Matthew 13

Another lengthy chapter today, mostly filled with parables this time. Each of them is a way Jesus related a truth about His kingdom - which is spiritual, and not (yet at least) a physical empire on this earth. Some of the stories He explained in more detail to His disciples, but the meanings of most of them aren't too hard to decipher... though I suppose we an advantage in that area that those originally hearing Jesus preach did not, in the form of the written books of the Bible (especially the New Testament) which we can study.

Jesus' use of parables here fulfills a couple more prophecies about Him, from Isaiah 6:9-10 and Psalm 78:2. It is cool to see how aware of those scriptures the author, Matthew, was: even though he wasn't a priest or anything like that (he was, in fact, a tax collector - before Jesus called him as a disciple) he had read enough of the prophets to be able to cite Isaiah as well as others. I wonder if that came from his time studying under Jesus, or if he was already familiar with those prophecies beforehand.

Finally, the chapter ends with Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth. Because the people who lived there knew Him, though, they had trouble believing that this 'local boy' was truly able to speak with authority and knowledge. Their disbelief led to Jesus performing fewer miracles there than in other places he visited, which is a pity... and a good reminder that we should put out faith and trust in Him, even if things don't seem believable from a human standpoint.

Joshua 10

This chapter was a little on the lengthy side, but it covered a lot of history. Under Joshua's command, and with God fighting for them, the Israelites conquered city after city in the promised land. This process, and the destruction left behind, underscore how smart the Gibeonites were to ally themselves with Israel - no matter the cost.

The reading today also included one of the most unique miracles recorded in the Bible, or indeed anywhere. At Joshua's request, God kept the sun and moon in the sky to light a battlefield and allow the Israelites to thoroughly destroy their enemy. Knowing what we now do about astronomy, it would have actually been God keeping the earth from rotating on its axis (or at least substantially slowing it), and holding the moon temporarily in a geosynchronous orbit. Most impressive, but I'm sure not even the least of what the Lord of all Creation is capable of :)

Exodus 14

Today's chapter is one of the better-known stories of the Old Testament, and one of God's more dramatic miracles. I wonder if the loss of a whole army is covered anywhere in Egyptian history, and moreover I wonder if Pharaoh himself was drowned with his troops or if he had stayed on the far side of the sea and just ordered his men in.

I'm also curious how many troops Pharaoh brought. The Israelites got very squeamish when they saw the Egyptians following them, and yet we know there were 600,000 men in the Exodus. Assuming even just a third of those were able-bodied and ready to fight it is still a large host - and yet they nearly wanted to turn back and enter slavery again! It is amazing how little faith we humans have in God, even when He shows all manner of signs and miracles in our lives.

Exodus 7

Ah, today we start to see some real action in the struggle between Moses/Aaron and Pharaoh! How amazing must it have been to see a staff turned into a snake - and then to see it take on other snake/staffs and 'swallow them up'? Or how terrifying to see all the water in a river turned to blood? Such miracles are not seen anymore, though as we'll see in a couple of years their like and worse will happen again someday.

In spite of these things, Pharaoh's heart was hard against the request to let the Israelites go. We know from previous chapters that this was actually God's doing, so that He could demonstrate His power and sovereignty in freeing His people, but I wonder what the Egyptians thought of all of it? At what point did the average Egyptian wish that Pharaoh would just let them go - or in that day did the main populous even know of what was going on? Surely they all were affected by the changing of the river Nile into blood, but I wonder if they actually knew the whole story of how it happened and why.