Post by Les on Mar 30, 2021 15:29:00 GMT -5
Got Your Nose By: Mike Wittmer
Click here for the audio message.
I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.
Exodus 12:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Exodus 12:12–19
“Why are the statues’ noses broken?” That’s the number one question visitors ask Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian art at the Brooklyn Museum.
Bleiberg can’t blame it on normal wear and tear; even two-dimensional painted figures are missing noses. He surmises that such destruction must have been intentional. Enemies meant to kill Egypt’s gods. It’s as if they were playing a game of “got your nose” with them. Invading armies broke off the noses of these idols so they couldn’t breathe.
Really? That’s all it took? With gods like these, Pharaoh should have known he was in trouble. Yes, he had an army and the allegiance of a whole nation. The Hebrews were weary slaves led by a timid fugitive named Moses. But Israel had the living God, and Pharaoh’s gods were pretenders. Ten plagues later, their imaginary lives were snuffed out.
Israel celebrated their victory with the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when they ate bread without yeast for a week (Exodus 12:17; 13:7–9). Yeast symbolizes sin, and God wanted His people to remember their rescued lives belong entirely to Him.
Our Father says to idols, “Got your nose,” and to His children, “Got your life.” Serve the God who gives you breath, and rest in His loving arms.
Reflect & Pray
What false god is suffocating your life? How might you show God you’re trusting only in Him?
Father of life, I give You my life. Help me recognize that any perceived “enemies” in my life are nothing compared to Your power.
Today's Bible Insight:
In preparation for the last plague on Egypt, God told His people to slaughter a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of their houses (Exodus 12:1–13). God’s angel of death would move across Egypt and take the lives of all firstborn sons but would pass over any household with the sprinkled blood. The lamb was then roasted and eaten along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The unleavened bread signified Israel’s haste to leave Egypt. When leaven was added to dough, it would take hours for the dough to rise before baking. The Israelites didn’t have time to wait for the dough to rise. The herbs symbolized the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
Exodus 12:12-19 King James Version (KJV)
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
Click here for the audio message.
I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.
Exodus 12:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Exodus 12:12–19
“Why are the statues’ noses broken?” That’s the number one question visitors ask Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian art at the Brooklyn Museum.
Bleiberg can’t blame it on normal wear and tear; even two-dimensional painted figures are missing noses. He surmises that such destruction must have been intentional. Enemies meant to kill Egypt’s gods. It’s as if they were playing a game of “got your nose” with them. Invading armies broke off the noses of these idols so they couldn’t breathe.
Really? That’s all it took? With gods like these, Pharaoh should have known he was in trouble. Yes, he had an army and the allegiance of a whole nation. The Hebrews were weary slaves led by a timid fugitive named Moses. But Israel had the living God, and Pharaoh’s gods were pretenders. Ten plagues later, their imaginary lives were snuffed out.
Israel celebrated their victory with the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when they ate bread without yeast for a week (Exodus 12:17; 13:7–9). Yeast symbolizes sin, and God wanted His people to remember their rescued lives belong entirely to Him.
Our Father says to idols, “Got your nose,” and to His children, “Got your life.” Serve the God who gives you breath, and rest in His loving arms.
Reflect & Pray
What false god is suffocating your life? How might you show God you’re trusting only in Him?
Father of life, I give You my life. Help me recognize that any perceived “enemies” in my life are nothing compared to Your power.
Today's Bible Insight:
In preparation for the last plague on Egypt, God told His people to slaughter a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of their houses (Exodus 12:1–13). God’s angel of death would move across Egypt and take the lives of all firstborn sons but would pass over any household with the sprinkled blood. The lamb was then roasted and eaten along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The unleavened bread signified Israel’s haste to leave Egypt. When leaven was added to dough, it would take hours for the dough to rise before baking. The Israelites didn’t have time to wait for the dough to rise. The herbs symbolized the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
Exodus 12:12-19 King James Version (KJV)
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.