Exodus - part 2

 Exodus 11-25 (These are my notes from my reading.)

 The Passover - only by the blood of the lamb is each household spared.  God gives specific instructions for salvation.  Anyone who does not follow these exactly will not be saved.  Now, we are saved eternally by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.  He is the only way to be saved.  Anyone who does not turn to Him (repent and believe) will not be saved.  It is important that we remember what Christ has done for us, just as the Israelites were instructed to remember.  We also dedicate ourselves to Him because we are saved, just as Israel dedicated the first born to God because they were saved by God's grace.

 Crossing the sea - God arranges for the final destruction of Egypt.  The people are fearful.  Even after all they have seen God do, they doubt His ability to save them.  They grumble in fear, but He saves them anyway.  They praise the Lord and give Him glory, but as soon as things are hard again, they grumble against Him.  We are so similar.  We think that being a Christian should mean a life without struggle or hardship, but that is not what we are promised.  We are simply promised salvation - to be His, to bring Him glory, to have freedom in Him.

 The troubles of leadership - the people are grumbling, they grumble about everything, even romanticizing their life in Egypt.  How often do I complain because life is hard?  I want everything to be easy because I am lazy and self-focused, romanticizing past circumstances because current ones are tough.  This is what Israel is doing.  Yet God provides.  He provides their every need - food, water, etc.  Still, the people are not grateful.  It is interesting to me how much they grumble but yet how much they give lip service to God when He shows up on Mt. Sinai.  How many times are we moved by a worship experience, but only in the moment, and go back to grumbling soon after?

Moses learns about designating and about leading without doing everything himself.  He listens to older and wiser men, heeding their advice.  Something all leaders need to remember.

God organizes the people into a nation - with laws and practices.  These laws are put into place to give the people a standard, something to set them apart from other nations.  These laws govern the people and show them God's ways.  The people of Egypt and of Canaan do not follow such laws.  God has shown and shows His disapproval of these by destroying these nations.  

At the end of this section, once again the people promise to be obedient and to follow the Lord.  But how sincere are they?  Is this just an emotional religious experience for some of them?  We know that they have been grumbling and complaining.  We will see them quickly turn to idol worship.  Is this how we are?  how I am?  Making vows on Sunday to "do better", but by Tuesday off doing our own thing?  God wants heart change, which only He can do, which can only happen through Jesus.

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