“Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.’” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.” But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!” Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!” That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.” So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.’” So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw.” And the supervisors of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before?” Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! You are unjust to your own people.” He said, “You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.” The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks.” As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them. They said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.” Exodus 5:1-23

{“I heard about a horrible river dragon that lurked in the waters under the old London Bridge and destroyed passing boats, eating the crews and passengers. Finally, a group of brave knights lured it up onto the banks and, with great loss of life, managed to slay the horrible beast. While After the conquest, Sir Newt suggested that they grind up the foul beast and use it for food in the local orphanage to cut down on the wasteful cost of gruel. Thus Dickens’s opening line…”It was the beast of Thames, it was the wurst of Thames.” A German farmer with relatives in the US sent them a package consisting of some pork sausages made from his old pig. When they complained that the package had not yet arrived, he wrote: “Cheer up. The wurst is yet to come.”} (Patricia Wooten)

For the Israelites in Egypt, it was the worst of times. They had grown in enormous quantities since the days of Jacob and Joseph, and they were now enslaved by the Pharaoh and his people. The Lord had forgotten about them for approximately 500 years, and now the Lord was about to make things right. But for a time, the people would have to endure even more difficulties. Why does it seem that when we are experiencing difficulties, more difficulties seem to pile on? I know this is not often the case, but just because we may have one problem does not mean a second or third may be just on the horizon. They say deaths come in threes, and sometimes difficulties come in threes as well. It is the way of chance and randomness. But our faith is not left to chance and randomness. We may feel as if the Lord has forgotten us, but in fact the Lord is continually fighting battles for us – the first battle being the battle against sin, death and the devil. That battle rages on day after day. And it is for just this reason that Jesus was sent to die once and for all times for the sins of all people. Death was defeated on the cross, as well as evil and sin. But the battle rages on, because the earth and this existence is the playground of the devil. In 2018, just like Moses, let us turn to G-d for direction, in the best of times and in the worst of times.

Pastor Dave

Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king (Solomon) and stood before him. The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.” 1 Kings 3:16-28

{“There is the story of a group of chess enthusiasts, good friends all, who had a long day of chess matches. Late in the evening these friends went to the lobby of the large hotel where the matches were held, to talk a bit and rest. While their chat began quietly it gathered steam and got quite animated. They were telling each other of their successes of the day. One said he had won so many matches, another told of how he had beaten better players than himself. After a while of this, the hotel manager came over and summarily threw them all out, saying, “I can’t abide chess nuts boasting in an open foyer”.} (John Baker)

To learn to play chess at a highly skilled level, you must learn patience and have the ability to think a few moves ahead of your opponent. One of the weaknesses of many players is their impulsiveness to attack when they think their opponent has made a mistake. This often leads to rash, inopportune or just plain bad moves.

Solomon had asked for wisdom when the Lord offered him anything he might want. His wisdom served him well throughout his reign as king, as the above story suggests. We could only hope to be blessed with a small amount of such wisdom – especially when it comes to navigating another new year. This year, just like every new year, presents itself to us as a blank canvas. The picture of our growth in faith and wisdom in faith is yet to be painted. We should pray for guidance and wisdom as we embark on 2018. One more piece of advice that comes from Solomon’s wisdom comes from the book of Proverbs:

“Look to the ant…;consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest. How long will you lie there…? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.” Proverbs 6:6-11

Let us look to 2018 as opportunity, and not in fear or regret.

Pastor Dave