Egypt Undone...
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Exodus 11 & 12
Topic: Exodus

God is about to strike on last time at Egypt....and HARD!  He instructs Moses and Aaron very carefully with this one.  He is about to take away every firstborn in the land, but will leave Israel untouched! 

God gives Moses instructions for Israel to obey forever....He is giving them the Passover!  And in doing so the first time, Israel will be spared... 

12:26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27 then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

 The fatefully night comes and goes, with Egypt greatly distressed, and as God had told them....they were glad to NOW let Israel go!  So much so that they gave them gold and jewelry!

The children of Israel are now free....but have a long way to go...and a lot to learn!

Stay Tuned!

Blessings,

Dennis <><

Bugs and The Dark!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Exodus 10
Topic: Exodus

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."

Egypt is about to get hit....and real hard!  How long will they have to suffer this incredibly ridiculous ruler!?  First come the locus...yeah, they eat everything! 

14 they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. 

Pharaoh repents....again...  He even gets to the point where he say they can go worship....the men only....not acceptable of course...  Then comes the darkness!  Pharaoh repents (but, you guessed that...), now he says they can all worship men, women, children...but, the livestock has to stay behind!  Unacceptable!

28 Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."  29 "Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again."

This guy don't know who he's fooling with!

Stay Tuned!

Blessings,

Dennis <><

Things are bad all over....NOT!
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Exodus 9
Topic: Exodus

Things start to heat up a bit here....God is showing some awesome power, but when you think about it...He is showing even more restraint.  When you think about what He could do, the Egyptians are lucky to still be alive!

God brings about a plague to their livestock.  He brings horrible boils to the people and animals, and lastly, He brings some pretty terrible hail storms...  Nothing however touches the Israelites!  Another point here, is that a few of Pharaoh's people took the warning of hail seriously, and moved their animals and loved ones indoors!

Pharaoh repents once more...(oh, how we do this this in the face of hardships).  He calls Moses to remove the hail.  Moses prays, and the hail is lifted...What happens next you ask?  Uh....pharaoh hardens his heart once more...will he ever learn?

Stay Tuned!

Blessings,

Dennis <><

Frogs, Gnats & Flys! Oh My....
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Exodus 8
Topic: Exodus

As you may have already figured, Pharaoh hasn't budged an inch....In this chapter God tells Moses He will fill the land with frogs....an so he does!  Frog, fogs everywhere! (A good thing, if you like frogs legs....)

Pharaoh fells bad just long enough to ask Moses to remove the frogs.  Once this is done....you got it....same 'ol stubborn Pharaoh!  Next God brings about gnats!  They are everywhere!  Noteworthy here is that this is one the magicians couldn't duplicate....Pharaoh does the same thing, once the gnats are gone, he goes back to being the same pain in the rump....

God brings out the flys!  He does something a little different here....the land of Goshen are untouched!  The magicians even tell pharaoh that this is the hand of God....but does he listen.....Noooooo...  Pharaoh actually does tell Moses they can go into the desert to worship God, but as soon as the land is free of the flys, he turn his tail...

I think I can be kind of a stubborn guy once and a while  , but this guy takes the cake!

Stay Tuned!

Blessings

Dennis <><

Show Me!
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Exodus 7
Topic: Exodus

God shows pharaoh some power in this chapter!  He tells AAron and Moses what to do in pharaoh's presence.  They turn AAron's staff into a snake....Here's the thing, pharaoh's guys do the same thing! Scary eh? I think I'd want to stay clear of those boys...Pharaoh, wont budge...duh, God told us that already.  He's hardened pharaoh's heart (He's got more to prove here...).

Next, Moses and Aaron (er...God does it) change the river waters to blood!  Again, pharaoh's hommies do the same! (these guys are not right...)  Pharaoh wont change his mind.  How many people do we run acroos like this daily?!  People that tell me show me some proof!  You can hand them snakes and blood-water all day long, and they just aren't gonna get it... Pharaoh's is going to hit with a lot worse (and he still ain't gonna get it).

Stay Tuned!

Blessings,
Dennis <><

I Will Be With You...Always!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Exodus 6
Topic: Exodus

Moses Moses Moses...God tells him clearly what He will do...HE WILL DO...
Moses doesn't seem to hear so good...(as my grandma would say). 

Moses only hears the part where God asked him to go to pharaoh and the Israelites.  How come we always forget the part where He is with us?

30 But Moses said to the LORD, "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

Not by our might, but by the word of God...That and the fact that He will be with us always, how can we loose?
Add the fact that He talks to us directly, like He did to Moses, how could you say no?

Stayed tuned....Moses has a long way to go!

Blessings,
Dennis <><

The Last Straw?!
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Exodus 5
Topic: Exodus

Well, Aaron and Moses arrive in Egypt, they book the palace and get an audience with Pharaoh...  They ask Pharaoh for permission to hold a 3 day festival for the people in the desert...but Pharoah hates the idea!  He hates it so much in fact he decides to take it out on the people!

2 Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."

Pharaoh takes away the straw the Israelites use for making bricks...he tells them to get their own straw, and to make the same number of bricks as before!  When the have trouble doing this, the foreman are beaten for it!

Pharaoh's plan seems to be to discredit Moses and Aaron, and...it works!  The Israelites become angry with Moses!  Moses even questions why God would send him to Egypt just to make things harder on them?

 Stay Tuned!  We're not outta the woods yet!

Blessings,

Dennis <><

A Couple Singns...and Something to Wonder...
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Exodus 4
Topic: Exodus

A very strange chapter...(for me anyway...)

Moses cries out to God, that the people may not believe him...and what then?!  God gives him a couple signs!  He shows Moses to through down his staff...He turns it into a snake...and back to his staff again! (They outta believe now eh?)...Als God tells Moses to put his hand inside his robe, and they show it.  It becomes leprous! (and back to normal of course...)  With all these signs...Moses is still concerned.  He asks God to please send someone else....(Oh how we can relate with that one!? )  God is rather upset with Moses, but allows him to take along his brother Aaron. 

Now we get to the strange part...and if someone can clear this one up easily....please do!  As they leave for Egypt, Gos meets them, not to great them...but rather o kill Moses!  Quick thinking Zipporah, circumcises Moses' son, and touches it to Moses' feet, claiming him a bridegroom of blood?!  God spares Moses at this...  I must admit, I've got no ready explanation...

 Stay tuned!

Blessings,

Dennis <><

On Fire!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Exodus 3
Topic: Exodus

Moses is about to go on an incredible adventure!

While tending the flock, he witnesses a bush on fire....but NOT being burned!  Now this is enough for just about anybody to investigate, and he does....But the Lord calls out to him!  Moses answers "here am I".  This is more common than I first accepted...All are curious about God (at one time or another), but not all answer "Here am I!"  This is what sets us apart!

 Back to our story...."7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—"  Another missed by ne...He was truly WITH Moses...He says I have come down!  (When God is with us...He's really with us!)   "12 And God said, "I will be with you."

Moses is sent to rescue God's people....Moses' people...We're just gettin' started...Stay tuned!

" 21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.""

Blessings,

Dennis <><

A Star Is Born!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Exodus 2
Topic: Exodus

So many things happening in this chapter...oish!

In a time when Pharaoh is having all newborn male babies put to death we have a very important birth!  His mother fearing for his life, puts him into a basket, and into the river...his sister follows to watch over him.  As luck (Luck?!) would have it, Pharaoh's daughter finds the basket, baby inside...  The sister shows up and offers to find someone to take care of the baby...clever girl....  Pharaoh's daughter names the baby Moses, which means I drew him out...hmmm 

Nothing else is said of Moses; young life...(wonder how Disney was able to create so much...?)  Fast forward to adulthood...Moses whitenesses Hebrew slaves being mistreated by their taskmasters.  He is enraged, so much so he murders the Egyptian.  Moses thinks no one has seen this action, but...not so... Pharaoh learns of it, and wants to put Moses to deah....he flees for his life!  Moses runs to Midian, and comes to the aid of a group of shepardess'  Reuel, their father...repays Moses for his kindness...he gives him work and one of his daughters!  Zipporah....she becomes Moses' wife and gives him a son Gershom.

The chapter closes with the death of Paraoh....and the Israelites groaning in their bondage...

Stay tuned!

Blessings,

Dennis <><