« March 12, 2010 | Home | March 14, 2010 »
March 13, 2010
Exodus 7:1-25 Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” 6 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. 8 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” 19 The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt– over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs’– and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars.” 20 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt. 22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 Seven days passed after the LORD struck the Nile.
Matthew 24:15-28 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel– let the reader understand– 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now– and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect– if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you sign up to receive future readings sent directly to your email inbox.!
Books: Exodus, Matthew 2 Comments »
2 Responses to “March 13, 2010”
Comments
Stay connected! Be notified via e-mail when others leave comments on this site, click here and sign up now!
March 13th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Commentators say the “abomination that causes desolation” that was spoken of by Daniel was a prophecy of a desecration of the altar in the temple that would happen in the future, and which was fulfilled in 167 BC when Antiochus IV erected an altar of Zeus upon the altar of Yahweh in the temple. That phrase became a common phrase among the Jews to describe when someone would desecrate God’s temple. Jesus uses the same language to prophesy the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and to warn his disciples to flee from Jerusalem instead of being caught up in the battle against Rome.
However, like many prophecies, it may also have a view towards the whole end times. Certainly v. 24-27 are timeless, that fale prophets will always be appearing to deceive people and pull people away from worshiping Jesus. It is important to note that these false prophets will even perform great signs and miracles. Seeing someone do something miraculous can be convince many people that their message is legitimate, but Jesus here says that signs and wonders don’t necessarily mean the person doing them is a true prophet. We still need to pay attention to their message and whether they point to the true Christ.
March 13th, 2008 at 7:05 am
The mention of miracles, and their potentially deceptive nature is important for us to understand, as is the mention, particularly by John, that Jesus’s miracles were “signs”, not proofs; they were indecations if you like, that Jesus should be looked at and taken seriously.
This was brought home to me several times while traveling in Asia. On one occasion, a Muslim in Pakistan told me of a very specific miracle that had happpened to him, and for him it proved that Islam was true. I found that I could not doubt the miracle, clearly I was not there, and the guy believed what he saw. I had the same experience with a Budhist in Burmah (Myanmar), he spoke of a very specific miracle that he had seen, and for him it was proof; and again, I could not doubt that he had seen what he thought he had seen.
What struck me that day was that in the end a Christian’s faith is not based on signs and miracles, but is based on if it is true, did Jesus rise from the dead? Jesus said “blessed are they that have not seen, yet believed–”. As I read these verses in Matthew, I am struck that we need to be sure where our faith is based, because it will be challenged so that even the elect with be deceived “if that were possible”. This suggests some pretty big challenges as we go through life.
Am I sure where my faith is today?