D
distracted
Guest
Monday (7-20)
Exodus 14;5-18:
When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them. They exclaimed, “What have we done! Why we have released Israel from our service!” So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers – six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all. So obstinate had the Lord made Pharaoh that he pursued the children of Israel even while they were marching away in triumph. The Egyptians, then, pursued them; Pharaoh’s whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-habiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them. In great fright they cried out to the Lord. And they complained to Moses, “Where there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this in Egypt when we said, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’? Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” But Moses answered the people, “Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today. These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. The Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. And you, ***lift up your staff ***and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land. But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them. Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.”
St Mt 12:38-42:
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sigh will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
*I have a hard time understanding this psg…
… does kinda seem like God was on some kind of … not so “nice” ego trip.
:coffeeread: But then, God is God and just because I (we) don’t understand doesn’t mean… we should become atheists 
or whatever… I suppose the fault is in the human who wrote down these words … (??)
I just don’t understand how God could take the credit for hardening Pharaoh… and then make Pharaoh pay for such a thing (although Pharaoh himself lived…),
but again, i believe that God never takes away our freedom to choose & so, Pharaoh could have chosen not to be so obstinate… God would have been thwarted…apparently, in this instance… but hey, God is continuously thwarted by us sinful humans anyway… isn’t He?*
Exodus 14;5-18:
When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them. They exclaimed, “What have we done! Why we have released Israel from our service!” So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers – six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all. So obstinate had the Lord made Pharaoh that he pursued the children of Israel even while they were marching away in triumph. The Egyptians, then, pursued them; Pharaoh’s whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-habiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Pharaoh was already near when the children of Israel looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them. In great fright they cried out to the Lord. And they complained to Moses, “Where there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this in Egypt when we said, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’? Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” But Moses answered the people, “Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today. These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. The Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. And you, ***lift up your staff ***and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the children of Israel may pass through it on dry land. But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them. Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers.”
St Mt 12:38-42:
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sigh will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
*I have a hard time understanding this psg…
… does kinda seem like God was on some kind of … not so “nice” ego trip.
:coffeeread: But then, God is God and just because I (we) don’t understand doesn’t mean… we should become atheists or whatever… I suppose the fault is in the human who wrote down these words … (??)I just don’t understand how God could take the credit for hardening Pharaoh… and then make Pharaoh pay for such a thing (although Pharaoh himself lived…),
but again, i believe that God never takes away our freedom to choose & so, Pharaoh could have chosen not to be so obstinate… God would have been thwarted…apparently, in this instance… but hey, God is continuously thwarted by us sinful humans anyway… isn’t He?*