Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. ~Exodus 7:16

“…so that they may worship me in the wilderness.” This is not the first time, and won’t be the last, where Moses and Aaron appeal to Pharaoh to let Israel go into the wilderness to worship the Lord (3:18; 5:1; 5:3; 8:1; 8:20, etc.)

It is good to be reminded that “the church is not a building” and that “God does not live in buildings made by human hands.” The corrective reminder that God and his work cannot be contained is instructive for us, but God also calls his people into particular places and actions where he promises to be present, perhaps in a special or singular way.

Psalm 122 is a beautiful reflection on the refuge that is “the house of the Lord,” and the New Testament is filled with promises that Christ will be present: where two or more are gathered, in the breaking of bread and drinking of the cup, in the poor among us, among the “little ones,” among others.

Perhaps the Spirit is calling you to enter into one of these spaces with greater intentionality:

Are you feeling called to spend more time in intentional fellowship with the church, perhaps in a home group? To receive communion with a greater sense of wonder? To acknowledge that time spent with the poor, hungry, and outcast is time spent with the risen Lord?

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. ~Exodus 7:14-15

From the beginning of the Exodus story, it’s been clear that Moses alone does not have the power to soften Pharaoh’s mind and heart. There have been moments where Moses has been accused of turning Pharaoh more aggressively against Israel (Exodus 5:21), but persuading Pharaoh to let Israel go does not seem to be in the cards for Moses.

Yet despite our inability to get through to people, we know that God can radically transform the human heart. And we have seen that Pharaoh’s is a particularly hard heart.

But Moses isn’t called to soften Pharaoh’s heart. Moses is called to obey. In this moment, obedience looks like showing up to a particular place (the bank of the Nile), taking up a particular posture (confront Pharaoh), and bringing with him his staff (which the Lord had previously turned into a snake).

Moses alone cannot soften Pharaoh’s heart, but he can show up and obey. Moses alone cannot perform miracles with his staff, but he can come prepared and obey.

• Are you attempting to control anyone, and need to let go?
• Where do you need to show up prepared to obey today?
• What resources do you need to be prepared today?

In the last set of devotions we talked about the term “Hebrews”, or “God of the Hebrews”. First mentioned in Genesis 14, and then again in Exodus 2. One of the descriptions of this word is “one who crosses over”- or went from place to place, and alien, or traveler. We are learning on Sunday mornings the great lengths that God went to in order to allow His people to be travelers, to leave Egypt. In calling Himself “God of the Hebrews”, He is calling them to worship Him alone.

This week we are going to look at some passages that ask us the question of who it is that we are serving? Who are we worshipping- God or ourselves? We’ve also been learning about “practices” or ways that we can position ourselves before God in order to worship.

Pray through this following prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart ways in which you have placed yourself above Him:

Oh God my Father, I sit quietly before you this morning and ask your Holy Spirit to reveal my heart and myself to me.

In what ways do I worship myself before I worship You?

I’m pausing to listen for your voice….

In the ways that I spend my time, how do I worship myself before I worship You?

I’m pausing to listen for your voice…

How do the ways that I spend my money reflect worshipping myself before worshipping You?

I’m pausing to listen for your voice…

How does my entertainment or social media involvement reflect a worshipping of myself before You?

I’m pausing to listen for your voice…

Father, make me a worshipper of You alone.

Spend some time just relaxing with the Lord. We’ve looked at a lot of our own brokenness this week. That can be painful and downright hard.

Sit and listen to the Father speak His love, His acceptance, and His compassion over you.

Hello, I’m Laura Polhemus, and I live out in Nappanee with my husband, Adam, and a mixture of 3 teenage girls, 2 dogs, and a grumpy turtle. I teach sign language interpreting students at Bethel University. I’ve been attending Riverside since October of 2019, and enjoy the tight relationships I’ve formed with many other believers there.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:27-31. This passage describes how God can use actions, things, or people we view as insignificant or unworthy to bring about his plans. We are part of that plan, so the things we seem to accomplish point back to him instead of to our own glory. God can even use something we see as negative, such as Pharoah hardening his heart against God’s people and plan, to accomplish his will.

Even knowing God has so much knowledge and power, we often try to manipulate and control our lives so that our will is accomplished. We act out of fear of what he might do that we don’t want instead of continuing to follow his commands and accepting that he knows what should happen.

• What is something that brings you fear for your future?
• How do you act out of trust or mistrust of God regarding that fear?
• Have you hardened your heart towards a plan God may have for your life? What would it look like to soften up and let him lead you in faith?

Pause to bring your fears to God in prayer, and think if there is someone you can go to for counsel and prayer. Keith, Andrew, or any of the leaders of the church would be willing to meet with you.

Hi, my name is Shelley Walatka and I am a member of the Marquette Park Home Group. I have been at Riverside more years than I can count. I spend my time keeping Keith in line :), chasing after five teenagers, and enjoy reading, walking, creating, and eating delicious food.

Today I want you to look at Exodus 7:7

It is amazing how quick we are to judge someone by their age. ‘Too young’ and you just don’t know enough; ‘too old’ and you are not current with the times. I am so thankful that this is not how God looks at us. Whether we are just beginning to speak or we are days away from seeing Jesus face to face, we can be used to help bring God’s kingdom here on earth.

In 2002, I went into labor almost three months early with our twins. As I laid in the hospital bed while doctors and nurses rushed around to try and stop labor, we prayed many prayers. Out in the waiting room, friends gathered to pray over our sweet boys. As they went around the circle, prayer after prayer was whispered, asking God to let them live when they were delivered. As they went around the circle, they got to a little four-year-old girl named Samantha. Samantha prayed “Dear God, please don’t let the babies come today”. Everyone smirked a little, knowing that labor does not stop. But lo and behold, Tommy and Hunter did not show up till 8 days later.

I often think of little Samantha’s prayer, the prayer of a naive young child, who thought to pray what no one else dared to ask. And God listened.

The world may want to look at how smooth your skin is, or encourage you to hide your gray hairs, or even smirk at you because you are young and naive. But thank goodness we have a God who looks at the heart and calls ALL of us into a relationship with him.

Regardless of age, we are all called to Matthew 28:18-20. Take time to read this familiar passage with new eyes and remember what Jesus has called all of us to; to share HIS Gospel with all the world.

• What does it look like in your stage of life to follow God?
• Where might you need to challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone?
• Look around-where is there someone in a different stage of life than you that you could learn from or encourage?

Hey, this is Anton. I went from Ukraine to Israel to the US–the latter initially just for study, but then I became Christian, married Isabelle and followed her to Riverside just about a year ago. I did a PhD in English literature, but I’m looking for work elsewhere, and everything is a little up in the air.

Today we are looking at the very concise Exodus 7:6 verse: “Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.” Seems very mundane and uneventful: when God goes so far as to explicitly tell us what to do–with the added bonus of forecasting how events will play out in response–there’s nothing but go ahead and do as we are told.

Now, take a few minutes to consult James 2:19-25, and soak in the unease. Those who don’t do as commanded are likened to demons shuddering under God’s impending judgement, and the standard of obeying is set at Abraham’s ever-so-problematic assent to sacrifice his only son? I myself have for sure all too often acted against God’s commands, even if most of them weren’t issued in direct personal communication. The passage hardly seems to present the compassionate, forgiving God that we know.

Unexpectedly, it is in likening myself to Rahab the prostitute that I find a way out of this conundrum. In the book of Joshua, Rahab protects the Israelite spies from her fellow Canaanites, citing Jehovah’s power (and thus implicitly her belief in God) as the reason for her action. A member of a sinful nation, reduced by ruthless circumstance to a life of sin, is in fact set next to Abraham in James (incidentally, she also appears in the list of Jesus’ ancestors at the beginning of Matthew, again alongside Abraham, David, and other illustrious figures).

God is truly eager to forgive sinners–but He calls us to repent and walk in His ways. He does not demand a life of perfection, but we must make an honest effort to do good, and there is real merit in doing a righteous deed even in the midst of a painfully imperfect life set in our broken world. If it is a prostitute’s example that serves to remind us of this, let us count this as a call to humility and compassion.