Old Testament - Exodus 5 - March 25, 2022

3/25/2022 – Exodus 5

Moses and Aaron do as they were commanded by getting an audience with Pharoah: “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we prey thee” (v 3) Pharoah told them that they had, by coming to him, made things worse for the Hebrews. He went on to say that many of the Hebrews had not done their slave work today, and so Pharoah said NO to letting them leave, and he order that even more work be given to Hebrews. Here they are, following the Lord’s commandments, and not only were they not able to leave, but even more work was put upon their backs, making their original tasks much more difficult, plus they were beaten when they were unable to do the impossible. 

In the scriptures it is not unusual for opposition to occur even when the Lord’s commands were followed. The thing we forget is that the Lord sees the full picture. It may be that the Lord gave Pharaoh a chance to let Israel go, of his own free will, to worship Godm but through his refusal Pharoah could blame no one but himself for the consequences that followed.

Moses’ action was to return to the Lord asking “wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” (v’s22-23)

Chapter 6 will begin with the Lord’s teaching of Moses. The Hebrews had now been in Egypt for many generations. Many had become lax in their religious efforts, and others had been drawn into the Egyptian’s way of worshiping. We will see that the Lord provided miracles to get them out of Egypt, but it still required another 40 years for the Israelites to learn the lessons of following the Lord’s commandments with faith. They will also find that their  journey away from Egypt is hard…much harder than they had imagined. Again, the Lord is guiding them, but they also need to learn many lessons to come closer to the Lord, and it seems the Hebrews were slow learners.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pearl of Great Price - Moses 6:24-52 - January 19, 2022

 1/19/2022 – Moses 6:24-52 The Old Testament tells us just a little about Enoch, but the Book of Moses greatly increases our understanding of his life, his ministry and his teachings. Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. In those seven generations, many had left the teachings of the Lord. It was when Enoch “journeyed in the land among the people” (v 26) that “He heard a voice from heaven, saying, Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people, and my fierce anger is kindled against them; for their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off.” (v 27). I read this and I feel the warning to us that we are not to rely only on our ‘earthly vision’. The Lords rewards are not always immediate. But if we keep the commandments, keeping our eyes focused on the ultimate reward that the Lord holds in store for us, THEN we will be able to “see afar off”.  In v...
Read more

Pearl of Great Price - Moses 7:16-47 - January 29, 2022

  1/29/2022 - Moses 7:16-47 I didn’t realize I was repeating Moses 6 until I was finished with it the 2nd time. But what was beautiful to me is that studying the same scriptures a second time simply brought more thoughts and understanding and desires to be sure to return to my Father in Heaven….to finish my earthly life with the same goals that I started it. I LOVE studying the scriptures! There were now so many people on earth who had chosen not to follow the ways of the Lord. V 16: And from that time forth there were wars and bloodshed among them; but the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteousness.”  V 18: “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” V 19: “And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion.”  Zion was est...
Read more

Pearl of Great Price - Moses 6:40-56 - January 27, 2022

 1/27/2022 – Moses 6:40-59 [I’m still in Moses 6—haven’t figure out I’m reading this again) Enoch has seen and spoken with the Lord, and he follows the Lord’s instructions no matter what they entail.  President Monson once said: “It’s not enough to wish, it’s not enough to dream, it’s not enough to promise. We must do.”  And that’s just what Enoch did! He is going into areas where there is much evil. When the people there ask about him, he tells simply and honestly: “I came out of the land of Cainan, the land of my fathers, a land of righteousness unto this day. And my father taught me all the ways of God.” (v 41) Enoch answers their questions, he teaches them many things about God, but he keeps the profound spiritual things the Lord has revealed unto him to himself. The people he is teaching, are not ready to receive a higher law or standard. In v 46 Enoch tells them that his people keep a “book of remembrance” that they have written, according to the pattern given by th...
Read more