10 Plagues – Seek Grow Love

Yesterday, we focused on trusting in the faithfulness of God despite the challenges, troubles, and obstacles we face. Moses struggled with that trust and confidence that God would be faithful as he saw the increased oppression of the Israelite people. He asked the question, “Why?” Underlying this why was the sentiment: ‘Why – if you could free your people from this oppression – why wouldn’t you, God?’

We often ask God the same question. ‘Why – if you could intervene and alleviate the suffering of the world – why wouldn’t you, God?’ The answer to this question that we read in Exodus may ruffle the feathers of our modern sensibilities, but it does not make it any less true.

We see a pattern through the story of the Israelites that God foretold what the story of the Israelites would be, including even the suffering they would face. Abraham was told about the 400 years the Israelites would spend in Egypt. The suffering of the people as slaves was foretold. And, Moses was told about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart which would ultimately lead to the Israelites plundering the Egyptians on their way to freedom and the Promised Land.

This makes us bristle because, in the modern world, our comfort, safety, and happiness are the greatest good. Nothing else is as important as those things. Honor, virtue, courage, and grace are deemed unworthy if they get in the way of our pursuit of these modern ideals. So, when we read that the Israelites would be forced to endure hardship, slavery, death, and injustice, we just can’t believe it. Why would a good God do this?

God actually tells us why this happened. In Exodus 7:5, God says, “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” God did these things for his name’s sake. The plagues spoke to the glory of God. They demonstrated that ‘God was god, and there is no other’ (Isaiah 45:5).

The values of comfort, safety, and happiness are not esteemed in the Bible. In fact, the greatest good turns out to be the glory of God, which is exactly what God has brought about with the plagues. His name was made great.

When we read this emphasis on making God’s name great, we may have some concerns. Some may even say that God is egotistical because he desires for us to glorify him, for us to worship him, and desires to make his name great.

The basis for greatness and glory can only be found in God.

When God commands us to worship him foremost in our lives, he is actually establishing boundaries for our worship that will keep us from sin and heartache. When we step outside God’s created order, we fall prey to greed, selfishness, and an endless pursuit of desires and addictions that do not lead to fulfillment or joy. We have a belief in faux modesty in our culture. Though in practice we exalt ourselves daily, we say that don’t. We place that same value of faux modesty on God, and so, we question when God seems to buck against that value.

John Piper said, “Does my opposition to God’s God-centeredness reveal that my supposed God-centeredness is just a cover for wanting myself at the center, and the use of God to endorse that because he is so centered on me?”

Who is at the center of your world? Is it God or is it yourself? Is your life’s work to make great the name of God or your own?

For a more in-depth look at how the plagues depict Yahweh vs. Egyptian gods, read this previous SeekGrowLove post by Sean Finnegan.

~ Cayce Fletcher

Cayce writes about discipleship, productivity, and homemaking at her blog https://amorebeautifullifecollective. You can find her latest post on prayer here. You can also listen to A More Beautiful Life Collective Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

How did the plagues make God’s name great?
In Psalm 23, God “guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (v. 3). How does guiding us along right paths give glory to God?
Matthew 20:20-28 tells the story of the mother of Zebedee’s sons coming and asking for Jesus to exalt James and John in the coming kingdom. Jesus responds by stating, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How does becoming a servant bring glory to God and make his name known?

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Darkness

Exodus 9-10

In today’s reading the plagues continue: livestock, boils, hail, locusts and darkness. The plagues reap destruction on their food supplies and on their bodies. God declares to Pharaoh His purpose for sending the plagues: “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 9:16)

Once again, Pharaoh continues his predictable response: plague comes, Pharaoh says he repents and will let them go, the plague is lifted, Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to let them go.

All of the plagues are bad but the 9^th plague is of particular interest: darkness. In my younger days I sang with a choir and performed Handel’s Messiah. I was given the privilege of singing the bass recitative: “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth…” (If you’ve never listened to it check it out: “For Behold…The people that walked in darkness”, Philippe Sly, Julian Wachner – YouTube )

The next year I was in college at George Mason University and we sang Handel’s Israel in Egypt and I sang the bass recitative “He sent a thick darkness over the land, even darkness which might be felt.” Nearly 40 years later I still have vivid memories of our first performance of this, I was battling strep throat and spent the whole day nursing my throat with honey, lemon and salt water so that I could sing my solo that night (check it out here: Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, Pt. II: Part II: He sent a thick darkness over all the land (Chorus) – YouTube) In fact you might want to listen to the entire Oratorio Israel in Egypt by GF Handel.

In both of these Handel works with the Biblical texts and colors them with the accompanying music. You can almost feel the darkness. What does three days of thick darkness feel like? How disoriented would it be for an entire nation to be blanketed in darkness?

Jesus later used darkness to get Saul/Paul’s attention. Saul was blinded for three days (Acts 9:9) until Ananias prayed over him and the scales fell from his eyes and his sight was restored. Paul responded by literally “seeing the light” and he become a lifelong follower of Jesus Christ. He immediately got up and was baptized into Jesus Christ.

What happened after Pharaoh came out of three days of darkness? You guessed it, his heart was once again hardened. It was harder than ever. After 9 plagues, 9 times God gave him a chance to repent after seeing God’s power at work. 9 Times Pharaoh had the chance to proclaim God’s greatness to all the earth. 9 times Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Psalm 103 reminds us that:

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

God balances His love and desire to see justice for the oppressed with his compassion and gracious love for the oppressor. In the story God loves both His oppressed people Israel represented by Moses and He loves His children mired in pride and power who oppress his people, the Egyptians represented by Pharaoh. God demonstrates His patience to Pharaoh by giving him 9 chances to repent. God also demonstrates His love and faithfulness to Israel by limiting Pharaoh.

Peter later picks up this same theme in II Peter 3:9-10- “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”

God was patient with Pharaoh, “Love is patient”. But God was also merciful to Israel, God’s love and patience have limits. Pharaoh was about to discover the limits of God’s patience. It would cost him and all of Egypt their firstborn sons.

How will America and the world respond to our current “plague” the Covid-19 Pandemic? Will we soften our hearts and repent and turn to God and forsake our sins and put our full faith and trust in God? Or will we harden our hearts again? How much longer will God be patient and give opportunities to repent? When will God finally say- it’s time to fully and finally set my people and all of the earth free from this dreaded curse of sin and death? It’s time to bring about the final judgment?

I don’t know and you don’t know. But learn the lesson from Pharaoh and don’t test the limits of God’s patience and mercy. May the scales fall from our eyes, may the thick darkness of sin and unbelief that covers our land be lifted.

-Jeff Fletcher

Links to today’s Bible reading – Exodus 9-10 and Mark 2

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Hard Hearts

In this week’s devotions we’ve been focusing on the last five chapters of Matthew. Hopefully you’ve also been reading the Old Testament readings at the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus. Today’s devotion turns our attention to the Exodus readings.

Israel’s story shows the interplay between being part of the people of God while living in a broken world amid systems and structures that are broken by sin. When Jacob and his family first went to Egypt, the most powerful nation in the world at the time, they went there to escape famine. God positioned Jacob’s son, Joseph, to be one of the most powerful men in the Egyptian government. Joseph was able to provide food and a safe place to live for his brothers and their families during the famine and beyond.

Unfortunately, with the passage of time, Joseph died, and a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. Suddenly, Israel went from being sheltered and protected by Egypt to being enslaved. For 400 years they suffered under the Egyptian oppression. The people cried out to God to set them free. God heard their cries and provided a means of salvation. A young baby boy born of the Hebrews, rescued from death and raised as a son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He was the one who would lead his people to freedom. But it took 80 more years for God to prepare Moses to lead his people.

When the time came for Moses to lead the people to the Promised Land, God did so through a series of plagues. In today’s reading God had Moses bring forth the first plagues: blood, frogs, gnats and flies. With each plague Pharaoh asked Moses to pray to God to stop the plague and said that he would let the people go. But each time, after the plague was over Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he refused to let them go.

Sometimes, when people are in the midst of a crisis, they soften their hearts and fall on their knees in repentance and turn to God for help and hope. Sometimes, when those prayers are answered and things get better, those same people forget, and allow their hearts to grow hard again.

As I write this devotion we are one year into the Covid plague. As both a pastor and a hospital and nursing home chaplain I’ve had to live every day of this past year dealing with the reality of that plague. I’ve have family and friends get sick. Most got well, some didn’t. Some died from Covid. Others have suffered from the effects of our attempts to mitigate the spread of Covid. Some have lost jobs, some have grown isolated and alienated and depressed. I’ve seen churches struggle to keep going when they’ve been ordered to stop meeting in person and when able to meet in person I’ve seen many struggle with half as many people participating. It’s been hard. Some churches have been forced to close their doors and will never open them again. It’s been sad.

During Covid, some have turned to God and softened their hearts. Others, like Pharaoh have hardened their hearts. At the end of the day the question for you is, how is your heart?

-Jeff Fletcher

Links to Today’s Bible Reading – Exodus 7-8 and Mark 1

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Growing in Trust

Exodus 13-15

Sometimes, when a person makes a major purchase, like buying a new car or a new house they come down with a phenomenon known as “buyer’s remorse.” Buyers remorse happens when you second guess that decision. Yes, you like that new car and all. You could think about how wonderful it would be when you drive it down the highway. But when that first car payment comes due and you see how much of your paycheck goes out every month… and will continue to go out for the next 4 or 5 or 6 years, you can have buyer’s remorse. It can be even worse when you realize that that dream house you’ve always wanted requires 1/4 of your paycheck every month and will for the next 30 years. Yikes! Buyers remorse has to do with regretting that important decision.

After the 10 plagues, the last of which included the death of his firstborn son, Pharaoh was so devastated that he let the Israelite slaves leave. He wanted to be rid of them. Their God had displayed His power and Pharaoh’s hubris was finally knocked down. But like a boxer in a ring who has been knocked senseless by a much stronger opponent, Pharaoh still manages to get back up on his feet and try again. He realizes that he’s suddenly lost a significant part of his workforce. 600,000-able bodied men were gone. Who was going to build Pharaoh’s cities and pyramids and harvest their crops? Pharaoh has buyer’s remorse. He wants to get those slaves back. So he assembles his army, the most powerful army in the world, and sends out the chariots and soldiers to chase down the Israelites traveling by foot.

Meanwhile, God is making his visible presence known to Israel. He’s leading them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This was important. God’s people were no doubt very disoriented. They were leaving a place that was known and familiar to them. For over 400 years they had been living in Egypt. They were now going to a land which they had never been. They may have heard stories from their parents and grandparents about this land, but chances are that after 400 years, it had all but been forgotten in Israel’s memory. They had no idea where they were going. So they needed some visible assurance that God really was with them. So he made Himself visible. I’m sure that this brought some comfort to the traveling Israelites… until they heard the sound of Pharaoh’s army, with it’s galloping hoofbeats bearing down upon them. As they looked forward to their escape route, there was nothing but the vast sea before them, and behind, the most powerful army in the world.

In despair they cried out to Moses- “why did you bring us out here to die, weren’t there enough graves in Egypt to hold our bodies?” The sarcasm would be funny if the stakes weren’t so high. These people truly were terrified. Yes, they could see that God was leading them- his tangible, visible presence was right there… and yes, God had performed 10 great signs in Egypt. But they were still scared.

It is normal to get scared when scary things are about to happen to you. It would take the nation of Israel a long time before they would begin to really trust God in all things.

I’m a baseball fan. Over the last 8-9 years I’ve watched the Washington Nationals play a lot of baseball. They have been a very good team for years, but unfortunately, too many times that great team fell apart during the playoffs. Every time they were in a do or die situation in the playoffs, they lost that deciding game and were eliminated from the playoffs. This happened over and over again. So when the 2019 playoffs started, and the Nationals played the Milwaukee Brewers in the one game wild-card play off and they were behind by 3 runs, I started thinking “Oh no, not again! We’re gonna lose once again.” But they didn’t! They came back and beat the Brewers. Wow! It was different. After all these years they won a playoff series. But then they played the mighty Dodgers. Once again they go behind 2 games to 1 and were facing an elimination game. They were behind and it was getting late in the game, and then miraculously, they tied it up and went into extra innings, and then Howie Kendrick hit a 10th inning grand slam and the Nationals won another series. They moved on to the next round, where they swept the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 games. By this time I was becoming a believer. So much that when they played the Houston Astros in the World Series and got down three games to two and were facing elimination, I suddenly wasn’t worried any more. I had become a believer. I just knew that they would come back and win… and they did.

So Israel can be excused for fearing Pharaoh’s army and believing that the worst was was about to happen. But once again, God showed up in a powerful way, the seas were parted and Israel went through on dry land, and Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the sea as they gave chase.

How many times does God need to show up before we begin to trust? For me, it only took a few come from behind wins for be to begin believing in the Nationals and placing my confidence in their ability to come back and win. It would take quite a few more wins before Israel would finally come to fully trust God. What will it take for you to fully trust God? Israel’s story is, in many ways our story too. We can read these stories and have our faith strengthened to help us keep trusting God even in the middle of hard times. God is with us and God has the power to display His ultimate victory over the forces of evil.

Jeff Fletcher

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+13-15&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s Bible reading will be Exodus 16-18 on our 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Tag: 10 Plagues