"But For The Grace of God..."

Prepare: Lord Give me Your grace that I may overcome all temptations.
Read: Exodus 10:7-29

D.L Moody saw once a criminal  handcuffed and led by the guards. With all sincerity the evangelist remarked, "But for the grace of God, there goes D.L. Moody!" How true! We may be tempted to find fault with Pharaoh. Yes, the Egyptian ruler is the reflection of human weakness, so weak to turn back to God in humility. But it can be any one of us that has enabled us to turn to Him in obedience.

1) The failure of the officers: They fail to convince the ruler. He is so adamant and does not listen to their cry. It is so pathetic when good advice is rejected and pride rules over sound reason.

2) The failure of the ruler: Pharaoh is half hearted in his response. He sees the importance of and urgency to obey God. But his human calculations withhold him to obey God whole-heartedly. Pharaoh becomes so disgusted with Moses that he tells him never to see him again. Moses agreed and neither know that the final plague would be so devastating that the Israelites would be thrust out of Egypt.

In verses 20 & 27, it is said that the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. It is the Hebraic way of saying that the sovereignty of God is the sole reason for all that is happening. But we can see that Pharaoh is held responsible ultimately. To avoid such an end, we need more and more of God's grace to know His mind and obey Him fully at every stage of life.

Respond: Thank God for the grace given to us in and through Jesus Christ to know Him and follow Him everyday.

"...Truth In The Inward Being..."

Prepare: Create in me an awareness of Your awesome presence O Lord, that I may respond correctly to Your Word.
Read: Exodus 9:27-10:6

After World War II, the western colonial powers started losing their colonies one by one. Some of these colonies became independent only after fighting against the colonial powers. The economic exploitation they were enjoying in the colonies stood in the way of the colonisers to grant independence to the colonised.

It is a similar struggle in Egypt. Who will work for them? It is not easy for the ruler to let the people go. Pharaoh struggles to decide aright and in the process his heart gets hardened.

There are three lessons for us in today's passage.
 
Avoid dubious confession: In the words of Pharaoh there is no sincerity (9:27). He displays a shallow understanding of sin. God delights in truth in the inward being (Psalm 51:6). Let our moments of confession be acceptable to God.

Adhere to sincere admonition: The Lord directs Moses and Aaron to instruct the younger generations later on to be faithful to Him. He is Almighty God who saves and preserves His people (10:1,2).

Accept every serious warning: Moses and Aaron give the Egyptians a serious warning from the Lord. This time it is going to be invasion by locusts in huge numbers bringing great devastation to their agricultural life. Will Pharaoh remember the famine that ravaged Egypt for seven years and how Joseph saved the nations from total destruction? As a result, will he be sympathetic to the Hebrews? No, he fails again.


Respond: Make me sincere in all my attempts to love and obey You, Lord.

"Who can Stand Against God?"

Prepare: Give light O Lord that I may understand your Word and praise and worship You.
Read: Exodus 9:1-26

We may find it difficult to understand the message God gives in today's passage. Modern scientific findings and technological developments have put man on a voyage to space searching for the evidence for the presence of extra-terrestrial beings. But our minds and hearts are darkened with sin and rebellion against God that we fail to see the presence of the living God amidst us. He is very much active in His creation, especially among humankind whom He loves very much.

Aphis was the bull-god worshiped in Egypt. At the temple in Memphis a sacred bull was kept and worshiped. Hathor was the cow-goddess of fertility greatly adored by the Egyptians. The sacrificial ashes sprinkled into the air was considered by them as a blessing. Now the ashes from the kin bring great suffering to people and animals. As a result, the magicians cannot stand before Moses.

Hail storm is the first of the four plagues against the sky god. Those who obey God in fear of Him are saved. Horus and Month (the bird gods) and Nut (the sky goddess) are all ineffective to save the people in agony.

Are there modern equivalents to those Egyptian gods? In what ways do these try to rob our love and devotion to God? Any person or object or ambition which takes the place of God is an idol drawing us away from the love of God.

Respond: Lord God, You alone are God! There is no one beside You.

God is at Work

Prepare: Help me see the wonders of Your nature, O lord as I meditate on Your word.
Read: Exodus 8:16-32

The perennial rivers start their journey as trickles of water oozing out of the rocks of high mountains. We fail to realize that this small beginning is going to result in mighty rivers as big as the Amazon. When God is at work, sometimes He starts in a very insignificant way and makes it grow bigger and bigger that no one can finally stop it. This is what happened in Egypt.

Gnats and flies! Who cares about them? Yet, they become serious concerns in Egypt as a result of God working to liberate His people from that land.

Mother earth is worshiped in many parts of the world for it is considered as the agent of fertility, productivity and prosperity. To the ancient Egyptians, earth was sacred; it is life-giving and life sustaining. With the swarms of gnats coming from the dust, earth became useless and harmful.

For the first time the Egyptians-magicians realize their limits. Pharaoh is relenting slowly. The division of the Egyptians and the Hebrews becomes vivid with God caring for His people. God is at work.. and no one can stop Him.

When God deals with us, we must learn to respond positively, however small His promptings may be. Hardening of hearts surely leads to failure and suffering. What is the message you get from God today? What is your response?

Respond: Make me sensitive, Lord, to see You at work and to co-operate with You in every way. 

Power-Encounter

Prepare: Help me see Your mighty power O Lord, as I read Your Word today.
Read: Exodus 7:14-8:15

In the tribal belts of our country, Christian workers come face to face with evil forces as the good news of Jesus Christ is presented to the people living in spiritual darkness. God exhibits His power and wisdom to make people know how much more powerful He is than the other gods.

The ancient Egyptians had three clusters of gods: One related to the river Nile (which actually turned the North African desert in Egypt into a fertile land), the other to the earth and the last to the sky with the burning sun. The ten plagues God allows to affect the lives of the Egyptians show how He brings under His control all these three clusters of gods that all people may come to know His power over all of them.

The water of the Nile turns into blood and becomes useless, non-productive and an agent of destruction. Archaeological findings in Egypt show that the ancient Egyptians used amulets carved in the form of frogs.They adored these frogs. The Egyptian magicians too bring out frogs but they are unable to remove them whereas Moses is. God exhibits His mighty powers to Pharaoh and his people but they fail to accept His authority over them.

In these events of Exodus is the shadow of what Jesus Christ ultimately did by His death on the cross and by His glorious resurrection. He stripped off all the powers of the rulers and authorities to bring them all under His feet (Colossians 2:13-15).

Respond: Thank the Almighty God as we are under His care. 

Listen and Live!

Prepare: Thank You Lord for Your Word! Help me understand Your message.
Read: Exodus 6:25-7:13

Communication of one's views and ideas to another is a skill. Even animals and birds are skilled in communicating to one another. When a woodpecker makes a pecking sound on the trunk of a tree, it sends out the message to other woodpeckers that this part of the wood comes under its territory.

How does God communicate to human beings?

Through His involvement in human history: It is God who actually directs the course of our history. He does so with Moses and his contemporary Hebrews. He works out his purposes in the lives of individuals and people-groups.

Through verbal communication: We see God instructing Moses in human terms and words intelligible to them. He teaches Moses what is to be said. The verbal inspiration of God comes to us today through the words of the Bible. (Hebrews 4:12)

Through visual communication: God sends out His message to Pharaoh showing Him that He is greater than the Egyptian gods and warning him to listen to Moses. This He does by making the staff turn into a serpent and this serpent swallowing the other serpents.

"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.." (Psalm 95:7,8). Today is the Republic Day of our nation. It is good for us as a nation to listen to God that we may live aright.

Respond: Help me Lord to receive Your directions at every stage of my life and obey You in every area of my life. 

We All Need God's Grace!

Prepare: Speak to me Lord that I may be strengthened to face the demands of this day.
Read: Exodus 5:22-6:13

"Frailty, thy name is woman!" exclaims Hamlet about his mother in the play by Shakespeare. Weakness of character is not only confined to womankind. It is common to all humankind. Today's passage clearly brings out this truth.

The people who were once united for the cause of liberation from the Egyptian bondage (4:31) are now disheartened. Moses is also shattered after the stern refusal of Pharaoh to act on his request. He cries to God in despair, "O Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You ever send me? How shall Pharaoh listen to me for I speak with faltering lips?" Facing hardship and not getting quick relief makes them miserable.

The other area where we see human weakness is the Israelites' inability to believe in God. When God reiterates that His promises to Abraham would be surely fulfilled, they are not able to take God at His word. It is not natural and easy for humankind to accept God's word as it is. We need His grace to trust Him.

It is not human strength and united effort that brings victory. It is only God's direct intervention that brings ultimate victory. Also, it is sheer grace of God that helps us trust in Him and His word, and not our intelligence and devotion.

Respond: Lord God, create within me an awareness of how much I need You and Your grace that I may truly lean on You now and forever.