The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 31: Frogs, Gnats, and Flies (2024)

Episode Date: January 31, 2024

Fr. Mike points out how today's reading from Exodus can act like a mirror for us as we continue to hear the story of Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus 8 and also listen to Leviticus 6 and Psalm 48. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 31. Let's keep on reading today. We're going to be reading from the book of Exodus chapter 8, the book of Leviticus chapter 6, and the book of Psalms chapter 48. We're going to continue with the plagues in the

land of Egypt to set the Israelites free and also looking at some of the laws the Lord continues to give in the book of Leviticus, rules for worship and rules for proper way to approach the Lord, as well as the prayer of Psalm 48. I am reading from the Revised Standard Version, the Catholic edition. In fact, I'm reading the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. You can get that at ascensionpress.com or wherever fine books are sold. You can also go to ascensionpress.com to get your own Bible in a Year reading plan. If you go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year, you can get that for free. And please, if you like, if you've been following us for the last 30 days, here we are on day 31, then you know that the best way to do that is to subscribe in your podcast app. That way, when we drop an episode, you can

pick up this episode so that we can continue our prayers together, because this is something we are doing absolutely together. It is day 31 in this journey through the Bible in one year. And so that means we're coming up, either we passed one month or today is one month when it comes to where we're reading. And that is a mile marker. That's a milestone. We need to mark that and be able to say, yeah, Lord, I've allowed your word to shape my life for the last 30 days, including today, day 31. As I mentioned, today we're going reading from Exodus chapter 8. The book of Exodus chapter 8. Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go into Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go that they may serve me.

But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs and the Nile shall swarm with frogs, which shall come up into your house and into your bedchamber and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and of your people and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants. And the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come upon the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and brought frogs upon the land

of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. Moses said to Pharaoh, Be pleased to command me when I am to entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and from your houses and be left only in the Nile. And he said, Tomorrow. Moses said, Be it as you say, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs shall depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be only left in the Nile. So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs as he had agreed with Pharaoh. Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs,

as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out of the houses and courtyards and out of the fields, and they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and there came gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. The magicians tried by their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not.

So there were gnats on man and beast. And the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water and say to him, thus says the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me. Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled

with swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand. But on that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. By tomorrow shall this sign be. And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and in all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by reason of the flies. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said,

Go, sacrifice to your God within the land. But Moses said, It would not be right to do so, for we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God offerings abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? We must go a three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he will command us. So Pharaoh said, I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness,

only you shall not go very far. Make a treaty for me. Then Moses said, behold, I am going out from you, and I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh deal falsely again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from to the Lord. And the Lord did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people. Not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go. Leviticus chapter six. The Lord said to Moses, if anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by Leviticus chapter 6. all the things which men do and sin therein, when one has sinned and became guilty, he shall restore

what he took by robbery, or what he got by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full, and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day of his guilt offering. And he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued by you at the price for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things which one may do and thereby become guilty. The Lord said to Moses,

Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until the morning and the fire of the altar shall kept burning on it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen britches upon his body. And he shall take up the ashes to the fire that has consumed the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. Then he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon

it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually. It shall not go out. And this is the law of the cereal offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord in front of the altar and one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the cereal offering with its oil and all the frankincense which is on the cereal offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing order to the Lord. And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings by fire. It is a thing

most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it as decreed forever throughout your generations from the Lord's offerings by fire. Whoever touches them shall become holy. The Lord said to Moses, this is the offering which Aaron and his sons shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed. A tenth of an ephah of flying The Lord said to Moses, and offer it for a pleasing order to the Lord. The priest from among Aaron's sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the Lord as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned. Every serial offering of the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.

The Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron and his sons, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord. It is most holy. The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten. In the court of the tent of meeting, whatever touches its flesh shall be holy. And when any of its blood is sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place.

And the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. But if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water. Every male among the priests may eat of it. It is most holy. But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place.

It shall be burned with fire. Psalm 48, the glory and strength of Zion, a song, a psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth. Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great king. Within her citadels, God has shown himself a sure defense. For behold, the kings assembled. They came together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded. kings assembled, they came together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took to flight, trembling, took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman with labor pains. By the east wind, you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so we have seen

in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes forever. We have thought on your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your mighty hand is filled with victory. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. Walk about Zion. Go round about her.

Number her towers. Consider well her ramparts. Go through her citadels. That you may tell the next generation that this is God. Our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you so much.

Thank you for your word. Thank you for how you reveal that you fight for your people. You fight for us. Also, Lord, that you want us. You desire us. You are the God who is just. But you are even more than just. You are merciful.

More than mercy, you are love. And so, Lord God, we ask that you please visit us with your mercy, with your justice, and with your love. Help us to receive your justice. Help us to receive your love and receive your mercy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Oh my gosh, you guys, this is what a phenomenal opportunity to be able to pray together and to read from the Bible and to allow the Bible to shape us. And sometimes the Bible is a flashlight and it shines light on certain parts of our lives, kind of unearths some things. Sometimes it is a mirror and it reflects ourselves back to ourselves

and we get to see in it ourselves and the way we are. And sometimes it's a sandpaper where it kind of roughs off some rough edges or convicts us. I heard a friend of mine once say that community is like that too, like really healthy community is like that. It can be a flashlight, a mirror, and sandpaper. Today, in the story of the plagues in Exodus chapter 8 that we read from today, in Exodus chapter 8 that we read from today. One of the things that happens right away with the second plague of frogs is the fact that Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, I can take these frogs away if you want. And Pharaoh says, do it. And Moses asks him a question. He says, when do you want? He says, be pleased to command me when I'm into entreat. When I am to entreat for you and for your servants and for your people that the frogs be destroyed from you and your

houses and left only in the Nile. Just tell me when. And the remarkable answer of Pharaoh, whose entire, I mean, it says there are frogs in his bed. There are frogs everywhere. Pharaoh's answer, when Moses asks him, when would you like me to get rid of the frogs for you? Moses' answer is tomorrow. I just want to ask the question, isn't that just like us? Isn't that, that's the mirror. That's the mirror of the scripture today where it's just like, oh my goodness, that is me. The Lord God maybe at times can say, hey, I'd like to deliver you. I would like to get this pain rid out of your life or whatever the thing is, right? Sometimes, or sometimes the Lord says, okay, it's time. Get rid of the thing.

It's time. End the relationship. It's time. Get rid of what's, you know, killing you or killing the people around you. When do you want to do it? And we say, ah, how about tomorrow, God? I don't, I mean, this thing, I hate this. This thing is killing me. This thing is, is devastating. Okay. Well, when should we get rid of it? Well, right now is not the right time. How about later? And isn't that in so many ways, our answer for so many things, not just getting rid of bad things, but also starting good things. Now we've been on this journey for 31 days now. And so you've started this, you started this journey 31 days ago. And it's just, what a gift that you didn't put it off. What a gift that you're being consistent here. What a gift that

we have this community of people who are praying. We continue to pray with each other as we continue to allow the Lord's word. But there's still that temptation in every one of us to say, the Lord's word, but there's still that temptation in every one of us to say, well, maybe not today. Maybe I'll just catch up tomorrow or we decide I'm going to put this podcast on two times speed because I missed a couple of days and now I'm going to catch up that way. Well, there's nothing wrong with catching up and there's nothing wrong with listening to scripture at two times speed, but why not when it is today, make use of today? This is a reminder because scripture can be a flashlight, can be a sandpaper piece, and it can also be a mirror for us.

If I see in myself that tendency to put things off to tomorrow, to get rid of the bad things or to start the good things, what I see is I see a Pharaoh's heart inside of me. I don't want to have Pharaoh's heart. I want to have a heart like the Lord. And so we pray for each other because we can't change without God's grace. We can't become like God without his presence living inside of us, without his Holy Spirit. And so we just pray that the Lord gives us his Holy Spirit and fills us with his Holy Spirit because without his Holy Spirit, we cannot pray as we ought. Without his Holy Spirit, we cannot be the people that we ought to be. And so, Lord Jesus, we ask that you send your Holy

Spirit, send your Spirit, the advocate, that helper, that the comforter, the convictor, the one who sustains and strengthens us, the one who is the presence of God living in our midst. Right now and in every moment, we pray for each other. Um, please pray for me. I'm praying for you and, uh, man, my name is father Mike. I cannot wait to see you again tomorrow. God bless.