Psalms 91 ~ dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will saya to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refugeb—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

If you are going to start talking about the Exodus, if you are thinking of the Holiness of God surrounding the Children of Israel, we probably have to start at Abraham. Abraham believed God had the ability to give Abraham blessings and strength. The sons, grandsons and descendants of Abraham believed they had the ability to pass on blessings.

God speaks for God.

Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Now was Abraham to dwell upon this?

Romans 12:19
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Jesus said this exactly the best.

Luke 10:20
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.


Because of this!

1 Samuel 17:47
and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands.







And Jacob set off from land promised to Abraham. He had to do what we all do, he had to feed his children. And off to Egypt the adventure began.

This surely, surely, surely did not look like God was paying attention to His Promises.This is a hard thing even today. To think about God being asleep? Uncaring?





The Exodus is everyone's story.


500 years.

The History Channel did a Documentary on the Exodus and says some of the Plagues we can see from the air took place. About five or six years ago.

When you read the history of Egypt and look at the biblical dates This is very close to the 500 years we see changes in World History. 






1500 B.C.

The Tax Records today read that Joseph is here during the reign of Thutmose III, the 18th Dynasty. New Kingdom.  This is the Zenith of Egypt. As believers ar we surprised , when Joseph spoke with God?

Thutmose III

( Building was going on in massive scales.  Names, like those in Jeremiah 39, point out are changed to look all part of the team. And Jeremiah records the name of the Pharaoh he dealt with. Moses AND the Pharaoh decline to name each other in History. Setti II records Mose  - problems with his brother. )



In the New Kingdom -  The Glorious Years of Egypt - Monotheistic God Worship.

Akhenaten is 4 Pharaohs after Thutmose III and the 5th Pharaoh is one God alone, too. They change the Egyptian culture to Monotheistic God of the Sun. Like Joseph. Perhaps they have seen the Power of the God of Gods in the Exodus as part of their childhoods and recent history.

However the 6th Pharaoh - King Tut changes this to polytheistic and dies of a wound to the leg in his teenage years. This loss is very available for us to learn about - this is today's history.  


1200 B.C.

Seti II and Moses

Troubles are documented and various accusations occur during the short reign of Seti II. Clearly Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to 'war' occurred during these years and is obscure to what. Neferhotep had complained of Paneb's attacks on himself to the vizier Amenmose, presumably a predecessor of Pra'emhab, whereupon Amenmose had punished Paneb. This trouble-maker had then brought a complaint before 'Mose' (i.e., 'Msy'), who acted to remove Pra'emhab from his office. Evidently this 'Mose' must have been a person of the highest importance.

Seti II expanded the copper mining at Timna Valley in Edom, building an important temple to Hathor, the cow goddess, in the region. It was abandoned in the late Bronze Age collapse, where a part of the temple seems to have been used by Midianite nomads, linked to the worship of a bronze serpent discovered in the area.

An important papyri date from the reign of Seti II. The Tale of Two Brothers, a fabulous story of troubles within a family on the death of their father, which may have been intended in part as political satire on the situation of the two half brothers.


 
1000 B.C.
 
500 years later the glories end - The New Kingdom is ushered out about with Ramses III. The Third Intermediate Period (1077–732 BC) marked the end of the New Kingdom after the collapse of the Egyptian Empire.  Ramses III fought an unidentified people and the treasury of Egypt is Gone. The Sea People. This Ramses III is viewed today as a mummy. Ramses III, had red hair, I've seen his mummy on display, and no teeth in old age. This is also today's history available to see after being in the ground for 3,000 years.

Ramses III

Ramses looses the treasury and fights with an unknown adversary? The Sea People?  The treasury is Broken. Ipuwer says the slaves are given everything and begged to leave.  The Egyptian army is broken by a strange set of weather of Tsunamis and Tornadoes ( the pillar of cloud Bible records). And Egypt is broken from the top wealth of the world forever. The women are left to get in boats to look for their fallen men of the army.








 


Now this is interesting, of course, but how will we relate to this?


Genesis 22:18 to Abraham

17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."


Abraham's sons are covered by the Blessing of Abraham. What they depart with was the earnings of 500 years. Baalam can see the Blessing of Abraham. His writings are still available although he was corrupt.


Even during the years of slavery, the midwives cover the healthy birth of the Hebrew children. God protected the least of these children, the midwives are protected from Pharaoh. The blessing of Abraham.

"Foreigners go no further. " 

Even when the Children of Israel had revisionist History in Jeremiah 23, God was making plans for the Blessing of Abraham to pull them up again. And when they killed God,  Jesus said the Temple would be pulled down and we can see the massive stones display Jesus is correct today. God holds up His Promises.



II Kings 10:23
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom



And Father God gave the Light of God to save the world. Jesus adopted us into the Family of God. 

1 Corinthians 3

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.




We all wonder how our lives fit into God's Holiness. The Exodus explains so many things. Dealing with people who do not have belief. Dealing with power structures we do not influence or change. God is explaining His direction and then His inclusion. God does not discount His works. He does not discount our need for justice and for His Works. God is astonishingly Just and astonishingly Inclusive showing us He is God. The Exodus is amazingly balanced. We speak today of separation of Church and state. God reveals and shows us nothing is outside His interest, His Plan, His Love. This is Good News for the people of God. God who is interested all people have a Hope and a Future. Our God makes our steps secure and we find our peace and rest in Him.



Abba, our Father,

For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

You keep us in perfect peace whose mind is stay on You, because we trusts in You.

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give us peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with us all.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Let us seek peace and pursue it.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Putting all of our cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ, for He makes our burdens light. We find rest for our soul.

Resting all our people, all our beloved all of our cares in the Steadfast, reliable, determined, goodness and Love of Jesus. Amen.