Tag: A chapter a day

Life itself is like a journey through a wilderness. Sometimes you set up camp by an oasis, as the Israelites did at Elim. Sometimes you push on until you find water, only to be disheartened when it is bitter to drink, as was the case at Marah.

God is either leading us or he is not. But he is not leading us one day, and abandoning us the next. That he is not doing.

“It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness.”

What a remarkable statement! The Israelites were barely out of Egypt when they said this. Did they not remember how loathsome their lives were as slaves in Egypt? Did they not realize that the God of Israel who had fulfilled his promise to rescue them by a mighty hand was able now to deliver them from Pharoah’s pursuit? Aren’t some things more precious than life itself?

The faith God gives us is not something to be held loosely in our hands. Rather, it must be gripped firmly, as one who seizes a prize.

“When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land.? God said, ‘If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’??So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”

Sometimes it may seem that God is leading us in a roundabout way.? The important thing to keep in mind is that it is God who is leading.? He knows our weaknesses.? He remembers our frame. And even if to our limited understanding it seems the way through the wilderness is roundabout, it is still through the wilderness.

“I will execute judgment against the gods of Egypt, for I am the LORD! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

The LORD knew, of course, the houses where the Israelites were staying. By making the Israelites mark their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificial lamb, he was making an indelible impression on them. He was also pointing to the future…

“But the LORD hardened Pharoah’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.”

Despite nine terrible plagues, Pharoah stubbornly refused to obey the LORD.

1. Waters turned to blood
2. Frogs
3. Gnats
4. Flies
5. A plague on livestock
6. Festering boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Thick darkness

Pharoah made his choice. God locked it in.

“Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?” Pharoah’s officials finally got it. They understood the futility of fighting against the God of Israel.

But even two more dreadful plagues – the swarming locusts and the thick darkness – “darkness that can be felt” – did not convince Pharoah.

“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.”

A death plague on the livestock, festering boils on the people, a thunderous hailstorm. And still Pharoah refused to acknowledge the LORD.

Doesn’t he realize he can’t win? That rebellion against the LORD only leads to destruction?

The Nile and all the waters of Egypt were turned to blood. Then the frogs. Then the gnats. Then the flies. But still Pharoah hardened his heart.

It is interesting that the magicians could not conjure up the gnats. They could turn staffs into snakes; they could turn water into blood; they could produce frogs out of thin air. But not gnats. What’s the difference? Are gnats harder to come up with than frogs or snakes?
It is as if the LORD said to the magicians, the sorcerers and the demonic forces behind them, “This far and no further.” Isn’t this exactly what the Almighty said to Satan, when Satan requested permission to destroy Job, the servant of God?

I’m not sure how the Egyptian magicians and sorcerers were able to duplicate some of the signs and wonders performed by Moses and Aaron. Satan was able to drastically affect Job’s circumstances, albeit under God’s supervision. One thing is for sure – God’s power was magnified when Moses’ snake swallowed up the other snakes divined by the sorcerers!

“…this same Moses and Aaron.”

God uses ordinary people. After all, these two men weren’t super heroes. Just the two sons of Amram and Jochebed, descendants of Levi, son of Jacob.

God is the playwright. Each of us has a different part to play, but we’re all in the script.