This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 4-6.

    Moses was reluctant to follow God’s calling to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of there. Actually, Moses was not just reluctant, he resisted the call. First, in yesterday’s passage, Moses asked God what he should tell the Israelites God’s name was. Which one of the gods which the Israelites were familiar with in Egypt was God? God’s response was that Moses was to tell them that He was who He was (“I am who I am”). Moses’ next reason not to go was to ask how he could convince people that he had actually talked to God. In response to that, God gave him three miraculous signs he could perform. Then Moses complained that he was not a very good public speaker, he stumbled over what to say, he put his words together in a way which left people confused about what he intended to say, he got tongue-tied. God’s answer to that was that since God was the one who made it possible for people to speak at all, God was able to overcome Moses’ speech problem. Finally, Moses just came out and said it, “Send someone else. I don’t want to go.” This made God angry, but He still worked with Moses and agreed to call Aaron to work with Moses, to be Moses’ spokesman. There is an important lesson for us here. When God calls us to a task, He will provide us with what we need to accomplish the task.

    When Moses got back to Egypt, he and Aaron told the Israelites what God had said to Moses and Moses showed them the signs God had given him. The Israelites were excited to hear God’s message. They praised and worshiped Him for the deliverance they thought would be shortly theirs. However, it did not work out that way. When Moses spoke to Pharaoh, Pharaoh did not listen to him. Pharaoh did not fear God and saw no reason to do as God commanded. Not only that, but Pharaoh believed that the Israelites request for a three-day journey into the wilderness was an act of rebellion. Pharaoh was determined to crush this rebellion in its infancy. If Moses had been hoping to lead a rebellion against Pharaoh, it all would have ended here. When the Pharaoh cracked down on the Israelites, they lost all interest in following Moses.

    However, this was not Moses leading a rebellion. This was God directing Moses so that Pharaoh would free the Israelites. Moses reiterates his complaint to God that he is a poor speaker. Clearly, God should have chosen someone else, someone with the ability to convince people. Except that God was not God’s plan. God’s plan was to demonstrate His power.