Who's Gonna Clean This Up?!!?

Without a doubt, there are some pretty gross things written about within the pages of the Bible. And some of those get conveniently left out of the children's book versions of the stories.

For instance, you probably don't remember this particular detail in the story about Moses and the ten plagues of Egypt:

Exodus 8:12-14
After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.

Journal, March 25, 2002
Ooh...gross. The frogs didn't "go away;" they just died. So people had to clean them up  -  and their rotting made a Turrible Stench.

Truth is...There is no evidence that should lead us to believe we can escape consequences...even unpleasant ones.

God: "I've Got That Covered"

This was almost going to be titled "Yeah, But..." because that's basically what Moses keeps sputtering in Exodus 4 as he tries to convince Yahweh that he's not the guy that should be sent back to Egypt to free the enslaved Israelites.

And for every objection Moses comes up with, Yahweh has an answer.

vss 1-9
"They won't believe You sent me."
Do these miraculous signs.

vss 10-12
"I can't speak very well."
Who do you think created speech? I'll open your mouth and teach you what to say.

vss 13-17
"Send someone else."
Okay, I will. Take your brother Aaron with you!

Truth is...the reason I bring this up at all is so I can share with you a phrase from a footnote in the Amplified Bible, which the editors gleaned from John Henry Jowett's My Daily Meditation: "He who gives the command will also give the equipment."

One Way

Larry Norman has been credited (mostly, by himself) as the originator of the "One Way" symbol: pointing a single finger skyward as an indication of wanting Jesus to receive any and all honor and praise.

In the song "One Way", Norman uses the phrase to emphasize a truth spoken by Peter in Acts 4:12. "There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved."

And he does it while quoting/paraphrasing Robert Frost.

One way, one way to Heaven

Hold up high your hands

One way, free and forgiven

Children of the Lamb

Two roads diverged in the middle of my life

I heard a wise man say

And I took the one less traveled by

And that's made the difference, every night and every day

So I say one way, one way to Heaven

Hold your heads up high

Follow, free and forgiven

Children of the sky

Children of the sky, halelu

Children of the sky

©1973 Glenwood Music Corp. Strawbed Music

Truth is...It's not a popular thought, this idea of there being only one way to be saved. It's not popular...but it's biblical.

How Long Does It Take To Live A Life?

When you're reading the Bible, it seems like miracles and world-changing events were happening to Abraham and Moses and Jesus every day. What we sometimes forget is how much time elapsed between certain happenings.

Case in point...take a look at Exodus 2:9-11.

(9) Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, [FYI: The "her" here is Moses' mother.] “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. (10) When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” (11) One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

First of all, according to my journal entry of May 5, 2002, I had never realized before that Pharoah's daughter sent Moses away to be nursed. I always kind of thought that Moses' mother came into the palace to take care of Moses.

Secondly, look at how much time passes in these three verses:

vs 9  -  Moses is a 3-month-old baby.
vs 10  -  He's weaned, and in that culture, that means he's probably two or three years old.
vs 11  -  Because of what we can read elsewhere, we know that Moses is 40 years old.

Truth is...It takes so little time to tell a story. It takes so long to live through one.