King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 8 notes
1Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
Oh my God. Did you not care about the doubling of affliction upon your people when ⚕ Pharaoh was contacted?
Why did you not just let Moses perform the needed miracles, but the people had to first suffer more?
It seems the Lord uses suffering as a tool, though we men hate it.
We see the same in the lives of all men. GOD, it seems, does not involve himself in the affairs of men, rarely until he is contacted, or it was already part of his plans and then he finds a man to use.
See Abraham, who suffered much, had an additional child 🧒 Ishmael who was not part of the plan originally, but God permitted it.
The ways of God must be learnt and studied.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now shalt thou see what I would do to Pharaoh.” It was almost like God was just waiting for this moment so he could demonstrate his greatness against Egypt.
2And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
4And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
God always plays the long game.
In the short while he seems to be losing but in the long run he comes out tops.
The land where they walked in as strangers, having left what was theirs, where they had a heritage — Ur of the Chaldees and Haran — to a land not their own, so there they could be strangers and pilgrims.
It was only fair to give them as promised, having forfeited their own to attend to the Lord’s command.
The only problem with God’s promise was that they were not going to see it fulfilled in their lifetime, though God left enough evidence for them to trust in his words by what he did in their lifetime in their advantage.
But it still required believing.
5And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
7And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
As I see how impossible 🙅 it would have been for Israel 🇮🇱 to be free from Pharaoh without God, I see also that it would take God for Africa 🌍 to be a liberated people.
Lord help us.
9And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
I can imagine the looks and squelching Moses received as he attempted another motivational speech.
He had trusted the Lord anyway when he first went to see Pharaoh, despite his guts telling him this would not end well.
Yet at the word of the Lord he went, and things went badly as suspected, and the Lord unexpectedly did nothing.
I’m sure Moses thought the Lord would work something out at this time, but he didn’t.
God was following his own calendar.
10And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
11Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Moses was reasonable, and this reasoning was valid. Why would God ask Moses to go do the same thing he had done that failed? The message had to be different.
It was only wise to ask.
This begs the question: why would God, knowing the first time things did not go well, not come a second time with a new strategy or an enhanced one at least, but comes to give the same old command?
Maybe it was to elicit this response from Moses — he loves to cooperate with man.
He loves to work with man and hear man’s reasoning and logic. This truly is a father-son relationship. Of course the father knows more than the son and gives command at his high level of reasoning as a father, but by the son speaking up at his own level the father then breaks down the plan to him.
This ought to be how as Christians we relate with our father in heaven.
13And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
14These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.
15And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.
16And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.
17The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
18And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.
19And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
20And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
21And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
22And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.
23And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.
25And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
26These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.
It is interesting, the double or rather triple repetition above. Dake’s draws our mind to something: that initially Aaron was placed before Moses and then Moses was placed ahead.
But looking carefully, I see Aaron was placed before Moses (A), and then they were placed at par (B), then Moses was ahead (C).
The Holy Scriptures are so interesting. Subtle details you would never see if you don’t look closely. If you are not led there.
27These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.
28And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
29That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
30And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?