TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Lev 10:1-7; Mat 3:11-12; Acts 2:1-3
Let us . . . worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” - Hebrews 12:28b-29
TODAY IN THE WORD
Nadab and Abihu didn’t take God at His word. As Levites and sons of Aaron, they knew that offerings of incense must burn with fire from the tabernacle altar, not with fire from some other source. Yet Nadab and Abihu disobeyed these instructions and offered strange fire before the Lord. “So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (Lev. 10:2).

In order to explain, Moses reminded Aaron that God had said, “Among those who approach me I will show myself holy” (v. 3). Fire represented the presence and purity of God. The fire that burned continually on the temple altar symbolized God’s presence within Israel; the sacrificial code detailed how to approach the presence without being consumed. It also suggests the danger of approaching Him arrogantly. He is not a cozy hearth-fire, but a “consuming fire.” It is wise to keep this fact in mind as we consider the fire of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit came in tongues of fire not to consume, but to inaugurate a central shift in divine-human relations. The presence of God, once confined to the temple, would now reside within individual believers.

The gathering of the faith community–not the tent or the building–is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). This is a weighty honor in light of how jealously God preserved the holiness of His presence with Nadab and Abihu.

The Spirit’s coming as fire not only links believers to the temple, but also to temple sacrifices. Sacrifices burned in the temple were pure–the healthiest animals from the flock, without defect, injury, or illness.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Our bodies belong to God. Is this how we think of ourselves? Do we live in order to render ourselves a pure sacrifice to God, or do we live to please the flesh?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 14:15-31
He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth. - John 14:16b–17a
TODAY IN THE WORD
A story is told of a little girl who wept bitterly upon finishing C. S. Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.The children’s encounters with the lion Aslan, the Christ-figure in the story, woke a longing in the little girl’s heart. Adamant about her desire to be with the lion, she told her parents she would rather live in Narnia.

This response to the Narnia chronicles is not uncommon. Stories of friendship with Aslan stir our longing for intimacy with God. Yet some might think that our ascended Lord Jesus is just as inaccessible as the Narnian Aslan. Must we, like the little girl, only weep and wish for genuine communication with God?

Jesus Himself assures us otherwise. He promised us “another” counselor upon His departure, one who would take His place. Jesus told His disciples He would not leave us as orphans: “I will come to you” (John 14:18). This promise refers primarily to the sending of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of truth, the Counselor, is Jesus come to us.

But what exactly is a counselor? A counselor is a guide, someone who advises on big decisions as well as matters of daily living, one whose instruction gives comfort. F. B. Meyer defines counselor as “one who makes us strong by his presence, as Helper, Guide and Instructor.” The Holy Spirit is all of these things for us. Orphans lack parental guidance, but the Father has sent His Spirit to lead us into all truth.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
One writer has said, “True listening is obedient listening. To cross the line from spiritual immaturity to maturity we must learn to hear God’s voice.” Consider adding to your new-year reading list a book on how God guides and speaks to His children.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Ephesians 1:1-23; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. - Ephesians 1:13b
TODAY IN THE WORD
Traditionally, members of the English gentry possessed crests or “arms” that depicted their family heritage. Poet John Donne’s family crest was a “sheaf of snakes” but when he decided to take holy orders, he changed it to an image of Christ upon an anchor. This exchange of an image of sinfulness (snakes) for an image of redemption (Christ) was Donne’s way of symbolizing his full yielding to God. “This Seal’s a Catechism, not a Seal alone,” he wrote to fellow poet George Herbert. When Donne changed his heart, he changed his seal.

Believers also receive a new seal at conversion--the seal of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean for us to be sealed?

Seals provide an authoritative, identifying mark. In the Old Testament, a seal from a signet ring indicated the authority of a king. For example, in Esther 8 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther to write a decree in his name and to stamp it with his ring. The king’s seal guarantees its authenticity and power.

Seals also signal the completion of an act. In sealing us with the Spirit, God acknowledges our definitive inclusion in Christ and marks us as His own. We are His, guaranteed. The Spirit is God’s “seal of ownership” upon us (2 Cor. 1:22).

Note what is not the sign of our inclusion in Christ: not baptism, not the Lord’s Supper, not circumcision, but God’s own Spirit. Isn’t it wonderful that God’s seal, His mark of authority, is His very Spirit?
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The Beloved in the Song of Songs says to her lover, “Place me like a seal over your heart” (8:6).

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; 5:1-17
He . . . put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. - 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
TODAY IN THE WORD
A furniture store was having a going-out-of-business sale. A woman walked in, looking for a simple coffee table, but a mission-style, cherry wood dining set caught her eye instead. A salesperson hurried over to quote her the discounted price and to urge her to put down money soon–things were selling fast. She hesitated, wanting to think it over. When she came back the next day, prepared to buy, the dining set was gone. “Sorry,” said the salesperson. “I couldn’t keep it for you: You didn’t put down a deposit.”

Deposits guarantee ownership. They indicate seriousness of intent to purchase fully. They signal that the depositor will return at a later date with more money to claim the purchase.

God gives us these guarantees through the indwelling of His Spirit. The deposit of the Spirit is a sign of God’s faithfulness, a fulfillment of God’s promises being “Yes” in Christ. It fulfills the promise made in Joel 2, as Peter noted in his Pentecost sermon: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” It also fulfills the promise Jesus made to His disciples, that they would receive power from on high (Luke 24:49). The deposit of the Spirit in us reminds us that God’s promises remain sure through time.

The gift of the Spirit is also a down payment of our future inheritance. We are like banks for Spirit-gold--the precious deposit we have now guarantees the coming of an even greater treasure than God-in-us.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 suggests what this treasure might be. If the initial deposit is the dwelling of God’s very life and Spirit in mortal creatures, the full inheritance is Life itself swallowing up our mortality (v. 4). Try to imagine such a state of being: the life of God in us now becoming the overwhelming fact of our experience. Clothed with immortality, we will be fully what we are only now becoming–new creations in Christ (v. 17).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
God’s spiritual deposit in each believer is unique. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, He doesn’t give same gifts to all.

What gifts do you know God has given you for edifying the church? How are you capitalizing on the deposit of the Spirit in you? Are you developing your spiritual gifts or growing in the fruits of the Spirit?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Judges 6:1-32
No one can serve two masters . . . he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. - Matthew 6:24
TODAY IN THE WORD
This past May, a jury found Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, former executives of Enron, guilty of fraud and conspiracy. The prosecutor, Sean Berkowitz, declared, “The jury sent an unmistakable message: you can't lie to shareholders.” Instead of serving the interests of the shareholders, Lay and Skilling were accused of serving their own interests through a shady accounting scheme.

Israel should have learned the lesson about trying to serve their own pleasures and the commands of the Lord by Gideon's time. We see today another of the cycles in the book of Judges. We have more details on Israel's oppressors; the Midianites practiced a scorched-earth policy. Not content to just gather tribute from Israel, Midian and its allies would devastate crops, steal livestock, and destroy any means of livelihood. Finally, Israel cried to the Lord for help (v. 6).

Notice that God first sent a prophet. Sometimes before we are delivered, we need to hear why we're in our predicament in the first place. Then the text introduces Gideon, someone that many of us can relate to. First, he is hiding from the Midianites. Second, he wonders where God is in all this suffering. Third, he focuses on his weakness. Fourth, he can't accept God's word without some proof.

What do we see about God here? First, He addresses Gideon as “mighty warrior”—while Gideon is in the process of hiding! God sees our potential as His servants, not the limitations of our present circumstances. Second, God promises to be with Gideon. His strength more than compensates for our weakness. Third, God graciously agrees to give Gideon the proof that he seeks and accepts his offering.

Before defeating Midian, Gideon had an assignment to destroy his father's altar to Baal. God will not allow His altar to stand in conjunction with an idolatrous worship center. Though afraid, Gideon complied, and his obedience put the impotence of Baal into focus for his father Joash and the others in the town.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
You probably don't have an Asherah pole in your backyard, and you likely haven't offered any sacrifices to Baal. But anything that competes with our affection and obedience for God is idolatrous. We cannot serve two masters. God understands that tearing down the false altars can be terrifying, but we have the same promise that He gave Gideon: “I will be with you” (v. 16, cf. Matt. 28:20). In His grace, God sees what we can be through His Spirit, if we are willing to obey and follow Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 2:4-25
The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. - Genesis 2:7
TODAY IN THE WORD
In 1963, a Gallup poll found that 65 percent of Americans agreed that the Bible represents the actual Word of God. Last year, however, this belief reached a much lower point, as only 27 percent affirmed this statement. Another 20 percent said that the Bible is just a human book of fables and moral precepts.

On the other hand, almost half the population was willing to say the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and about one-quarter claimed to read it at least once a week. Virtually every household owns at least one Bible.

These poll results display confusion in Americans’ attitudes toward Scripture. Our goal this month is to give you fresh perspective and passion in your interaction with God’s Word. Though composed of 66 books, the Bible tells a single story, the story of God’s mercy--“The Greatest Story Ever Told.” This contrasts with the feeling many may have that the Bible is a series of familiar but loosely connected stories told in Sunday School.

In general, we’ve chosen for our study well-known narrative passages arranged in chronological order through Scripture. Because God’s Word reveals His glory, we might have chosen worship as our theme. But we’ve chosen God’s mercy as our main theme because this characterizes His dealings with humanity.

Our story begins with creation, specifically with the creation of Adam and Eve. God was intimately involved in this process (cf. Ps. 139:13-16). He didn’t just speak them into being; instead, he formed Adam from the earth and Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. He made them in His own image. Gently and powerfully, He breathed into them the breath of life.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
In your personal prayer time this New Year’s Day, praise God for the glory and unity of His sovereign plan as revealed in Scripture. Thank Him for His love and mercy to you personally, and for His desire for a close relationship with you. The Lord of the universe is also your Shepherd!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 3:1-19
The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. -
TODAY IN THE WORD
Puritan preacher George Whitefield once encouraged his congregation from Genesis 3:15:

“Dare, dare, my dear brethren in Christ, to follow the Captain of your salvation, who was made perfect through sufferings. The seed of the woman shall crush the serpent’s head. Fear not men. Be not too much cast down at the deceitfulness of your hearts. Fear not devils; you shall get the victory even over them. The Lord Jesus has engaged to make you more than conquerors over all.”

Even in today’s reading, at the moment of the Fall and the resulting curse, God’s plan of ultimate mercy and victory is foreshadowed.

Tempted by Satan, the Father of Lies, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge. Eve was deceived by the serpent (2 Cor. 11:3), but Adam, who was with her, sinned deliberately. Forgetting God’s care and goodness to them, they believed they knew best and broke God’s law.

The penalty for disobedience was alienation and death. First, they felt shame at their nakedness, made “clothing” from leaves, and then hid from God. Sin always severs intimacy with Him.

God, however, took the initiative, as we’ll see Him doing throughout Scripture. He sought them out, even though they tried to evade responsibility. He even gave them better clothing (Gen. 3:21). But the consequen-ces for their sin included pain in childbirth, relational struggles, and hard labor. In other words, their sin directly damaged the gifts that God had given them.

Mercifully, God also promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, even though the serpent would be allowed to bruise His heel (v. 15). These words anticipate the rest of the human story. It will be a war, the outcome of which is already known (cf. Rev. 12:9).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
To learn more about the spiritual dynamics of innocence and the Fall, consider reading the novel, Perelandra,by C. S. Lewis. He imagined another world, another Garden of Eden, another Adam and Eve, and another temptation--but this time with different results. It’s a fascinating story, written from an insightful Christian point of view that characterizes all of Lewis’s writings. Perelandra is the second in a trilogy of science fiction novels, but you don’t need to have read the first one to understand it.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 6:5-22; 8:13-22
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. - Genesis 9:13
TODAY IN THE WORD
In the mid-14th century, bubonic plague–known as “Black Death”–swept through Europe, killing 25 million people, nearly one third of the total population. Carried by a common rat flea, it spread from China to Europe by means of trade routes.

Victims of the plague suffered a high fever, severe pain, and hemorrhaging, and usually died within five days. The disease struck with lightning speed, and inspired such fear that people refused to care for the sick and were sometimes unable to keep up with burying the dead.

As bad as the Black Death was, it was still far less destructive than the worldwide flood described in today’s reading.

As humanity multiplied and spread after the Fall, so did sin. People whose “every inclination . . . was only evil all the time” appalled our holy God (Gen. 6:5). Nonetheless, in the story of Noah, we continue to see His mercy.

God’s first response to widespread sin was not wrath, as we might think, but grief and pain (v. 6). He didn’t want anyone to perish (cf. 2 Peter 3:9). But as He surveyed the earth, His justice required judgment.

Noah, who was blameless and walked with God, was the means to save humanity and to start fresh. God gave him blueprints for the Ark, a passenger list, and instructions about the cargo. Although both a worldwide flood and a boat that size were far beyond his understanding, Noah obeyed. He was motivated by “holy fear,” a reverence for the person and words of God, and became an “heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Heb. 11:7).

More than a year after it began to rain, Noah and his family emerged from the Ark to a planet swept clean. God’s command to be fruitful and multiply echoed His words at creation (8:17). In gratitude for His saving mercy, Noah and his family worshiped the Lord.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The next time after a thunderstorm moves through your area, why not go out looking for a rainbow?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 18:1-14
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. - Genesis 18:18
TODAY IN THE WORD
Tabloid newspaper headlines often claim the unverifiable or the unbelievable: “Space Alien Weds Oklahoma Woman”, “Loch Ness Monster Found”, “Abraham Lincoln Alive and Well in New York City.” Walking past the newsstand or standing in line at the grocery store, we chuckle and wonder who comes up with this stuff.

How about this one? “Ninety-Year-Old Woman to Bear a Son.” When Sarah heard the news, she laughed as well. But as incredible as it was, the source was not a tabloid, but God Himself–and God’s promises always come true.

At this point in history, God’s plan of mercy was focused on a specific person, Abraham, out of whom would come a nation, Israel. This plan, however, encompassed the whole world, as seen in His covenant promise to Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3).

God’s promise of a son had first been made years earlier; in today’s reading Abraham and Sarah were well past the age of having children and were still childless. To boost their faith, the Lord Himself and two strangers (who turned out to be angels) paid them a visit. He came in Person to enjoy hospitality in Abraham’s dwelling. As we saw with Adam, Eve, and Noah, God deals with people personally, with implications that ripple far into history.

Abraham and Sarah’s visitors specifically promised that they would have a son within a year. Sarah laughed at the news, an understandable human reaction, but one showing a lack of faith. With supernatural knowledge of her actions and attitude, the Visitor challenged her, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (v. 14). Abraham, on the other hand, “considered him faithful who had made the promise” (Heb. 11:11-12).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
In addition to studying with us this month, another way to get a sense of the unified flow of biblical history is to listen to The Ancient Faith,a trilogy of albums on the Old Testament, by musician Michael Card. We suggest you take time to listen to these albums carefully, reading the lyrics and meditating along with the music. You can use this music during your quiet time with the Lord or family devotions. Doing so will enrich both this month’s devotions and all your interactions with Scripture.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 22:1-18
God himself will provide the lamb. - Genesis 22:8
TODAY IN THE WORD
Abraham’s faith-filled attitude of total submission to God is paralleled in the words of the classic hymn, “I Surrender All”:

All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow,

Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now . . .

All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.

Abraham withheld nothing from God, not even his only heir, the son of promise. Isaac was a beloved miracle child, one who embodied the hope of the covenant. But as a test of faith, the Lord asked Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice.

Abraham obeyed promptly, setting out the next morning. He also obeyed unwaveringly–after all, a three-day journey is a long time to think. He didn’t know what God was doing, but he believed He could raise his son from the dead (Heb. 11:19). In faith, he told Isaac that God Himself would provide a lamb.

He was right. At the crucial moment, God stopped Abraham: “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Gen. 22:12). Then Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket, and sacrificed it as a burnt offering. He named the place “The Lord Will Provide”–in context, this communicates not an ordinary, daily provision, but an urgent, merciful, life-saving provision.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
If your house were burning down, what three items would you choose to save? You may have been asked this question before; considering it helps clarify what is really important or valuable in our lives.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 28:10-22
I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. - Genesis 28:15
TODAY IN THE WORD
You’ve probably heard the “Footprints in the Sand” story. Two sets of footprints are found on the path of life–a picture of God and you walking together. But sometimes only one set of footprints can be seen in the sand. What happened at these times? Did God let you walk alone?

Not at all. The end of the story reveals that the times when there was only one set of footprints were the times when God was carrying you.

Though perhaps overused, “Footprints in the Sand” communicates God’s sure faithfulness. Jacob also learned this truth as we see in today’s reading, especially in today’s verse. At the time in his life, he was running away from his brother Esau who wanted to kill him for stealing his blessing. Jacob likely felt tired and depressed.

At this low point, God took the initiative to reveal Himself to Jacob in a dream. The stairway showed that the Lord was not inaccessible or uninvolved, but was connected to earth and human affairs, His “messengers” or angels going back and forth. He repeated the covenant pro-mises to Jacob, and added a personal dimension (Gen. 28:15).

As opposed to the local gods who supposedly ruled a particular part of the world at that time, the one true God was everywhere. He would be with Jacob and watch over him. He also promised that Jacob would return home one day, a promise fulfilled in Genesis 33:18-20.

Although Jacob recognized the Lord, his encounter with the Almighty God understandably left him fearful and awe-struck. After this experience, he set up a memorial stone and named the place Bethel, “house of God.” The bold vow he made probably represented the deepening of true faith, though it also reflected his scheming, bargaining mentality.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
God has made the same promise to us that He made to Jacob in today’s verse. To remind yourself of His never-failing presence and protection, commit to memory one of these Bible verses: Matthew 28:20b; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; or Isaiah 41:10.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Genesis 45:1-28
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish . . . the saving of many lives. - Genesis 50:20
TODAY IN THE WORD
The first chapter of Job presents a powerful lesson in faith. In rapid succession, Job heard the news that his livestock had been stolen or destroyed, that the servants tending them had also been killed, and that his oldest son’s house had collapsed and ended the lives of all ten of his children.

Job was on the ropes, reeling from these devastating blows. How did he respond? With worship: “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’ ” (Job 1:20-21).

Like Job, Joseph looked at the hardships of his life from the perspective of God’s sovereignty. He had endured brothers jealous of their father’s favoritism and angry about his dreams--brothers who had attacked him and sold him as a slave after planning to murder him. He had been a slave in Egypt, and despite excellent work, he was unjustly accused and imprisoned, then nearly forgotten by a man he had helped.

The God’s-eye view looked different, however. The Lord had put His man in place to meet a critical upcoming need. Joseph had wisdom imparted from God through dreams. That wisdom impressed Pharaoh and earned Joseph high office. He also had administrative wisdom to make plans. But the most important thing Joseph had was faith. He responded to situations with integrity and gave God all the credit for working for his good (Gen. 45:5-8; cf. Rom. 8:28).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Joseph understood that God’s merciful hand had been working in his life, even when outward circumstances made it difficult to see. In spite of the circumstances, he responded to God’s mercy with faith.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Exodus 2:1-10
You are my hiding place. - Psalm 32:7
TODAY IN THE WORD
When asked what had sparked his interest in science, Albert Einstein frequently recalled two gifts he had received as a child. One was a magnetic compass. He was transfixed by the needle’s northward-pointing constancy and the idea of invisible magnetic forces. The second was a geometry book. He was impressed by its logic and began to realize that nature, even its invisible features, could be explored and explained.

These two gifts helped shape the direction of Einstein’s remarkable life and career. In a similar way, the basket Moses’ mother made in today’s reading foreshadowed the direction and themes of his entire life: protection and deliverance (Ps. 32:7). At Joseph’s invitation, Jacob and his family had gone down to Egypt to escape famine. While at first welcomed, over the course of 400 years, their descendants had been forced into slavery. A fearful Pharaoh had issued orders that Hebrew babies were to be killed to control the population.

We don’t know if Moses’ mother’s action was one of desperation, or if she had a hopeful scheme all along. We do know that she and her husband acted in faith (Heb. 11:23). In God’s sovereignty, an Egyptian princess found the basket with the Hebrew baby inside; she rescued and adopted him, which meant she also concealed the truth about him. It was she who named him Moses, meaning “to draw out” (of the water). Moses’ own mother was hired to nurse him, and he was raised as a prince of Egypt.

Unlike Joseph, though, Moses’ earthly position would not be the means God used to accomplish His intentions. To become the deliverer God planned, he would have to repudiate his royal upbringing and choose to suffer with the people of God (Heb. 11:24-26).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The story of Moses and the Exodus is a classic narrative of bondage and freedom. These themes are found throughout the Bible, and today we encourage you to do more in-depth study searching for them.

A wide-ranging look at narrative, poetry, prophecy, and the epistles will give you a greater appreciation for the God who sets the captives free (Isa. 42:7).

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Exodus 12:29-42; 13:17-14:31
In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. - Exodus 15:13
TODAY IN THE WORD
After 29 years of laboring as a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to Philadelphia in 1849. She’d been determined to be free for years, and now she was--but she didn’t stop there.

Tubman spent the next decade helping other slaves escape as well. Working as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, she made about twenty trips into slave states to guide groups of runaways to safe routes and hiding places. Despite the Fugitive Slave Act and bounties placed on her head by plantation owners, Tubman courageously helped free about 300 slaves, earning her the nickname, “Moses of her people.” She earned that name because she, like Moses, led her people to freedom (cf. Heb. 11:27-29).

Of course, it was God who truly led His people to freedom (Ex. 12:42). In the last of the ten plagues, the deaths of the firstborn children demonstrated that His power reached all levels of Egyptian society. The Israelites didn’t suffer, for they’d obediently put atoning blood on their doorposts and celebrated the first Passover. Pharaoh was so humbled that he broke his word about never seeing Moses again and he asked him for his blessing (vv. 31-32).

The slaves were set free, and even hustled on their way by Egyptians afraid of further judgment. The Israelites took Egyptian livestock, and were given clothing, gold, and silver by their excaptors, fulfilling God’s promise to Moses (Ex. 3:19-22; cf. Ps. 105:36-39). The bread without yeast symbolized their hurry to leave, which was ironic given the unlikelihood, from a human perspective, of their leaving at all.

God Himself guided the Israelites, taking them down the best, though not the shortest, road. He kept vigil over them, leading, protecting, and encouraging His people with His visible presence through a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. When the Egyptians came in pursuit, He opened a miraculous way of escape for Israel and fought on its behalf (Ex. 14:13-14).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
If you’d like to respond creatively to today’s devotion, we could suggest several ideas.

• Make a drawing or a series of drawings to show the main events of the Exodus.

• Write a “journal entry” about the Exodus from the point of view of an ordinary Israelite or even an ordinary Egyptian.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Exodus 32:1-35
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. - Psalm 19:7
TODAY IN THE WORD
Last fall, a boy’s Bible saved his life. According to police, a Florida mother killed one of her sons at home with a shotgun, then drove to a church where she found her sixteen-year-old son standing outside. She fired at him at close range, but the shot struck his Bible.

“The Bible certainly saved his life,” said a sheriff’s deputy. “Had his Bible not been in the way he would have sustained the brunt of the blast and very well could have died from that type of injury.”

That young man will never forget that he owes his life to the Word of God. More figuratively, today’s verse reminds us: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” In today’s reading, God Himself wrote the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai. But even before those tablets had reached the people, mercy was needed.

The people of Israel seemed intent on going back into slavery. They “forgot” all that God had done for them, from the miracle of the Red Sea’s parting to their very freedom from the bondage of Egypt. Aaron gave in to their demands and fashioned a calf that may have resembled an Egyptian bull-god familiar to the Israelites. The festival they celebrated in the idol’s presence included drunkenness and sexual immorality. By the time Moses saw them, they were totally out of control.

God was justly angry. After all, only a short time before He had said, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). Moses could have pridefully accepted God’s offer to destroy the Israelites and create the “Mosesites,” but instead he interceded for the people. Why? He understood God’s unchanging love and the infinite depth of His mercy.

God showed mercy, but judgment was also needed. The Levites answered the call to purify the people, earning a blessing by siding for God against even family and friends (Ex. 32:29). The powdered drink Moses served the Israelites was just a taste of the consequences of sin.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Do you have the zeal of a Levite? Do you desire to make war against sin and to live for righteousness?