{"id":19099,"date":"2021-12-14T22:20:12","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T05:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-6_14-30-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-12-09T00:25:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T07:25:16","slug":"exodus-7_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-7_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exodus\u00a07:1-13 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Exodus 7:1-13.\u00a0\u00a0For context, we\u2019ll also include Exodus 6:28-30.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now when the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spoke to Moses in Egypt,
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he said to him, “I am the\u00a0LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Moses said to the\u00a0LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”<\/em>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1:\u00a0\u00a0Notice the difference in the way Moses saw himself and the way God saw Moses.\u00a0\u00a0Moses focuses on his inability and weakness, his \u201cfaltering lips\u201d (v30).\u00a0\u00a0God says He has made Moses to be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron to be Moses\u2019 prophet (v1). It goes to show that\u00a0God sees us differently than the way we naturally see ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0If like Moses you have a tendency to focus on your weaknesses and limitations, know that God sees you in a completely different light: He sees you as forgiven, strong, an overcomer (see 1 John 2:12-14).\u00a0\u00a0Part of becoming more godly is learning to see yourself the way God sees you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exodus 7:2-7 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.<\/em>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt,
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the Egyptians will know that I am the\u00a0LORD\u00a0when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”<\/em>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Moses and Aaron did just as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded them.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2-7:\u00a0\u00a0Despite all of their doubts and questions, and despite their relatively old age (see v7), Moses and Aaron still trusted God and \u201cdid just as the LORD commanded them\u201d (v6).\u00a0\u00a0How could they do so?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s because Moses and Aaron had to come to the point where they realized that if this is going to work at all, it\u2019s because God made it possible, not them.\u00a0\u00a0This realization was right in line with everything God had been saying.\u00a0\u00a0Notice how God describes what\u2019s going to happen: yes, Moses would need to speak out everything God commanded him and Aaron would need to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go (v2), but the rest would be God\u2019s doing (v3-5).<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the lesson here?\u00a0\u00a0Moses and Aaron had to come to the end of themselves before they could see God beginning to use them in powerful ways.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>This I\u2019m sure is a big reason why God allowed Moses and Aaron to fail at the beginning: so that they would know it is not by their might, their power or their ability that they would succeed, but only by trusting God.<\/p>\n

Exodus 7:8-13 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses and Aaron,
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had said.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-13:\u00a0\u00a0Why would God give Moses and Aaron a sign (a staff becoming a snake) that the Egyptian magicians could replicate?\u00a0\u00a0Didn\u2019t God know that turning a staff into a snake was something that Egypt\u2019s magicians could also do?\u00a0\u00a0Of course He did.\u00a0\u00a0But notice what happens: though outnumbered, Aaron\u2019s staff swallows up the magicians\u2019 staffs.\u00a0\u00a0In telling Moses and Aaron to throw down the staff, God was in effect throwing down the gauntlet, issuing a challenge to Pharaoh, saying \u201cI can beat you at your own game\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0God would do this a few times before God doing miracles that no magician in Egypt can replicate.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God prefers to come to us gently and subtly.\u00a0\u00a0He prefers to whisper to us than to shout at us.\u00a0\u00a0But if we will not respond to His whispers, He will eventually raise His voice to get our attention.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The question at that time when He raises His voice will be whether or not our hearts are soft and humble enough still to respond to Him,<\/p>\n

Thank You Heavenly Father for the way You deal with us: how You see us in such an encouraging light, how You come to us gently and patiently, and how You wait for us to come to an end to ourselves so that we truly experience Your power at work in our lives.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Exodus 7:1-13.\u00a0\u00a0For context, we\u2019ll also include Exodus 6:28-30.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1 (NIV)
\n28\u00a0\u00a0Now when the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spoke to Moses in Egypt,
\n29\u00a0\u00a0he said to him, “I am the\u00a0LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
\n30\u00a0\u00a0But Moses said to the\u00a0LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.<\/p>\n

On Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1:\u00a0\u00a0Notice the difference in the way Moses saw himself and the way God saw Moses.\u00a0\u00a0Moses focuses on his inability and weakness, his \u201cfaltering lips\u201d (v30).\u00a0\u00a0God says He has made Moses to be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron to be Moses\u2019 prophet (v1). It goes to show that\u00a0God sees us differently than the way we naturally see ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0If like Moses you have a tendency to focus on your weaknesses and limitations, know that God sees you in a completely different light: He sees you as forgiven, strong, an overcomer (see 1 John 2:12-14).\u00a0\u00a0Part of becoming more godly is learning to see yourself the way God sees you.<\/p>\n

Exodus 7:2-7 (NIV)
\n2\u00a0\u00a0You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt,
\n4\u00a0\u00a0he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0And the Egyptians will know that I am the\u00a0LORD\u00a0when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
\n6\u00a0\u00a0Moses and Aaron did just as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19099"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19100,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19099\/revisions\/19100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}