Salty Zebra

ChatGpt's depiction of the Israelite group traveling   Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.   Exodus 14:21-22 According to Exodus 12:37, 600,000 men plus women and children left Egypt with Moses. This could mean that as many as 2 million people were marching out of Egypt together. I rather appreciated ChatGpt’s description: Picture this: * A vast sea of tents, animals, and carts stretching as far as the eye can see. Families walking together, carrying children and supplies. * Dust rising** from countless feet on rocky ground, with flocks of sheep, goats, and cattle** interspersed among them. * Groups organized by tribes, banners fluttering to mark each family line. * Moses and Aaron leading from the front, perhaps on a rise...

  The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt.   Genesis 12:13   Do you need a sign that you are loved? Sometimes we feel all alone in this world. Sometimes we feel like we don’t matter. Sometimes we feel like we aren’t worthy of feeling loved and cared for. Praise God that He knew in advance that we would feel that way and He has already provided an answer!   My son needs socks. That’s probably not the sentence you were expecting to come next in this narrative but bear with me. For a long time now he has been wearing socks that don't fit. You see, he has big feet. He has super, man-sized feet! He typically wears a shoe size of 14. Regular socks don’t fit him, and it takes a little extra effort to find the ones that do. Not wanting to make an issue out of things or make anyone feel bad, he’s been wearing socks th...

  God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”    Exodus 3:14   I’ve mentioned before how in scripture we only get snapshots of the timeline of history. Years, even decades, can take place in between verses and we don’t know all that took place in them. Sometimes we are given clues though, and from what we are told about Moses’ life, we can infer a lot…  You can read the incredible story of Moses’ birth and adoption into Pharoah’s family by his daughter in the first part of Exodus Chapter 2 . That part is known, but what we don’t read about is what that was like. What privileges did Moses receive being raised in Pharoah’s household? It is clear that he knew he was adopted and who his people were because in Exodus 2:11 we read about Moses going out to see “his own people.”  Odds are this wasn’t a perfect, idyllic childhood because of this. He likely faced prejudice and racism in his ...

  As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. Genesis 50:20  Black smoke fills the skyline. The civilian population has been evacuated for miles around, but there are so many people on the ground still actively coordinating and fighting the fire that rages just over the ridge. The first responders fought valiantly to contain the blaze, but it was quickly determined that this was a much bigger situation than they could handle alone. In addition to local suppression, the Fire Manager called for hot shot teams to infiltrate the forest to the site of the fire. If things continue, he may need to request smoke jumpers, helitack crews that rappel out of helicopters to a fire, or skydiving firefighters. The scene is intense, the danger is real, but surprisingly, after the initial response, the decision is made to let the fire burn!   Forest fires have become a common part of ...

  Then God said to him, “I am the Sovereign God. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company or nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land.”   Genesis 35:11-12  Today, as we consider the patriarchs of Genesis, we look at Jacob. He was his mother, Rebekah’s, favorite, though his father, Isaac, gave preference to his brother. I wonder if Rebekah preferred Jacob because in Genesis 25:23 God told her that the older of her sons would serve the younger? The Bible tells us in Genesis 25:28 that Isaac preferred Esau, the older brother, because he had a taste for wild game and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the open country. Either way this family was set up for division and strife because the parents so openly displayed their favoritism.   When it came time for Isaac to proclaim his blessing over his firstborn son (in Genesis...

   Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.   Genesis 22:13  This story of Abraham being called to sacrifice Isaac, his only son whom he loved, has always been a difficult one for me. Abraham longed and prayed for this son for decades. He was a gift to him in his old age, and one that could not be replaced. Could God provide another child for Abraham? Yes of course, but it would not replace this special son he had in Isaac.   The story is only a few paragraphs long, but it plays out like an epic movie. You can feel along with all of the characters. The shock and horror Abraham must have felt when he received the command to sacrifice his son. The submission and resolution he demonstrated as they set out right away. The tension between him and Isaac as they left the servants behind and went on to sacrifice, but they had no animal with ...

  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.   Genesis 15:5-6   When we look back at Abram (later Abraham)’s life, there’s a clear pattern of consistency. God told Abram to leave his home and extended family and go “somewhere else.” He didn’t even know where he was going, but did that stop him? No! God told him to go, so he went. Then, once he’d gotten to that land, God told Abram that he would have so many descendants that they would outnumber the stars. At this point in time, Abram didn’t have any children and he and his wife were in their 70s. Despite that, God could tell that in his heart Abram truly believed Him. God could see Abram’s heart and knew it better than Abram himself did, so Abram couldn’t have fooled God, saying one thing and thinking another. Later in this same passage, God ...