1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do
to Pharaoh:for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a
strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
2
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord:3 And I
appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God
Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.
4
And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the
land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were
strangers.
5 And I have also heard the
groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage;
and I have remembered my covenant.
6
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will
bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid
you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out
arm, and with great judgments:
7 And I will take you to me for a people,
and I will be to you a God:and ye shall know that I am the Lord your
God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8
And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear
to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you
for an heritage:I am the Lord.
9 And Moses
spake so unto the children of Israel:but they hearkened not unto Moses
for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
10
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 11 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh
king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12
And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel
have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of
uncircumcised lips?
13 And the Lord
spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the
children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
14
These be the heads of their fathers 'houses:The sons of Reuben the
firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi:these be the
families of Reuben. 15 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and
Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish
woman:these are the families of Simeon.
16 And
these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations;
Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari:and the years of the life of Levi were
an hundred thirty and seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and
Shimi, according to their families. 18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram,
and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel:and the years of the life of Kohath
were an hundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of Merari;
Mahali and Mushi:these are the families of Levi according to their
generations. 20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife;
and she bare him Aaron and Moses:and the years of the life of Amram
were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
21
And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of
Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 And Aaron took him
Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she
bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of
Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph:these are the families of the
Korhites. 25 And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of
Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas:these are the heads of the
fathers of the Levites according to their families.
26 These are that
Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the children of Israel
from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 27 These are they
which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of
Israel from Egypt:these are that Moses and Aaron.
28
And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the
land of Egypt, 29 That the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am the
Lord:speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
30 And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
Exodus 7
1 And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh:and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee:and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.
3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
6 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they. 7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
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Comments by Joan Boney
When we serve God, we simply do what God tells us to do. There are times we do not want to tell the story God is wanting us to tell. We have to yield to God and tell it even when we do not want to tell it.
I had an aunt who was different from all other relatives. I related to her very well. After I was born again, I visited this aunt. As I spoke with her, I heard these words: "Tell her what happened to you when you were taken into heaven."
I certainly did not want to do that!
This aunt was Church of Christ. They never speak of "supernatural" things.
But how could I not tell her and deny the Holy Spirit who was showing me to tell her.
So I yielded and told her.
After I was born again, I was asleep and I was transported into heaven. I was with God and Christ and the Holy Spirit (though there were no images of them it was a spirit happening). At that time I was merged into the body of Jesus, made one with the word of God, God and the Holy Spirit witnessing.
A few night later as I slept, the exact same thing happened again: I was with God and Christ and the Holy Spirit (though there were no
images of them it was a spirit happening). At that time I was merged
into the body of Jesus, made one with the word of God, God and the Holy
Spirit witnessing.
As I told this to my aunt, she had a wonderful countenance on her face and dreamily said to me: "Something like that happened to me once. And it was all golden."
She was always very different from other people. Now I know why.
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As I read the story of Exodus and Moses not wanting to go to Pharaoh, I thought of how God spoke to Jonah and how Jonah tried to run away ...
Jonah 1 ...
1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you:for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not:for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood:for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea:and the sea ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Chapter 2
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever:
yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord:
and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.
10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Chapter 3
1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days 'journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing:let them not feed, nor drink water:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God:yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
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Several years ago, God gave me a dream. I was traveling by plane with a small group of people (about 12) and we landed on an island. It was like an island with pineapple fields. There were a few children on the island. They were dirty and it was hot there, which I did not find appealing. Then I realize they were planning to leave me on that island to care for those children! I said, "NO ... I won't stay ... I won't ... " then I realized it might be God's will for me to stay and do this work so I said to God, "Unless YOU want me to stay." God did want me to stay and I stayed to care for those children. It was hot and dirty. There was a pastor and his wife on the island but they wouldn't come out of their house.
I believe these children in the dream were the church.