Key events in today’s reading:

• Moses’ birth (Exodus 2:1-10)
• Moses and the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-22)
• The Ten Plagues (Exodus 7:14-11)
• Passover (Exodus 12-13:16)
• Crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 13:17-14:31)

Verse that stood out: When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am (Exodus 3:4).

Genesis ends in a bit of a cliffhanger. Joseph has died in Egypt along with his brothers, far away from the Promised Land. Exodus stretches out the tension by letting us know that a king who did not know about Joseph came to power and began oppressing the Israelite people. The promise God made Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob seems to be perilously close to not being kept.

Who will save the Hebrew children? Is it the baby set afloat in the Nile? The one who grew up in Pharaoh’s own home? He seems like a poor candidate for the job. One moment, he’s a hothead who can’t keep his cool, and in the next, he’s a coward hiding in the desert.

Rescue will need to come from somewhere else. Someone else. As is the case over and over in the Old Testament, that someone else turns out to be God. God takes the initiative by calling out to Moses from the burning bush. God helps Moses past his own insecurities. God equips Moses for the task at hand. God delivers his people as he promises.

Yes, Moses leads, but only because God did first. Again, the main mover in this story is not a person, but God.

Question for the day: How has God initiated a relationship with you? How have you responded to God’s invitation?

For tomorrow, September 4, 2021

Cover to Cover: Exodus 14:25-28:15

Key Passage: Exodus 20:1-21

Verse of the Day: Exodus 20:3