F O O T H O L D
READING
57 THE DARKEST HOUR
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PRAY Give me your light
through the Scriptures today, heavenly Father.
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READ Exodus 5:11-6:1.
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THINK What insight does this
passage give about human behaviour?
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FOCUS People say that the
darkest hour comes just before the dawn.
God's people often find this
is true. When God begins to bless
us, things may at first seem
to grow worse, not better.
MOSES' AND AARON'S REQUEST (1-3).
It was such a reasonable one -
surely Pharaoh could hardly
refuse! All they asked for was
permission to make a
pilgrimage to the holy mountain (Sinai).
Foreign workers in Egypt
used to do this sort of thing.
PHARAOH'S REPLY (4-9). We
may wonder what would have happened if
Pharaoh had given permission.
But he didn't. Instead he added to
their work load, in an
attempt to break their spirits.
THE IMMEDIATE RUSH (10-21).
All the Hebrews suffered because of
Moses' action. The people (12,13)
had to work far harder finding
straw as well as making
bricks. The supervisors (14-21) were even
worse off; caught between
their own people and the demands of
Pharaoh. They were flogged
because brick production went down.
Yet there was nothing they
could do to make the slaves work
harder. How unjust!
MOSES AND AARON (20-23) ran
into trouble too. And they had made
things worse for the people.
We often have to face
disappointment after disappointment. We may
feel that our faith is being
pushed too far. But God knows our
problem just as he knew the
Israelites'. And he has his plans.
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PRAY Ask yourself: what is
my first reaction when things go wrong?
Pray for anyone you know who
is experiencing difficulties or
tough times just now.
