Exodus Chapters 13-15

13:8/15 - This is communion! They are to take the unleavened bread for seven days to remember that the Lord brought the people out of slavery. We take the unleavened bread in remembrance of the fact that Jesus sacrificed himself to end our slavery. They sacrifice the firstborn of the animals to redeem (save) their firstborn sons. We drink the juice to remember that Jesus was the firstborn Son of God who gave himself as a sacrifice to redeem us! Beautiful imagery.

13:18 - God does not take the people directly into the promised land, because He knows they are not ready. He has big plans for them and He knows they will return to their old life out of fear if they are not ready...so Gd takes them into the wilderness. There are times when God allows all of us to enter into the wilderness, to shape us for His future plans in our lives. God's timing is perfect and He knows exactly who we need to be to coincide with His will.

14:4 - In one last stroke to follow up the destruction that the plagues wrought, God is going to utterly destroy the power of the Egyptians forever. Never again were they the world power they had been previously, because they stood against the one and only true God. God shows where true power resides as He destroys their military with water. Through salvation God offers us the same chance...a chance to be rid of our captors - sin and death. Through our trust in Jesus Christ the waters rush in (good baptism imagery) and destroy the power of our rebellious sinful human nature.

14:11 - Were they not watching during the whole plague thing! Seriously...they are whining again. Why are we all such whiny, forgetful ingrates when it comes to God? We've all seen Him move...we have seen miraculous change in our lives, but our minds always wander to doubt given the chance. It gets really frustrating being a screwed up human sometimes.

15:1 - Their first response to God's work in their lives is praise...that is a really good lesson to write on your heart.

15:2 - I don't know why I like this, but I do...the Lord is my strength and my song. Masculine and feminine...power and beauty...God has the strength to protect us and the ability to hold our attention. He is awesome!

15:8 - "Blast of your nostrils" - like a warhorse, God faces his enemies and is victorious. In the story of Lazarus in the NT, Jesus sees the people weeping for Lazarus and it says he was deeply moved. But when I looked up that passage in a commentary, the actual translation of "deeply moved" was "like the snort of a warhorse." Jesus sees his enemy death and reacts as a warrior facing his mortal enemy, much like God facing off with the Egyptians.