Month: August 2025

Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of Egyptians and lead then out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with mik and honey-the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jeusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached Me , and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. No go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead My people our of Egypt.”

But Moses protested to God, “”Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?

God answered, “I will be with you. An this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask, ‘What is His name?’Then what shall I tell them?”

God replied to Moses, ” I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, ” Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors-the God of Abraham. the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob- has sent me to you. This is My eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.” (vv. 7-15, NLT)

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of the Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness, and cam to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. Moses said to himself, “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”

When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to Moses from the middle of the bush, “Moses!, Moses!”

“Do not come any closer,”the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. (vv. 1-6, NLT)

When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat besides a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came as usual to draw water and fill the water trough for their father’s flocks. But some other shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses jumped and rescued the girls from the shepherds. Then he drew water for their flocks.

When the girls returned to Reul, their father asked, Why are you back so soon today?”

“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

“Where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave him there? Invite him to come eat with us.”

Moses accepted the invitation, and he settled there with them. In time, Ruel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife. Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under the burden of their slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. he looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act. (vv. 15b-25, NLT)

Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he aw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. “Why are you beating up on your friend?” Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

The man replied, “Who appointed you king an judge? Are you going to kill me like that Egyptian yesterday?”

Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.: And sure enough, Pharaoh heard about what had happened , and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses flet from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. (vv. 11-15a, NLT)

About this time, a man and a woman from the tribe of Levi got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She say that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed with with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid among the reeds along the Nile River. The baby’s sister stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.

Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the river bank. When the princes saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. When the princess oened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.

Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.

“Yes, do!” the princes replied.” So the girl went and called the baby’s mother.

“Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him.

Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”(vv. 1-10, NLT)

Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiprah and Puah. “When you people help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”

But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.

So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?”

“The Hebrew women wer not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are. more vigorous and have their babies quickly so we cannot get there in time.”

So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” (vv. 15-22, NLT)

Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people,”Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t and war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. They will escape from the country.”

So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Ramses as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. So the Egyptians worked the people without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to make their mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in their demands. (vv. 8-14, NLT)

So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110. He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son, Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of the children of Manasseh’s son, Makir, whom he claimed as his own.

“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help and lead you our of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the and He solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Issac, and to Jacob.”

Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear by an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you. So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. (vv. 22-26, NLT)

After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.

So they sent a message to Joseph:”Before your father died, he instructed us to say to you: “Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you-for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. Then his brothers cam and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.

But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You tended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them. (vv. 14-21, NLT)