KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Chapters: Exodus 1-3
Message: I Am That I Am
Hello My Friend,
Oppression; To load or burden with unreasonable requests; to treat with unjust severity, rigor or hardship. To burden a nation with an abundant of taxes or contributions; to burden one by compelling them to perform an unreasonable service. Oppression is something everyone has to experience at some point in their lives, whether it is a parent, a spouse, a government, or an employer. A mother whose husband comes and goes as he pleases, and leaves her to care for their children in a poverty stricken neighborhood. A son whose parents dictate his every move, what career, and even what wife he will choose. A government that imposes large amounts of taxes, what they can eat, where they can live, who gets to live, and even who dies. These are all forms of oppression, and there is only one way to endure oppression, and not turn into something unreasonable themselves, and that is to come to Jesus. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30.
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains forty chapters. The timeline for these events are approximately between 1689BC to 1490BC. The author of the book is Moses and it was written to Israel. The purpose of the book was to record Israel’s exodus (departure) from slavery to the Egyptians. What we are to learn from the book is that only by the blood of the lamb can death passover us. Joseph, a Hebrew, was so blessed by God in Egypt that he became second in command to the Pharaoh (king), the Egyptians respected and accepted the Hebrews (Israelites) even though they were foreigners in the land. However, all that was about to change when Joseph and all his generation died.
“And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.” – Exodus 1:6-12.
“the more they multiplied and grew.” There is nothing like oppression to bring more babies into the world, and this is why the corrupt world tries to control population through oppression. The state of New York just signed a bill that allows abortion up until the day of a child’s birth. This is only the beginning, it is only a matter of time before women are actually forced to have their babies aborted. All of this reminds me of the Pharaoh forcing the Hebrew midwives to kill every male baby that is born to be killed. When placing hard work on these people to control them did not work, they resorted to killing babies, first they were told directly to kill them.
“And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” – Exodus 1:15-17,20-22.
“and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them,” Law or not, some things are, without a question, permissible to protect our lives and liberty. Every Christian who believes in and follows Jesus Christ as their Saviour has a God given right to refuse to do anything that goes against their faith, regardless of the law. And, God will honor us for that. How many Hebrew boys had to get yanked from their mothers and die over this oppression? I imagine quite a few as God continued to multiply them. One woman, a Levite, managed to hide her baby boy for three months, but it was getting harder to do that, and she like all the rest of those mothers could not bear to have her son yanked from her so she made a little ark, put him in it, and sailed him down the river. God so lovingly intervened by sending that ark to the very place where the Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing, and the babies sister witnessed it all.
“And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.” – Exodus 2:5-10.
“And the woman took the child, and nursed it.” That mother not only got to take care of her baby until he was weaned she got paid for it too. Every, saved, born again Christian, in fact, every person, has a right to defend themselves, even if that means going against the law, and if we have Jesus on our side, He will make a way. Many people have died defending their faith, but we need not fear what man can do. “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” – Luke 12:4-5.
Now, even though Moses grew up in the palace he knew he was not an Egyptian, he could not help, but feel a little distraught about the way his own people were being treated, he got so angry one day that he accidentally killed an Egyptian. Not only were the Egyptians after him, but the Hebrews feared he would kill them and wanted nothing to do with him. Out of fear he fled the country, and found himself in Midian, where he defended some women who were feeding their fathers sheep.
“And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day? And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.” – Exodus 2:18-25.
“And God heard their groaning,” People wonder why they live in oppression for so long, but fail to realize it could have lessened had they called on God sooner. Let me tell you, we suffer more than we need to because we think that we have to take care of our burdens ourselves, but remember, Jesus said to given Him our burdens so that we can have rest. God heard their cries, and decided He was going to use Moses to help set them free.
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” – Exodus 3:1-6.
“And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see,” If Moses did not pay attention to what was going on with that burning bush, he would not have noticed that it was not being consumed by the fire, and if he would have just walked by, and never looked back, God would not have used him. Moses was afraid to look upon God so he turned his face away from Him, it really is scary when out of the blue God speaks to you, in fact, you wonder if you did something wrong. But God was not angry with him, He had a job for him to do.
“Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” – Exodus 3:9-14.
“I AM THAT I AM:” “I AM, That is who I am.” Kids and adults alike ask me all the time, “Who is God?”, but the answer is clear, I AM, THAT IS WHO I AM. We are going to face oppression, we are going to be overwhelmed with burdens that are so hard to handle, that it takes every bit of strength to get out of bed. God knows what we are going through, and sometimes it does take our needing to be in the valley of the shadow of death before we realize that Jesus is our Shepherd, and will carry us through, as long as we come to Him. And when they ask you who why you do the things you do, you tell them, I AM, THAT IS WHO HE IS. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” – I Peter 3:15-17.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” – Exodus 3:2.
Today’s Prayer: God, We know that You have a plan and purpose for every one of Your people. It is amazing that You will use anyone who loves You to reach others for You. Thank You for giving us a way out of oppression and for setting us free from our sins when we accept Your Son as our Saviour. By choosing to come to Jesus we can truly be set free from everything that oppresses us. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your power, wisdom, love, mercy, and grace to endure the burdens we face. Let us not get weary in well doing, and never cease to look to You for help with anything that oppresses us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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