Week 5: God's Outstretched Arm

This week's Bible reading plan is as follows:

• Sunday: Exodus 4:1-5:21, Matthew 18:1-20, Psalm 22:19-31, Proverbs 5:15-21
• Monday: Exodus 5:22-7:25, Matthew 18:21-19:12, Psalm 23:1-6, Proverbs 5:22-23
• Tuesday: Exodus 8:1-9:35, Matthew 19:13-30, Psalm 24:1-10, Proverbs 6:1-5
• Wednesday: Exodus 10:1-12:13, Matthew 20:1-28, Psalm 25:1-15, Proverbs 6:6-11
• Thursday: Exodus 12:14-13:16, Matthew 20:29-21:22, Psalm 25:16-22, Proverbs 6:12-15
• Friday: Exodus 13:17-15:18, Matthew 21:23-46, Psalm 26:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19
• Saturday: Exodus 15:19-17:7, Matthew 22:1-33, Psalm 27:1-6, Proverbs 6:20-26

Our S.O.A.P. this week is from the book of Exodus, Chapter 6:

Scripture: Exodus 6:6-7

6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Observation:
At the end of Exodus Chapter 5, Moses got rather desperate. He had finally mustered enough courage to meet with Pharaoh, but his first encounter with him was even worse than he anticipated: Pharaoh shouts at Moses & Aaron (5:4), dismisses the request to let the Israelite people go, dismisses God, and increases the workload for the Israelite slaves. Now Pharaoh is angry, the leaders of the Israelites and the foremen are angry (5:21), yet the LORD still wants Moses to go back to Pharaoh to tell him to let his people go. We read about Moses' desperation in Chapter 5 verse 22 & 23:

22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."

It is in this state of despair that God answers Moses in Chapter 6. He reassures Moses that the moment has now arrived that the LORD will show himself to Pharaoh. He will deliver his people and remember the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses will need to have faith now. I love verses 6 and 7, which is why I chose those as main verses for today's SOAP. God is a God who redeems. His outstretched arm enacts judgment on those who oppress his people, and brings deliverance to those who trust in Him.

Application:
These verses out of Exodus were written for God's people under the Old Covenant, but they apply to his people under the New Covenant as well. Slavery in Egypt can be seen as a picture of 'slavery to sin". If you replace 'the Egyptians' with 'sin', those verses in Exodus 6 read like this:

6 ... 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of sin. I will free you from being slaves to sin, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of sin.

See how these verses are relevant to us? God has redeemed us from the yoke of sin. We are his own people. We live in a time where these words have all come true. Read Jeremiah 31:33-34 for yourself, and see how these verses connect with these verses here in Exodus. God has given us a new heart, so that we can know him from the inside out. Jesus Christ has redeemed us from eternal death and has given us eternal life that we will spend with him and the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit. At times we may feel like Moses: desperate. It is at those times especially that God reminds us that we are his people, and that his outstretched arm is there to save us.

Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for redeeming us from slavery to sin. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have bought us with your own blood. We are no longer of our own, but we are your people. You have ransomed us, and we are yours. Help us to live our lives for you, that we may honor you in all we do. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Have a great week of reading through the scriptures.

In Christ,

Dick