Day 44 (Exodus 13-14 | Matthew 27:45-66 | Proverbs 4:20-27)

Day 44
Exodus 13:1-14:31
(13 | 14)

The passage starts with God laying claim to every firstborn male - whether human or animal. Moses explains that every firstborn male must be redeemed before the LORD because of what God did in Egypt; every firstborn male throughout Egypt was struck down as he passed through Egypt. It was because of this that Pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to leave. Moses gives the Israelites an outline of how they are to commemorate their coming out of Egypt every year.

Day 43 (Exodus 11-12 | Matthew 27:11-44 | Psalm 21:1-7)

Day 43
Exodus 11:1-12:51
(11 | 12)

The LORD tells Moses of the final plague he will bring against Egypt; the plague on the firstborn. Moses reports to Pharaoh that unless the Israelites are allowed to leave, the LORD will go throughout the land at midnight, and every single firstborn son throughout Egypt - from the firstborn son of the Pharaoh to the firstborn of the cattle -  will die. However, the LORD will distinguish between Egyptians and Israelites. No one will be harmed amongst the Israelites.

Day 42 (Exodus 9-10 | Matthew 26:69-27:10 | Psalm 20)

Day 42
Exodus 9:1-10:29
(9 | 10)

Aaron and Moses put a simple request to Pharaoh: let the Israelites go out into the desert to worship the LORD their God. God hardens Pharaoh's heart, and he refuses, and continues to refuse the request. So God brings a succession of plagues against Egypt. Four of the plagues were in yesterday's passage; the plagues of blood, frogs, gnats and flies.

Day 41 (Exodus 6:13-8:32 | Matthew 26:47-68 | Psalm 19:7-14)

Day 41
Exodus 6:13-8:32
(6:13-30 | 7 | 8)

God commands Moses and his brother Aaron to take the Israelites out of Egypt. The lineage of Moses and Aaron is explained, and it is demonstrated that they are great-grandsons of Levi. Interestingly, when the heads of the families of the Israelites in Egypt are named, only three tribes are named; Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Now, I'm not sure if this is meant to demonstrate that these three tribes were ahead of the rest of the tribes. If not, it seems strange to only mention these three tribes.

Day 40 (Exodus 4:1-6:12 | Matthew 26:31-46 | Proverbs 4:10-19)

Day 40
Exodus 4:1-6:12
(4 | 5 | 6:1-12)

Moses is concerned that the people won't believe him, and that they won't listen to God's message because of this. So God gives Moses various signs to perform in front of the people; in the first, Moses's staff is turned into a snake; in the second Moses's hand is made leprous, and then healed again. A third sign, only to be used in the event that the first two are not believed, involves water from the Nile turning into blood when it is poured on the ground. Moses has another problem; he's not a very good speaker. So God recruits Moses's brother, Aaron, to speak for Moses.

Day 39 (Exodus 1-3 | Matthew 26:1-30 | Psalm 19:1-6)

Day 39
Exodus 1:1-3:22
(1 | 2 | 3)

Towards the end of Genesis when the nation of Israel (Jacob and his family) head to Egypt, it is already a fairly large group; Jacob's eleven sons, their wives and their children number seventy in total. Joseph, the twelfth son, and his family are already established in Egypt, but still add to the number of Israelites in Egypt. By the time the first generation of Israelites in Egypt have died, the number of them has increased massively. So when a new Pharaoh comes to power, he's afraid of them. He's unaware of Joseph and everything he did for Egypt. What he is aware of is the number of foreigners living in his land, and the fact that their number just keeps increasing. He's afraid they do not have any loyalty to their host nation.

Day 38 (Job 40:3-42:17 | Matthew 25:14-46 | Psalm 18:43-50)

Day 38
Job 40:3-42:17
(40:3-24 | 41 | 42)

After God's questions to Job in yesterday's passage, Job is predictably shocked. He replies that he is unworthy of responding, and tries to leave it at that.