The Word of God Vs. The Word of Pharaoh
Memory Verse:
'I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. '
John 10:9
Sermon Sentence: Where you choose to get your instructions for how to live your life matters greatly.
'I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. '
John 10:9
Sermon Sentence: Where you choose to get your instructions for how to live your life matters greatly.
Day 1
Read Exodus 4:18-31
I have really become infatuated with this part of the Bible lately. Mainly, because it keeps hitting me close to home and I am gleaning so much from it that I need to be reminded of right now. The context to this story is really important: God is fed up with what His people are going through. There are no shortage of passages talking about this very idea and it is important for us to remind ourselves that when God gets fed up with the way things are, He speaks. He will soon be speaking fiery and harsh things at those that He is angry with (ie. Pharaoh), but for now, He is speaking the words of life and hope to those that He is longing to deliver.
There is a great lesson for me in that truth right there. God speaks. God speaks because He desires to be heard. He is not hiding from me or hoping that I find what He is hiding from me, but rather He is lovingly and longingly reaching out with His words to me. There is a way that God speaks too. It would not make much sense for me to sit back and be frustrated that God is not doing what I expect Him to do, rather than learning how God speaks and how I can learn to hear that.
The pattern from the sermon was:
-God speaks
-Moses hears
-Aaron gets it from Moses
-The people hear it from Aaron
- The people believe
How do you see this same pattern play out in your life and the life of the believer today?
Why do you think that we see this pattern, and not as the only way that God reveals His word, but as one that He has used many times?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
I have really become infatuated with this part of the Bible lately. Mainly, because it keeps hitting me close to home and I am gleaning so much from it that I need to be reminded of right now. The context to this story is really important: God is fed up with what His people are going through. There are no shortage of passages talking about this very idea and it is important for us to remind ourselves that when God gets fed up with the way things are, He speaks. He will soon be speaking fiery and harsh things at those that He is angry with (ie. Pharaoh), but for now, He is speaking the words of life and hope to those that He is longing to deliver.
There is a great lesson for me in that truth right there. God speaks. God speaks because He desires to be heard. He is not hiding from me or hoping that I find what He is hiding from me, but rather He is lovingly and longingly reaching out with His words to me. There is a way that God speaks too. It would not make much sense for me to sit back and be frustrated that God is not doing what I expect Him to do, rather than learning how God speaks and how I can learn to hear that.
The pattern from the sermon was:
-God speaks
-Moses hears
-Aaron gets it from Moses
-The people hear it from Aaron
- The people believe
How do you see this same pattern play out in your life and the life of the believer today?
Why do you think that we see this pattern, and not as the only way that God reveals His word, but as one that He has used many times?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Exodus 5
Yesterday we talked about God’s words and how they came to us. The reality is that we are always struggling to hear God’s word and it doesn’t seem to be as cut and dry as that whole thing we looked at yesterday. But that is mainly due to the fact that God is not the only one that is trying to get a message to us. Our enemy also desires to be heard. In this story, that part is played out by Pharaoh and the dilemma sets him up as in direct opposition to the voice of God. Pharaoh’s message is very different. Pharoah’s message ends in a different place as well. Maybe there is something to be said for the end result of what is said, giving us much clearer insight into where the message came from.
God said for the people to gather for worship and a feast. Pharaoh said they were being lazy, that is why they wanted to worship God. How do you answer the lazy? Give them more work. And get them away from other lazy people, so that misery isn’t getting company. In other words, God said to gather to worship, and Pharaoh said a better answer is to scatter and work. God wants them to gather. God’s enemy wants them to scatter. God wants them to worship. God’s enemy wants them to work.
Which message do you prefer when you consider it at face value?
How are you battling the voice like Pharaoh’s in your life as it is going against the voice of God?
What are some steps you could do this week to be more like God desires as revealed here?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Yesterday we talked about God’s words and how they came to us. The reality is that we are always struggling to hear God’s word and it doesn’t seem to be as cut and dry as that whole thing we looked at yesterday. But that is mainly due to the fact that God is not the only one that is trying to get a message to us. Our enemy also desires to be heard. In this story, that part is played out by Pharaoh and the dilemma sets him up as in direct opposition to the voice of God. Pharaoh’s message is very different. Pharoah’s message ends in a different place as well. Maybe there is something to be said for the end result of what is said, giving us much clearer insight into where the message came from.
God said for the people to gather for worship and a feast. Pharaoh said they were being lazy, that is why they wanted to worship God. How do you answer the lazy? Give them more work. And get them away from other lazy people, so that misery isn’t getting company. In other words, God said to gather to worship, and Pharaoh said a better answer is to scatter and work. God wants them to gather. God’s enemy wants them to scatter. God wants them to worship. God’s enemy wants them to work.
Which message do you prefer when you consider it at face value?
How are you battling the voice like Pharaoh’s in your life as it is going against the voice of God?
What are some steps you could do this week to be more like God desires as revealed here?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 3
Read Ezekiel 34:1-16
I don’t know if you will remember it, but I still very much remember this being our theme idea for the year of 2019. Our theme word was “Scattered.” It was back then that I first noticed the word that is used often when talking about the weak, the sick, the injured, the lost, and the strayed. The characteristic that the Bible uses to talk about them is “scattered.” They are not where they should be. They are not where they need to be. In this passage, the “sheep” are scattered. They are scattered from the place of rest and refreshment. They are hungry and worn out and need to be fed, but they are scattered from those places, because they have not found what they need there.
In this version of that often repeated story, they are scattered because of selfishness. It is the selfishness of the shepherd that has led to them being in this situation and their need is for a feast. Don’t miss that! The problem is they are scattered and the answer is for them to be gathered and fed at a feast. That is the same ideas that are taken from the story of Exodus that we have been looking at! The Bible must really want you to get this analogy because it has repeated it many different ways. God desires so much for these scattered sheep to have this feast, that He has declared that He Himself will go out and gather them back to the place of pasture and fulfillment. Don’t forget what God’s voice keeps telling you this week: He desires for you to gather, feast, and experience rest.
Why is it important to keep reminding yourself of this truth over and over again?
How do you feel you are experiencing what this passage is talking about today?
What happens in your life today after reading this message?
How does this become your prayer today?
I don’t know if you will remember it, but I still very much remember this being our theme idea for the year of 2019. Our theme word was “Scattered.” It was back then that I first noticed the word that is used often when talking about the weak, the sick, the injured, the lost, and the strayed. The characteristic that the Bible uses to talk about them is “scattered.” They are not where they should be. They are not where they need to be. In this passage, the “sheep” are scattered. They are scattered from the place of rest and refreshment. They are hungry and worn out and need to be fed, but they are scattered from those places, because they have not found what they need there.
In this version of that often repeated story, they are scattered because of selfishness. It is the selfishness of the shepherd that has led to them being in this situation and their need is for a feast. Don’t miss that! The problem is they are scattered and the answer is for them to be gathered and fed at a feast. That is the same ideas that are taken from the story of Exodus that we have been looking at! The Bible must really want you to get this analogy because it has repeated it many different ways. God desires so much for these scattered sheep to have this feast, that He has declared that He Himself will go out and gather them back to the place of pasture and fulfillment. Don’t forget what God’s voice keeps telling you this week: He desires for you to gather, feast, and experience rest.
Why is it important to keep reminding yourself of this truth over and over again?
How do you feel you are experiencing what this passage is talking about today?
What happens in your life today after reading this message?
How does this become your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Ezekiel 34:25-31
Ezekiel is long after Moses and the Exodus story. Make sure to get that timeline in your mind as you are thinking about this. The reason that I think that is important to work through, is because of the use of the words that are meant to draw you back to the story. It's the story that was a real history, but it was also a metaphor. In the metaphor, there was a wilderness, or barrenness. There was also a slavery. The wilderness stood for a metaphor of experiences in life and the slavery did as well. We all know what it is like to experience wilderness and slavery, but there is also a real life experience that is different from our metaphor. Do you know what I mean?
We also know what a blessing is like. We know deliverance and we know security. Most of us, when we are reading these passages, fly through these parts without processing the beautiful way the writer is trying to make us feel and experience what he is writing about.
Do you remember what your wilderness was like?
Do you remember what your slavery was like? Think about it and work through it, even if it is the first time.
How have you seen the blessings of God after those things?
How does this study today become part of your prayer?
Ezekiel is long after Moses and the Exodus story. Make sure to get that timeline in your mind as you are thinking about this. The reason that I think that is important to work through, is because of the use of the words that are meant to draw you back to the story. It's the story that was a real history, but it was also a metaphor. In the metaphor, there was a wilderness, or barrenness. There was also a slavery. The wilderness stood for a metaphor of experiences in life and the slavery did as well. We all know what it is like to experience wilderness and slavery, but there is also a real life experience that is different from our metaphor. Do you know what I mean?
We also know what a blessing is like. We know deliverance and we know security. Most of us, when we are reading these passages, fly through these parts without processing the beautiful way the writer is trying to make us feel and experience what he is writing about.
Do you remember what your wilderness was like?
Do you remember what your slavery was like? Think about it and work through it, even if it is the first time.
How have you seen the blessings of God after those things?
How does this study today become part of your prayer?
Day 5
Read Psalm 23
Have you thought about this Psalm through this study? If the Bible was doing the job it hoped it was doing, this would have crossed your mind and you would have been thinking about this famous Psalm. We started in the history of the Old Testament. Then we went to the prophecy of the Ezekiel. Now we are tying in the poetry of the Psalms. That is the beauty of really studying the Bible, not just reading it. Really meditating on it, not just checking off of a checklist a chapter. This Psalm is packed full of imagery that flows right into what we are talking about all week. God desires us to sit at a feast of worship, not just literally, although those are good things to be a part of, but figuratively in life. Life is not about how much can we get done and accomplish, but life is best spent remembering how much was accomplished for us so that we can live from a place of peace and rest…lying down in green pastures beside still waters. That is what I desire in life. I want that picture to be the image of my life. If you were to paint a picture of my life, my desire is that it would mirror the 23rd Psalm.
What has this Psalm meant to you over the years?
How do your thoughts about it change after taking the journey we have taken through these thoughts this week?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Have you thought about this Psalm through this study? If the Bible was doing the job it hoped it was doing, this would have crossed your mind and you would have been thinking about this famous Psalm. We started in the history of the Old Testament. Then we went to the prophecy of the Ezekiel. Now we are tying in the poetry of the Psalms. That is the beauty of really studying the Bible, not just reading it. Really meditating on it, not just checking off of a checklist a chapter. This Psalm is packed full of imagery that flows right into what we are talking about all week. God desires us to sit at a feast of worship, not just literally, although those are good things to be a part of, but figuratively in life. Life is not about how much can we get done and accomplish, but life is best spent remembering how much was accomplished for us so that we can live from a place of peace and rest…lying down in green pastures beside still waters. That is what I desire in life. I want that picture to be the image of my life. If you were to paint a picture of my life, my desire is that it would mirror the 23rd Psalm.
What has this Psalm meant to you over the years?
How do your thoughts about it change after taking the journey we have taken through these thoughts this week?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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