Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Now we know why God met with Moses. But what did He reveal? Verse 12 tells us: He revealed His written word. The first thing God gave to this man who met with Him was His truth in written form.

Isn't it great that God gave His people written instructions to obey? This is the first time in all of history that God wrote down His Word. Until the time of Moses, the written Word of God did not exist. But now, here it was.

What a magnificent experience! If you live in an area shaken by earthquakes, you feel a little ripple now and then, get a funny feeling, and then life returns to normal.

So deep, so profound must be this respect for God's holy presence that no one was even to touch the mountain. The people were to wait upon God to speak to Moses and hear the Lord's words through the Lord's servant.

The Christian worker is a strange breed. He or she wants it to look as if the work is terribly hard. In fact, the more difficult and strained the look, the better. Christian workers are notorious for what I call the "tired blood" look.

Each of us has his or her own wilderness cycle. Some struggle with a quiver full of small children at home. Others have no children. Your test may not be related to the home at all; it may be connected to your employment.

Time has passed. If you read the previous passage in chapter 15 with a careful eye, you observe that it took them only three days to find the water they now enjoyed. But now it's been a month and a half—more than forty days!

As we consider Israel's first days in the wilderness, perhaps we should remind ourselves of where the Hebrew nation is in Exodus 15. They began their journey in the land of Goshen.

After God drowned Pharaoh's entire army in the sea, for the first time in history Israel found herself living in the Egyptian desert, out in the open, completely on her own. The Hebrews had begun their journey to the land of Canaan.

Had we been in charge of the Red Sea project, we would have handled it differently. Our group of engineers would have pushed back that water a week in advance. We would have installed great, massive fans to dry out the land.

Humanly speaking, predicaments are terrible experiences. If you stay in one long enough, you will begin to question the very roots of your faith. By and by you'll begin to look for someone to blame; usually it'll be somebody in leadership.

Isn't that great? Rather than sadness and fear, there was exhilaration that night. The sweet fragrance of freedom was in the wind. We love to sing the hymn, "O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise."

The instruction Moses gave was to be passed along from generation to generation. After he finished with these specific instructions, Scripture says, "And the people bowed low and worshiped."

The main point, the central ingredient of Exodus 11 and 12, is obedience. God spoke, some people heard and did what God said. As a result, God used them in His plan at that time in history.

I'm convinced this dreadful display of judgment in Egypt, this battle between a righteous, holy God and the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, has at least two major truths to teach us. First, when God judges, He does a thorough job of it.

Right after God told Moses what He would do, He said to him, "You must believe it. I command you to do this thing." "Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, . . ."

So many times you and I miss the opportunity to watch the Lord work in mighty and miraculous ways. Why? Because instead of "standing still" and watching Him pull off our deliverance, we seek out the carnal alternative.

Moses felt as low as a slug's belly. Way down there. He still hadn't rid himself of the idea that he was supposed to be the deliverer, and that he was somehow failing. How many times had God explained it to him?

A bad day just got worse! Moses couldn't believe it. Disappointment turned to disillusionment. Where had he gone wrong? He had taken God at His word, stood before Pharaoh, and repeated—almost word perfectly—what God had told him to say.

God knew Moses felt lonely in that moment. God knew His man needed some human companionship. Perhaps before Moses felt his first pang of loneliness, God was already moving to meet his need.