February 4 - Exodus 10:1-12:51

Good morning everyone,

Today as we begin reading we find Moses and his brother Aaron once more going before Pharaoh with the same message he’s heard before, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” 

This time if Pharaoh refuses, he is promised that all of his land will be covered with locust. Not just a few of your, run of the mill, regular ole, somewhat annoying locusts. No, no, these will be particularly aggressive and in huge numbers. Pharaoh will once more try to get Moses to compromise by saying the men can go only, leaving the women and possessions behind. God will not be compromised and so  Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt. Now the words say, "and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts”.  Have you ever heard a grasshopper? One by itself can be loud, not so much annoying as noticeable, right? Please stop for a moment and allow yourself the vision of what it must have looked like, and also what it sounded like having great numbers of locusts invade them, so many, in fact, they could not see the ground. Did you shiver? I did! Remember too, that the Israelites did not suffer this attack and it must have been really bad because Pharaoh “quickly” summoned Moses and Aaron. He asked them to forgive his sin and get rid of the locusts.

His sorrow didn’t last for long though and with Pharaoh’s hard heart came the plague of darkness. This was a really dense darkness. Have you ever been in a place like a cave, where it is so dark you can not even see your hand in front of your face? A dark so dark you can feel it suppressing you? A dark that is so dark your imagination starts to play crazy tricks on you? I have and am quite good with not having that “fun?” again. Apparently Pharaoh did not like it either and once more tries to get Moses to compromise.

We are now to the final plague. God gives, to the Israelites, specific instructions on how they are to prepare for and protect themselves from this final plague. In all of the instructions they are basically told to get ready to go. - Oh my word, there is SO much here to glean from in this chapter, please read it slowly, take it verse by verse, camp out on it for a spell if you can. Pray over it, ask God to show you what He wants for you see here because there is a lot there, so many parallels to draw with Jesus, the Lamb of God. It will fill you up encouragement, and hope, and the love of God. It is so good.

Well, suffice to say it was a sad day in the land of Egypt when 12:29-30 “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” How confusing this had to have been for most of the Egyptians, did they know it was coming? Can you hear the wailing? Can you in your mind’s eye see the devastated mom rocking her no longer breathing first born child in her arms? And … and if her husband happened to be a first born, well, he’s dead too. So it is finally, a heartbroken Pharaoh who at last allows Moses to lead the more than two million Israelites, who have been in captivity for some 450 years, out of Egypt.

The most powerful nation in the world, at the time, was not able to keep God from fulfilling His covenant promise to Abraham and the Hebrew people. Our God is so much bigger than anything our little, tiny minds could ever imagine. Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” 

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …