Topic: LESSONS FROM PLAGUES
Scripture:
Exodus 7:13 -14,
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt”.
The Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs”.
Moses, Israelites, Pharaoh, Egyptians, and ten plagues that ultimately ended up with the Israelites being set free and delivered from Egypt–this is an epic story that showcases God’s power and love.
For today I want to put the attention on what can we learn from the 10 plagues. These plagues are critical to this story because without them Pharaoh would not have let the Israelites go. Let me share with you a few things we can learn from the 10 plagues, in no particular order.
The 10 Plagues of Egypt in Order are: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the killing of firstborn children. These plagues are recorded in the Bible, and were sent by God after Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt.
There Were Two Purposes for the Judgment
And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” – Exodus 7:5
…Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. – Exodus 8:10
When you read the story of the Exodus from Egypt there really were two objectives.
1. The big objective which we focus on the most is the deliverance of the Israelites. God used these plagues to soften Pharoah’s heart eventually leading to him letting them go. However, there was another objective that was just as important. God needed to show the Egyptians who he really was.
2. It was in these plagues that God was making known to the Egyptians that he is the one, true and living God. The plagues were God’s way of getting the attention of the Egyptians. We know the fate of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army but what we don’t know is how many of the remaining Egyptians may have turned their hearts towards God after seeing this display of his power.
3. Remorse and Relief from Suffering Does Not Automatically Lead to Repentance
“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said”
What we learn from the 10 plagues is that each of them brought suffering with it that was progressively more intense. As the consequences increased so did the need for Pharaoh and the Egyptians to seek relief. However, what you notice is once the circumstance was alleviated, everything went back to normal and there was no real repentance.
This is an important lesson to understand for our own lives; relief and remorse don’t always produce repentance. One of the ways you can measure true repentance is what happens when the consequence is finally removed. If you go back to what you were doing before, then there has been no true repentance.
We often see this in our society when great tragedies strike, whether it is on a national scale, or in an individual’s personal life. The pain of the moment causes a person to seek relief however once the pain is alleviated and the sting is not as great, they return to business as usual with no real repentance. This was Pharoah’s lot, and this is the lot of many people as well. We must pray for our generation to truely seek repentance and seek God with a genuine and sincere heart.
PRAYER
Lord, I kneel before You in humble submission and pray that in Your mercy and kindness You would help me to simply follow you in sincerity of heart and genuine worship in Jesus Name. Amen
