What Next?

    You have survived your nightmare.  You have had a moment to breath.  What happens next?  What is the next step?  How do you move forward?  It takes a moment to get your footing.  It can take even longer to be able to stop second guessing, remove the fear, or whatever else that could be holding you back.  We have to give it over to God to be able to really live.

    The Hebrews were finally able to worship God.  They consecrated all the firstborn: human and animal.  The first of everything has always been God's.  People just did not have His expectations in writing yet.  They were learning it all for the first time.  We have to have patience with ourselves and God to take the time to learn what He expects of us. He wants us to remember our experiences to keep us from sin that will separate us from Him.

    The commemoration was the preparation to leave the nation of Egypt, to leave their old lives behind forever.  It is important to recognize the change to let go of what needs to be left behind to be able to move forward in a healthy way.  This process took them seven days.  It was not like they were hiding.   The Egyptians knew where they were.  It is not like they could hide with 6,000 people all gathered together.

    When the ceremony was over, it was time to leave.  They headed to the read sea to go to the promise land.  They would repeat this ceremony when they arrived.  This journey should only take a couple of weeks tops even with the indirect route that they took.   They did not want to take the Philistine road to avoid problems.  They had had enough hardship.  Why invite more?  Moses carried Joseph's bones with him, so they would have their patriarch buried in the promised land with his fathers.  

    None of this seemed too bad.  It was doable.  Know who God is, obey Him, follow Him.  The instructions were simple enough.  As a nation they left Egypt with a clear plan.  God went ahead of them in a pillar of clouds.  His presence gave them refreshment in a literal sense.  He kept the beating hot sun off of them.  He knew how much they just needed rest.  At night he had fire in the clouds to help them see.  It was to help them feel more comfortable.  God is a present God.  We just have to be looking.

Exodus 13