Corporate Devotions: Exodus (Part 2)
Monday
Reading: Exodus 5
Questions for Reflection
Think about the significance of Pharaoh’s words in verse 2, “Who is the LORD?” Deliverance from slavery in Egypt is all about the Lord’s vindicating the glory of his name, and the salvation we experience through Christ is no different. Take a few minutes to thank God for what his saving work in your life reveals about his character.
In verse 3, Moses and Aaron explain to Pharaoh the consequences Israel would experience if they failed to worship the Lord in the way that he required. Notice they said this before the Lord delivered them from slavery, which means God doesn’t earn our worship through his saving activity in our life. He deserves our worship because he is God. Ask the Lord to guard you from a false obedience that ebbs and flows on the tide of what you think God has done for you lately.
Moses and Aaron’s initial obedience makes life significantly harder, not easier, for Israel. How should that shape our expectations of what we will experience when we choose to follow the Lord today?
If you are in a position of spiritual authority or influence in someone else’s life (parents included), why is it dangerous to take your cues for the wisdom of your actions from those whom the Lord has entrusted to your care? Ask the Lord for courage to fear him more than man and to lament the hardships of obedience to the Lord (see verses 22-23).
Song: Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken
Tuesday
Reading: Exodus 6
Questions for Reflection
Exodus 5 ends with Moses grieving the futility of his own words and actions in bringing deliverance to pass. Do you think that was part of God’s plan? Count the number of times the Lord says, “I am the LORD,” in Exodus 6:1-8. Then confess areas in your life you are tempted to play the savior instead of leaning on Jesus.
Notice how the Lord responds to Moses’ discouragement. He doesn’t give Moses all the details of his plan of salvation upfront. Instead, he reminds Moses of his faithfulness as a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. Ask the Lord for faith to trust him not because of what you see he is doing in your present circumstances, but because you know he sees your suffering and will keep his promise to deliver you from your suffering.
Meditate on verse 7 by reading it over a few times. Did you notice again how God isn’t interested in just making life easier for Israel. He wants them to “know” who he is. Ask God to use the present hardships in your life to help you know him better, and to help you value knowing him more than you value material ease and comfort.
The genealogy of Moses and Aaron at the end of the chapter looks chronologically back and forward from the historical moment of Exodus 6. A number of these men did some pretty terrible things (see Levi in Genesis 37, Korah in Numbers 16, and Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10). And just in case we forgot, verses 28-30 reminds of Moses’ refusal to believe the Lord back in Genesis 3. Why do you think a genealogy filled with human sin and weakness occurs at this point in Exodus?
Song: Come Praise and Glorify
Wednesday
Reading: Exodus 7
Questions for Reflection
Think about the simplicity of Moses and Aaron’s job in verse 2: They speak God’s Word. God uses that to accomplish mighty acts of salvation. Ask the Lord to make you diligent and content in sharing his Word with those around you and waiting for him to act in their lives.
Salvation through judgment is a master theme in the Bible (see verse 4). It’s what the plagues were all about. It’s what the gospel is all about. Take a few minutes to praise Jesus for taking the judgment you deserve at the cross. And thank Jesus for triumphing gloriously over your greatest enemies of sin and death.
Some of our most beloved movies (think Star Wars) are premised on powers of good and evil locked in an eternal struggle. That is not the biblical worldview, and verse 12 says as much loud and clear. Praise God for the fact that he isn’t just powerful, he is supreme in power. Jesus is bigger and stronger than any evil that comes your way! Ask the Lord to deliver you from the fear of evil.
The God who identified himself with weak slaves (verse 16) demonstrated the greatness of his power by visibly cursing the water of the Nile. This was a lesson in the futility of disobedience and shows that we cannot prevail against the Lord. Pray for humility to not be stubborn and harden your heart against the Lord the way Pharaoh did.
Song: A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Thursday
Reading: Exodus 8
Questions for Reflection
Moses' role as a mediator between God and man emerges clearly in this chapter. Pharaoh is completely dependent on Moses’ intercession for deliverance from the judgment of God. Read verse 10, then read Acts 4:12. Praise Jesus for being the only Savior and true mediator between God and man. Ask the Lord for humility to trust him as your savior in every area of life.
Pharaoh’s refusal to admit what even his magicians recognized (verse 19) reveals the insanity of sin. Pray for humility to recognize there is no other God like the Lord and submit to him accordingly.
Throughout the Bible, the Lord repeatedly makes a distinction between his people and the rest of the world. Divine judgment falls on the latter, not the former. This is not because God’s people are innocent, but because the Lord is merciful. Take a few minutes to thank God for being merciful to you in Jesus and setting you apart for salvation before you were born (see Romans 9:16-18).
Pharaoh stubbornly refuses to admit the Lord is God (and he is not) even as his need God’s deliverance grows. Ask the Lord to be merciful and rescue you from your own stubbornness of heart in situations that loudly declare, “You need Jesus!”
Song: O Great God
Friday
Reading: Exodus 9
Questions for Reflection
Over and over again in these chapters, the Lord warns Pharaoh, “This is the judgment you will experience if you refuse me.” And then judgment falls on Egypt exactly as the Lord promised. We can easily doubt the reality of a final judgment. Read Revelation 20:11-15 and ask the Lord for faith to believe a day of reckoning awaits and to live accordingly.
Sometimes Exodus says Pharaoh hardened his heart, but other times it says the Lord hardened his heart (see verse 12 and verse 35). What does that say about God’s sovereignty and our responsibility? How is this both a comfort and a warning to us?
The Lord’s warning to Pharaoh in verses 14-16 helps us understand (in part) what the existence of evil will ultimately accomplish. Take a few minutes to thank God for glorifying his name through even the greatest acts of evil, including the crucifixion of the Son of God.
Verse 20 reminds us God’s judgment is never impulsive or random. He warned Pharaoh in advance about the plague of hail, and those who “feared the word of the LORD” were spared. Pray specifically for those in your family, neighborhood, and workplace who are not Christians. Ask the Lord to give them a heart that “fears the word of the LORD,” not for the sake of merely avoiding his judgment, but because they are convinced there is none like him in all the earth (see verse 14).
Song: Glorious and Mighty