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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let My people go, so that they may worship Me." If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.'"
The Lord set a time and said, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land."
And the next day the Lord did it.
All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land."
So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Exodus 9:1-16
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we saw in Exodus, chapters 7 and 8, Pharaoh, the supreme leader of the nation of Israel, refused to heed God’s command to allow the Israelites to go into the wilderness on a three day journey so to bring Him worship and offerings.
And so God sent punishment on Egypt by way of a series of curses (also referred to as plagues) upon Egypt, each with the purpose of displaying His almighty power, a power that couldn’t be fully replicated by any of Pharaoh’s magicians and sorcerers.
First, the waters of Egypt were turned to blood, including the sacred Nile River.
Then, an invasion of frogs was sent, followed by swarms of gnats and flies.
Through all this, Pharaoh faked the appearance that he was willing to comply with God’s order just to get out of the current circumstances that he and the Egyptians were suffering through but as we saw over and over, his heart was never sincere as he went back on his word time and time again.
Well, as chapter 9 opens, we find God sending another warning to Pharaoh via Moses, saying:
“This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me.’ If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.”
And with that, the Lord set the time that this would happen, telling Pharaoh it would be the next day.
Well, the next day came and everything happened as God said it would as “all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.” This was confirmed by the men that Pharaoh sent “to investigate” the Israelites livestock who discovered that “not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died”.
Now, of note, this was the first of the curses sent by God where there was a loss of life involved and so we see how the Lord was upping the ante on Pharaoh and his people, and yet, he still refused to give in.
And so God took things to another level and brought on widespread human suffering as well.
For in our passage today, we read where Moses and Aaron “took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh” before Moses tossed it into the air, immediately causing festering boils to break out on all “men and animals”.
Can you imagine this? An entire nation of people and their animals all afflicted by festering, infectious, painful sores simultaneously?
The impact on the Egyptians was instantaneous as we read where Pharaoh’s magicians were unable to “stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them.” Note here that these magicians didn’t possess any power to cure themselves. None of the gods they served were of any help.
You would think that this latest curse would change Pharaoh’s hardened heart but it didn’t. refusal to surrender to the will of God. Once again, his stubborn refusal to surrender to the will of Israel’s God led to his family, his people, and himself having to suffer greatly.
The scriptures tell us that Pharaoh’s refusal to give into the Lord led to even greater consequences. For God sends yet another message to Pharaoh through His faithful messenger, Moses.
“Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Friends, can we not see that these are powerful words, not just for Pharaoh but for us as believers today? For just as the Lord was speaking into the stubborn, hardened heart of Egypt’s leader, He is also seeking to address our lives today and how we all too often show a obstinate refusal to be obedient to Him.
Listen again to what the Lord said here:
“For by now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Essentially here, God is telling Pharaoh that He didn’t have to send all many individual curses on Egypt. Rather, He could have just sent one deadly plague that would have wiped them off the earth!
Wow! Are you hearing that message loud and clear?
For what has kept the Lord for wiping any one sinner or collection of sinners from the face of the earth now or at any other time in human history? Are we so bold to think we are any better than the Pharaoh we’re reading about here in Exodus? Do we believe that we are any more deserving of God’s mercy than he was?
Frankly, if I’m honest, I know that I deserved to be wiped off the earth way before now and it’s only by God’s amazing grace that this hasn’t happened and the undeserved, unearned salvation He has given through His Son Jesus.
Can I get a witness from anybody?
So why hasn’t this happened? Why haven’t we been wiped off the face of creation?
Well, I believe we find the answer by looking a little deeper into the Lord’s word to Pharaoh for He says:
“I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Friends, the Lord raises us up each day for a purpose, so that His power might be revealed to us and His name proclaimed in all the earth. And so each day that we awaken, we are raised up for His purpose, not ours, and when this happens, we need to keep realizing that His mercies are truly new to us every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) and His grace is present in the very air we breathe. Through this, we find His glory and power revealed and so from that point forward each day, we can proclaim the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to everyone we encounter as we seek to share His greatness and goodness with others.
Indeed, our God is merciful. Just the fact that I am writing this and soon you will be reading it is a full testimony to that. The Lord raised us up this day for a purpose and he didn’t choose to wipe up off the face of the earth. Let us rejoice and give thanks in this truth, then tell others about all He has done, is doing, and is yet to do in our lives as we seek to serve Him in obedience, seeking and carrying out His will as we enjoy the blessing of life that He provides.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.