Ex 14:14
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” ESV
- Sometimes we just need to learn to hold our tongue. It seems sometimes the only thing stopping God from doing something great in our lives is the movement of our own mouth. Josh 6:10; Phil 2:14;
Ex 5:2
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” ESV
- Prov 8:13; Ex 14:4; Pharaoh doesn’t know God so there is no reason to obey him. The first step in the fear of the Lord is knowing that He exists. If someone was to look at your life does it demonstrate the fear of the Lord through obedience, or does it display that they you say you believe in a God you never give thought to? Do you think about the fact that He is and that you will give an account to him?
- Throughout the rest of Pharaoh’s story God wants him to know that he is God. Ex 7:5, 17; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29; 14:4, 18;
- At first his magicians were able to do the same signs, so pharaoh begin to harden his heart, 8:19 his magicians told him this is God, yet pharaoh’s heart was already hardened. In Ex 10:3 Pharaoh is asked how long will you refuse to humble yourself before God. So it is no longer a question of if this signs are from God but the question now is who is stronger Pharaoh or God.
- (see notes on pharaoh’s hardening his heart Ex 4:21)
Ex 4:2-3
2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. ESV
- When God calls someone He knows what they have. He is prepared to do what He called you to do with you and with whatever you have. We often want to look at all the reasons we can’t do what God has asked because we don’t think we have “what it takes”. All the reasons why God should use someone else, but God just asked a simple question, “What do you have?” And with Moses and the stick God delivered a nation, brought the 10 plagues and split the sea. What could God do if we gave him all that we have?
- Vs 17 sent out with his staff
- Remember that God knows what you have and wants to use it. Jer 1:5; Eph 2:10 He made you with a plan in mind of how he was going to use you.
- God is into using what we have. 1 Kings 4:2-7; 17:12-16; Mark 8:4; John 2:6-7;
Ex 1:17
17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ESV
- Prov 8:13; Fearing God changed the way they lived. What was right was more important to them then what Pharaoh wanted them to do.
Ex 1:21
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ESV
- Ex 1:17; Prov 8:13; God rewarded them for fearing him. Along with obeying God comes his blessing.
- This doesn’t mean that if you follow God everything will be a cake walk. They still had to face an unhappy pharaoh. Joseph out of fear of God refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife Gen 39:9. This choice wasn’t easy, in fact it took him to jail for a few years, but even in the midst of a mess God’s favor was on him. The character that got him in prison opened up doors for him to be over all the rest of the prisoners and eventually set him in charge of Egypt. Following God is filled with a different set of challenges. You will have opposition, but you will have God’s blessing and his favor when you do things his way.
Prov 5:23
23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his incredible folly. NLT
23 Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end. MSG
- Sin takes the life of those who love it most.
- Prov 11:5; unrestrained freedom ends trapped in a dead end formed by the choices it has made. Are the choices your making today going to haunt or free your future?
Gen 13:2
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ESV
- Gen 12:2; God said he would bless Abram. In Prov 10:22 it says the blessing of the Lord makes one rich. People tend to either reduce God’s blessing to finances alone or try to completely cut them out of God’s blessings. Both extremes are wrong and out of balance. Prov 17:1 tells us if all that you have is what money can buy you are missing out. It shows us that peace and healthy relationships are worth more then status and the things money can buy. In 1 Tim 6:17 we are reminded that God is our provider for everything we need, not money.
Gen 12:1
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ESV
- The call of Abraham. The first part of his call was instructions to leave things behind. I think that following God always requires leaving something behind. Are you willing to leave things behind? It may be your friends, it may be your pride, it may be your time, or habits that you have had or just simply doing things your own way. Are you willing to leave behind your old life? 2 Cor 5:17;
Gen 12:2
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ESV
- “And” is a conjunction. It ties Abraham’s leaving to his receiving the benefits of the promise. If we want to receive the blessings God has for us we to will have to leave some things behind.
- God will bless you. Gen 13:2;
Gen 39:3
3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. NKJV
- Ps 128:2; God’s blessing didn’t come in the form of hand outs. Everything that he did was blessed. God blessed his work. Are you giving God something to bless? Do you work with all you have? If God’s blessing comes after you exert all your strength would you ever see God’s blessing? Are you working with all your might as unto the Lord or waiting for God to do everything for you? Col 3:23;
