I thought we might benefit from a history lesson today. Way back in the beginning the Lord had chosen the Israelites to inherit His blessings because of His promise to Abram (Abraham), they were His chosen people and the apple of His eye.
But there was a problem, the more the Lord blessed them and the more they prospered the more they seemed to rebel against Him. They rebelled so often that at times God wanted to wipe them from the face of the earth, just do away with them completely.
When these times came about there seemed to always be someone that would intercede for them and God would relent, or change His mind, because of His great mercy that is new every single day, praise God! God never destroyed them but He continued to correct them, sometimes very harshly putting them in bondage to other nations.
The reason they were in Egypt was also instigated because of the sin of Joseph’s brothers who sold Joseph to some Ishmaelite’s who sold him to Potiphar, a captain of the guard in Pharaoh’s army in Egypt . To shorten the story, which you can read for yourself in Genesis chapters 37-54, there was a great famine all over the world at that time except for in Egypt and that is where Joseph was in charge of all the food. When Joseph’s brothers, except the youngest, were sent by their father to buy food in Egypt they discovered Joseph their brother. Eventually the whole family moved there and started multiplying to the point of being a threat to the Egyptians and then they started being mistreated.
God used Moses and Aaron to free the Israelites from the Egyptians by taking them through the Red Sea on dry ground and when the Egyptians tried to follow they were swallowed up and drowned by the water. The Israelites ended up in the desert for forty years and their rebellion started almost immediately, to their shame, and continued until all the people 20 years old and older had died because of their sin. God had taken them out of the house of slavery (Egypt) just to be enslaved again by their rebelliousness and sin. God still wanting to show His mercy and grace did not destroy all of them and many went into the Promise Land.
God did so many amazing things and the Israelites continued in their sinful ways just taking advantage of God’s mercy and grace. Moses tells God’s people that after what God has done for you don’t forget it was He that did it. In Deuteronomy 8:11-14, “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Moses reminds God’s people about many more things, then he gives them a call to commitment in Deuteronomy 10:12-14, “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.”
I think the Lord expects this from all of us who are His people, for He has done great things for all of us. The Lord is just as committed to our well-being as He was to theirs. Think about how the Lord has treated you and then how you have treated Him. If you have been rebellious and downright sinful like the Israelites were so many times, I want you to know that God still loves you but He hates what you are doing, so repent and confess your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you. Then walk humbly before your God and try to always honor Him. Have a great day and may God bless you!!
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