How to Read the Bible

Before delving into the seventh chapter of Exodus, let me share how to read the Bible. From the day I believed, no one taught me how to read the Bible, but I am a person who loves to learn and knows how to learn. Therefore, my method of reading the Bible is more efficient than most, like the Chinese saying of using four ounces to move a thousand pounds. What is the method I have mastered for reading the Bible? It is actually the same as when we were in elementary and middle school reading textbooks, which is to grasp the key points.

In fact, no matter what we read, we must understand what the author wants to write. For example, if someone writes you a letter, and you don't understand what they want to say, or you read a lot into what they didn't say, that's troublesome. Or, for example, if we two have a conversation, and you don't listen to what I'm saying, but you hear a lot into what I didn't say, then I would definitely be frustrated, because if we continue like this, the conversation can't continue at all!

Exodus was written by Moses at God's command. Can we understand what Moses wanted to express when we read it? This is very important. Because if you can understand it, I think your learning should not be bad. Actually, everyone's learning is about the same, it's just a matter of learning methods, and learning methods are very important. A few years ago, there was a craze for studying "Dream of the Red Chamber," but it has subsided a lot recently. Cao Xueqin wrote only one book, "Dream of the Red Chamber," but the so-called scholars who study "Dream of the Red Chamber" have written so many books that my house is almost full. Later, I discovered that the meaning Cao Xueqin wanted to express was not researched by those scholars of "Redology," but what Cao Xueqin didn't write was researched a lot. Therefore, the most important thing in reading is to understand what the author wants to say.

Sometimes, it's really difficult to communicate with our brothers and sisters! As soon as we communicate, we fall into a ditch. They hear what I didn't say, but they don't hear what I said. Then they ask, "What is the meaning between the lines of what you said?" I tell them: "Let's first understand the literal meaning!" Actually, in this situation, I am also very painful, because it is quite difficult to express something clearly to others.

We all studied Chinese in elementary, middle, and high school, which shows that Chinese class is very important. Chinese class is a general education, and the purpose of general education is to train people's basic abilities. I didn't like Chinese class when I was in school because the teacher didn't explain it clearly. Later, it wasn't until I started working that my abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing slowly improved. This improvement was not because of anything else, but simply because it was required for work. I had to write! And I had to write in English, and I was almost in tears, especially for those of us in management. If you take people's money, you have to work and write articles.

Later, it was also when I was getting old that I finally understood Chinese. I discovered that writing an essay is about expressing the meaning that needs to be expressed clearly. I don't know how to say this in Chinese, but it's probably that you need to use words and characters accurately, and be able to express your meaning very clearly, to be able to Command and control the language. Therefore, the most important thing in Chinese is clarity, which is to understand clearly what you want to convey and be able to control your language expression. But if someone expresses it very clearly, but we don't know how to read it, then it's all in vain, because reading blindly is definitely not okay.

I'm telling you this trick, no matter what it is, grasping the key points is the most important! Because people easily go off-topic if they don't grasp the key points. For example, if I give an example and mention a person's name, my purpose in giving this example is just to illustrate what I want to say. But the listener says: "I know that person. He stole something from someone's house a few days ago and was caught." Whether he was caught or not is not important. The key is whether you have grasped the key point I am talking about. Focusing on such trivial details will lead people to go off-topic.

Therefore, when we read, we must grasp the key points, then grasp the point below that key point, and then connect that point with the key point, and you will be able to understand what the author wants to write. Once, I heard a very famous pastor preach on Hebrews, but he didn't talk about the first chapter of Hebrews for a long time, and was just talking about his own content. After listening to this pastor's preaching, I felt that I had studied Hebrews the best, because I understood the author's thoughts and grasped the key points he wanted to express.

Declare According to God's Will

Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.(Exodus 7:1)

What is the key point of the book of Exodus? The key point is that the army of Jehovah came out of Egypt. The army of Jehovah is a hierarchy of distinct authority, and authority is not a joke! God chose Moses, not Monan, Modong, or Mobei. Not even one character can be wrong. It can only be Moses, and no one can replace him. The key point of the previous chapter is that Moses' authority comes from God. So what is the key point of this chapter?

The first sentence of the seventh chapter gets straight to the point: God wants to make Moses as God before Pharaoh. God speaks to Moses, and then Moses speaks to Pharaoh. After Moses speaks, it is done. Is Moses like God before Pharaoh? This is very important. Have you noticed that when I lead you to read the Bible, it is more down-to-earth and relatable? A prominent feature of my Bible study is that it must be implemented, and this matter must be related to me.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.(Genesis 1:1-3)

When I read this passage of scripture, I thought to myself, what does this have to do with me? I can't travel back in time to verify it. After hearing this, it doesn't seem to have much to do with me. But as I kept trying to implement God's word, I really read the relationship, and I admire myself for it. The relationship is that because we are made in the image of God, we do what God does. Isn't that how it's connected!

God wants to use Moses to lead the army of Jehovah God out of the land of Egypt. Once Moses starts doing this, then as long as he stands in this position, he is like God before Pharaoh. This is good! If a person can be like a god before this world, that is an incomparably good thing! Later, I discovered that there was another person parallel to Moses named Samuel. They are the two greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

Some people say that Elijah and Elisha are more great, but that's not necessarily true. I think Moses and Samuel are very powerful. The Bible records that the words of Moses and Samuel were not allowed to fail by God. I long for: God, if you don't let my words fail either, that would be amazing! Don't you know, as soon as I long for this, things often turn out that way. God said to Moses, you represent God before Pharaoh (Pharaoh is the king of the earth). Being able to represent God before Pharaoh, Moses is a man of God! It sounds powerful. If you are also willing to obey the arrangements God has given you, willing to be used by God in this way, and bring the Israelites, that is, the people of God around you, out of the world, then you can also represent God before the world.

Some people say: How can I represent God? If we pursue being like Jesus, is there anything wrong with that? There is nothing wrong with that! The previous chapter talked about how Korah also wanted Moses' authority, but he couldn't take it away, because this authority came from God. Later, Korah messed around, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed him.

How can you represent God? The first thing is: Say what God tells you to say, and do what God tells you to do.

You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.(Exodus 7:2)

Aaron is Moses' chief secretary, and what he says is very powerful. Moses' feelings at this time may be similar to ours. He may be thinking: Can I represent God? Can I go to Pharaoh and say this to him? Fortunately, it was Moses who God called. If the person serving God is you, it is estimated that God will let you go east and you will go west, God will let you chase the dog and you will catch the chicken, and you will have to go against God. In many years of service, I have found that there is an evil force in people, which is willfulness. It is not easy for willful people to serve God. Our church's current pastoral system is the result of many years of exploration and summary. If I were to grade the pastoral systems of many churches, I think I should give them a zero. Why is that? Because I have also experienced it. Some pastors come to my house with a bag of fruit and then sit there and chat, which annoys me because I don't have time and I hate being pastored by these people.

Thank God, I was not disciplined by God. Later, when it was my turn to build a church, I wanted to do something different. Only when I started doing it did I realize that there is a lot of knowledge in it. At that time, I didn't understand what pastoral care was, and I knew very well that I couldn't do it. But I have one advantage, which is that if I know that I haven't figured something out, then I must figure it out. So in recent years, I haven't done anything else, but I have specialized in studying what salvation, faith, and how to pastor are. Finally, I figured out pastoral care clearly.

When training our pastors, I found that some people listen and some people don't listen, and they keep doing their own thing. If you do your own thing, that's fine, but you have to have my energy and study it thoroughly! But they don't. They just mess around there. I really want to put a small hat on them. I tell them to go east and they go west, I tell them to chase the dog and they go catch the chicken. Later, after so many years, this person found that what he was doing was not very effective, and he came back to me. Why? Because he was messing around, and it was wrong from the beginning.

We must listen to what God tells us, whether we can hear it or not. God told Moses to go and say this and that to Pharaoh of Egypt. What if Moses was disobedient and thought, what if I slap myself in the face after saying it? What if I die without a burial place the next day, and my head is moved? It's not impossible. Not to mention Pharaoh of Egypt, but the emperors of China in the past, such as Qin Shi Huang, he could kill whoever he wanted. How many people dared to challenge him? But Moses was very powerful and courageous. He really did it.

Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.(Exodus 7:6-7)

Fortunately, it is rare to live to seventy years old, and eighty years old is enough even if your head is moved! But ordinary people may not be able to do this job. If Moses wants to represent God, he must say what God says, and do what God does! This is also my secret: We do what Jesus does; we do what God commands; we build the church as God says to build it. I originally only planned to live to fifty years old. Implementing God's word is enough even if I die, because I have already earned many years!

Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old. Think about it, God is also very humorous, sending two old men to compete with Pharaoh. Moses thought to himself, I am so old, it is worth it to die, it doesn't matter if I take a risk. As a result, when they went, they found that Pharaoh was quite polite and asked them to perform a miracle. As a result, Moses and Aaron threw their staffs in front of Pharaoh, and the staffs turned into snakes. The magicians on the other side also threw their staffs on the ground and they turned into snakes, which was also very powerful. As a result, the snake that Moses' staff turned into ate the snakes that Pharaoh's magicians' staffs turned into. Don't you think this is like God?

“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.(Exodus 7:9-12)

Pharaoh also felt it was powerful after seeing it, because no matter how great a person's rights and status are in the world, he cannot compete with God! God commanded Moses and Aaron, and they said what they said. As a result, they found that it really worked! If they didn't speak, could this matter be accomplished? No! So this is connected to the first chapter of Genesis. The truth is that we must develop the habit of declaring according to God's logical system, and many things can be accomplished.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.(Romans 10:10)

If people declare, things happen; if people don't speak, things cannot happen. Therefore, we must often declare, because people's mouths are very spiritual. You and I are made in the image of God, and now God has given us this authority to bring the people of Israel, that is, the army of God, out of the land of Egypt (this world). If you want to accomplish this mission, you must declare it. The words declared by the mouth are very powerful. If you say there is, there is; if you command, it stands.

Moses Declares Calamities

If you were Moses, tasked with leading the Israelites, the army of the Lord, out of Egypt, would the Egyptians permit it? Certainly not! Therefore, to bring anyone out of the world, a battle must be waged. The Egyptian Pharaoh represents the worldly logic system and the powers of darkness. For God's children to emerge from the world, they too must endure a struggle! If you seek to return to God, the first thing that will happen is that your family and many worldly people around you will hinder you. If you go to a club or sing karaoke, no one will mind; they will even support you. But the moment you decide to become part of the Lord's army, there will be opposition. How should you respond to such opposition? By declaring blessings? Saying to Pharaoh, "Since you won't let us go, I'll bless you"? Would that work?

What did Moses do? Moses represented God, and he declared calamities before Pharaoh! Throughout the Old Testament prophetic books, whether it's Isaiah, Jeremiah, or the minor prophets, there are countless declarations of disaster. Let us carefully examine our own circumstances. Do Christians have the courage to declare calamities? Even if people lack the courage, it doesn't matter, because God acts anyway! Look at the generation we live in today, with its various natural and man-made disasters. Natural disasters are calamities from the heavens, referred to in English as "Act of God," meaning God's doing. Insurance companies do not cover acts of God.

Therefore, we must know for certain that we are not here on earth to pray for world peace, nor for the economy or anything else in the world. Once, I attended a prayer meeting where a pastor led everyone in praying for world peace. I was puzzled because I had not seen such teachings in the Bible, which only indicates that these people are worldly. Later, I discovered that some people pray for economic crises, but there are no examples of praying for economic crises in the Bible either. Perhaps someone can find a basis in the Bible, but I have not. People pray for this and pray for that, but they do not pray for God's army, nor do they want to bring God's army out of Egypt.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” (Exodus 7:14-18)

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” (Exodus 7:19)

Moses is like God; he declares what God wants him to declare. God is a God who sends calamities; He will also judge and destroy this world. Yet, some worldly people feel it's a pity; they think this world is so good! All who are of the world, all who belong to the Egyptian Pharaoh, will receive God's judgment and the calamities He declares. If you want to serve God, if you want to lead God's army out of Egypt, you must do as God says. Many brothers and sisters, upon seeing natural and man-made disasters, want to defend God, thinking that they are not from God, that they are all from the devil. It's problematic to think that way! Is God not in control? God is absolutely in control; everything is in His hands!

If you and I want to be vessels of God, if we want to lead God's army out of Egypt, we cannot be "good people"! If you want to be a "good person," and you think that since the Israelites are leaving, you should pray for the economy of Egypt, that would be problematic! Brothers and sisters, after reading Chapter 7, if you want to be like God, you cannot compromise with this world. If we are filled with worldly logic systems, we cannot serve God.

But we have too many worldly logic systems within us! Some love their wives more than God, their children and grandchildren more than God, their families more than God, their jobs more than God. Such people cannot serve God! They cannot be servants of God! Nor can they be disciples of Jesus Christ! Our position is so lofty, so glorious; the command we receive is such a glorious mission. This mission is to bring God's army out of the world, to defeat the enemy, the devil! From now on, let us no longer live according to the logic of the world, but according to the word of God! Moses knew that if he declared calamities, the Egyptians could drown him in their spittle, but even so, Moses did not compromise in the slightest. Therefore, we must be like Moses: as God commands, so we shall do. As God speaks, so we shall speak, without the slightest compromise.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who love God, whom God will raise up to be like Him, and those who hate God, whose logic system is of the world, who are God's enemies. God will punish their sins, from father to son, to the third and fourth generations. Brothers and sisters must understand that to serve God, you must do as God says! This world will see the power and glory of God through His people! Then they will have to acknowledge that the Lord is God, and when they acknowledge it, they will discover that the power of nature far exceeds human imagination, far exceeds what humans can control.

Moses Exercises Authority on Behalf of God

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17-18)

If you and I are people with Mingding Destiny, then no matter how high or low our status in this world, we will be like God, able to exercise authority on earth on behalf of God. The Bible says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to the Lord Jesus! Today, God has also given us such authority; what we do should be like God. Are we still walking according to worldly logic systems? Are we still afraid of the things of this world? If so, we cannot serve God! If we want to be "good people," afraid to declare calamities, then we cannot serve God!

If we dare not rise up to fight, dare not rise up to lead God's people out of Egypt, we cannot serve God! The theme of the entire Book of Exodus is God's people coming out of Egypt. Today, you and I are the ones receiving this command! We who have received this Mingding Destiny are to be like God on this earth, exercising God's authority! Start telling yourself, "I am that Moses, that Aaron, I am the one who receives God's command, I am the one who will bring God's people out of the land of Egypt, I can represent God before this world, just like Moses before Pharaoh. In this world, we are God-men!"

May God bless everyone!