WEBVTT

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Day 18 or January the 18th. God is the only true

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reliable one. Our thought today is rooted in

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Exodus chapter 1 verse 17. The midwives, however,

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feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt

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had told them to do. They let the boys live.

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Now the big picture surrounding this verse. 400

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years have passed by since Joseph settled in

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Egypt, but now his family and those of his brothers,

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the sons of Jacob, have grown into tribes and

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a vibrant nation is born. However, they still

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live as refugees in a land that is not their

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own. Many generations have been and gone, but

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little progress is evident. Then a pharaoh comes

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to the throne who didn't know anything about

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Joseph. It could have been as the result of one

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of several coups that Egypt experienced throughout

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its long life as an ancient world superpower.

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The new rulers feared what this large group of

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foreigners could do, so steps were taken to keep

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them under control. They began by making them

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slaves with standards deteriorating until living

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conditions were intolerable. In the end, the

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authorities even tried to enforce integration

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by killing all the Hebrew baby boys, so that

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in time, mixed marriages would be inevitable.

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In the midst of all this, a baby boy is born,

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and then left in a basket on the River Nile,

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where an Egyptian princess rescues him, and adopts

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him as her own. She names him Moses and he was

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destined to become the greatest lawgiver and

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leader the children of Israel ever had. And now

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our action step for today. There are times when

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we have to decide who is in charge of our lives.

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Is it God or the modern thinkers of the day?

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The midwives in ancient Egypt decided that God

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knew best and followed him. A brief look back

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at history will show you that mankind tends to

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repeat the same old mistakes. So you choose.

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Are you going to remain on the hamster wheel

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of modern thinking, knowing that it would all

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change again soon? Or are you going to follow

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the word of God that never changes, because it

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doesn't need to, as its author is unchangeable

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too?