DAILY DISCIPLINE #57
By Colleen Donahue

During the past two studies, we've looked at Moses, the leader chosen by God to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt and into the promised land of Canaan. Now in this study, we'll look at the people themselves involved during this time in history.

If you remember, it was more than 300 years before the time of Moses that the Hebrew people had emigrated from the neighboring land of Palestine. At Pharoah's command, they had settled in the best of the land, a strip of green called Goshen. They prospered and grew to be two million in number but they never blended into Egyptian culture. They remained a distinct people and in time became open to suspicious hate.

400 years had passed from when the Hebrews had been invited to settle in Egypt. Now, the king feared the growing numbers of Israelites. With their strength in numbers, they could form a coalition with enemies of Egypt. Thus the king resolved to wear them out and to reduce their numbers by the rigor of slave labor. He forced them to work in the brickfields under cruel task masters and every occasion was used for dealing out cruel and merciless punishment. (This was to be the beginning of the long Israeli/Arab conflict still existing today.)

It was to this desperate situation that God looked down from Heaven and began His preparation for .......

THE GREAT EXODUS --God's Intervention in Hard Times

Day 1- God was with His people from the beginning and He prospered them despite the Egyptian attempt to overcome them.
Exodus 1:12,20

Day 2- God's compassion for His children isn't sentimental sympathy. He began His practical steps of deliverance by calling Moses as His leader.
Exodus 3:1-10

Day 3- Moses made nine requests to Pharoah that would allow him to take the Israelites out of Egypt. Each time however Pharoah's heart was hardened and he would not let them go!
Exodus 7:13, 22-23 / Exodus 8:15,19,32 / Exodus 9:7,12,34-35 / Exodus 10:20,27

I. THE PASSOVER

Day 4- The Passover was a point in history that marked the end of the road for Pharoah and the Egyptians but the beginning for the Israelites.
Exodus 11:7b

Day 5- This was to be a day to remember down through the ages.
Exodus 12:24-27 / Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Day 6- Death was God's sentence upon every household throughout Egypt except for those that believed in the one true God.
Exodus 11:4-7

Day 7- After the Passover, Israel was to begin a new era with God. Redemption was to be the start of a new life.
Exodus 12:2

Day 8- Here we have the redemption of the people founded upon the blood of the lamb.
Exodus 12:3-6

Day 9- The lamb as a redemptive sacrifice was symbolic of Jesus Christ who would come centuries later to redeem us all.
John 1:29 / I Corinthians 5:7 / I Peter 1:18-19

Day 10- The blood of the lamb sprinkled on their doorposts secured Israel's peace. Nothing more was required. When God saw the blood outside He just "passed over" the house and the family was saved.
Exodus 12:7, 12-13

Day 11- There was no question of personal worthiness or working hard enough. Self had nothing to do with it. All under the cover of the blood were completely saved.
Exodus 12:22-23

Day 12- Can you see how that applies to us as we put ourselves under the blood of the slain Christ --our perfect lamb? Full forgiveness rests upon THE FACT that a complete atonement has been made.
Romans 5:9 / Hebrews 9:14 / I Peter 1:18-19

Day 13- The mistake we make today is in wanting to obtain salvation by accepting Christ's sacrifice PLUS adding some of our own works to earn it!
Galatians 2:16 / Ephesians 2:8-9 / Titus 3:4-5

Day 14- On the night of the Passover, everything happened just as God said it would.
Exodus 12:28-30

Day 15- And it most certainly prepared the way for Pharoah to let the Israelites go!
Exodus 12:31-42

II. THE JOURNEY

Day 16- Which way did God lead the people from Egypt and why?
Exodus 13:17-18

Day 17- The fact that the Israelites had to take such a roundabout route to get to God's final destination for them speaks so much to us about God's will in the journey of our own lives.
Isaiah 42:16 / Isaiah 43:16-19

Day 18- Perhaps you have felt a certain direction in your life or a certain calling but circumstances are keeping you from it.
Proverbs 3:6

Day 19- You believe that all down the ages God has guided those that dared to trust Him fully but... you don't seem to be receiving any guidance. God's promises to guide us are unmistakable.
Psalm 32:8 / Isaiah 58:11 / John 8:12

Day 20- And there are many more promises.....
Psalm 23:2 / Psalm 25:8-9 / Psalm 48:14 / Isaiah 30:21

Day 21- We need only to seek God and He will answer.
Psalm 25:4-5 / Psalm 27:11 / Psalm 143:10

Day 22- In the Israelite's situation, the Egyptians were behind them and the raging Red Sea was before them. It will be different of course for us but the principle holds that at such times we must stand still and see the salvation of God.
Exodus 14: 13-14

Day 23- God may delay in order to test the patience of faith, but He'll not delay a moment beyond the extreme hour of need.
James 1:2-3 / 2 Peter 3:8-9

III. IN THE WILDERNESS

There is a "wilderness journey" for every one of God's children and we can benefit from the lessons the Israelites learned on their journey.

Day 24- The wilderness journey was meant to be for a relatively short time. It was to be an interlude between leaving Egypt and the promised land. Why did it go on for 40 years? Numbers 14:26-35 / Deuteronomy 1:26-37

Day 25- The wilderness journey was (and is) meant to build faith. It enabled God to show forth His hand in leadership and protection.
Deuteronomy 8:15-18

Day 26- It was a time for the people to learn complete dependence upon God and the things unseen.
Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Day 27- It's a time when we are to wait upon God in eager anticipation of what He will do next, knowing that He only gives good things to His children.
Deuteronomy 7:12-15 / Deuteronomy 10:14-22 / Deuteronomy 11:13-15

Day 28- Despite the fact that the wilderness is not a pleasant place to be, we are not meant to extract ourselves from it.
Psalm 37:7A / Psalm 40:1-3 / Isaiah 26:8 / Isaiah 33:2

Day 29- In Numbers 14:40 we see how the Israelites tried to do just that. We are only meant to act in the energy of faith, not in the strength of our own right arm. The results will only be defeat as we can see with the Israelites.
Numbers 14:41-45 / Deuteronomy 1:41-46

Day 30- Lastly, it's important to see that unbelief was the greatest sin that kept them wandering an extra 40 years. These extra years were not part of the original plan, but God is faithful and will not allow us to claim the promised land until we have fully submitted ourselves to the lessons of the desert. What warning is given to us?
Hebrews 3:12

Day 31- In summary, what are we to do when we encounter various trials and hardships?
James 1:2-4

In the next study, we'll take a look at what happens when we don't "count it all joy" and we'll see the effect that sin and rebellion had on the Israelites as they walked through their wilderness experience.

 

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