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March 8, 2010
Exodus 2:1-25 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” 11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” 14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” 19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 “And where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.” 21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become an alien in a foreign land.” 23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
Matthew 22:34-46 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”‘ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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Books: Exodus, Matthew 2 Comments »
2 Responses to “March 8, 2010”
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March 8th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Exodus 2:23-24 – The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
Sometimes you can just tell the Hebrew doesn’t translate well into English, and v. 24 is one of those. The Israelites cry out in their slavery, and v. 24 says that God “remembered” his covenant. It conjures up an image of God asleep in his recliner or putzing around the house, and then all of a sudden he remembers that he completely forgot to take care of the Israelites, just like someone remembering that they needed to move a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer.
The reality is that the word remember is much more active, that God decides to act in accordance with his promises and covenant. The Psalmists ask God to remember them often (e.g. Psalm 25, 106), and it’s not because they think God forgot who they are, but because their situation makes them feel forgotten and they wish for God to act according to His promises and covenant. It’s a good prayer to keep in mind, calling and asking God to act according to His promises and covenant.
Who knows why God chooses to act at this particular time, but as the cries of the Israelites reach up to heaven, He decides it is time to raise up a man who will take the lead in the deliverance of his people from slavery.
Lord, I pray that you would remember us, and that you would act according to your great promises and your covenant with us. May you forgive our sins, bring us your peace and joy, and show your kingdom among us, so that you might be glorified in our church and our communities.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Matthew 22:46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
What a great line – Jesus turns the tables and asks them a question, essentially saying, why are there two people worthy of being called “Lord” according to David?, and no can answer Him and they all decide to shut up from there on out. Praise God that the Son of David is not just a man, but the very Lord of the universe.