A Soft and Harmonious Heart
Have you ever wanted to do the opposite of what someone told you? Was your heart hard and angry? Coming up on the Bible Story Podcast, we will learn the value of having a soft and harmonious heart!
Discussion Episode
Scripture
About the Story
Jon: Alright, we are ready to jump into the story for the day, continuing on the path and lessons of the story of Moses. We need to share a few things before the story. When the daughter of Pharaoh adopted Moses, she asked a servant girl to find a woman to nurse the baby. That girl found Moses’ mom.
I think Moses likely had a relationship with his biological family throughout his growing up years and before he left Egypt.
Bradon: What a bizarre childhood for Moses. He was raised as Egyptian Royalty and regularly heard the their prejudices about the Israelites. He was also around his Israelite family, who loved him. It must have been a confusing and challenging childhood.
Jon: Also, Moses was 80 years old when he returned, and it was likely a new Pharoah or king in charge.
Bradon: Possibly someone a similar age to Moses and probably someone he knew. We don’t know their relationship, but we can guess it would have been an uncle or cousin to Moses within his adoptive family.
Jon: Keep this in mind because Moses and Pharoah will be having a lot of conversations. The Israelites wanting to leave and worship God was a problem for Pharaoh. It would have been much more straightforward if Pharaoh disposed of Moses and Aaron as the leaders by banishing or killing them.
Bradon: But Moses was family to Pharoah, so we see Pharoah in a bizarre position. He harshly treats the Israelites, but he never physically harms Moses or Aaron, possibly because of the family connection.
Jon: One more thing, Egypt was Polythestiic in their religion, which means they believed in and worshipped more than one god. Without spoiling the story, the true God, who called Moses from the burning bush, will challenge these Egyptian gods.
Bradon: Interestingly, the Egyptians saw Pharoah as a god and representative of all the other gods to the people. Ok – Jon, let’s get into the story for today – “A Soft and Harmonious Heart!” This story is from Exodus 7 & 8.
We need to have a soft and harmonious heart. If God is not first in our lives, we can be sure that he will challenge us with whatever we have put first.
Jon Drebert
Application
Bradon: So the lesson is clear for us today. There is one God, and we must choose if we will acknowledge him as all-powerful.
Jon: God challenged Pharaoh in this way, but Pharaoh never acknowledged God as the one true God. I guess he felt like he had too much to lose.
Bradon: I can understand his thinking since he thought of himself as a god. On the other hand, he had so much to gain, considering that the true God is all-powerful. I mean, you would be foolish not to align yourself with God.
Jon: We need to have a soft and harmonious heart. If God is not first in our lives, we can be sure that he will challenge us with whatever we have put first.
