Week 25: Day 3

Intro: Hello and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites - my name is Zachary Gain and I’ll be taking you through today’s passage. Each weekday we share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it, and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.

Bible: Today's reading comes from Exodus 10:3-5
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields.

Thoughts: Often in the story of Exodus we think of one main protagonist or if you watch Dreamworks' “Prince of Egypt” you see one character that is the focus of the story (aside from God that is). Yes, you guessed it, Moses! However as we see here above in verse 3 both Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh, but who actually speaks to Pharaoh? Both of them?

Perhaps.....although that would certainly be a little strange if it were both at once, maybe it was more conversational than direct and they all spoke together. We don’t know.

There are some hints that Moses himself had a speech impediment and that Aaron was able to speak on behalf of Moses as his mouthpiece. Another idea that could also coexist with this is that whilst Moses was jewish by blood he was actually raised in Pharaoh's temple and therefore could not fully relate to the struggle of the Israelites in slavery. Moses had not been a slave or experienced the same life as his people. Therefore Aaron was there to help Moses to truly advocate for the Israelites and relate to them.

One thing that is clear is that God intentionally paired Moses and Aaron together. He knew each of their strengths and their pitfalls, he knew what each other needed and how they could work together for his purposes. For Moses he may have struggled to communicate fully what God was asking him, he also might not have been able to really connect with the Israelites. For Aaron he did not have the relationship with Pharaoh or the no-how to enter the Pharaoh's court and demand for the freedom of his people. But together they were able to fight for the freedom of God’s people. The people of God working as one.

See, God invites us not only into relationship with him but also with our fellow christian brothers and sisters so that we can champion each other not just in our own faiths but in how we glorify God and share his heart with the world. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 it says “The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.” We are called to be in unity with each other.

Do not disqualify yourself because of your inadequacy but ask God, what is in your hand and how can you serve him and others today.

Prayer: Lord we thank you that we are not alone, that you are with us and near us and for us. Thank you that not only do you promise this but you also bring others around us so that as a community of believers we can glorify you. Show me my strengths and gifts so that I can use them to help others and lord also bring me humility in my character to see where I have weaknesses so that I can ask for help from others. Amen.

Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.

Challenge: Take a moment to think about any other Christians you know in your life, it might be a family member, a friend from church, from school, anywhere. How can you encourage them today in their walk of faith? Is it a simple message or phone call. Maybe you can commit to praying for that individual over a period of time, perhaps you could reach out to them and invite them to study the bible together. Whatever it is God intends for us to do this together in community and relationship.

Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.