Tag Archives: Exodus

Our Redeemer

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Reading the Word

Psalm 136:10–16 (ESV)

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

Understanding and Applying the Word

Psalm 136 is a psalm that calls on mankind to give thanks to God. In the opening verses (vv. 1-9), we are reminded that God is Creator and is deserving of thanks for giving us life. Now, in verses 10-16, our attention is turned to the Lord’s redemptive acts in how he rescued the people from slavery in Egypt and brought them into the promised land.

This psalm was originally written to the Jewish people whose ancestors had been slaves in Egypt. Their redemption through the Exodus was a focal point of their history. We do not have to be native Israelites to find meaning in these verses. All of Scripture is focused on how God is the Redeemer of mankind. The salvation of Israel from slavery in Egypt is a picture of how God is working in an even greater way to free all of mankind from slavery to sin. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to bring us freedom. All believers have reason to praise God as Redeemer. May we remember his goodness towards us and give him thanks!

**Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. Please use the links at the bottom to subscribe to this page. You can also share this post with your friends through social media using the buttons below. Thanks for reading!

Through the Sea

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Crossing of the Red Sea

I will be out of town for the next few days and will not be able to post devotional content. However, I have scheduled for a daily Scripture reading to publish each day I am away. Daily devotional thoughts will return on Monday, October 1. Thanks for reading!

If you have not already done so, subscribe to this page and join us each day as we read through the Book of Psalms in 2018.

Reading the Word

Psalm 106:6–12 (ESV)

6 Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. 7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. 10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. 11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. 12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.

He Brought His People Out with Joy

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I will be out of town for the next few days and will not be able to post devotional content. However, I have scheduled for a daily Scripture reading to publish each day I am away. Daily devotional thoughts will return on Monday, October 1. Thanks for reading!

If you have not already done so, subscribe to this page and join us each day as we read through the Book of Psalms in 2018.

Reading the Word

Psalm 105:43–45 (ESV)

43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. 44 And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil, 45 that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

The Lord Provides

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The Exodus

I will be out of town for the next few days and will not be able to post devotional content. However, I have scheduled for a daily Scripture reading to publish each day I am away. Daily devotional thoughts will return on Monday, October 1. Thanks for reading!

If you have not already done so, subscribe to this page and join us each day as we read through the Book of Psalms in 2018.

Reading the Word

Psalm 105:37–42 (ESV)

37 Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night. 40 They asked, and he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance. 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.

Who Is in Control?

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The Plague of Flies

The Plague of Flies

Reading the Word

Psalm 105:26–36 (ESV)

26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they did not rebel against his words. 29 He turned their waters into blood and caused their fish to die. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. 32 He gave them hail for rain, and fiery lightning bolts through their land. 33 He struck down their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country. 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number, 35 which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate up the fruit of their ground. 36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.

Understanding and Applying the Word

These verses recount the plagues that God sent upon Egypt to free the Hebrew people. The emphasis is on God’s power. Consider the way these events are described: “He sent…and made…”, He turned…and caused…”, “He spoke…”, “He gave…”, “He struck…and shattered…”. God’s sovereignty is on display in these events.

In the account of the Exodus from Egypt, we see the most powerful nation and man (Pharaoh) coming into conflict with God. The word of the Lord came to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron, but the Egyptian leader refused to listen and obey. Instead, he thought his great power would sustain him. In reality, the most powerful man in the world had no power in comparison to the God of all of creation. God displayed his might through the plagues as a reminder of who truly is ruling the world and he brought his people out of Egypt just as he promised he would.

Whatever, and whoever, we face in this life, we know that it is ultimately God who is in control. We can turn to him with our troubles knowing that he hears and knowing that he is able to do all things according to his will. Let us face today, tomorrow, and the future knowing that our God is over all things.

 

Out of Egypt

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Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. I do not publish separate devotional content on Sundays, but I do include a suggested Scripture reading for the day. We are reading through the Book of Psalms in 2018. Please follow this page if you would like to follow along. Thanks for reading!

Reading the Word

Psalm 80:8–13 (ESV)

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

He Led Them Like Sheep

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Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. I do not publish devotional content on Sundays, but I do include a suggested reading. Please subscribe to this page if you would like to follow along as we read through the Book of Psalms in 2018.

Reading the Word

Psalm 78:44–53 (ESV)

44 He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams. 45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. 46 He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost. 48 He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts. 49 He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. 50 He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. 51 He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham. 52 Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

No Turning Back

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Reading the Word

Psalm 78:9–16 (ESV)

9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. 10 They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. 11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. 12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. 14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. 15 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

Understanding and Applying the Word

After opening the psalm by calling for the people to learn from history (vv. 1-8), verses 9-16 begin to recount that history. It begins by telling how the Ephraimites had forgotten their history and had shrunk back in the day of battle. They forgot how God had displayed his power and allowed the Israelites to cross the Red Sea when they went out of Egypt. God also led them with a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night and supplied water from a rock. If the Ephraimites had remembered their history, they would have gone into battle knowing that God was with them.

We can read these words and wonder at how the people could forget what God had done. How often do we do the same in our own lives? We have seen and experienced God’s power as believers. We are told in Scripture that all who believe are born again and have the Spirit of God living within them. Yet, when faced with difficulty or trials, we often forget that God is with us and we wonder how we will make it through our circumstances. Let us not forget our history. It prepares us for the future.

**Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. Please use the links at the bottom to subscribe to this page. You can also share this post with your friends through social media using the buttons below. Thanks for reading!

Your Footprints Were Unseen

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Shaped by the Word is a daily Bible reading devotional. I do not publish devotional content on Sundays, but I do include a suggested Scripture reading. Please subscribe to this page and follow along through the Book of Psalms in 2018.

 

Reading the Word

Psalm 77:16–20 (ESV)

16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. 17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. 18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. 20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.