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Today’s reading comes from Exodus 32. Here’s a quick summary:

1. Moses has been gone up on Mt. Sinai talking to God (for 40 days)
2. While Moses was gone, the people get restless and think Moses isn’t coming back, and they start pestering Aaron (who’s left in charge) to give them a tangible god (idol) to worship.
3. Aaron makes the people a golden calf.
4. God sees this and becomes angry, and tells Moses he is going to destroy the people of Israel.
5. Moses intercedes – he begs God’s mercy and forgiveness – for the people, and reminds God of the promises He’s made regarding the nation’s future.
6. God agrees to spare the Israelites.
7. Moses returns to the camp with the tablets written by the Lord and confronts Aaron and the people.
8. After all of this, Moses asks who in the camp is on the Lord’s side and then instructs those that are to kill “his brother and his companion and his neighbor”.
9. Moses speaks to the people about their sin and promises to go back up the mountain to beg God’s forgiveness for the people’s actions.

This chapter has quite a bit going on with its story and from a theological standpoint. For this Tuesday’s devotion though, I want to focus on Moses’ willingness to speak to God on behalf of the very people who have given up on him and begun worshiping a cow. (Seriously – can you imagine just how foolish these people looked to Moses who had just spent more than a month in God’s presence? They’re bowing down to a cow made of metal???)

Moses’ first response to God’s anger was to beg for mercy for the people. Then, after going down and seeing what had happened during his absence with his own eyes, he has an even better understanding of the gravity of the people’s sin. I’m imagining on a personal level there were likely feelings of hurt, betrayal, anger, frustration, sadness, embarrassment, etc.

But Moses didn’t respond to the people in a way that indicated he was thinking about himself at all. He cared for the people. He knew they had messed up but wanted them to be back in God’s favor again. He prayed for them, begged for mercy, and even reminded God of past promises in hopes of salvation for the people.

This isn’t a natural way to pray (at least for me, it isn’t). But as I reflect on these words, there are at least three very specific people in my life that I am convicted to go to God to fight for. Two are believers, one is not. But each has something (a golden calf, if you will) that is separating them from the Lord. Going to God and praying for his forgiveness and mercy on their behalf isn’t something I’ve thought to do – but just as Moses was willing to intercede for his people, shouldn’t we be willing to do the same?

Four and a half years ago, my Moses (aka Nancy) sat on my couch and listened as I poured my heart out and shed all the tears about the crossroads I faced.  My marriage was in shambles and the options I was left with were equally awful. My life felt like a game of Would You Rather and I kept going back and forth in my mind with the decision to make. 
Nancy brought so much wisdom. She encouraged me to wait and see what God was doing in this situation. She opened the Bible and walked me through Exodus 14, our reading for today.

She connected me to the Israelites, standing at the Red Sea they could drown in, or the Egyptian army to be murdered by. When you read the text, you can feel their anguish and fear. They didn’t know what to do – and it feels like they were living their own real life game of Would You Rather. And like me, the Israelites were limiting their decision to the two options at that moment in front of them – drown in the Red Sea or be killed by the Egyptians. They cried out to Moses and in verses 13 and 14 you see his reply, which was exactly what I needed to hear that day from my Moses:

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord… The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The Israelites didn’t want to choose either of those two options, and didn’t see a third different option. We don’t know exactly how much time spanned between them being at the Red Sea and realizing that the Egyptian army was after them, until the point God gave them a third option – parting the Red Sea. Some bible scholars think it was days… can you imagine each day the army getting closer and closer to you? Feeling so trapped and afraid? The enemy closing in? 

In my marriage, I felt pressure to make a quick decision, and honestly, I myself wanted to make a decision quickly and start moving in some direction, as awful as both options felt. But my Moses encouraged me to wait. Wait and let the Lord work, and He will provide a third option, or transform one of my current options. Do you think the Israelites thought the very Red Sea that they saw as a drowning death barrier, would actually become their escape route? 

This real event that took place 3,500 years ago brings us hope today that God can make a way when we see no way.  Is your back against a wall today and you see no way out? My prayer is that you will be patient with yourself, and let God lead you, like He has the Israelites, and like He has led me. Don’t let the world rush and worry you to a hasty decision, let the Lord work. Let Him lead. Let Him heal. Let Him provide. 

As we study Moses and the Israelites journey to the Promised Land, it’s easy to scratch our heads and wonder why they continue to doubt the power and provision of the Lord. He shows up every time for them, always coming to their rescue. And yet, every time trouble comes their way, they anguish and have so much fear. It’s humbling to think that all these years later I do the exact same thing. When I’m in the middle of a trial, do I first trust that God is going to bring me an escape route? Do I always trust that He will provide? Or do I try to solve and control everything quickly on my own?  I can look back at my life and time and time again He was working when I didn’t know it. He was preparing me in ways I didn’t see at the time. He surprised me with provisions right when I needed them. I want to better leverage my testimony of faith, into the next battle, knowing God will show up with a better option than I could have dreamed!  I’m encouraged and challenged to respond more like Moses and less like the Israelites. 

Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending people like Nancy into my life, who have served me like Moses, to remind me of your goodness and faithfulness. Thank you for the escape route that you provide when we feel like our back is against the wall. You are the best Defender, Protector, and Provider. Amen. 

How popular would some of the great Bible stories be, if they could be made into reality TV shows?!  This would be one of the most watched.  The story of Joseph and how God used him to save his people and the people of Egypt.  I don’t know about you, but I could not pull off what Joseph did…especially when you consider the time line…it didn’t take a couple of hours to get from place to place.  I don’t think I could keep my identity hidden, much less treat my brothers with the compassion that Joseph did.  However, Joseph was so in tune with God’s plan (Genesis 45:5):  “But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it.  He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.” 

Are you one of those people that gets great joy in giving to and taking care of others?  Can you imagine the amount of joy in Joseph’s heart when he gets to spoil his family with everything Egypt has to offer with the orders from the Pharaoh?!?!  Can you imagine the amount of joy in Jacob’s heart…not only to hear that his son was alive, but how well he was doing and that he would get to see him again.

I pray that joy finds you today.

So, how did you sleep last night? Did you sleep in a bed? Do you have a favorite pillow? And, did you have any dreams? If you did, do you even remember what you dreamt?

Yesterday in our Bible reading, Ross did an amazing job of describing how Jacob schemed his own plan to steal the birthright from his brother Esau. Of course, Esau was furious with Jacob, so Jacob fled from his home and family. Jacob had to be exhausted from all that he had just experienced. His mind had to be swirling with many thoughts of what his future held. He was traveling to a place he had never been. Would he ever be able to return home?

Today, we will look at Genesis 28 and the story of Jacob’s dream.

“Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed…” Genesis 28:10-12

As Jacob slept, the Lord revealed Himself to Jacob in a dream. This vision opened up heaven for Jacob to see angels ascending and descending on a ladder from the throne of God. The Lord promised that Jacob’s descendants would return to the land, would multiply in population, and would bless all people on the earth. In addition, the Lord promised to be with Jacob for the rest of his life.

After all of the fear and anxiety that Jacob had felt, God gives Jacob this dream to say, “I will be with you.” There is no more guilt, fear or anxiety. Jacob is shown that there is no place he can go where God is not already there. “I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15

In Jacob’s dream, God was at the top of the ladder and Jacob was at the bottom. The angels were going up and down the ladder to the throne of God. We still have the ladder from Heaven, but now Jesus is our ladder to Heaven. In John 1 Jesus the Son of God is at the bottom of the ladder. Jesus Christ has come down the ladder to join us here on earth.

Jesus Christ is himself the stairway that leads back to heaven. If you want to go to heaven, Jesus is the way. He is the ladder that will take you from here to there. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51)

We all can see ourselves in the life of Jacob. Trying to scheme our own plans, running, anxious and fearful. We are not promised an easy life here on earth without struggles and pain. But God promises us that He is with us and will protect us wherever we go. God is waiting for us just as He was waiting for Jacob.

Today’s reading is Genesis 27. We’ve been following the story of Abraham, seeing how God first promises great things to the progenitor of His chosen people and watching how miraculously God works through those who have faith in Him. Now Abraham’s son Isaac, having lived a long an accomplished life, is preparing to pass on his substantial birthright and inheritance to his son. But in what should be a celebratory family occasion in the blessed lineage of Abraham, we instead relate to a family struggling with selfishness and sin.

In Genesis 27:29-34, we see Esau, in a fit of feverish hunger, offer up his birthright to his deceiving brother Jacob in exchange for a simple meal of bread and lentil stew to sate his appetite. Again in Genesis 26:34-35, we see Esau marrying two Hittite brides, violating the laws of Abraham which forbid God’s people from finding brides among the local Canaanites. Not only does this endanger his legal claim to his firstborn birthright, but makes life “bitter” for his parents in the process, causing great stress and concern. While I’m sure this last sentiment may resonate with some readers, we see Esau tends to take as he wants in the moment, despite the blessing and direction of God.

In the climactic moment of our passage, as Isaac readies to pass on his blessing to his favored son Esau, his wife Rebekah attempts to control the situation through her own doing, fulfilling the promises God gave her: her sons would begin two nations, the older serving the younger. Taking advantage of her husband’s old age and loss of faculties, Rebekah creates a scheme of her own volition to instead pass the birthright to Jacob, her own preferred son. Dressing himself to more resemble his brother, Jacob tricks Isaac into believing he is in fact Esau, bringing his favorite meal and covering himself in goat skin to replicate Esau’s hairy skin. As Esau finds out about this injustice and cries out in bitter anger, he comforts himself with sinful thoughts of revenge and murder and his father passes.

Even as the tale of Jacob and Esau begins, I am convicted by how this passage forces me to confront my own sinful pride. We see it in Rebekah’s plan to bestow Isaac’s blessing upon Jacob. In an attempt to fulfill God’s promise through her own volition, she creates her own plan for transferring the blessing through deception and trickery. When Jacob learns of this plan, the only objection he raises is the fear of being caught and rebuked! I for one often find myself wondering what is right to do, and wondering how to do it in my own way under my own will. Not even the most fool-proof plan we craft could be more rewarding and gratifying than what God has planned for us, and he can do so in ways far more just and righteous we could plan. Rebekah was explicitly told by the Lord that she held the beginning of a nation in her womb, and had every right and reason to believe God would provide the means to enact His will. Yet she and Jacob attempt to do what they believe is “right”, without regard for honor or honesty, showing a lack of trust in the Lord’s work and unwarranted confidence in her own ability.

We also see our own pride and short-sightedness in Esau’s brash, upfront behavior. Esau was to receive the blessings and birthright of his accomplished father – a great responsibility as well as a magnificent gift. Without thinking of his future and without respect for his position, he tosses it aside for momentary satisfaction and physical fullness. He goes so far as to despise this wonderful birthright! Like Esau, we, as troubled sinners, are excellent at tossing aside the love and inheritance of our Lord without a second thought for a moment’s satisfaction. Without realizing it at the time, our clouded judgement forces us to focus on trivial, meaningless frivolities in an attempt to satisfy our hunger for more – a hunger only He can satisfy. We toss aside the incredible birthright God has given us in exchange for moments of sin and weakness. 

Ultimately, this self-reflection points us to the greatest truth we see in this passage: that God is greater than our pride and deception and short-sightnesses and bitterness. We have access to a priceless birthright: being the children of an incredible God whose plans are perfect and infallible, and who can use us, even in our most sinful moments, to further His kingdom. We know we never have to give up our inheritance into the kingdom of God for a moment’s happiness, for unlike Esau’s fleeting birthright, ours is eternal: the guarantee of our Lord and Savior being by our side for all time. We know we will never need a humble momentary meal to sate our appetites, for we now know as Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Today I will be praying for you, that when you are thinking of how to fill and soothe your own soul, that you would joyfully keep your mind and heart on your birthright, knowing that the Lord’s plans and gifts are far greater than fleeting pleasures. I pray that by spending time in the Scripture and in prayer when you are in need, that you would listen to the Lord’s plans for you and hold to the blessings He has planned for you. God bless.

-Ross B.