Daily Devotions
Exodus
"For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding." Psalm 47:7
Text: Exodus 11 : 9-10
A DEFIANT PHARAOH
Moses was angry. He was exasperated too! How could he call himself Pharaoh when the land he ruled was being decimated by plague after plague! What had he done for his own people all this while? He did nothing! Indeed, he could do nothing!
A REMINDER
God stepped in to remind Moses that Pharaoh would not listen at all. Pharaoh was angry with Moses, blaming him for all the plagues that had befallen Egypt! Moses was angry with Pharaoh, for he was responsible for all the problems that Egypt was facing!
“But the LORD said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not heed you,
so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.'”
EXODUS 11:9
There was a higher purpose behind all that God was doing in Egypt. Pharaoh’s non-compliance was not the issue anymore!
1. “Pharaoh will not heed you”
Moses perhaps harboured the thought that Pharaoh would come around and listen to reason! Surely, that was one of the points of God sending the plagues! Pharaoh could not continue to drown the voice of reason, could he?
2. “So that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt”
God gave to Moses a different perspective altogether. Even if Pharaoh ended up rejecting the Lord, the higher Divine purposes would still be fulfilled:
a) “My wonders”
The children of Israel needed to know the God of their fathers much better! For hundreds of years, they had lived in idolatrous Egypt! They needed to know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was incomparable! He could perform wonders that no god of Egypt could even dream of!
b) “My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt”
For too long, the Egyptians had despised the children of Israel. They were wrong to enslave them in the first place. They compounded their sin problem when they exercised great cruelty towards them! Through the plagues, the Egyptians would have to acknowledge that the God of the Hebrews was truly LORD!
THE ROLE OF GOD’S SERVANTS
What was the role of God’s servants? Their task was to keep on obeying the Lord.
“So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh;
and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the
children of Israel go out of his land.”
EXODUS 11:10