Jan.20 - Exodus 8 - 10

As we celebrate a major turning point in America today with the induction of Barak Obama, the first African-American as President of the United States, it somewhat reminds me of the events we read today in our daily Scripture reading. Like America, Israel was struggling as a nation. Under God's watchful care, He sends a leader on the scene, Moses, to deliver this nation of people from the enslavement of Egypt. But, God is more interested in something else! He explains to Pharaoh in 9:16 - "But I have spared you for a purpose - to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth." God was interested in only one thing - that the world might come to know Him!

As we read these 3 chapters, it's important to gets some interesting power points from this lesson:

1) God is the only God, and He wants the world to know Him! God gave Moses the reasons for the upcoming plagues upon Egypt. He tells him in (7:5) - "When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." In other words, God was explaining to Moses that He was going to exercise His power in such a way that the Egyptians will have NO QUESTION that He is the ONLY TRUE GOD! To do that, God enacts His plagues against the various gods of Egypt. Here's what God did:
- The first plague was directed against OSIRIS, the god of the Nile.
- The 2nd plague of frogs was against the goddess HEKT.
- The 3rd plague of gnats (lice) was against the earth god, SEB.
- The 4th plague of flies was against HATKOK, the wife of Osiris.
- The 5th plague of livestock disease was against APIS, the sacred bull god.
- The 6th plague of boils was against TYPHON.
- The 7th plague of hail was against SHU, god of the atmosphere.
- The 8th plague of locusts was against SERAPIA.
- The 9th plague of darkness was against RA, the sun god.
- The 10th plague of death of the first born was an attack on all the gods of Egypt!

2) Satan can copy God's work! When God caused Moses' staff to become a snake, and when He turn the Nile to blood, and even when He caused a great swarming of frogs to come upon the land of Egypt, God allowed Pharaoh's magicians (Jannes and Jambres, as mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:8) to do the same through their dark arts! This helped to harden Pharaoh's heart so that He could enact more power against the Egyptian gods. But, when the gnats infested the entire land, even Pharaoh's magicians said (8:19), "This is the finger of God!"

3) God protects His own! As God pours out His wrath against Egypt, He protects His own people from what He's about to do that will absolutely devastate the entire nation! God says in 8:22, "But this time I will spare the region of Goshen where my people live...I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people."

4) We're all just about as stubborn as Pharaoh! When God sent the swarm of flies upon Egypt and protected Israel from its effect, Pharaoh says, "All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God!" In the midst of affliction, Pharaoh is willing to cry "uncle!" But, look what happens a few verses down! Once the flies are gone, Pharaoh changes his mind. How many of us are like that? In the midst of affliction we want God to take care of things - immediately! When things are stable, we act as though we don't have any need or time for God. Have you noticed that?

5) God's purpose in everything is that the world will know Him personally! Several times, but especially in 9:15-17, God mentions His purpose in devastating the nation of Egypt. It is for the ultimate purpose of convincing the world that He is the only God! God is trying to show Himself to man! Since man doesn't have time for God, God gets man's attention through what He does to Egypt. Are you evidence of the fact that God exists? Do people see God in and through you? What will God have to do to get your attention?

6) God shows tender mercy to every man! It's interesting to note that God protected all the individuals of both Egypt and Israel during these plagues, except for the ones who purposely disobeyed. God ONLY attacked the food and livestock of Egypt, but protected mankind. The purpose of the plagues was evangelistic in nature. Sadly, Pharaoh's decision to force Moses away from his presence was, in a sense, a direct blasphemous act against God. In order to get everyone's attention, the 10th plague is about to be enacted! We'll read about that tomorrow! Unless, of course, you just can't wait until then...

While there is still so much more to say, I hope this has been a blessing to you! Have a God-blessed day! And, let's pray for our new President. He'll certainly need it!