Salty Zebra

  “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgement on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.   Exodus 12:12-13  Today we read about the observation of the first Passover. It was thus named because the LORD passed over the homes of the Israelites and preserved them from the plague of the death of the first born because of the testifying blood they had placed on the two doorposts and the lintel of the house they were in ( Exodus12:27 ). I love how, when God was describing the observance of this time, He told them what they would be doing in the future, after they had been freed from slavery in Egypt, but He told them while they were still there. What a beautiful gift!   On the fourteenth day of the month, they were t...

  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.”   Exodus 10:1-2  Today in our reading ( Exodus 8 -10, yep three whole chapters), we look at the plagues God brought upon Egypt. God is not simple or basic. There is not one reason that He did what He did here, or one reason why He does anything, but one of the reasons He brought the plagues on Egypt was so that the Egyptians would know that He is the LORD.   Why does God allow trouble to come into our lives? Think about it. When things are going well, when life is easy, how often are you drawn to God? How easy is it for you to recognize your need for Him or His power at work around you? No, it is when life gets hard, when bad things ...

  Moses 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.   Exodus 7:20  In February of 2023, I was in a desperate place. I had dealt with migraines for years, but they were getting ridiculous. I got regular migraines, a few a month, but Starting February 21 st of 2021 I had a migraine that lasted over a month. This was terrible, I cannot tell you how awful it was because unless you have experienced something like a migraine and had it last for days and weeks on end you can’t begin to imagine it. But then, in 2022, it was even worse. Around the same time of year, I got another migraine that decided to hold on. And it held on, and it held on, and it held on. I tried a myriad of different medicines. I went all the way to Seattle multiple times a week for migraine infusions. I lived in the dark, with the lights dimmed and the curtains dr...

This image reminded me of Elijah's cloud I write about below “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. I 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.’”   Exodus 6:6-7  How do you react when things don’t go as you expected, when God’s timing is not the same as your own? How do you dwell in the waiting place? I wrote about this last April and then again earlier this year . It’s something we can all identify with and will likely experience more than once in our lives. Lots of people in Biblical history found themselves here and engaged with it in different ways.   The first person who came to mind for me today was Abraham. When he was middle aged (ok, he was 75 a...

  The Lord said to Moses, “when you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.   Exodus 4:21  Take another look at the verse for today above. It’s Moses’ commissioning statement. He is being sent and told that he will not be smoothly successful. He will face opposition, but that doesn’t negate God’s directions, say that Moses heard wrong, or that he’s not doing what he was supposed to. God is telling Moses that trouble will come, but God has still sent him and is still with him. That’s all Moses needed to be successful in the face of impossibility, and it’s all we need too.   We know the story. Moses goes back to Egypt and he and Aaron go before Pharaoh, performing signs and wonders, and Pharaoh refuses to do what he is asked to do, he refuses to let God’s people go. The thing that’s interesting about today’s text is that Moses knew this ...

  Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”   Exodus 4:10  In today’s reading ( Exodus 3:19 -4:17), we return to the conversation between Moses and God in the wilderness at the burning bush. Let’s pause there a moment though and not read over the situation, accepting it as a simple, well-known story. Moses had a full-on, recorded conversation with God. Now, I talk to God a lot, and often I feel like I hear from Him. Very occasionally I even feel like I have a bit of a back and forth with Him where I say, “but this…” and He points something out to me. But I have NEVER had a full-on conversation with Him where He spoke to me so clearly and specifically as this. I’d venture to say that most of us haven’t. So, truly, this story is incredible in many more ways than we may have considered. It wasn’t just the miracle of the burning bush, but eve...

  Image credit: Gemini and me God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”   Exodus 3:14  In today’s passage ( Exodus 3:1-17 ), Moses encounters God in the burning bush in the desert. I love how God puts things together perfectly, and today’s passage was no exception. Upon encountering God, Moses asks two questions: Who am I and who are You?   Yesterday we looked at Moses’ fall from grace in his own eyes. He went from the high and mighty, self-assumed deliverer of his people to a fugitive, murderer, shepherd – the lowest of the low. This was a work God had to do in his heart to prepare Moses for the tasks ahead of him. The fact that Moses asked the first question he did is a testimony to this truth. Instead of telling God, “You’ve come to the right man! I’ll do great at this!” Moses asks God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He recognizes that he is not w...