Christ Church Daily Devotion Dec 6 2023

Moses returns to Egypt with his family and God's staff. He feels afraid and doubts himself, but God reassures him at each point of resistance. The staff symbolizes God's presence throughout the journey. This story is echoed in the journey of Joseph and Mary in the New Testament. In difficult times, we can trust that God is with us. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for December 6, 2023. Today we will be reading from Exodus chapter 4, verses 18 through 20. Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me return to my own people in Egypt, to see if any of them are still alive. Jethro said, Go, and I wish you well. Now the Lord had said to Moses and Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead. So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. Can you imagine all that was going on through Moses' mind on his journey back to Egypt? He was afraid, not only of what had happened there years before, but for the assignment he had now been given. In Moses' five points of resistance, Dr. Brevard S. Childs observes that each objection looks to a past reality, and each response of God moves Moses to a new future. Here are those five points. The first. Moses perceives himself to be a genuine nobody in his question of, Who am I? God's response is, I will be with you. Second. Moses wants to know the name of the one who is sending him on such a dangerous journey and mission. God's response is simple and powerful. I am who I am. Third. Moses fears rejection and disbelief by his own people. God's response is the action of turning Moses' shepherd's staff into a snake and back into a staff again. Fourth. Moses doubts that he cannot speak effectively. God's response is, as the message translates it, I'll be there, right there, with you to teach you what to say. And fifth. Moses is unpersuaded about his own speaking inadequacies. God responds by sending Moses' brother Aaron along with him, with God's presence being with them and teaching them step by step as to what to say. Here in verses 18 through 20, we read of Moses' decision to go and the staff of God goes with him. The staff of God will become a symbol of God's presence with him throughout the journey back to Egypt and throughout the journey to the promised land. I am who I am will be with Moses every step of the way. Today's personal worship option. This message is carried into Matthew's gospel. Joseph and Mary also faced a difficult journey, and an angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and said, Do not be afraid. His name will be Emmanuel, which means God is with us. In the difficult journeys of life, we can trust God is with us.