Before we do the regular blog stuff; I have to tell everyone that I am in Portland Oregon today. I am so excited to be visiting my daughter and son-in-law at their home for the next week. We had a wonderful day in church services with them today. What an inspiring church (pastor & people) they have. They are the kind of people who are busy about God's work and inspire you to do the same. I found myself wishing I could go right out the doors of their church and do something for someone. If you get a chance I would encourage each of you to look up their website at imagodeicommunity.com I believe that you too will be inspired when you see all that they are doing for the Lord and His glory.

Our reading for today is Exodus 5-7

Religion and worship: Moses wanted to lead the people out of Egypt so that they could worship God properly, with animal sacrifices. It appears that animal sacrifice was practiced in all ancient cultures. It is a ritual killing of an animal as a part of religion (Ex. 5:3). Apparently the animal's moment of death and shedding of blood impressed on human beings that they were responsible to forces outside themselves. The Egyptians did not question the need to perform sacrifices, but they did object to the God of the Israelites.

First Encounter with Pharaoh (Exodus 5:1-21)
*Moses ask Pharaoh nicely "let my people go" (5:1)
*Pharaoh's first mistake "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?" 5:2)
*Pharaoh's second mistake "You shall no longer give them straw to make their bricks" making their labor much harder.(5:7-11)

Israel"s Deliverance Assured (Exodus 5:22-6:13)
*The beginning of the end for Pharaoh
"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now, you shall see what I shall do to Pharaoh."(Ex.6:1)

The Family of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:14-27)

Aaron Is Moses' Spokesman (Exodus 6:28-7:6)
*Aaron spoke to Pharaoh "let my people go." (7:6)

Aaron's Miraculous Rod (Exodus 7:8-11)
*Pharaoh's third and worst mistake, challenging God to a duel with snakes and hardening his heart toward God, just as God had said He would cause to happen. (Ex.7:8-13)

The First Plague: Waters Become Blood (Exodus 7:14-25)
*The consequences of Pharaoh's sin were severe (Ex. 7:11-25) the first plague.

From Egypt to Midian to Egypt:
The life of Moses is viewed by tradition in three periods; (1) early life in Egypt; (2) sojourn in Midian; (3) appearance before Pharaoh in Egypt. The ages recorded for Moses in different biblical passages make each of the three periods to be 40 years long.

The first period beginning with Moses' birth, ended abruptly when he was forced to flee Egypt. The Book of Exodus defines this time only as "when Moses was grown" (Ex. 2:11). However, Stephen's sermonic survey of Israel's history makes Moses "forty years old" at this time (Acts 7:23)

The second period, during which Moses found refuge in Midian, ended with Moses' return to Egypt, accompanied by Aaron. The Book of Exodus reports Moses to have been 80 years old when he and 83- year- old Aaron first approached Pharaoh (Ex. 7:7). Stephen's sermon agrees, placing the burning bush experience 40 years after Moses fled to Midian.

The last period of Moses' life ends, of course, with his death. That Moses was 80 when he stood before Pharaoh is consistent both with his age of 120 when he died (Deut.34:7) and with the 40 years of wandering in he wilderness. (Num. 14:33-35)

Tomorrow we will look at the further consequences of Pharaoh's refusal to obey the Lord and the ultimate tragedy he brought upon himself and his nation because of his sin. Have a wonderful Lord's day....