The supremacy of God
Now we work through the plagues. These are such familiar stories having been told in movies ranging from Cecil B. Demille classics to children’s animated cartoons.
Each plague represents one of the Egyptian gods or goddesses. God was showing the Egyptians His superiority.
But there is a larger goal to all this suffering.
First, as we see in Exodus 8:15, when a situation arises, we will reach out to the Lord. We submit ourselves bargaining with God that if only He would deliver us from those conditions, we would serve Him.
Shortly after the Lord brings us through our trials, we return to our normal hedonistic living. Unchanged by all that we witnessed, and unwilling to keep our commitment.
Those around us will point out that we are heading toward dangers, as with the magicians in 8:19, but we will not listen.
The Lord, through His word, tells us this is the nature of the human heart. He is never wrong.
We must be holy
He wants to consecrate us to Himself. We are to be Holy, just as God is Holy. (see 1 Pet 1:15-16). This is what we see in Exodus 8:23. God separates His people from the rest of the world.
Yet, because of our own hard hearts, we fail to carry through much like Pharaoh.
We all must take that three-day journey, suffering with Jesus and sharing in His death, burial and resurrection, as God commands. (Ex 8:27).
When we do this, the Lord will make us different from the rest of the population. The world will hate us because of this difference.
Share your testimony
Last week I did a few book signing events, and I watched as people, even some wearing shirts with religious sayings on them, avoid making eye contact with me. I would offer them a free bookmark and they responded as if the price was too high.
At first, I felt demoralized. I took it personal. But, after a six-hour day with three books sold, I sought answers from God and remembered that he told us the world would hate us because it hated Him. I thought of the crowd that I watched parade past me all day and I realized that if they had loved what I was trying to share with them, I would have more to worry about.
Any minister can tickle your ears and share a message you want to hear. When you share the truth that sin is wrong and people need to repent, they will not like you.
I’m going to continue to put myself out there, even though I feel very vulnerable when I do, because I also realized that I could talk to over a dozen people about what God was doing in my life and in our country. That is what God wants me to do.
Choose eternal life
He will bring to Himself those who He wants to save. My job is to be out there sharing that eternal life is available.
While the rest of the world will suffer death, the believer is like the animals of the Israelites in 9:4, they will not die.
We just give the world a reason to inspect us, as Pharaoh did the Israelites in 9:7, to see that we have life within us.
Not all will recognize the Lord. We see in 9:21 that some will leave their slaves and livestock in the fields, and they will perish.
Others will choose the path demonstrated by Pharoah in 9:27 of confessing their sins and trust in the Lord.
We must be discerning, however, because many will say they have trusted God, but still have no fear of the Lord. (9:30)
Destructive lifestyles
We read about destroying the flax and barley. This tells us the time of year was January-February, that is when the flax would be in blossom and the barley forming heads.
The significance is that God wanted to punish their lifestyles. Flax made their garments, and barley was for brewing intoxicating beverages and feeding livestock.
He did not wish to destroy the Egyptians, however, so he left the wheat and spelt which were necessary for feeding them.
Many will ask why a merciful God would deal with people is such a cruel fashion? Why not just soften Pharaoh’s heart and have him let the people go?
We need to remember how quickly we forget all that God has done for us. Every Christian I know can tell you of a time God has saved them. They have stories of when He protected and provided for them.
Yet, you see them living as if they don’t have any fear of the Lord. They make themselves the lord of their own lives.
Had God just moved the Israelites out of Egypt, there would be no lasting effect upon the generations that followed. It is only because of the magnificence of His delivery, and the punishment He pours out on Egypt, that His people would pass on these traditions to this day.
Some argued the atomic bombing of Hiroshima shortened the war and saved millions of lives.
This is a similar situation. By doing these mighty deeds that only God could do, not only were the people of Egypt and Israel taught a proper fear of the Lord, but so would people throughout the world for generations to come.
Step into the light
Still, daily, don’t we all struggle to follow His commands?
Verse 10:2 says He did these things so that we may know that He is Lord. Are we giving Him lordship over our lives?
Will we wait until our lives are in ruin, like Egypt was in verse 7?
In verse 21, there is a darkness that is described as being felt. I would imagine this resembles the darkness that fell upon the earth while Jesus hung on the cross.
I also see a similarity to the darkness that is encroaching upon the hearts of man today. This is a sign that the Lord is coming soon.
In those days, darkness fell for three days. When we read Revelation, that darkness that is coming will be much greater.
The only way to avoid this darkness is to step into the Light. We must place our faith in Jesus and let Him be our Lord and Savior. Have you done this?
Great! Who do you know that has not?
