DAY 093: JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR – EXODUS 1-4

April 1, 2024

EXODUS 1-4
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DAY 093: JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR

Today we begin our journey through the book of Exodus, which ultimately leads to the formation of a nation: Israel. The journey was not easy. It was a difficult journey for the people of Israel. They struggled, as we do, with the choice of who to serve: sin or God.

Take some time to seek the Lord’s understanding of Exodus 1-4. Read Exodus 1-4 and, as you read, listen for God to speak to you through His word. Let’s journey!

Exodus, the second book of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Old Testament, was written by Moses, whose life we begin to see in this book. The book of Exodus begins nearly 400 years after the book of Genesis ends, and the Hebrews have become slaves in Egypt, a sinful land. Throughout the book of Exodus, we can see how sin damages a person’s relationship with the Lord, and how the sins of a nation can damage the nation’s relationship with the Lord.

Exodus 1-4: The book of Exodus begins by telling of the plight of the descendants of Joseph since his death hundreds of years past. They were no longer viewed through Joseph. They were viewed as foreigners who were too prosperous and numerous in Egypt. Not satisfied with making the Israelites slaves, the Pharaoh ordered that all the male babies of Israel were to be murdered at birth by their midwives. The midwives refused. Pharaoh then ordered Egyptians to murder all young male Israelite children. Moses is born and escapes the murder of all the young children to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was raised to be an Egyptian, but grew to kill an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew. He flees from Egypt in fear for his life and arrives in Midian where he marries Zipporah and works for her father, Jethro, as a shepherd.

While working as a shepherd, God comes to Moses, appearing as a burning bush. God tells Moses that He, God, has heard the cries of His people Israel coming from Egypt. God tells Moses that he has been selected to deliver His people from Egypt, and the tyranny of the Pharaoh. Moses is reluctant to obey God. He is reluctant to obey God and asks that another be given the assignment. Moses claims that he is unqualified, however, he did not directly refuse to obey God. God gives Moses an assistant, Moses’ brother Aaron, and Moses proceeds to Egypt to begin the emancipation of Israel under the direction of God. (Exodus 1:1-4:31)

As you read chapters 1 through 4, carefully consider how sin affects a person’s or a nation’s relationship with the Lord God. What sin occurred in today’s reading? What was the consequence of that sin, or what was the consequence of a sin recognized in a previous reading? What sin is affecting your relationship with God? How can you repair your relationship? Are you listening and looking for God in your life?

Godspeace!