Daily Lesson for Sunday 3rd of August 2025

On the night of Passover, divine judgment fell on those not covered by the blood (Exodus 12:1-12). No one escaped because of position, education, social status, or gender. Punishment struck all families, from Pharaoh to slaves, and even the firstborn of the animals. The pride of Egypt was in the dust.

How interesting that Pharaoh, in telling the Hebrews to go and worship, adds this request: “And bless me also.”

And bless me also?

Image © Educational Concepts Collection at Goodsalt.com

Why would he, the king of Egypt, a “god” on earth among his people, ask that? It sounds as if he’s finally catching on to the power of the Hebrew God and would like to benefit from it. However, how can God bless him while he is steeped in rebellion, stubbornness, sin, and pride? Sure, he finally gave his consent, but it wasn’t out of submission to the will of Yahweh. It was, instead, out of defeat. He wasn’t repentant—as his later actions will reveal. He simply wanted to stop the devastation that was destroying his kingdom.

Pharaoh was humiliated. And, given the tragic circumstances from the worst plague of all, he gives permission for Israel to leave Egypt. What he refused to grant all previous times, and no matter the suffering his actions brought upon his nation, he now permits.

And the Egyptian people, understandably, are eager for the Hebrews to go, as well. As they said, please leave, or else “we shall all be dead.”

God, meanwhile, made provision so that the Israelites did not leave Egypt empty-handed but with things they would need for what, in the end, would turn out to be a much longer sojourn than anticipated. The Egyptians gave the Jews these precious articles only to hurry the people out of the country, but the items were wages that were long denied the Israelites for centuries of slave labor. Surely for the Egyptians, the price of getting the Hebrews out of their land was cheap enough.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-06-go-and-worship-the-lord/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 2nd of August 2025

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Exodus 12:31-36, James 2:17-20, Exodus 13:1-22; Exodus 14:1-31, Hebrews 11:22, Exodus 15:1-21, Revelation 15:2-4.

Memory Text:

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will ac­complish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace’ ” (Exodus 14:13-14, NKJV).

The Exodus is the most dramatic and glorious experience of God’s people in the Old Testament. This event is the divine model of how God defeated the Hebrews’ enemies and brought the Israelites victoriously into the Promised Land. It’s also a symbol of salvation and redemption in Christ.

From a human standpoint, the children of Israel were in a desperate, even impossible, situation—one that they, in and of themselves, could not save themselves from. If they were to be delivered, it would have to be by a divine act. It’s the same with us and sin: in and of ourselves, we are in a hopeless situation. We need something even more dramatic than the Exodus. And we’ve got it: the cross of Christ and what Christ did there for us all.

The events of Israel’s departure from the land of Goshen, mentioned in Exodus 12:1-51—until the song of Moses, joyously sung in Exodus 15:1-27—are breathtaking and incredible. God’s signs, wonders, and miraculous redeeming works are at their peak.

But even these do not compare to what Christ did for us at the cross, of which the drama of the Exodus was a mere foreshadowing.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 9.

Sunday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-06-through-the-red-sea/