Today’s reading is Exodus 6-10. So here goes…
Exodus 6
“God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” I don’t think I ever really noticed this passage. I’m not sure I really know what the significance is of God referring to Himself as Lord now, and as God Almighty when He appeared to people earlier, but I still think its interesting.
“Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.” Its ironic really that sometimes we are less likely to listen to messages of hope when we are most in need of them.
Nothing much to say about the descendants part.
Exodus 7
“Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.” I mentioned during yesterday’s reading that I don’t really understand the whole “God hardened pharaoh’s heart” thing. I guess one of the questions I have related to that is did God mean that He knew that pharaoh’s heart would be hardened because He is all-knowing? Or did God say that because He actually hardened pharoah’s heart? If God did harden pharaoh’s heart, is that something He does with others and why? I guess I am confused partially because earlier God said “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” and now it says that pharaoh’s heart became hard. So there is a difference there. Hmmm…
Can you imagine how much the environmental activists would complain if they were around back then? What with the fish being killed to prove a point, all the frogs being killed after that plague, etc. Lucky for them, activist groups weren’t around back then (or if they were, not nearly as vocal).
“and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water.” Ummm…I think the fact that the river was actually blood would be a decent deterrent…you know, besides the smell.
“But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts” I’m really not understanding how the magicians did the same stuff, but whatever. Maybe they were early versions of David Copperfield or something (and just didn’t have the opportunity to make trains disappear or anything). Who knows.
Exodus 8
Ok, I really don’t like frogs (they are ok from a distance or in photos actually, just don’t really like them in my vicinity) so the thought of them jumping in my bed is pretty creepy to me.
“But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals.” Interesting that they could produce frogs and not gnats…of course…hmmm…well, it said that the magicians could change the nile into blood also, but how did they do that if the nile was already blood? Seems like the job was pretty much done for them. Same with the frogs, how did they prove that their frogs were from the act of the magicians and not more frogs that were summoned up by God? Hmmm… Interesting that the magicians acknowledge that it was God acting in the case of the gnats though.
“But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart” Hmm…now instead of God hardening pharaoh’s heart or pharaoh’s heart becoming hardened, it actually says that pharaoh hardened his own heart. Interesting (and confusing)…
Exodus 9
“Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside” Interesting that some of his officials were paying attention. Seems like it would be a no-brainer to pay attention at this point…but clearly it isn’t considering how many still ignored everything.
“But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God” That seems like a little bit of a generalization considering that some of the officials did fear the word of the Lord. But then, maybe Moses just wasn’t aware of that at the time. Who knows.
“(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)” Uhh…yeah, is it just me or is that side comment that the author made, like, really random and, at the same time, boring?
“When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.” I wonder if that included the officials who did fear the Lord earlier in the chapter.
Exodus 10
“”Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.”" Once again, my lack of an imagination causes me to wonder what a darkness that can be felt actually is/feels like. Hmmmm….
That’s it for today….
), but because it interrupts my normal tv viewing. I hate that. I understand that they put it on network channels because not everyone gets cnn, c-span, etc. (i.e. the news channels I never really watch) and also because the networks want to compete with the others to make sure their commercials get some viewing time as well that evening, but it still annoys me because every channel you turn to has that on it. But, you want to know the beauty of it this year? I have tivo so I can watch regular tv during it (instead of a dvd or some lame tv show that is on one of the few stations not showing it) and pretend that it isn’t disrupting any of my normal viewing (hmm…or maybe I will get in some more walk aerobics…either way though I can remain in denial about the fact that it is happening). It will help me to avoid my usual anger issues that come along every year they do this. YAY!