January 30
Ex 10:1-12:13 | PS 25:1-15 | Prov 6:6-11 | Matt 20:1-28
As we continue to move through the various plagues against Egypt it is easy to miss the transition in Moses. When God calls Moses back in Exodus 3, Moses launches one excuse after another as to why he is not the right guy for the job. With the enormity of the job before him, he saw his ineptness, his lack of faith, etc. So, initially God allowed His permissive will, allowing Aaron to serve as the go-between. God would speak to Moses and Aaron would then listen to Moses and carry out the task. This was the case through the first three plagues. After this, though Aaron came along, Moses is the one with the staff and the one making the declarations to Pharoah directly, as we read in Exodus 8-12. Moses is now stepping forth in faith and confidence, he has learned to trust God. For any of us to be used by God, we must step out in faith, God will then provide the rest. We read in Philippians 1:6, "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." We must also understand that as we step out in faith it doesn't necessarily have to make complete sense to us.
We read of the Passover beginning in Exodus 12 that a lamb must be chosen. This lamb had to be inspected and be without defect or blemish. The lamb was then to be killed (this applied to everyone among the Israelites, there were no exceptions). The blood was then applied to the doorframe and by doing this the angel of death would pass over that house, as we read in Exodus 12:12-13, "On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt." Does this make any scientific sense? No! But years later, our innocent Lamb, Jesus Christ, who was tried and tested and was found to be without blemish, was beaten and crucified and hung on a wooden cross so that the angel of death would pass over all of us who believe on Him. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." This requires faith on our part. Jesus did it all, but like the Israelites we simply need to trust, obey, and allow ourselves to be cleansed and protected by the blood of the Lamb.
All too often we get too caught up with "fair". But we must soberly acknowledge that Jesus dying for the sins that we have committed is not "fair" from a human perspective. Again, it doesn't necessarily need to make complete sense, it takes faith. When Jesus speaks of the comparison of the Kingdom of heaven and the landowner of the vineyard, with workers being taken at various times throughout the day, but all receiving the same wage, we pick this up in Matthew 20:11-15, "When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’ “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’" Many pillars of the religious community fail to see Jesus for who He is, while many of the overt sinners in society will acknowledge who Jesus is, as we read Jesus conclude this discussion in 20:16, "So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.” May we take comfort, step out in faith, trusting in Him, not ourselves, the One who did all the work, as we read in 20:28, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: