Tag Archive | Egypt

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 248

Sep5

Day 248 – Reading – EZEKIEL 28 – 30

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophets were saying.

EZEKIEL 28.

Ezekiel continues the scathing prophesies against the nations around God’s people for cheering the destruction of Jerusalem, and their eagerness to plunder her themselves.  Here, he continues with the City-State of Tyre.

“The word of the LORD came to me: son of man, say to the prince of Tyre…….”

  • “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods,’ yet you are but a man and no god … because you make your heart like the heart of a god,
  • THEREFORE, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of nations, and they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. 
  • They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.
  • “Will you still say I am a god…?

Then God tells Ezekiel to raise a lamentation over the kin of Tyre.  (This “lamentation,” although about the King of Tyre, has many people comparing it to Satan’s pride and beauty, as an anointed guardian cherub, and his fall from heaven.)

Sidon.  God next tells Ezekiel to prophesy against Sidon, a sister city with Tyre. He will execute judgment on them too, and show them His holiness when He sends “pestilence into her, and blood into her streets.”

Having settled accounts with Israel’s neighbors on all sides, He says that the House of Israel shall no more have briar or thorn to hurt her.   And when He gathers them home from the nations of exile, they will build houses and plant vineyards and dwell securely.  (Can you hear a big sigh?) 

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Ezekiel 29.

Ezekiel steps back a few years (twelfth day, tenth month, tenth year) of their exile.  Nebuchadnezzar is at Jerusalem, but it will be seven months before it is destroyed.

God tells Ezekiel to set his face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt (for four chapters).

  • “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it myself.’ 
  • I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the “
  • fish” (people) of your streams stick to you when I draw you up.
  • And I will cast you out into the wilderness, and you will fall in the open field… to the beasts of the earth and birds of the heavens …. for food.”

God will judge them because they failed Israel when they grasped them for help.

God will also judge them for their pride in saying they “made” the Nile River.

  • “I will make the land of Egypt a desolation … and her cities shall be a desolation for forty years. 
  • I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 
  • Then I will gather and restore their fortunes. But they shall be a lowly kingdom, the most lowly. They will never rule over nations again. 
  • They will never again be the reliance of Israel.
  • THAT THEY WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD GOD.

Then God tells Ezekiel something interesting… 

He brought Nebuchadnezzar against Tyre (as foretold in chapter 26), and the Babylonian army had to “labor hard” against them. But they never got anything for their labor.  THEREFORE, says God, He was going to pay for the labor Nebuchadnezzar performed for Him by giving the king the land of Egypt and her wealth. 

HUH!  Yes, God is totally sovereign!  He has the nations in the palms of His hands.  (He would always win at Monopoly!)

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Ezekiel 30.

Then God told Ezekiel to “lament” for Egypt.

  • “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near;
  • it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
  • sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush,
  • when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away,
  • and her foundations are torn down.

(Cush, Put, Lud, all Arabia, and Libya, and the people who are in league … shall fall with them (Egypt) by the sword.)  “Those who support Egypt shall fall.”

  • “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
  • He and his people with him shall be brought in to destroy the land,
  • draw their swords against Egypt,
  • fill the land with the slain.   
  • And I will dry up the Nile… I am the LORD, I have spoken. 
  • There shall no longer be a prince from Egypt. 
  • I will set fire to Egypt. 

And Ezekiel continues to tell again that the LORD will defeat, scatter and take captive Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar.  THEN, THEY WILL KNOW….

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God uses nations and kings as pieces on a chessboard.  He knows, He sees. And He performs, according to His goodwill… and with His own people in His mind. All for His chosen. Yes, He is spanking them severely, but for their own good.  But the enemies around them will die.

I recall the blessing God gave to Abraham. (Genesis 12)

“I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

**** LORD, Thank You for Abraham’s blessing and his children (from both flocks). Thank You, that You never change, and a promise is secure with You!

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 33 & 34 (Part 2)

Feb3

Day 34. Reading in Exodus 13 – 15. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Exodus 13.

Israel is out of Egypt! 

While it is fresh in their minds, the LORD instructs Moses to “consecrate to Me all the firstborn of Israel, man and beast. They are mine.”  Because God had spared these on the night of the tenth plague, they were HIS.  (Did they wonder what this commandment would involve? What would God do with them?)

And when they came into the promised land, they were to continue this practice. Every firstborn male (man and creature) was to be set apart for the LORD. (Donkeys were to be exchanged for lambs.)  God would not “kill” these firstborn boy children (whew). No, the people were to “redeem them” (buy them back) for a later established amount. (See Mary/Joseph doing this for infant Jesus in Luke 2:22-23)  Every time the people consecrated and redeemed their babies, they would remember HOW the LORD brought them out of Egypt. 

Another annual observance was instituted to remind them of that night and that journey. Not only were they to celebrate a Passover feast, they were also to eat only unleavened bread, like what they ate on that night of escape, for seven days. All to remember their deliverance! (Also, to point a later generation to the sinless Lamb of God, sacrificed for their salvation.)

Interestingly, God did not lead His newly freed people directly to the promised land. This would have caused them to travel through the land of the Philistines. They were not ready for war. They might have been scared out of their minds and wanted to return to Egypt.  Instead, the LORD led them into the wilderness and towards the Red Sea. He had a lot of things to teach these ex-slaves first. 

The LORD went before them as the ultimate leader and guide. He appeared as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He was their shade from the heat and a light and warmth in the cool desert darkness. Ever-present beacons of an Almighty and loving, promise-keeping God.

Exodus 14.

The LORD instructed Moses to lead the people in a circle and make their camp near a town with their backs to the Red Sea. It would look like they were trapped between “a rock and a hard place.” God told Moses that He had hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would pursue them. “But I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his armies.  Egypt will KNOW that I AM the LORD.”

Meanwhile, the weight of the loss of all the people of Israel dawned on Egypt when they looked at their fields,  construction sites, empty kitchens, and piling laundry. “What have we done that we have let Israel go from serving us!”

Pharaoh had monitored where the mass of ex-slaves was moving. When he learned they were backed up against the Red Sea, a sly smile came to his haggard face.  “Hahaha. They are trapped!”  God made Pharaoh’s heart like granite, and he, with all his horses and chariots and horsemen and army, pursued Israel … and overtook them, encamped by the sea.

The people freaked out! 

“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us?  Didn’t we say to leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians? We would have been better off serving them than to die in the wilderness.”

Moses tried to calm them with words from the LORD. “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today. The Egyptians that you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Can you imagine their terror, with the sea lapping at their heels and that massive hoard of armed and wicked chariots and soldiers charging fast right at them??? WOW!

Could the Israelites now see the whites of the eyes of the armies of Pharaoh? Could they see his evil grimace and raging eyes as he charged them???

“What are you waiting for, Moses? Lift your staff and stretch it out over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea ON DRY GROUND.”

And as Moses turned to obey, the pillar of cloud rose and moved between Israel and the enemy hoard.  Blinded, they screeched to a halt. And as the night fell, the pillar became fire: a light to Israel but pitch blackness to the army.

All night, an east wind blew, heaping up water to the left and right and making a wide pathway through the sea as dry as desert sand.  And Israel went down that path, through the walls of water and up to the ground on the other side. 

At daybreak, the pillar lifted, and the army of Pharaoh pursued Israel.  As soon as the last Israelite stepped on the other shore, the wheels of chariots began to sink into a mire of mud as the water began to leak. They and the horseman tried to turn back, but in the confusion, horses and men fell and were trampled. Confusion and panic grew.

Moses then stretched out his staff over the sea again.  The walls of water smashed together, covering the mad king with all his hosts. Not one escaped. 

Israel “saw the great power of the LORD used against the Egyptians, and they feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and His servant Moses.”

Exodus 15.

So, Moses wrote a song about the event. He and the people sang the song. Then Moses and Aaron’s sister, the prophetess Miriam (with a tambourine in her hand), led the women out dancing and singing the refrain. Wow. What a sight and sound!

  • I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider, He has thrown into the sea!
  • The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

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Then reality crashed on the crowd. A three-day journey from the Red Sea used all the freshwater they’d brought. They were thirsty. They came to a water hole, but it was bitter and brackish. (think stagnant)

The people grumbled (a habit they would exhibit ALL their days in the desert). “What shall we drink,” they groaned.

Moses looked to God, and the LORD showed him a dead tree branch.  Moses threw it into the water, and the water … became pure and clean and sweet!! 

As they were filling their water skins, the LORD spoke and made for them a STATUTE and a RULE, testing them. 

“IF you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, THEN I will put none of the diseases (plagues) on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I AM the LORD, your healer.”

Then, surprisingly, the masses of Israel moved to Elim, an oasis with twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. And they camped by the water.

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Tomorrow = next disaster (or test).

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 276

Oct3

  Day 276—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 276 – Matthew 2 (Visit of the wise men, Herod, Egypt to Nazareth)

Matthew 2.  A COUPLE YEARS after Jesus was born, the family is still living in Bethlehem but in a house now. 

Herod the Great (the cruel and psycho king who was an Idumean and descended from Esau) ruled in Israel. He was so paranoid about losing his power that he killed a couple of his sons and even a favorite wife.  It was to this king that the wise men from the east came and asked about the newborn KING OF THE JEWS.  (Oops!)  He freaked out (and all of Jerusalem with him because they knew when the king was upset, THEY would suffer.) 

The wise men (see Daniel 5:11 for a description) had traveled possibly 1K miles to Jerusalem after seeing “His star.” It had taken them nearly two years. Now they needed to know WHERE this new King lived. You better believe Herod wanted to know where He lived too and not to worship him, as the wise men desired.  Herod asked the Jewish scribes, who instantly knew the prophecy of Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  He called the wise men back and asked exactly when the star appeared, then sent them off with the request to be notified when they found him.

However, the wise men didn’t need Herod’s directions because when they left the court, the star appeared again, leading them right to the house where Jesus lived. There, they worshiped Him. Can you imagine the neighbors’ thoughts when a caravan of camels and funny-dressed rice men parked at Joseph’s house? Can you imagine Mary when these finely robed men came inside, bowed low before her toddler son, and offered those jewel-encrusted boxes of gold, frankincense, and myrrh?  They must have stayed at least one night because God warned them in a dream to go home a different way – avoiding Jerusalem and King Herod.

What was that star anyway? Some have suggested it was a comet, a unique line-up of planets, or even a supernova (star exploding).  But perhaps it was a supernatural reality similar to the Shekinah glory of God that led the Israelites through the wilderness after they left Mt. Sinai. 

What were those gifts the wise men gave?  Symbolically, the Gold represented Jesus as King. Frankincense pointed to His Deity as God.  Myrrh,  a perfume used to wrap in burial cloths, suggested Jesus would be the supreme Sacrifice for sin.  And, of course, they all could have been used as funds for traveling to Egypt and living there for a time.  God warned Joseph to flee there after the wise men left because King Herod was looking to murder the boy, Jesus.

When Herod realized the wise men were not returning, he was furious. He ordered all the baby boys two years old and younger in and around Bethlehem to be killed. NO ONE would threaten HIS THRONE!  His soldiers obeyed the command and murdered them all.  What a horror! 

Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted because they are no more.”  This mourning for the children killed in Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian invasion and captivity was an echo of the current disaster caused by the insane Herod.  (Also, Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, died in childbirth and was buried near Bethlehem.)

Joseph obeyed his angelic dream, took Jesus and his mother, and set out for Egypt the following day. They stayed there until an angel told Joseph that Herod was dead.   They traveled back to Judea (where Bethlehem & Jerusalem were located), but the angel again warned Joseph not to stay there.  Herod’s three sons now ruled Israel, and the most wicked one, Archelaus, reigned in Judea.  Instead, Joseph took his family north into Galilee (where Herod Antipas ruled) and settled in Mary’s former town of Nazareth. 

How were the O.T. prophets’ prophecies fulfilled in that Jesus grew up in Nazareth? What did it mean that he was called a “Nazarene?” This possibly was because Nazareth was an “other side of the tracks” town. Everyone looked down on it as undesirable, even detestable.  Remember, even Nathanial asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)  The prophets wrote that the Messiah would be “despised, abhorred, and rejected by men” (Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 53:3) like someone from Nazareth. A Nazarene.

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 248

Sep4

    Day 248—We are in the NINETH month of Bible reading, with more of Israel’s history and EZEKIEL’s prophecy.

    Day 248– Ezekiel 28 – 30 (prophecy and lament against the Prince of Tyre, with metaphor, Sidon, plus prophecy and lament for Egypt)

Ezekiel 28. The word of the LORD continues against the prince (or leader) of Tyre because of his PRIDE in saying he was “a god.”

Yet the LORD says, “Yet you are but a man and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god.”   “Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of nations….they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor.”

Verses 13-15, speaking of the king of Tyre in metaphor, is often taken for a description of Satan. Perhaps it’s good to consider the powerful, proud king of Tyre as being used by Satan, much like the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14:3-23. And in both cases, the supreme sin is of PRIDE.

Next a prophecy against Sidon, which was a sister port city to Tyre.  Even in the times of the Judges it had a corrupting influence on Israel. It was the center of Baal worship, and where Jezebel was from.  God promises to execute judgment (death by pestilence and sword) on Sidon and to “manifest my HOLINESS in her” (as opposed to corrupt idol worship).

The last of chapter 28 speaks of the opposite end of Israel — restoration.  “…then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt.”

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Ezekiel 29 & 30 are prophecies against Egypt.  God has set his face against Pharaoh, calling him the great dragon that dwells in the midst of his streams, who says, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.” (Again, PRIDE precludes a fall.)  God says he will draw him out of the water and throw him into the desert…“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD.”

“I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of Babylon, and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Egypt was to lay dormant for forty years (after they fell to Babylon), then God would restore them, but not to a world power again to which Israel would run for help. They would be a “lowly kingdom.” (Because Nebuchadnezzar “put an end to the wealth of Egypt.”)

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 234

Aug21

    Day 234—We are in the eighth month of Bible reading: Israel’s history and Jeremiah’s prophecy.

    Day 234 – Jeremiah 46 – 48 (non-chronological judgments on Egypt, Philistia, and Moab)

Jeremiah 46. God tells about Egypt‘s overthrow by Babylon. Here is a decisive call to get ready for defeat.  “That day is the day of the LORD GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour, and be sated and drink its fill of their blood.” (referring to Egyptian defeat)

God tells of punishment but later relief.  “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his officers.  Afterward, Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old.”

But the Jews who fled to Egypt and then went to Babylon were to “Fear not.” “I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you, I will not make a full end.”

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Jeremiah 47. God tells of judgment on the Philistines by the Babylonians at the same time as they conquered Judah.  Later, it seems that Pharoah struck down Gaza before the Egyptians themselves were defeated by Babylon. 

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Jeremiah 48.  The Lord (through Jeremiah) calls down WOE on Moab (east across the Dead Sea from Israel). God’s judgment on Moab was intense. “The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.”   All the cities of Moab are to be destroyed “because he magnified himself against the LORD.“

Judgment and hope, even to Moab.  “Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone, for your sons have been taken captive and your daughters into captivity.  Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the LORD.”

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 233

Aug20

    Day 233—We are in the eighth month of Bible reading: Israel’s history and Jeremiah’s prophecy.

    Day 233 – Jeremiah 41 – 45. (Gedaliah murdered, Egypt?, Jeremiah kidnapped, Judgment on Egypt, a word to Baruch)

Jeremiah 41. Governor Gedaliah was warned twice that Ishmael (a royal descendant seeking power) was planning to assassinate him. But Gedaliah ignored Johanan’s warning and his open offer to kill Ishmael. (40: 12-16)  

Now Ishmael and his men, while eating dinner with Gedaliah, killed him and all the Judeans who happened to be there. Next, Ishmael slaughtered 70 of the 80 men, bringing grain into the city. He threw all their bodies in a large cistern. He then took all the people and left for Ammon.  Johanan and his men pursued them and got the people back, but Ishmael escaped.  Now, all the people were terrified of the Chaldeans because the Governor whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed had been murdered. 

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Jeremiah 42. Johanan and his men and all the people came to Jeremiah.  “Let our plea for mercy come before you and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant–because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us–that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” And they promised to do whatever the LORD said.

Jeremiah prayed for ten days.

God said: “If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you.  Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him…for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land.”

Wow. Praise God! What news!!

But God continued… “IF you set your faces to enter EGYPT and go to live there, THEN the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and you shall die.”     “Do not go to Egypt. Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day.”

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Jeremiah 43. When Jeremiah finished telling them God’s word, the leaders responded, “You are telling us a lie.”  “You want to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans to kill us or take us to Babylon.”

So all the leaders and all the remnant of Judah did NOT obey the voice of the LORD to stay in the land. The commanders took them — all the people that Captain Nebuzaradan had left with Gedaliah — AND JEREMIAH — and went to Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD.

God’s message to them in Egypt was that now He was sending Nebuchadnezzar to Egypt to strike the land, bring pestilence & sword, and take captives to Babylon. He was also going to burn the temples of the gods of Egypt and break down the obelisks and pagan temples. 

Those disobedient Jews were now “out of the pot” but “into the fire.”

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Jeremiah 44. There, the LORD spoke condemnation to the people through Jeremiah. “They have not humbled themselves even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in my law and the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.  Behold, I will set my face against you for harm to cut off all Judah.”   

“None of the remnant of Judah who has come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the Land of Judah.”

The LORD even gave them a sign; Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, would be given into Nebuchadnezzar’s hands. (It happened 2 1/2 years later.)

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Jeremiah 45 is a flashback to the time of King Jehoiakim, when Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary, was writing the words of Jeremiah in a book by dictation, and then the king burned it.  Baruch was grieving over the “things that might have been” and his own aspirations of fame & glory. Jeremiah told him God’s words for him, “Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold I am bringing a disaster upon all flesh. But… I will give you your life as a prize of war in all the places to which you may go.”

 

Up next: the LORD’s judgments on the nations, beginning with Egypt. (chapters 46-51)

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 30

Jan30

    Day 30 —  Won’t you read the Bible with me this year?   It only takes a few minutes.  (You can also listen to an audio recording.)

   Day 30 – Exodus 1 – 3  (Israel grows & becomes a threat, Moses appears)

In Joseph’s time, Israel was 70 people strong. Now, 300+ years later (chapter 1), they had “increased greatly; they have multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.”  WOW!  (God was fulfilling His promise to Abe in Genesis 15.)

But the new, paranoid Pharoah is afraid of them. What if…? And what if they…? he worried. So he set out to “deal” with this problem. First he conscripted the Hebrews to build cites for him through hard manual labor. Then – because they just got stronger and multiplied – the forced labor got ruthless and turned into cruel slavery. And still they multiplied.

The next solution was to kill baby boys at birth, but that didn’t work out so well. God used the midwives to save the newborns.  Pharoah’s “final solution” was infanticide. He commanded all Egyptians to throw EVERY son born to the Hebrews into the crocodile-infested Nile River.

But a beam of hope arises in chapter 2. A beautiful baby boy is born to a couple who are from the tribe of Levi. (Not Joseph, not Judah).  The mother kept her son hidden as long as she could, but babies do cry loudly sometimes. So she obeyed the ruling pagan authority and “cast” her baby boy into the Nile.  It just so happens, that he was lovingly wrapped and placed in a water-proof basket, and had a big sister to look after him.

He “happened” to float by where Pharoah’s (childless) daughter was bathing and began to cry pitifully.  She had the basket brought to her, recognized the baby boy as Hebrew (circumcision), but instantly wanted him.  Miriam steps up right then and offers a wet nurse for the baby, and Pharaoh’s daughter PAYS the baby’s own mother to nurse him. WOW. But at about 3-years old, Jochabed gives up the baby (named Moses by the Egyptian) to live as the grandchild of the Pharoah.

This was of course all in God’s plan. Moses is trained up in all ways (achedemics, languages, military command, etc,) to become a leader (not for Pharoah, but for God).  He just needed some time learning how to lead…. SHEEP. Dumb sheep.

After defending a Hebrew slave by killing an Egyptian taskmaster (a big no-no), Moses has to flee for his life. He runs hundreds of miles away, trekking across the Sinai desert to Midian. (Midianites were descendants of Abraham & his second wife, Keturah). There at a well, where some women came to water their sheep, another matchmaking takes place. Moses meets the seven daughters of the local priest, and marries one of them, Zipporah and looks after his sheep. The have a son (later another one).

It looks like Moses (mighty man of God) has sunk into obscurity.  Well, he has.  For forty years he herds, feeds, cares for, chases after, and nurses flocks of sheep.

Then God calls him.  He was trained 40 years in Egyptian leadership and 40 years in shepherding. God has heard the cries of his people in slavery, and Moses is ready.  Well, GOD thinks he is ready. Not so, Moses.

In chapter 3, God talks to him through a burning bush that does not get consumed. (But not TOO close, for the area around God Almighty is holy).  Moses, God says, “Come, I will send you to Pharoah that you may bring my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”

“WHAAAATT???”  Moses cries. Who am I?

God promises Moses His very Presence will go with him, and, in fact, God will help Moses bring the nation back to the very spot on which they stand.

“What am I gonna tell the people?”

God tells Moses to use his “personal” name to the people. The Name he used with Abraham… I AM WHO I AM. (Yaweh, or Jehovah).

Then God goes on to tell him how it will happen. He is to tell the Pharoah certain things, which will be resisted, do some miracles, which will be resisted. Then God will bring them out with POWER, with lots and lots of loot, and take them to the Promised Land.

(Okay. It’s settled, right?  Wrong. Moses, the sheep-herder has more objections.)

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 28 & 29

Jan29

 Day 28 & 29 — (I combine Sunday and Monday reads.)  Won’t you read the Bible with me this year?   It only takes a few minutes.  (You can also listen to an audio recording.)

   Day 28 – Genesis 46-47  (Jacob settles in Egypt, Joseph manages the famine)

Chapter 46 sees the old man, Jacob/Israel packing up his family and goods and beginning the trek south. He stops briefly in Beersheba and sacrifices to God. God assures him it’s the right ting to do. “Jacob, Jacob, I am the God of your Father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you…”  

There were 66 family members in all in the caravan (70 persons in his “house” counting Joseph, his wife and sons). Before the Hebrews return, there will be 600,000 men, not counting women and kids.  God’s promise told to the Patriarch’s would begin to come true – they’d be as numerous as the sand, dust, and stars.

After 22 years thinking his fave son was dead, Jacob finally meets Joseph, the Vice-Pharoah in Egypt. What a scene! Lots of hugging and weeping.  Then Joseph settles them in the “prime” land of Goshen, away from the capital. He tells them what to say when he introduces them to the Big Man. They were to say they are “shepherds.” Egyptians do not like sheep, so Goshen is perfect.  At the meeting, Jacob blesses Pharoah, not the other way around.

In chapter 47, we see Joseph, relieved to have his family nearby, back to the seriousness of running the economy of Egypt in the remaining 5 years of famine. It looks like he is draining the hungry people dry, but they seem pleased to give up their money, land, and themselves to receive grain to eat and plant.

Jacob/Israel is coming to the end of his days. He’s lived in Egypt near his favorite son for 17 years.  He’s 147 now, and he calls Joseph to extract a promise from him.

“…promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.  PROMISE!”  And Joseph swears it. (He will make a similar request before he dies).

Day 29 – Genesis 48-50 (the last chapters) – (Blessings & Promises)

In chapter 48, Jacob/Israel, knowing he will die soon, begins to gather his sons together for the Patriarchal Blessings. Joseph brings his two sons to his father (Manassah & Ephraim) to be blessed. Jacob “adopts” them as his own sons, giving them equal portions with the other 11 brothers. Remember three things here:

  1. Jacob considers Rachael as his “wife”
  2. Jacob considers Rachael’s first born, Joseph. as the one who gets the Birthright (double portion of his inheritance)
  3. In adopting Joseph’s sons and giving them equal portions with his own sons, he carries out this “double portion” in heritance for Joseph.

Again, as in all the sons of the Patriarchs, Joseph’s second son gets the greater honor – Ephraim over Manassah. And they are considered part of the 12 Tribes of Israel. When the united kingdom spits after Solomon dies, the Northern half is often called “Ephraim.”  (Judah is the name as the Southern half).

And finally, in chapter 49, Jacob gives his Blessing to all the sons, revealing both their character and the portions of the Promised Land that will be theirs. As before, he passes up Reuben, Simeon, and Levi (because of their wickedness) and proclaims Judah as the progenitor of the One who will bless all the nations on the earth, the Eternal King, the Lion of Judah (Jesus, the Messiah).

Then the old Patriarch dies.

Chapter 50 covers two amazing things. One, Jacob/Israel is embalmed as per the custom of the Egyptians. He is mourned for 70 days, then, as per his desires, he is transported to the Promised Land, and buried in the cave of Machpelah, where his grandfather/grandmother, father/mother, and Leah are buried. The Canaanite inhabitants are astonished at the great complany of Egyptians that attend the burial.

Two, after ALL THESE YEARS, still obviously feeling guilt, Joseph’s brothers come to him with a story (true or made up??) that before he died Jacob told Joseph to forgive them for selling him into slavery.

Joseph is astonished and cries out in grief.  He has long since forgiven them (even before they first came to Egypt).  He assures them AGAIN, that even if THEY meant it for harm, GOD meant it for good, in order to save all of them alive (and fulfill His promises to Abraham).

Do they finally believe him?  I hope so.

And then the time comes for Joseph to die (110). He extracts a promise from his brothers (and families) to “carry his bones” with them when they return to the land God promised them. (Joseph totally believed God’s words to Abraham that after 400 years, God would bring Israel back to the Promised Land.)

Then Joseph dies, his body is embalmed and placed in a coffin….”resting” in Egypt for 400 years.

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NOTES: 1) Exodus 13:19 tells how Moses made sure to collect Joseph’s bones before the “Children of Israel” left Egypt.

2) Joshua 24:32 tells how Joshua buried Joseph’s bones in the portion of land that Jacob had bought from Hamar in Shechem.