Take Ten In '10, Week 5 Reading Schedule

I have learned so much reading Matthew and Exodus. Even though they are familiar books there have been times where it felt like I was reading them for the first time. Much of it has been so fresh and new. Do you think perhaps the Holy Spirit is teaching me? What a wonderful God we serve and what a wonderful Book He has given us so that we can know him!

This week I was struck by how many times Matthew used the word "authority." Matthew's gospel presents Jesus as The King. And who has all authority if not The King? Not a king but The King! If you are reading through a red-letter edition of the New Testament you probably noticed how much of chapters 5, 6, and 7 are nothing but the words of The King.

Now revisit another king with me that we read about this week. In Exodus we find Pharoah, someone who just thought he was a god. The real King, the LORD God (the 1st person of the Triune Godhead) boldly asks him in Exodus 9:17, "As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?" He had just warned him in verse 14 ". . . there is none like me in all the earth."

But about the time that I began to shake my head because Pharoah didn't let the Children of Israel leave Egypt after about the sixth or seventh plague, the Lord convicted me of my own arrogancy. He told me to read a little bit closer and perhaps I'd see someone I recognized. So I did. . . and I did. I didn't like what I saw. I saw a person who wanted to bargain with God instead of altogether yielding to God's authority.

See if any of this sounds familiar:

• Moses tells Pharoah that all of the people and all of their flocks must leave Egypt to go to the wilderness in order to hold a feast to the LORD, the God of Israel, because God commanded them to do so. Pharoah retaliates by saying, "Who is this God? I don't know the LORD!" (5:1-2)
• After the 4th plague Pharoah is a bit worried but thinks he can bargain by allowing them the option of offering their sacrifices as long as they do so without leaving Egypt. In other words, he felt he was being magnanimous by giving them a holiday off of work to partake of a mere religious display. Everything would then resume an air of normality.
• Prior to the 7th plague is the warning from in chapter 9 mentioned above. Those who refused to listen lost livestock and workers in a terrible hailstorm that is the plague #7. Pharoah stubbornly refuses to yield.
• After the 8th plague, Pharoah's servants try to reason with him, fearing the total destruction of Egypt. They beg Pharoah to allow the Israelites to leave. Pharoah tries to broker another bargain. What if he allows only the men to leave but not the children? By holding the children as bargaining chips (hostages) he can guarantee that the adult workers will return.
• After the 9th plague Pharoah agrees that the children can go, too, but the Israelites must leave behind all of their livestock. In other words, the people can go through their superstitious religious rituals if they must but no way this God person should have any claim upon possessions!

Only after the most drastic means necessary does God get Pharoah's attention. God has the authority over everything including life itself. How silly we humans are to think we can hold anything back from him, and yet, in some way, I think I do so every day of my life. Has God ever commanded you to do something that you didn't want to do? Maybe we're a lot more like Pharoah than we want to believe. Next time you find yourself hearing God tell you to do something that you don't want to do pay attention to the ways you try to bargain with Him. See if you follow the steps of Pharoah:

1. Who are you, God? What right do you have to ask this of me?
2. How about I just attend Sunday church services even if I don't really put my heart into it? I'm pretty comfortable right where I am thankyouverymuch.
3. I know you're God and all, but really, shouldn't you just stay in the church where you belong? No need for you to concern yourself with the things I do on my own time.
4. Well, okay, I'll teach my children about you, Lord. After all, I want them to know enough about you to get a ticket to heaven, but I sure don't want them to be weird or something. What would the neighbors think?
5. You want my finances, too? Seriously, God. Don't you think you're going just a bit too far?

Who is the king of your life? Okay, I'm done preaching at us. Hope you have a wonderful week with the Lord and His word.

Schedule for February 1-7, 2010

Monday, February 1st

Exodus 16-18

Matthew 14

Tuesday, February 2nd

Exodus 19, 20

Matthew 15, 16

Wednesday, February 3rd

Exodus 21-23

Matthew 17

Thursday, February 4th

Exodus 24, 25

Matthew 18, 19

Friday, February 5th

Exodus 26-28

Matthew 20

Saturday, February 6th

Exodus 29, 30

Matthew 21

Sunday, February 7th

No reading. Use the day to finish any that were missed.