Sunday, Ordinary 21/Proper 16-- Aug 24
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Meditation
Sunday, Ordinary 21, Proper 16 continued the story of the Children of Israel. The new Pharaoh didn’t know Joseph and became intimidated by the growing population of the Hebrews. Consequently, he made them work hard and they became, in essence, slaves of the Egyptians. He believed it would deter them, but it only made them stronger and more self-disciplined.
The fear of the power and strength of the Israelites increased so much that they decided they must curtail them by killing the sons of the Hebrew women. Two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, refused to follow the command, using the excuse for their ‘disobedience’ that the Hebrew women gave birth before they arrived to help. A woman of the house of Levi devised a way to preserve her son by hiding him in a basket that floated among the bulrushes on the river. The big sister, Miriam, was assigned to watch the basket and when the Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the baby, Miriam’s quick thinking suggested “a Hebrew woman could be found to be a nanny for the baby.”
The princess agreed and named the baby, Moses, since he was pulled out of the water. Miriam ran to get Jochebed and Moses’ mother raised him until he was old enough to go to live in Pharaoh’s palace as the son of the princess.
God took a terrible situation that was deteriorating with time and used the wisdom of a mother, Jochebed, willing to sacrifice her own joy for the love of her son, the love of a princess for a beautiful baby and the quick thinking sister, Miriam, willing to risk her own life to protect her brother to set in motion the life story of one of the greatest figures of all time.
The New Testament lesson in Romans 12 called for believers to live their lives as a living sacrifice—much like the women in the story of Moses, the mother, the sister and the two nurses—who risked all to be obedient to God.
Why did their sacrifices work? Because, as Romans 12 said, when you live your life in obedience to God, spiritual gifts were bestowed as were needed depending on the faith of the individual. To some, the gift of preaching/prophecy; others, teaching, serving, giving, administration, mercy, and encouragement. The emphasis was that the gift was needful for the community not for personal use and using the gift was a service to God. One gift was not ‘better’ than the other gifts. So the man serving coffee to worshippers after service was equally as important as the minister preaching her sermon. One could not be self-aggrandizing about the gift, because it was just that—a gift from God. People didn’t earn it any more than people earn the color of their eyes or freckles on their skin. God gave the gifts to be used to further the work of God.
Jochebed, Miriam, Shiphrah and Puah were women of faith and God gifted them with wisdom and cleverness to preserve the life of Moses, who changed the lives of the Children of Israel.
Jochebed’s work was giving birth and raising a child. Miriam was being a look-out, Shiphrah and Puah risked everything to disobey a terrible law. If any one of them had not done their part, the consequences would have been vastly different. Miriam was as important as Jochebed, Shiphrah and Puah, despite the fact that she was a child herself. God can call anyone and equip anyone, women and men, young or old, people of various colors and cultures to affect the course of history.
We should never discount anyone’s value to the work of God. To do so would be to discount God’s ability to work in someone’s life and that discredits God and denies the omnipotent power of God.
Instead, we can be encouragers and the faithful, willing to sacrifice our own lives to further the work of God so that God will receive the glory due the Creator of the Universe.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 21, Proper 16
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus 1:8—2:10;Psalm 124;Romans 12:1-8;Matthew 16:13-20&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Sunday, Ordinary 21, Proper 16
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 1:8-2:10
King James Version (KJV)
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
2 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we give you thanks and praise for all you do in our lives that we might be used of you in a mighty way to further the spread of the good news. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Sunday, Ordinary 21, Proper 16 provided us with example upon example of the goodness of God at work in the lives of people throughout history. The spiritual gifts of God were showered upon the faithful of the church so that the church could grow. The evidence of God working through several key women in history changed the course of history for the Children of Israel—Jochebed, Shiphrah, Puah, Miriam and the princess of Egypt—were all used of God to raise the child, Moses, to become one of the greatest figures in history.
We may not even know the work of some child or elder, whose work in a quiet way might effectively change history.
The giving of resources and gifts belongs to God alone. The responsibility of the faithful is to be obedient and open to God’s leading.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Sunday, Ordinary 21, Proper 16 continued the story of the Children of Israel. The new Pharaoh didn’t know Joseph and became intimidated by the growing population of the Hebrews. Consequently, he made them work hard and they became, in essence, slaves of the Egyptians. He believed it would deter them, but it only made them stronger and more self-disciplined.
The fear of the power and strength of the Israelites increased so much that they decided they must curtail them by killing the sons of the Hebrew women. Two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, refused to follow the command, using the excuse for their ‘disobedience’ that the Hebrew women gave birth before they arrived to help. A woman of the house of Levi devised a way to preserve her son by hiding him in a basket that floated among the bulrushes on the river. The big sister, Miriam, was assigned to watch the basket and when the Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the baby, Miriam’s quick thinking suggested “a Hebrew woman could be found to be a nanny for the baby.”
The princess agreed and named the baby, Moses, since he was pulled out of the water. Miriam ran to get Jochebed and Moses’ mother raised him until he was old enough to go to live in Pharaoh’s palace as the son of the princess.
God took a terrible situation that was deteriorating with time and used the wisdom of a mother, Jochebed, willing to sacrifice her own joy for the love of her son, the love of a princess for a beautiful baby and the quick thinking sister, Miriam, willing to risk her own life to protect her brother to set in motion the life story of one of the greatest figures of all time.
The New Testament lesson in Romans 12 called for believers to live their lives as a living sacrifice—much like the women in the story of Moses, the mother, the sister and the two nurses—who risked all to be obedient to God.
Why did their sacrifices work? Because, as Romans 12 said, when you live your life in obedience to God, spiritual gifts were bestowed as were needed depending on the faith of the individual. To some, the gift of preaching/prophecy; others, teaching, serving, giving, administration, mercy, and encouragement. The emphasis was that the gift was needful for the community not for personal use and using the gift was a service to God. One gift was not ‘better’ than the other gifts. So the man serving coffee to worshippers after service was equally as important as the minister preaching her sermon. One could not be self-aggrandizing about the gift, because it was just that—a gift from God. People didn’t earn it any more than people earn the color of their eyes or freckles on their skin. God gave the gifts to be used to further the work of God.
Jochebed, Miriam, Shiphrah and Puah were women of faith and God gifted them with wisdom and cleverness to preserve the life of Moses, who changed the lives of the Children of Israel.
Jochebed’s work was giving birth and raising a child. Miriam was being a look-out, Shiphrah and Puah risked everything to disobey a terrible law. If any one of them had not done their part, the consequences would have been vastly different. Miriam was as important as Jochebed, Shiphrah and Puah, despite the fact that she was a child herself. God can call anyone and equip anyone, women and men, young or old, people of various colors and cultures to affect the course of history.
We should never discount anyone’s value to the work of God. To do so would be to discount God’s ability to work in someone’s life and that discredits God and denies the omnipotent power of God.
Instead, we can be encouragers and the faithful, willing to sacrifice our own lives to further the work of God so that God will receive the glory due the Creator of the Universe.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 21, Proper 16
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus 1:8—2:10;Psalm 124;Romans 12:1-8;Matthew 16:13-20&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Sunday, Ordinary 21, Proper 16
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 1:8-2:10
King James Version (KJV)
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
2 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we give you thanks and praise for all you do in our lives that we might be used of you in a mighty way to further the spread of the good news. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Sunday, Ordinary 21, Proper 16 provided us with example upon example of the goodness of God at work in the lives of people throughout history. The spiritual gifts of God were showered upon the faithful of the church so that the church could grow. The evidence of God working through several key women in history changed the course of history for the Children of Israel—Jochebed, Shiphrah, Puah, Miriam and the princess of Egypt—were all used of God to raise the child, Moses, to become one of the greatest figures in history.
We may not even know the work of some child or elder, whose work in a quiet way might effectively change history.
The giving of resources and gifts belongs to God alone. The responsibility of the faithful is to be obedient and open to God’s leading.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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