| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 9 secs | 0 Comments
Before the Lord gives Moses the ten commandments and the rest of the Law, He reminds Moses that “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…” Obedience comes out of gratitude because of what the Lord has done. God did not save […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 45 secs | 0 Comments
A good story for us has a beginning, middle and end. In Biblical times and especially oral cultures, stories are often structured differently to make them easy to remember. The use a chiasm – which is awkward to describe, but easier to picture… A B C B’ A’ A chiasm is like […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 40 secs | 0 Comments
Moses was finally in his sweet spot. He was confident in God and in his leadership of the people. He had stories to tell his father in law of what the Lord had done through him. But like all good leaders (and athletes!) he needed coaching to stay in the sweet spot of maximum effectiveness, […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 33 secs | 0 Comments
It is so easy to read the narrative of the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt and be judgemental about their lack of belief, isn’t it? They had seen miracle after miracle and yet here they are again, in a situation where they are calling into question God’s ability and willingness to look after them. They challenged […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 0 secs | 0 Comments
Every weekday around 6:30pm there is an unusual surge of customers at our local Asda. At that time a large rack of unsold bread is vastly reduced in price, often down to 10p a loaf. Most days the same people are there. The tall smiling man who looks like Professor Brian Cox, the sweet old […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 9 secs | 0 Comments
When I think of this story I often think of the lyrics of the song ‘No longer slaves,’ which say “You split the sea so I could walk right through it. My fears were drowned in perfect love. You rescued me so I can stand and sing, ‘I am a child of God’.” This is […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 5 secs | 0 Comments
In today’s reading we find ourselves with the Israelites between the passover escape and the crossing of the Red Sea toward God’s promised land. Moses declares God’s instructions for Israel and for the future generations to come, which centre around the remembrance of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. Two specific rituals are instructed: The Feast […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 56 secs | 0 Comments
Throughout the old covenant the ancient event of the Passover was remembered and celebrated as God’s salvation brought to believing Israel. Perhaps unsurprisingly the Passover feast became Israel’s most important festival. A clear marker of His grace, the Passover not only pointed back to God’s rescue feat but, in a somewhat concealed fashion, also pointed […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 45 secs | 0 Comments
Nine plagues there have been. Nine times God has very clearly shown Pharaoh that He is God. Nine times Pharaoh has had the chance to acknowledge that Yahweh is God and the Hebrews (Israel) are His people. Nine times the whole of Egypt has had to suffer the painful inconvenience caused by Pharaoh’s hardness of […]