Israelites

None Survived

Carol Purves Carol's Blog , ,

Did Pharaoh send his whole army or just part of it after the fleeing Israelites as they left Egypt? To have sent all his warriors would have spelled devastation to his country. Because of the power of God he had lost his slaves. Who would now make the many bricks need to cope with his expanding building programme?

In the confusion in the middle of the Red Sea the wheels of the Egyptian chariots jammed, so escape was impossible. Then as the waters flowed back all the horsemen, horses and chariots were swept into the sea. ‘Not one of them survived’. Exodus 14:28. Pharaoh lost so much on that fateful day. No slaves, no chariots,no horsemen. Pharaoh would have certainly been safer if he’d listened to God.

Moses and the frightened multitude were told by God ‘The Egyptians you see today you will never see again,’ The Lord will fight for you, you only need to be still.’ Exodus 14:13-14. The Lord doesn’t do things by half!

Manna

Carol Purves Carol's Blog , ,

On the journey to the Promised Land, the Israelites were for ever moaning that there was no meat and bread that they had been used to in Egypt. So God answered their need; He sent manna from heaven. This is supposed to resemble coriander seed. It was not what they had been expecting, but it was probably better for them than the Egyptian food. As they were travelling the rich meats and strongly seasoned foods would not have been kind to their stomachs.

God answered the Israelites prayer His own way. Daily He supplied their needs, even arranging that they did not have to gather on the Sabbath, but that there would be double on the preceding day. This answer was not what they were expecting but it was God’s answer to their prayers.

How often we find the same. The answers that God gives us to our prayers are completely different to what we think will happen. Sometimes we gasp, ‘Why didn’t I think of that? But then were’re not God. God has complete oversight and control of everything. He knows the problems from every point of view. Out all-seeing God knows what is best for us.

Called

Carol Purves Carol's Blog , ,

Moses was perfectly happy tending the sheep for his father-in-law in the country of Midian. He had no plans to change his future but God had other ideas. The instruction to lead the people of Israel was not part of Moses’s idea. It was God who did the calling. The fact that he was successful was due to God’s mighty power.

Others in the Bible have also been called. Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine-press when he received the call. Ambition wasn’t on his mind when he heard God telling him he was a ‘mighty warrior.’ In fact he turned on the Lord, ‘If the Lord was with us, why has all this happened.’ Here is a man accusing God, not one looking to lead a nation. Nevertheless with God’s leading he went on to lead the people of God against many nations.

Maybe Joseph was ambition but he was no good on his own, until God had tried him, moulded him and finally called him.God had wanted Joseph to gather His people in Egypt and Moses to lead them out.

Maybe we have great plans for evangelism but we first need to be called by God. ‘Unless the Lord builds the house the builders labour in vain.’ Psalm 127:1

Not One Saved and Not One Drowned.

Carol Purves Carol's Blog , ,

Probably few of us witness such a spectacular and horrifying event as the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. The Israelites had passed through safely, then the waters closed over the Egyptian warriors. The Bible tells us that ‘were bodies of the Egyptians on the shore.’

One wonders how they could forget God’s wonderful miracle towards them. But then we only have to think of ourselves and how we easily forgot God’s bounty to us.

The story reminds of God’s great power especially over the natural world. Not surprising really as He created it. The waters parted as exactly the right time and then closed over at the right time again. There was nothing haphazard in God’s planning. There wasn’t one Israelite who drowned or one Egyptian who was saved.

25/8

Carol Purves Carol's Blog , ,

I’d not heard the phrase before. It obviously is a more extreme form of 24/7. God didn’t intend us to live at that frantic pace. He gave us one day in seven for us to rest and recharge our batteries. In whatever shape it takes it is a chance to slow down.

When we read of creation in Genesis we see that the morning and evening of each day are mentioned, but not on the seventh day. Does that mean that there will eventually be everlasting rest? I’m not sure of the reason, except that God had finished His work. With the Israelites celebrating the Sabbath it set them apart from their neighbouring nations. The Israelites were emotionally and spiritually free.

On our Sabbaths days we need to do three things. We need to plan them, they need to be intentional. Then they need to be used as extra time to spend with God. And finally they need to be shared with other Christians.