365 Reflections

It's a rather abrupt shift in focus from the end of Exodus 11 to the first part of Exodus 12. God has described the final of the 10 plagues that will wipe out the firstborn of Egypt, from Pharaoh to the handmaid. It says: Exodus 11:6 (ESV) There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. In other words, the worst thing to happen to the Egyptians ever will be happening now.  Then immediately Exodus 12 opens with a vivid description of what God wants for His people concerning the "Passover." They are to take a year-old perfect male lamb into their homes on the 10th day, kill it on the 14th day and spread it's blood on the doors of their homes. They are to roast the lamb whole (with its inner parts) and eat all of it leaving none till the next day. They are to eat it in haste. There's more... They are to eat one lamb per household. This will be a community experience. They are not to ...

Exodus 11:1 (ESV)   The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Something different finally happens in the plague routine with God, Moses and Pharaoh. After several notifications from God that Pharaoh would not budge after the next plague, we come to the 10th and final plague and God has Good News for Moses. This is going to be the end. From this moment forward, there will not just be a total destruction of Egypt's power over you, Egypt will drive you away "completely". Did you also notice how God prophesies to Moses that this will be the end? That's revealing someone else Who will be prophesied throughout scripture. When Jesus came, it was truly the END of slavery to sin and death. The last plague is a picture of our salvation in Christ. As the firstborn Son of God, He bears the death of us all, He destroys the devil...

Exodus 9:6 (ESV)   And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. Exodus 9:11 (ESV)  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. Exodus 9:26 (ESV) Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail. Exodus 10:15 (ESV)  They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Exodus 10:23 (ESV) They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. The recurring message of the final plagues is the repeated theme that while Egypt suffered the wrath of God, t...

Genesis 47:7–11 (ESV) Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. If we interpret this passage in light of how Hebrews interprets the Patriarchal blessings, it teaches us a lot about how to live in a world dominated by glitz, fame, celebrity and power.  Jacob - the wandering shepherd and Patriarch of the faith, the father of a rag tag family largely...