Verse for the Day, 21 July 2014.

Exodus 16:19-30  And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over till the morning."  (20)  But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.  (21)  Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.  (22)  On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,  (23)  he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'"  (24)  So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.  (25)  Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.  (26)  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none."  (27)  On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.  (28)  And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?  (29)  See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."  (30)  So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 16 records for us God’s provision of manna and quail. The people of Israel could not carry an indefinite amount of food with them and therefore it was a matter of time before their food would come to an end. As the food supplies came to an end the people were presented with an opportunity to demonstrate faith and trust in God. Unfortunately, they grumbled and complained against both God and Moses. They failed to exercise any faith or trust in God. However, God deals with them graciously and provides manna and quail, and He does so for the next 40 years! This chapter stands as a testimony in Scripture to the enduring, long-suffering patience, faithfulness, graciousness and generosity of God.

This chapter also shows us that God delights in trust and obedience. The people of Israel are given very specific instructions concerning the manna, they are told how much they are to gather, how and when to eat it, and when they are not to go out to gather manna. Sadly, a number of the people show little, even no regard for these instructions given to them by God. Some in their greed seek to gather more, and therefore others are only able to gather a little, in the providence of God, God balances the scales so as to ensure each one had what was needed. There are those who decided to keep the manna for longer than permitted and others who went out on the Sabbath day to look for manna. Both of these groups stir the Lord and Moses to anger, they are not only disobedient the words of God and being greedy, they are also demonstrating a lack of trust in God’s faithfulness and promise to provide for them.

This greed, disobedience and lack of trust in God stands to the shame of the people when we read the concluding verse of this chapter, “The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.” God had been faithful to people who were faithless, greedy and disobedient. God was faithful because He keeps His promises, and He does all that which He says He shall do.

There can be no denying the fact that we have a faithful God, and a God who remains faithful in spite of who we are. God’s faithfulness is not rooted in who we are and what we do, rather His faithfulness is rooted in His unchanging and holy character. The great challenge for us to demonstrate obedience to and trust in God. We have no reason not to obey or trust God, for His commands, His instructions and His will is for our highest, greatest good and for His glory. Furthermore, He is the unchanging, all-powerful, faithful God, who remains true to every word and promise, there is no one more trustworthy or faithful than God is. It should be for us a joy and delight to obey and trust God, it should be a source of great assurance and peace, knowing that we are being led by a good and holy God, and we are being upheld by a powerful, trustworthy and truthful God.

Faithful Father we thank You for Your enduring faithfulness, a faithfulness that works for our good, even when we live in sin. We are thankful towards You today that Your faithfulness is not rooted in who we are, but is rooted in Your holy, eternal, good and unchanging character. We praise You for the peace and joy we know when trust You for all things and walk in obedience. We pray that You might increase our trust in You and move us towards greater obedience, for we know this is brings You delight and brings us joy. May we walk in the footsteps of Christ, who is the greatest demonstration of Your faithfulness, and who lived in trust and obedience. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 18 July 2014.

Exodus 15:1, “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.  (2)  The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him…. (13) "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?  (12)  You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.  (13)  "You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode…. (17) You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.  (18)  The LORD will reign forever and ever.”

After witnessing the incredible power and salvation of God in the parting of the Red sea and the defeat of the Egyptians, Moses leads the people of Israel in worship. A special song is written to praise and extol God, and then sung by the whole nation in worship of God. The song records not just the event, but describes for us the nature, character, attributes and position of God. It is a rich, joyful song of adoration.

These verses teach us two important truths, firstly the importance of worship, of giving public, corporate thanks to God. The song that is recorded for us here shows us what the content and focus of that worship is to be. We are to extol God, He is to be the focus, the centre of our worship and we are sing of who He is and what He is done. Sadly, modern day worship has become increasingly man-centred, and gives more time to what God should do for us, rather than who God is and what He has done. We need to learn from this song, God and God alone is to be worshipped, He is the centre-point and sole focus. We are to sing about who He is, declaring the wonder of His character, attributes, nature and positon, we are sing about His greatness and glory, we are to give thanks in worship for that which He has done and has promised to do. Are these aspects clear in your private worship of God, is He the centre point and focus of your worship? Are these aspects clear in our public, corporate worship?

The second important truth is that we are to teach the next generation to worship. The whole reason as to why this song was written and then taught to the whole nation of Israel was so that they might teach it to the next generation. The next generation will learn who God is, and how He is to be worshipped from us. This is an immense responsibility, but also a great privilege and presents us with the challenging question; what is it that the next generation are learning from us about who God is and how He is to be worshipped?

Our great God and Father who is “majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds”, we praise Your great name today. We want to give You thanks for the God that You are and for that which You have done for us, so we might know You. We pray that You will help us to keep You as the centre-point and focus of our worship and to be faithful in teaching the next generation Your great worth and how they are to worship You. To You belongs all the praise, glory and adoration, for You alone are the one and only true God. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 17 July 2014.

Exodus 14:10-22  When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.  (11)  They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?  (12)  Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."  (13)  And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  (14)  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."  (15)  The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.  (16)  Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.  (17)  And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.  (18)  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."  (19)  Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,  (20)  coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.  (21)  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.  (22)  And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

The Israelites have seen God work in a number of ways over the past months. Moses has come to them sent by God with the promise of deliverance and has come with God-given authority and power. They have witnessed the power of God through the various plagues that have come upon Egypt, God’s power over nature, over creation and over life. God has proved Himself to be true to His word and His promises, the people of Israel are eventually set free by Pharaoh.

But now as they stand with the Red Sea on one side and Pharaoh’s army bearing down upon them on the other side, they forget the power and faithfulness of God. God had shown Himself to be great, powerful and faithful, but surely now this situation is too great even for God. Death awaits them all, either by drowning, or by an Egyptian sword. They cry out against God and then against Moses, doubt and fear have completely overwhelmed them, and disarmed what faith they did have in God.

God responds and in doing so reveals the true greatness of His power, and His love, faithfulness, and commitment to the people of Israel. If ever the Israelites doubted God’s love and commitment to them, surely this event would dispel all that doubt and leave them utterly convinced that God was indeed for them. Moses is instructed by God to stretch his hand out over the sea, and to the absolute astonishment of Israel and the Egyptian army, the sea parts, a pathway of dry ground appears, with walls of water on either side. What an incredible sight this must have been! The people of Israel walk through the sea and they come to know and understand the truth of what Moses has said to them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.”

It is highly unlikely that you and I shall ever witness such an event, but like the Israelites, as believers in Christ, there will be times when it appears as though we are surrounded by trouble on every side. No matter which way we look, it appears as if everything and everyone is closing in on us, seeking our demise. These troubles may be the greatest troubles we have ever faced in our lives up to this point, and they fill us with a fear the likes of which we have never known. We may even find ourselves despairing of life itself. What do we do then?

We should take ourselves to this passage in Exodus and focus our minds on verse 13, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.” As believers in Jesus Christ, God has worked in power to save us from the greatest trouble, trial and distress we could have ever faced, that of our sin and its eternal consequences. His power is therefore sufficient to enable us to endure through and overcome other trials. We are called and challenged to fear not, to stand firm, to trust in God and to await His salvation. In other words, we look to the greatness of our God, not the greatness of the trial, and we stand firm, we continue to cling to Him, not allowing the trials to tempt us to doubt God. We trust in Him knowing, believing that He is faithful to His children, that He is with us and at work, and we wait for His salvation. That salvation may not come immediately, nor in the form we expect it. We can be certain that when Moses first spoke to the Israelites telling them that God was going to deliver them, they would have never expected it to take place in the time and manner that it did. God worked their deliverance in this manner so that they would come to see that it was by His hand, power and faithfulness alone. This should have bolstered their faith and given them much assurance and courage to face future trials.

God will work in the midst of our great trials, in a manner that only He can work. When we see His salvation, we will know that it has come through His power, by His hand and in His faithfulness. This will serve to grow our faith and enable us to trust Him all the more with the future. What a wonderful promise we have from God and what an incredibly powerful and faithful God we have! “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.”

Great God of creation, who parts the sea and saves His people from death, we praise Your great name. We thank You that You worked in Your power to save us from eternal death, that You rescued us in the day of our greatest distress. We thank You that now as Your children, You continue to work in Your power and faithfulness, helping, strengthening, equipping and saving us in the midst of all our distresses. Keep us from thinking that our trials are bigger and greater than You, or are beyond Your ability to rescue us from. We pray that You would help us to not be filled with fear, but to grow in trust, and to stand firm, clinging to You, patiently, prayerfully awaiting Your salvation. Amen