Tag: Egypt

What If God Sent a Pillar of Fire to Guide You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 1, 2022

For Forty Years the Israelites Had Two Signs from God to Guide Them

After spending four-hundred years in Egypt, the repressed children of God finally get a chance to leave. This comes under the leadership of Moses.

We know of Moses’s meetings with Pharaoh to negotiate the Israelites’ release, of ten plagues, and the people’s escape through the Dead Sea—as if walking on dry land. Their Egyptian captors, in hot pursuit, don’t fare so well.

Now God’s people are free!

What should they do? Where should they go? They know their destination resides in the Promised Land, the area Jacob left four centuries before when he sought food in Egypt.

But instead of heading there on their own, they seek God’s direction.

Pillar of Fire

God sends them a pillar of smoke to guide them by day and a pillar of fire to guide them by night. When the pillars move, the people follow. When the pillars stay put, so do they. They do this for forty years.

I must give them credit. They were content to follow God’s direction for four decades, when they could have reached their destination, the Promised Land, in less than a week.

For all the times his people messed up when they were in the desert, I admire them for being patient and willing to follow God’s leading, even though it didn’t make sense and was taking way too long.

Wouldn’t it be great if God showed us where to go today? If only he would give us a cloud to follow during the day and a fire to blaze our path at night. Then it would be easy to follow him, right?

Yet, God does lead us today. In the Bible he promises to give us his Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit fire (Luke 3:16 and Matthew 3:11). And when the Holy Spirit arrives, what is the visual sign? Fire. Yep, tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).

Yes, God still leads us today. He gives his Holy Spirit fire to blaze our path. All we need to do is listen—and obey.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Exodus 11-13, and today’s post is on Exodus 13:21-22.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags Egypt, Holy Spirit, Moses

Bible Insights

With God’s Help Joseph Can Interpret Dreams

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 25, 2022

God Reveals the Meaning of Dreams to Joseph

Joseph (son of Jacob, in the Old Testament) is in a world of hurt. His life has spiraled downward. The favorite son of his father, his jealous brothers stoop to selling him as a slave to some passing traders.

Joseph ends up in Egypt, a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the guard.

Despite his dire circumstances, Joseph works hard, and his master prospers because of Joseph’s diligence. Potiphar’s wife, however, has eyes for Joseph. She solicits him, but he rejects her overtures.

Embarrassed and angry, she one day pays him back for his integrity. He pulls away from her, again rejecting her advances. In doing so his cloak falls off as he runs to safety. She accuses him of attempted rape, and Joseph ends up in jail.

Again, Joseph makes the best of his situation in prison. Soon the warden puts him in charge of the other prisoners. Joseph succeeds in his assignment, even though he’s still a prisoner.

Joseph Can Interpret Dreams

One night two of Joseph’s fellow prisoners have dreams. Joseph interprets both dreams.

A few days later his explanations occur just as he predicted: one prisoner is executed, and the other is reinstated to his former position with the Pharaoh.

Though Joseph asked the released prisoner to lobby for his release, the man forgets. Joseph languishes in prison for two more years.

Pharaoh Has a Disturbing Dream

Then Pharaoh has a dream. A troubling one. A dream no one can interpret. Then the forgetful man remembers Joseph and recommends him to Pharaoh as someone who can explain the meaning of dreams.

When asked if he can interpret dreams, Joseph says that he can’t. However, he asserts that God will provide the dream’s meaning to him. This is a bold statement to make.

If Joseph doesn’t discern the meaning from God, Joseph’s situation could become even worse.

He risks facing summary execution for further upsetting the Pharaoh.

Yet not only does Joseph explained the meaning of the Pharaoh’s disturbing dream, Joseph also recommends what actions the Pharaoh can take. Pharaoh likes what he hears, releases Joseph from prison, and puts him in charge of everything.

Joseph goes from favorite son, to slave, to prisoner, to the second in command in Egypt. This all happens because he continues to trust God and put him first despite suffering as a slave and then languishing in prison for several years.

In the end God rescues Joseph, putting him in a place of authority to later save his entire family from poverty and starvation.

All this happens because Joseph can interpret dreams—through God’s revelation.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Genesis 39-41, and today’s post is on Genesis 41:14-16.]

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Tags Egypt, hear God, Joseph

Bible Insights

An Astounding Turnaround for Egypt

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 22, 2021

Isaiah’s Shocking Prophecies about the Nation of Egypt

Isaiah often mentions the nation of Egypt in his prophecies. Egypt appears in the book of Isaiah forty-three times. Many, but not all, of these mentions relate to judgment and punishment.

In a surprising passage, Isaiah looks forward to the day when Egypt will openly and intentionally embrace God as their Lord.

In the time between Isaiah’s prophecy and now, I’m not aware of this spiritual turnaround having happened. And it certainly isn’t the situation today. We’re still waiting for this prophecy’s fulfillment.

That means we anticipate a future time when Egypt will turn to God and fear him as their true Lord.

Looking forward, Isaiah sees this coming age when the people of Egypt will erect an altar to God in the heart of their country. In addition, they will place a monument honoring him on their border.

This will serve as a witness to all regarding the Lord Almighty. Egypt will pursue a state-sanctioned embrace of biblical God.

Also, they will worship God with sacrifices, grain offerings, and vows. And they won’t make their promises in haste. Rather, they’ll honor the pledges they make to the Lord God.

How Will This Come to Be?

Isaiah says that Egypt will face a time of oppression. They will call out to God for help. He will send them a savior, a defender, a rescuer.

Though this opposition could come from a foreign power, it could also come from above. Isaiah says that God will strike the Egyptians with the plague.

Remember, he did this before to get their attention. He sent them ten plagues of increasing severity so that Egypt would give God’s enslaved people their freedom. (Read about Moses and Egypt’s plagues in Exodus 6–12.)

In the future, God will send one more plague, which will hit Egypt hard. But then he will hear their pleas for help, respond to their agony, and heal them from their affliction. He will save them, defend them, and rescue them.

In this way, he will reveal himself to them. And they will accept him as their Lord.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Isaiah 18-20 and today’s post is on Isaiah 19:19.]

Read more about the book of Isaiah in For Unto Us: 40 Prophetic Insights About Jesus, Justice, and Gentiles from the Prophet Isaiah available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags Egypt, Isaiah, prophecy

Bible Insights

Moses Blames the People for His Mistake

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 14, 2019

Not Taking Responsibility for Our Actions Goes Way Back

We often shake our heads in dismay over people who refuse to admit when they have done something wrong. Instead they want to blame others. They refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes.

This is not a new development. Even Moses, who spoke to God face-to-face, had this problem.

Moses blames the people for what he did wrong.

Here’s his story.

Moses’s Failure

After Moses leads God’s people out of Egypt into the desert, they’re thirsty. They clamor for water. God tells Moses to go to a rock and speak to it. Then water will pour out of it for the people to drink.

Moses does go to the rock, and he does speak to it, but he also whacks it with his staff—something God didn’t tell him to do. God sees this as a lack of trust on Moses’s part.

Because of Moses’s failure to completely obey God, he won’t let Moses enter the promised land (Numbers 20:2-12).

This seems a bit harsh, but that’s what God determined.

Moses Blames the People

Fast forward about forty years. God’s people are ready to enter the land he promised to give them. Moses has them ready to take the territory. They’re poised to move forward, camping at its border.

Moses then recaps what’s happened over the past four decades. He reminds them about their journey and reiterates some of the laws God gave them.

Then he tells them he won’t be going with them. Instead Joshua will lead them. Joshua will realize what Moses had hoped for, what he worked hard to achieve for forty years.

Moses is bitter over this. But instead of admitting he disobeyed God, that he sinned, he shifts the blame. He blames the people for his failure. He says, “It’s because of you, that God is angry with me” (Deuteronomy 3:26).

Yup, that’s right. Moses blames the people for his mistake.

Blaming Others

Of course, playing the blame game didn’t start with Moses. It goes way back to the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve committed the first sin by disobeying God, their second sin was trying to shift blame.

Adam blamed Eve instead of admitting his own error, and Eve blamed the serpent instead of assuming responsibility for her role in committing the first sin.

Blaming other people for our actions is a moral shortcoming that is the result of sin. Failing to take responsibility for what we have done and pretend that someone else is at fault is another sin.

Repenting so that we may follow Jesus acknowledges our sin, our mistakes, our failures. To repent is to regret what we have done, to be sorry. But we can’t truly repent when we blame others for our mistakes.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 1-3, and today’s post is on Deuteronomy 3:26.]

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Tags Adam and Eve, blame, Egypt, Moses, sin

Bible Insights

What’s the Meaning of Manna?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 11, 2013
3 Comments on What’s the Meaning of Manna?

When the nation of Israel was in the desert between Egypt and the land God promised to give them, stuck in time-out, they needed something to eat.

God supernaturally provided a substance called manna. It sustained them for forty years while in the Sinai Peninsula.

Although the Bible describes manna, the explanation leaves me wanting. Apparently it was a nutritious foodstuff. It had multiple uses and physically nourished them, either in part or in whole, while living in the desert.

In a practical sense, God gave them manna to keep them alive. However, there’s more.

Moses writes that:

God humbled his people. Being hungry will do that. Consider the implications to fasting.
In their hunger, God provided for them.
The lesson in this was that “man does not live on bread alone.” Yeah, Moses said that. Does it sound familiar?
In addition to eating manna (bread) for physical sustenance, God wanted his people to also depend on him for their spiritual sustenance, living on his words—all of them.

Several centuries later, when Satan tempted Jesus to perform a miracle in order to feed himself, Jesus quoted Moses: “Man shall not live on bread alone.”

The implication is that even more important than eating food, is hearing God. Spiritual needs trump the physical.

But there’s more. Later, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, one phrase was “Give us today our daily bread.” This is a request to meet both our physical and our spiritual needs.

Manna is a means to live, both physically and spiritually; we need both every day.

[Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4, Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3]

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Tags daily bread, Egypt, manna, supernatural

Bible Insights

Let’s Go Back to Egypt

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 3, 2011

After spending 430 years in Egypt, the Israelites are finally free. They head out for the Promised Land and one of the first things they do is complain.

They beg to go back to Egypt.

Then they spend forty years in the desert. When they finally cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land, one of the first things they do is become discouraged and pine for the desert where no one was trying to attack them.

They want to go back.

It’s human nature to want to stick with what we know and remain firmly mired in the familiar. But that is not how we grow and not the way of progress.

God often asks us to do the uncomfortable, to take risks, and do what we would rather not do.

But it is when we leave behind what is known that real growth can occur; it is when we are outside our comfort zone, depending on God, that our relationship with him deepens.

Yes, we can remain in our own Egypt or own desert, but staying where we don’t belong is being stuck in something less than God’s best plan for us.

When God says to go, we need do it—and not think about going back.

[Numbers 14:3, Joshua 7:5, 7]

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Tags desert, Egypt, promised land

Bible Insights

They Went to Egypt for Food and Forgot to Return Home

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 1, 2011

In earlier posts, I noted that after the Israelites left Egypt, they spent 40 years in the desert before entering the land God promised for them. I also observed that Moses waited 40 years before leading them out of Egypt.

This makes for an unnecessary delay of 80 years.

However, why were they in Egypt in the first place?

God told Abram (later called Abraham) to “go to the land I will show you,” which he promised to give to Abram’s offspring. Abram went. His son Isaac and grandson Jacob were born there. Jacob had 12 sons.

Joseph, his favorite, ended up in Egypt in a position of power. When a severe famine hit the entire region, Joseph invited his whole family to Egypt, where he had stockpiled plenty of food.

The famine lasted seven years. After which you would think that Jacob’s family would go home. But instead, they stayed in Egypt for 430 years—which God likely did not intend—eventually becoming slaves and suffering greatly.

This all could have been avoided had Jacob remembered God’s promise to Abraham and returned to the place God intended them to be.

Instead, they spent 430 years as slaves in Egypt, when they could have been in the Promised Land the whole time.

[Genesis 12:1, 7, Joshua 24:4, Exodus 12:40]

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Tags desert, Egypt, promised land

Bible Insights

Forty Years—Times Two

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 27, 2011

The Israelites left Egypt for what should have been an eleven-day trek across the desert to the “promised land.” However, because of their disobedience, God gave them a 40-year timeout in the desert.

This, however, may not have been the first delay.

Prior to that, Moses sensed that his place was to rescue his people, but when initial opposition occurred to his leadership, he high-tailed it out of there, only to spend 40 years hiding in the desert.

Imagine that. Moses spent a total of 80 years of his life in the desert.

Now Moses’ initial 40-year desert retreat could have been a needed time of preparation, but I think not. God could have worked through him at any time—then or later. I think Moses shirked his initial call.

He needed 40 years of alone time, tending to his sheep, before he would be ready to hear God and obey.

So, had Moses not procrastinated for 40 years and had the people of Israel not been disobedient, earning another 40-year delay, they could have arrived in the land God promised them 80 years sooner.

[Numbers 14:33, Acts 7:30]

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Tags desert, disobedience, Egypt, Moses, promised land

Bible Insights

Bookends to the Desert Experience

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 25, 2011

After the Israelites left Egypt, God gave them a 40-year timeout in the desert. This was because of their lack of trust in his pledge to provide for them as they entered into the land he promised.

This meant that what should have been an eleven-day journey, ended up being a 40-year desert experience—which for most, literally lasted a lifetime.

While their desert sojourn was marked by complaining and disobedience, there were a couple of significant bookend events to their time of waiting.

First, they celebrated Passover for the first time just before they left Egypt to head to the desert. Then they celebrate it again, 40 years later after they leave the desert.

The first Passover was marked by God’s provision for them to leave Egypt, while the subsequent ones were intended as a reminder of the first.

Second, two miracles occurred, allowing them to enter and later leave the desert. After leaving Egypt, and being pursued by its army, God parted the sea so they could escape the attack and enter into the desert.

Forty years later, when it was time to leave the desert, God parted the Jordan River—at flood stage—allowing them to leave.

So their desert experience began with Passover and the parting of the sea; it ended with the parting of another body of water and another Passover celebration.

[Leviticus 23, Joshua 5:10, Exodus 14:21, Joshua 4:18]

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Tags desert, disobedience, Egypt, flood, miracle, Passover

Bible Insights

An Example of Obedience in the Life of Joseph

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 21, 2008

An Example of Obedience in the Life of Joseph

Four times, Joseph received instructions from God:

1. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to go ahead and marry Mary (Matthew 1:20).

2. Later, an angel spoke to Joseph in a dream, warning him of the threat on Jesus’ life and instructing him to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14).

3. A third time, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him it was safe to return from Egypt (Matthew 2:19-20).

4. Lastly, Joseph received additional instruction in a dream to go to Galilee and not Judea (Matthew 2:22).

Each of the times God spoke to Joseph, he obeyed without question or delay:

He married Mary, as instructed,
he got up and left for Egypt in the middle of the night,
he later returned to Israel, and
he settled in Galilee.

God can speak to us in various ways: by a dream, vision, or even angels, through the Bible or others, or the Holy Spirit.

However we may hear from God, there is but one acceptable response: to obey without question or delay, just as Joseph did.

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Tags angel, Egypt, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Joseph, Mary