Weekly Scripture Reading: Exodus 14-27

We left off last week with Moses and the Children of Israel making it out of Egypt. This week we read of the Red Sea crossing and covered most of the encounter Moses had with God at Mount Sinai.

One of my favorite verses in this weeks reading was in Exodus 14.

Exodus 14:13-14 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Moses said this as a response to the people accusing him of leading them into the wilderness to die at the hand of the Egyptians. The Israelites were terrified that they would die, and Moses's response is probably the opposite of what they wanted to hear.

'Stand still, the LORD will fight for you.'

However, God's word proved true and just a few verses later the nation of Israel is worshiping God and praising His glorious salvation saying...

Exodus 15:1 “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!

This is a pattern that we will continue to see throughout this story. The people complain, God intervenes and the people worship Him. It is easy to read the account and think "Man, these Israelites, when will they EVER GET IT?!?!?!" But if we pause for a moment and think of our own circumstances, how often are we just like the Israelites?

We don't trust God to preserve us.

We don't trust God to fight for us.

We don't stand still.

I think it is so beautiful that the week of Thanksgiving is the week we read about the children of Israel constantly complaining.

Complaining is the opposite of Thankfulness.

So as we enter this week of thanksgiving and we are reminded of how prone we are to complain, let us also remember the exhortation given by Paul in the New Testament book of Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The ESV translation would say, "in all circumstances give thanks". We are to give thanks all the time for all things! As we hear this story of the Israelites complaining, let us be reminded that we don't have to live there. We can live peaceful, joyful lives by giving thanks, even when we don't understand, even when we don't feel grateful, even when we want to complain. Remember, the LORD is saying:

"Stand still, I will fight for you."

I hope you enjoy hearing the Word read this week, and have a very joyful Thanksgiving.

Author: Abigail Escobedo