s Responses

Read: Exodus 5:22-7:25; Matthew 18:21-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Provers 5:22-23 Moses went back to the Lord complaining that ever since he returned to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians, he had just made it worse for them and God had not rescued them. *** God told him that how when He got through with Pharaoh, he would be throwing them out of Egypt. God had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but they had not known him as Jehovah the one who was, and is and is to come - the God of the past, present and future. God had promised to give them the land of Canaan where they lived as foreigners, and he has not forgotten that promise. Now, he promises to bring them out of Egypt where they are slaves and bring them to the land he promised their ancestors. *** Moses told the people what God said, but they were too distracted by their present condition that they couldn’t imagine anything better. God sent Moses back to Pharaoh to tell him once again to let them leave his country. Moses complained that if his own people wouldn’t listen, how could he expect the pharaoh to listen to him. God told him and Aaron to tell both the Israelites and Pharaoh that God had ordered them to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. *** Aaron and Moses were both from the tribe of Levi which was third in the birth line of Jacob. God told Moses to tell the pharaoh everything he had told Moses but Moses complained that he was a terrible speaker. God said he would make Moses like a god to Pharaoh and Aaron like his prophet. Moses was to tell Aaron to command that he let the people leave. God would make Pharoah’s heart hard so God could do miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. God would rescue the people with great acts of judgment on Egypt. When they did leave, Egypt will know that He is the Lord. *** Moses and Aaron went to the Pharaoh but when he heard Moses’ claims to be sent by God, he demanded a miracle to prove it. This is the very thing the Pharisees ordered of Jesus. They wanted a sign to prove he was from God. Jesus told them that the only sign they would get was the sign of Jonah. *** Aaron threw down his staff and it became a serpent. The Pharaoh called all his wise men and they did the same thing with magic, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Pharaoh still refused to listen to them. *** God told Moses to go to the river the next morning and wait for the Pharaoh to come. He was to take the staff that had turned into a snake and give him another chance to let them go to worship the Lord. When he refused, Moses was to strike the water of the Nile with the staff and it would turn to blood. The fish would die and the river would stink and become undrinkable. Then he was to take the staff and raise it over all the waters and reservoirs of Egypt and turn them to blood. All the water in Egypt, even water in their houses would turn to blood. Moses did this. Pharaoh’s sorcerers proved that they could turn water to blood also, so Pharoah’s heart remained hard. The people of Egypt had to dig along the riverside to find drinking water. This went on for seven days. *** In Matthew, Peter came to the Lord and asked him how often he should forgive someone who sinned against him. Should he forgiven him seven times. Jesus told him he should forgive him seven times seventy. Seven means “complete” and seventy means “measured completely full.” So he should forgive completely till his measure is full. Jesus told him a parable to explain his answer of how things are done in God’s kingdom. One day the king was working with his accountants bringing his accounts up to date. (It was judgment day.) One of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions. The king ordered that he, his family and all he owned be sold to pay the dept. The man fell on his face begging for mercy and time to repay him. The master felt compassion and totally forgave him the debt. But, then the same man went out and went to a man who owed him a few thousand and grabbed him by the throat and demanded he pay at once. When this man begged for mercy and time, he didn’t give him any but threw him in jail until the debt could be paid in full. *** Word got back to the king and he called the man back in and confronted him. Why had he not given this man mercy, when he had shown him mercy? He had him thrown into prison to be tortured until his entire debt had been paid. His measure of mercy was complete and he had run out. It was now time for judgement. *** Forgiving is setting someone free from their debt. That is what God did for us through Jesus. We owed a debt we couldn’t pay and he paid our debt he didn’t owe. God asks us to have the same mercy for others that he had for us. *** The Pharisees followed Jesus to Judea to try to find some question he wouldn’t be able to answer. They asked him about divorce and if it should be allowed for any reason. Jesus explained that from the beginning when God created man and woman, he didn’t intend for them to be split apart. Then they asked why Moses allowed divorce in his law. Jesus explained that it was because of God’s mercy he allowed it because men’s hearts were hard. ***But in Jesus’ day, they were just “putting away” their wives without going through the writ of divorcement required in the law. This caused the divorce not to be legal, meaning that when they remarried, they were committing adultery. If they are going to just leave their wives because they were tired of her and leave her with no provision, it would be better if then never married at all. (Note: only men could initiate a divorce in their day.) *** Then Jesus made a statement about those castrated - some were born that way, others were made that way by men and others chose it for the sake of heaven’s kingdom. I think this has to do with sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed having a wife and children for the sake of the Kingdom - his family was so much greater than the natural. *** Lord, may we have the same mercy for others that you have for us. May we forgive quickly and thoroughly and may your love increase in our hearts.