Photo by April Chan on Unsplash

In the previous message Deliverance from Darkness -Faith in Dire Situations Pt. 1, we learn about the faith of Noah, Abraham, and Joseph. Noah and his family were saved from the flood destroying the world because of his righteousness. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac in which he chose to obey and prove his love for GOD more so and by his faith his son was spared and promised that his offspring would outnumber the stars of heaven and sand of the seashore. Joseph was thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers, sold to merchants to be bought by Potiphar in Egypt, wrongly accused of a crime, imprisoned in a dungeon, interpreted dreams revealed to by GOD, and given authority as second in command to Pharaoh bringing about salvation and provision for all of Egypt, surrounding territories, and his very own familly.

In this message, we will take a peak at one of the heroes of the faith going through a time of difficulty and how GOD helped him.

1. Noah -man of righteousness and endurance
2. Abraham -man of extreme faith and obedience
3. Joseph -man of diligence and service
4. Moses -man of humbleness and patience
5. Joshua -man of dedication and leadership
6. Deborah -woman of wisdom and judgement
7. Gideon -man of valor
8. Ruth -woman of faithfulness
9. David -man after GOD’s own heart
10. Elijah -man of boldness
11. Nehemiah -man of restoration
12. Esther -woman of courage
13. Job -man of righteousness and perseverance
14. Jeremiah -man of weeping and sorrows
15. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego -men of integrity
16. Daniel -man of prayer and devotion
17. Jonah -man of recommitment
18. Mary -woman of favor
19. Peter -man of outspoken truth
20. Paul -man of transformation and conviction

Let me encourage you if you’re facing a difficulty, obstacle, trial, or tribulation. GOD is using it for your good and HIS purposes…

Isaiah 33:2

O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for YOU. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

Jeremiah 29: 11-14

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.

Romans 8: 28-39

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Moses

In Exodus 1, we learn that Jacob’s sons including Joseph and all that generation who lived in Egypt have died. The Israelites had multiplied while living there. A new pharaoh came to power who did not know Joseph and began to fear the great number of Israelites in the land, so he ordered that they serve working with rigor building supply cities with brick and mortar and working in the fields. They were placed upon their shoulders heavy burdens of bondage increasingly as slaves.

Pharaoh’s fear grew and he ordered two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill any baby boys born to Israelite women. However, they refused this order and GOD rewarded them with households of their own.

Next, Pharaoh ordered that Israelite baby boys be ridden of by being thrown in the river.

In Exodus 2, Moses is born to a man from the tribe of Levi who married a woman from the tribe of Levi. We learn who Moses’ parents are in Exodus 6:20 which says, Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. It is noted how beautiful Moses was as a baby which prompted his mother to keep him hidden for 3 months so that he wouldn’t be thrown into the river to die.

When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she displayed faith that would save her son’s life to which much later GOD would choose and use Moses to save HIS people, the Israelites, from slavery to Egypt.

GOD may very well use your faith you display in some way for your child to be used of HIM in the service and salvation for others...

Exodus 2: 3-10

³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

The name Moses is linked to “drawn out of the water”. Here is the Etymology:

From the Egyptian noun mes, child, or from (1) mo, water, and (2) uses, saved from drowning. From the Hebrew verb משה (masha), to extract from water, or the noun משה (mashe), a loan. From the Greek verb μυσω (muso), to hide or cover.

We learn that Moses, when a grown man, knows of his heritage of being a Hebrew for he goes to watch his brethren doing their hard labor. When he sees an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrews, he steps in and kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand. Later Moses confronts 2 Hebrews fighting and he rebukes the one hitting the other.

Exodus 2:14

¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

Pharaoh does learn about this and sets out to kill Moses. Moses flees to Midian and sits down at a well.

Exodus 2: 16-17

¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

The daughters tell their father how Moses helped them. He tells them to invite Moses for dinner. Moses agrees and the father gives him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. Moses and Zipporah have a son who he names Gershom meaning “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”

By serving, rescuing, and/or helping others, GOD may very well reward you with meeting a need you have and fulfilling a desire you have in your heart.

Exodus 2: 23-25

²³ During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

So GOD has a plan to reveal HIMSELF to Moses. HE will command him to go rescue the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh. HE wants him to speak to HIS people that HE has heard their cries and that HE is their GOD who has watched over them, seen the ill treatment done by the Egyptians, and will bring them out of Egypt to the promised land containing great provision…

Exodus 3

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
    the name you shall call me
    from generation to generation.

¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Exodus 4

Signs for Moses

4 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

² Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

³ The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵ “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous^[a]—it had become as white as snow.

⁷ “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

⁸ Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. ⁹ But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

¹³ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷ But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸ Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”

Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

¹⁹ Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, ²³ and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴ At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. ²⁵ But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ²⁶ So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸ Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

²⁹ Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, ³⁰ and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, ³¹ and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Let’s take a look at the interaction between GOD and Moses that may represent a special time how GOD will speak to us.

1. GOD got Moses’ attention first by using the burning bush to draw him near to HIM… Come near to GOD and HE will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8; Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55:6
2. GOD told Moses to take off his sandals for he was standing on holy ground… Humble yourselves before the LORD and HE will lift you up. James 4:10
3. GOD revealed to Moses who HE was. GOD will reveal HIMSELF to us by HIS name. The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10
4. GOD revealed HIS plan of rescuing the Hebrews to Moses. GOD has given us HIS plan to save, forgive, and rescue HIS people through HIS SON JESUS. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
5. GOD gave the command to Moses to go in being sent to Pharaoh to bring HIS people out of Egypt. We are called to go and make disciples of our LORD and Savior JESUS Christ for people to come out of spiritual darkness. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20 I heard from the youth pastor, Bryson Wallace of FBC Earth that “go” in this verse means “as you go” which gives more freedom to tell others about JESUS where we’re at and as we go through life rather than just going to another country per se to preach the Gospel.
6. Moses questions GOD by asking ““Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” GOD promised Moses HE would be with him and that Moses will again worship on the very mountain GOD is speaking to him on which tells of the great deliverance GOD will accomplish through him and that Moses will remain safe through it all. GOD wants us to know HE is with us in whatever HE calls us to.  “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9; “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10; “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 
7. Moses asks GOD what HIS name is that he should tell the Israelites if they ask who sent him. GOD reveals HE is “I AM that I AM”, “I AM has sent you”, and reiterates that he is to tell them “the GOD of Abraham, the GOD of Isaac, and the GOD of Jacob has sent you” which is HIS name forever. GOD reveals HIMSELF as all encompassing and all sufficient as well as reminding who HE has been as the GOD of their fathers. We can also rely on GOD’s faithfulness… God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our LORD. 1 Corinthians 1:9
8. Moses asks GOD “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” GOD gives Moses 2 signs to perform to show them in response. GOD may not give us signs to perform, but HE will give HIS Holy Spirit and wisdom when we ask HIM. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13; If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5
9. Moses tells the LORD “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Have you ever felt inadequate? It’s a normal thing to experience. In Exodus 4: 11-12, The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” GOD promises to help us!!!… ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16: 13-15; I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
10. Moses responds with “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” GOD did get angry, but then responded with allowing Aaron, his brother, to go and speak for him. GOD gives us help through others to do HIS work alongside us… Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12; Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. Mark 6:7

GOD may very well have a plan for our lives that is of a greater purpose HE is preparing us for that will require us to depend on HIM and HIS ability in and through us to accomplish.  HE wants to reveal HIMSELF to us, for us to know HIM better, for us to believe in HIS ability to work through us, for us to trust in HIM and HIS faithfulness, and then obey HIM in doing our part... 

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go so that they may worship GOD in the wilderness. Pharaoh refuses and gives the Israelites more work to do as well as be required to make their quota of bricks each day. The Israelites become angry with Moses because of this.

Exodus 5: 22-23

²² Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? ²³ Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

We may want to give up what GOD has called us to if others complain or get angry with us. It is often the case that we question GOD when things aren't working out the way HE's promised in HIS Word. We must wait in trust in GOD's timing and way while HE works out HIS plan for ours and others good.

Exodus 6: 1-12

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

² God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. ⁴ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. ⁵ Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

⁶ “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. ⁸ And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

⁹ Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”

¹² But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”

Moses is discouraged by the Israelites not listening to him. Furthermore, Moses is still unconvinced that he can speak to pharaoh because of his “faltering lips”. GOD knows all about us -our strengths and our weaknesses. He often chooses those with weaknesses to do HIS will. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29; But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

We are to focus on our serving the LORD and not on our weaknesses.  If we focus solely on our weaknesses, we are more likely to falter, stray from, walk away from, or even run from doing HIS will.  Our aim should be to please the LORD in all we do...

Exodus 7: 1-7

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, ⁴ he 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. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

GOD has been faithful to encourage Moses and Aaron to do HIS will. HE lets them know in advance that HE will harden pharaoh’s heart so he won’t listen even when doing HIS signs and wonders. The rest of Exodus 7-Exodus 11, talks of the 10 plagues that GOD brought about in Egypt against pharaoh.

In Exodus 12, the LORD gives instruction about the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread that the Israelites are to take part in. They are to take a 1 year old unblemished lamb or goat to care for it until the 14th day of the month when they will slaughter it at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and put some on the tops and sides of the doorframe where they eat the meat roasted by fire. The LORD tells them to eat it quickly with their cloak tucked in their belt, with their sandals on, and staff in their hand.

Exodus 12: 12-13

¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

GOD instructs them to eat unleavened bread without yeast for 7 days. They are to do no work on the first and seventh day as they gather as an assembly. They are to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread because it was on this day that GOD brought their divisions out of Egypt.

Exodus 12: 21-42

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴ “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸ The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

⁴⁰ Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. ⁴² Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.

JESUS is the Passover Lamb (the perfect sacrifice) for us who believe and trust in HIM. HIS blood covers over our lives that we may be spiritually protected from the destroyer.

GOD is able to bring us out of our spiritual Egypt into freedom away from fear with HIS perfect love, away from being heavy burdened with HIS peace, and away from slavery to men's oppression with HIS Presence.

Exodus 13: 17-22; Exodus 14

Crossing the Sea

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”

²⁰ After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ²¹ By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. ³ Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ ⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” ⁶ So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. ⁸ The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. ⁹ The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

²³ The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. ²⁴ During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. ²⁵ He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward^[e] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. ²⁸ The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. ³¹ And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

GOD is able to part the Red Sea for us spiritually when there seems to be no way to move forward.  With HIM, we are not stuck and left to fend for ourselves.  We can walk through anything in this life with HIM leading and guiding the way...

Moses was not perfect in his walk with GOD, but he chose to obey often turning to the LORD for help and encouragement. Moses had a weakness/disability with speaking and GOD allowed Aaron, his brother, to speak for him. GOD would have used Moses solely with his disability if he simply chose to trust in the LORD. GOD had a plan of salvation for HIS people in and through Moses’ leadership. GOD was faithful in keeping HIS promise to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It is important for us to remember our salvation in the LORD and all the times GOD has helped us through our difficulties. We should thank HIM often for these times of deliverance for HIS people and for us…

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