As the years went on...

Ok, so I've demonstrated that creating a new habit is much harder than they sound. It's been several days since I've posted on the exciting adventure of reading through the book that describes God's plan, his involvement, and his great love for all people. If you're not onboard yet, pick up reading either in Exodus, or start at the beginning and catch up (just 4 chapters a day) - that's not too hard is it? So far, for those keeping up, we've been introduced to Abraham, his son Isaac, his son Jacob (or Israel), and his 12 sons, of which Joseph is the hero at the end of Genesis. Now as we move into the book of Exodus, we see that there has been some time pass. Stephen said in Acts 7:6 that the Israelites were "enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years." If you do that math, Joseph was 110 when he died but he was around 33 years old when he brought his family from Canaan to Egypt to survive the famine. So he lived roughly 80 years after they got there. In Exodus 6:14-25 there's a brief family tree that confirms what Stephen said. Levi, one of Joseph's older brothers, lived to 137 years old. His son Kohath lived 133 years and he had a son named Amram. Amram lived 137 years and had a son named Aaron and Moses. So 80 + 133 + 137 + 80 (because Moses didn't do his thing til he was 80) that is 430 years. However, what I wanted to share was that once Moses began working for God, God reveals the itinerary for this trip. He says in Exodus 7:2-5, "Tell Aaron everything I say to you and have him announce it to Pharaoh. He will demand that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt. But I will cause Pharaoh to be stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will crush Egypt with a series of disasters, after which I will lead the forces of Israel out with great acts of judgment. When I show the Egyptians my power and force them to let the Israelites go, they will realize that I am the Lord." This may not be much, but it looks like how God and mankind's relationship would go from the time in Egypt to our eternal home in heaven. Moses would tell people about what they need to do, but the Pharaoh (people) would reject it, then they become so stubborn that problems would come for them (in the form of plagues). Finally, God will show people who He really is and what He's capable of, and those that belong to him will leave their world of slavery and be guided by God into the Promised Land. To me that's a pretty neat comparison to our own journey out of spiritual slavery. Praise God! Keep reading.