Moses and Aaron stood with great confidence before Pharaoh and declared the Lordship of God. Then, with only a rod, Moses systematically dismantled Egypt. He took the offensive, not the defensive, and began demonstrating to Pharaoh who “I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:2) truly was. The rod and staff of God comforted Moses as he stood and watched God transform his staff into a snake and turn the Nile into blood.
Without armies and guns, diplomacy and politics, or cleverness and reason, Moses prevailed by maintaining a relaxed anointing. As your enemies rant and rave, they do not understand how you can sit so relaxed at the table of the Lord. While they are delivering their tirade in the power of the flesh, you sit in the power of the anointing. You must learn that as you “walk through the dark valley of death” (Psalm 23:4), there is truly nothing to fear.
Relax and lie down in green pastures. God will fight “Pharaoh” while you feed at the table of the Lord.
Exodus 5:22-7:25
God Promises Deliverance
22Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me?23Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
6 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”
2God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD.3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them.4I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.5Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.8And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’”
9Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.
10Then the LORD said to Moses,11“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”
12But Moses said to the LORD, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”
Family Record of Moses and Aaron
13Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
14These were the heads of their families:
The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
15The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
16These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
17The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.
18The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
19The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These were the clans of Levi according to their records.
20Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
21The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.
22The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.
23Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.
25Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.
26It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.”27They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.
Aaron to Speak for Moses
28Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,29he said to him, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?
7 Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.2You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt,4he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.5And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
6Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake
8The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,9“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”
10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.11Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:12Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.13Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
The Plague of Blood
14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.16Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.17This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.18The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”
19The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”
20Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
22But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.23Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.24And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.
The Plague of Frogs
25Seven days passed after the LORD struck the Nile.
Matthew 18:21-19:12
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’34In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Divorce
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.9I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.12For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Psalm 23
Psalm 23
23 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Proverbs 5:22-23
22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.
23For lack of discipline they will die,
led astray by their own great folly.
