Chronological Reading Plan for Jan 31, Ex 4-6

Today's readings are Ex 4-6. Tomorrow's are Exodus 7-9.

In Ex 4, Moses continues to argue with God...but only up to a point. God will have His way! The constant excuses and gripes really are Moses trying to make sure God knows all the details. If Moses can just convince God He's made a bad decision, maybe God will find someone else. It's not a good idea to challenge God's wisdom. 

There's a curious paragraph in Ex 4:24-26. God seeks to kill Moses. Why? Moses has not yet circumcised his son, according to the covenant God established with Abraham in Gen 17. Moses is about to represent God to His children and to Pharaoh and he is blatantly disregarding the one command (so far) that sets God's people apart from all other peoples. Zipporah steps in and does the circumcision. God makes it clear, though this sobering little scenario, He will not be misrepresented nor taken casually. There is one way to be one of His children and only one way. That way cannot be tampered with. It is a foreshadow of the salvation available through His only Son, Jesus Christ. You come to God through His ordained way of salvation/sanctification...or you die!

One reality of the Scriptures some folks struggle with pops up when we see that God will harden Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh's stubbornness shows up in ch 5. It will get worse. He confesses he does not know God in Ex 5:2. Through his hard heart, the Hebrews find out there is a worldly price to pay for their relationship with God. God's people are set apart and the world does not like it!

God reiterates His promise of redemption in Ex 6. He sent them to Egypt, ostensibly for food but the overarching theme was to get them away from the evil influence of the culture in Canaan where they had begun to intermarry.  This is evidenced by the presence Simeon's wife, a Canaanite woman, in the genealogy (Ex 6:14-25). Now He is going to bring them back to Canaan, having struggled under the weight of oppression but stronger and more numerous than ever before. God is good on His promise but the deeper, richer lessons are not easy to come by!

BTW, Mount Horeb, where God calls Aaron to meet Moses, is the place where Moses encountered the burning bush and was told, by God, that His people would return and worship Him there (Gen 3). Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai seem to be interchangeable. It is thought that Horeb may represent the mountainous area in which Sinai is located. Watch how events on this "Mountain of God" play out. God is always drawing His people there. You'll never see an instance in which someone goes "searching" for God and finds Him on Horeb. People end up at Horeb because God brings them there. This is another attribute of God that will be more fully revealed when Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." (John 6:44)