Malcom: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 100 and 3
Years passed and the King of Egypt died, but the Israelites continued to
groan under their burden of slavery.
They cried out for help and their cry rose up to God.
God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant promise
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.
One day, Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law,
Jethro the priest of Midian.
He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
There, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing
fire from the middle of a bush.
Moses stared in amazement, though the bush was engulfed in flames.
It didn't burn up.
This is amazing.
Moses said to himself, why isn't that bush burning up?
I must go see it.
When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to
him from the middle of the bush.
Moses.
Here I am.
Moses replied, do not come any closer.
The Lord warned, take off your sandals where you are standing on holy ground.
I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord told him, I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.
I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.
Yes, I am aware of their suffering, so I have come down to rescue them
from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their
own fertile and spacious land.
It is a land flowing with milk and honey.
The land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, parasites,
hives, and bucy now live.
Look, the cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how
harshly the Egyptians abuse them.
Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh.
You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.
But Moses protested to God.
Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?
Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?
God answered.
I will be with you.
And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you.
When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship
God at this very mountain.
But Moses protested.
If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, the God of your
ancestors has sent me to you, they will ask me, what is his name?
Then what should I tell them?
God replied to Moses, I am who I am.
Say this to the people of Israel I am has sent me to you.
God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, Yahweh, the
God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.
Now go and call together all the elders of Israel.
Tell them Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me.
He told me I have been watching closely and I see how the
Egyptians are treating you.
I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt.
I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey.
The land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, parasites,
hives, and cytes now live.
The elders of Israel will accept your message.
Then you and the elders must go to the King of Egypt and tell him the Lord,
the God of the Hebrews has met with us.
So please let us take a three day journey into the wilderness to offer
sacrifices to the Lord our God.
But I know that the King of Egypt will not let you go
unless a mighty hand forces him.
So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians performing
all kinds of miracles among them.
Then at last, he will let you go and I will cause the Egyptians
to look favorably on you.
They will give you gifts when you go, so you will not leave empty handed.
Every Israelite woman will ask for articles of silver and gold and fine
clothing from her Egyptian neighbors and from the foreign women in their houses.
You will dress your sons and daughters with these stripping
the Egyptians of their wealth.
But Moses protested again.
What if they won't believe me or listen to me?
What if they say the Lord never appeared to you?
Then the Lord asked him, what is that in your hand?
A shepherd staff?
Moses replied, throw it down on the ground.
The Lord told him.
So Moses threw down the staff and it turned into a snake.
Moses jumped back.
Then the Lord told him, reach out and grab its tail.
So Moses reached out and grabbed it and it turned back into a shepherd's.
Staff in his hand perform this sign.
The Lord told him, then they will believe that the Lord, the God of
their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, really has appeared to you.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Now put your hand inside your cloak.
So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it
out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.
Now put your hand back into your cloak.
The Lord said.
So Moses put his hand back in and when he took it out again, it was
as healthy as the rest of his body.
The Lord said to Moses, if they do not believe you and are not convinced by
the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign, and
if they don't believe you or listened to you even after these two signs, then
take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground.
When you do the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground,
but Moses pleaded with the Lord.
Oh Lord, I'm not very good with words.
I never have been and I'm not now.
Even though you have spoken to me, I get tongue tied and my words get tangled.
Then the Lord asked Moses, who makes a person's mouth?
Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear, or do
not hear, see or do not see?
Is it not I the Lord?
Now go.
I will be with you as you speak and I will instruct you in what to say.
But Moses again pleaded, Lord, please send anyone else.
Then the Lord became angry with Moses.
All right?
He said, what about your brother, Aaron?
The Levite?
I know he speaks well.
And look, he is on his way to meet you now.
He will be delighted to see you talk to him and put the words in his mouth.
I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct
you both in what to do.
Aaron will be your spokesman to the people.
He will be your mouthpiece and you will stand in the place of God
for him telling him what to say.
And take your shepherd's staff with you.
And use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.
So Moses went back home to Jethro his father-in-law.
Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt.
Moses said, I don't even know if they are still alive.
Go in peace.
Jethro replied before Moses left Midian.
The Lord said to him, return to Egypt.
For all those who wanted to kill you have died.
So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed
back to the land of Egypt.
In his hand, he carried the staff of God and the Lord told Moses,
when you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles.
I have empowered you to do.
But I will harden his heart, so he will refuse to let the people go.
Then you will tell him this is what the Lord says.
Israel is my firstborn son.
I commanded you let my son go so he can worship me.
But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son.
On the way to Egypt at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night.
The Lord confronted him and was about to kill him, but Moses' wife Zipporah took
a flint knife and circumcised her son.
She touched his feet with the foreskin and said, now you are a bridegroom of blood.
To me, when she said a bride groom of blood, she was referring
to the circumcision After that.
The Lord left him alone.
Now, the Lord had said to Aaron, go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.
So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God and he embraced him.
Moses then told Aaron everything the Lord had commanded him to say, and he
told him about the miraculous signs the Lord had commanded him to perform.
Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together.
Aaron told them everything the Lord had told Moses and Moses performed
the miraculous signs as they watched.
Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron.
When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their
misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
After this presentation to Israel's leaders, Moses and
Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh.
They told him This is what the Lord the God of Israel says, let my people go.
So they may hold a festival, in my honor, in the wilderness.
Is that so Retorted, Pharaoh, and who is the Lord?
Why should I listen to him and let Israel go?
I don't know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.
But Aaron and Moses persisted.
The God of the Hebrews has met with us.
They declared, so let us take a three day journey into the wilderness so we
can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.
If we don't, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.
Pharaoh replied.
Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks?
Get back to work.
Look, there are many of your people in the land and you are
stopping them from their work.
That same day.
Farrell sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the
Israelite foremen do not supply any more straw for making bricks.
Make the people get it themselves, but still require them to make
the same number of bricks says before, don't reduce the quota.
They are lazy.
That's why they are crying out.
Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.
Load them down with more work.
Make them sweat that will teach them to listen to lies.
So the slave drivers and foreman went out and told the people.
This is what Pharaoh says.
I will not provide any more straw for you.
Go and get it yourselves.
Find it wherever you can, but you must produce just as many bricks as before.
So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search
of stubble to use a straw.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian slave drivers continued to push hard, meet your
daily quota of bricks, just as you did when we provided you with straw.
They demanded, then they whipped the Israelite foren they had
put in charge of the work crews.
Why haven't you met your quotas either yesterday or today?
They demanded, so the Israelite foren went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him.
Please don't treat your servants like this.
They begged.
We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, make bricks.
We are being beaten, but it isn't our fault.
Your own people are to blame.
But Pharaoh shouted, you are just lazy.
Lazy.
That's why you're saying let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.
Now get back to work.
No straw will be given to you, but you must still produce
the full quota of bricks.
The Israelite foreman could see that they were in serious trouble when
they were told you must not reduce the number of bricks you make each day.
As they left Pharaoh's court, they confronted Moses and Aaron who
were waiting outside for them.
The foreman said to them, may the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink.
Before Pharaoh and his officials, you have put a sword into their
hands, an excuse to kill us.
This concludes today's Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.