In the book of Exodus, God told Moses that He had seen how the Egyptians had ill-treated His people.
Exodus 3: 7 - 10 (NLT)
"Then the Lord told him, 'I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey - the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.
Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt."
God understands the grieve and sufferings of His people so He asked Moses and his brother Aaron to lead them out of Egypt. God did signs and wonders when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt refused to let the Israelites out of Egypt:
The first plague: Waters become blood
Exo 7 - Then the LORD said to Moses: Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt - all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.'
And even though seven days had passed when the Lord struck the Nile, Pharaoh's heart remained hardened.
The second plague: Frogs
Exo 8 - Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron, 'Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.'' So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land!
When Pharaoh begged Moses to Aaron to take the frogs away, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died.
The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.
The third plague: Lice
Exo 8 - So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats.
But Pharaoh's heart remained hard. He wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.
The fourth plague: Flies
Exo 8 - But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the LORD and that I am present even in the heart of your land. I will make a clear distinction between My people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.
And the LORD did just as he had said. A thick sware of flies filled Pharaoh's palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies. Pharaoh called for Moses and aaron. 'All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God,' he said. 'But do it here in this land.'
But Moses replied, 'That wouldn't be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where the Egyptians can see us, they will stone us.
We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD out God, just as he has commanded us.
'All right, go ahead,' Pharaoh replied. 'I will let you go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God. But don't go too far away. Now hurry and pray for me.'
Moses answered, 'As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will disappear from you and your officials and all your people. But I am warning you, Pharaoh, don't lie to us again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.'
So Moses left Pharaoh's palace and pleaded with the LORD to remove all the flies. And the LORD did as Moses asked and caused the swarms of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly remained. But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.
The fifth plague: Livestock Diseased
Exo 9 - And the LORD did just as he had said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites didn't lose a single animal. Pharaoh sent his officials to investigate, and they discovered that the Israelites had not lost a single animal! But even so, Pharaoh's heart remained stubborn, and he still refused to let the people go.
The sixth plague: Boils
Exo 9 - Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 'Take handfuls of soot from a brick kiln, and have Moses toss it into the air while Pharaoh watches. The ashes will spread like fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, causing festering boils to break out on people and animal throughout the land.'
So they took soot from a brick kiln and went and stood before Pharaoh. As Pharaoh watched, Moses threw the soot into the air, and boils broke out on people and animals alike. Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and all the Egyptians. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and just as the LORD had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.
The seventh plague: Hail
Exo 9 - So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed toward the earth. The LORD sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that, with such devastating hail and continuous lightning. It left all of Egypt in ruins. The hail struck down everything in the open field - people, animals, and plants alike. Even the trees were destroyed. The only place without hail was the region of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived.
But after Moses prayed to stop the thunder and hail when Pharaoh begged them, Pharaoh's heart was hardened again and he refused to let the people leave.
The eighth plague: Locusts
Exo 10 - So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the LORD caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts. And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms from one end of the country to the other.
It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian history, and there has never been another one like it. For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Not a single leaf was leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
But when Moses prayed and the LORD shifted the wind and blew the locusts into the Red Sea, that not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt, Pharaoh's heart hardened again and he refused to let the people go.
The ninth plague: Darkness
Exo 10 - Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.' So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived.
The tenth plague: Death of the firstborn
Exo 12 - So the people of Israel did just as the LORD had commanded through Moses and Aaron. And that night at midnight, the LORD struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died.
When Pharaoh finally let the Israelites out of Egypt, they changed their minds again when they heard that they had fled. So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops to chase after them. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them.
They cried out to the LORD, and they said to Moses, 'Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn't we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, 'Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It's better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!
Did you see the way the Israelites complained?
How would they be better in slavery? How would it be better to be a slave, to be ill-treated and beaten up than to break free from it? God had done so much to bring them out of Egypt, yet when a problem came, all they did was to complain and blame Moses, the prophet of God for delivering them out.
Likewise how would you ever be happy in sin? How would someone say he is happy with the way he is now when he is still a slave to sin?
Isn't this like the world we live in today? People declare that they do not believe in God, yet when things don't turn out right, the first thing they did was to start blaming and complaining, 'God, why did you let this thing happen to me?' But where is God when things are okay? Why have we only thought about Him when things are bad?
The good news is in all these things, God is still longsuffering toward us.
Rom 9: 21 - 23:
When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show His anger and His power, He is very patient with those on whom His anger falls, who were made for destruction. He does this to make the riches of His glory shine even brighter on those to whom He shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.
In fact, it says, 'The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.' And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.'
Lord, I thank You. Because of You, I am restored and I am no longer a slave to sin. Glory be unto You forever. Amen.
Monday, March 20, 2006