When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red…
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Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. Exodus 13:6 Among those of us who’ve found recovery from addiction, there’s a well-known phenomenon in which we romanticize the past. This is a sick nostalgia that’s been twisted by the drug’s influence on our…
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The LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” Exodus 13:1-2 I find the way my dog sits and stares at me while I’m eating to be disconcerting. It’s my own fault…
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If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. Exodus 12:48 Growing up in church, I remember sitting…
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So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. Exodus 12:34 Several years ago, while on a fishing trip out in the middle of nowhere, my son got a fishhook stuck in his leg. In urgent care, I’d just numb it up…
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Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel.” Exodus 12:31 In December, I assumed a temporary, or interim, medical director position for the jail medicine program in which I’ve worked as a physician for the last couple of years.…
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At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon . . . Exodus 12:29 There are two kinds of people I meet in jail – those who’ve been there…
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The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:13 With the threat of prison looming over their heads, I’ve seen a…
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This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Exodus 12:2 Years ago, in my first real attempt at recovery, I attended outpatient treatment at New Beginnings. I liked the name as I felt I was starting out on a new journey. I’d…
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So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die . . .” Exodus 11:4-5 When I was a kid, we had a Frankenstein lawnmower that my dad rebuilt from several old lawnmowers. We had a few…
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