Power Struggle

Genesis 13-16                   Psalm 114           Acts 5-6

Genesis 13 through 16 is the story of Moses leading the people out of slavery in Egypt. The story begins with the Lord telling Moses that two things should be done as a remembrance of the power of God in bringing them out of Egypt. They are told to set apart the first male born person and animal as dedicated to the Lord and they are to us the Passover ritual to remind them that each step in getting the people of Israel out was because of the action of the Lord. This included the destroying of every first-born male of every home that was not marked as set apart as the people of God.

When you read this slowly you see the Lord putting the people of Israel to the test and preparing them for the difficulty of life ahead. Each step of the way when they are faced with adversity they complain and look back saying how they were better off where they had been. Even though the Lord continues to meet each of their needs, in His own way, the refuse to look forward to what the future will be when they get to the land the Lord has promised them.

While they celebrate each thing that God does for them, they quickly appear to forget that they have done nothing to get them where they are and complain that Moses, Aaron and God have brought them to a terrible place. Their complaints are heard, Moses get angry, Aaron speaks to them and God once again meets their need. It is a patter that feel like it never ends to me.

Psalm 114 is simply a reminder that the power of the Lord was shown in bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt and worthy of praise.

In Acts 5 and 6 we once again see that when we try and deceive others our sin is really against God. God allows us to control what has been placed in our control and what we do with it shows are faith in God. The story of Ananias and Sapphira is not about them not giving all of what they had to God but the attempt to deceive what they were giving.

Declaring the Word of the Lord brings change in people that not everyone will like. Especially those who feel their power and wealth is threatened. The apostles proclaim the story of Jesus, anger those in power, are threatened, punished while still being protected by God and refuse to stop spreading the truth even though it cost them greatly. When they point out the truth of the Word of God it often cut people to the quick and the reaction is anger and the desire to hurt them.

In Acts 6 we are reminded that all conflict doesn’t come from outside the faith but from within when the need are perceived as not being met on an equal basis. The apostle’s response was to ask the church to consider the priority of spreading the Word and serving the people. They were challenged to put up leaders from among themselves to meet the physical needs of the people so they could continue to work to meet the spiritual needs of them. The response is there are those that step up, take responsibility and allow the apostles to be more effective in spreading the Word and providing spiritual leadership.

Once again we see the jealousy of those in power and the lengths they will go to so that they can destroy those that threaten their way of life. The stir up the people and use deception to destroy the work of another.