A continuation of “I am the LORD. I do not change.” Malachi 3:6
When one reads the Book of Exodus, I wonder if people ponder the TENsion that was created in both the people of Egypt and the nation of Israel as they experienced the affects of Moses appealing to Pharaoh to let God’s people go and Pharaoh’s persistent resistance. I am sure you are aware of the basic conversation. Moses requests from Pharaoh the release God’s people. Moses was instructed to say, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” (NKJV) Pharaoh’s reply was in essence, ‘No Way’. That is a simplistic summary of his response. But because of Pharaoh’s persistent decline to release God’s people, a series of 10 plagues were released upon the nation of Egypt. The nation of Israel lived in Egypt in the land of Goshen. The history of their presence in Egypt is the story of the Sovereignty and Providence of God in the life of Jacob, his sons, and in particular, Joseph.
Exodus 1:1-7 gives us a summary of their coming into Egypt. Beginning with Exodus 1:5-7 (NKJV), it says, “All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. “But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.” (emphasis mine) . Joseph, and his family have a legacy in the nation of Egypt. But over the course of time that legacy was forgotten.
It is now 400 plus years later. Exodus 1:8-14 sets the scene and the tone for the story of the conflict between the Pharaoh of Egypt and Moses, the hand-picked leader of God, for Israel. Let’s get a feel of the tension in the air.
Exodus 1:8-14 (NKJV), “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happens, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage–in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which which they made them serve was with rigor.”
From Exodus 1:15 through Exodus 4:31, the narrative recounts the events surrounding the incarceration of Israel; the birth of Moses; the Sovereignty and Providence of God watching over the life of Moses; the ill-fated choices that Moses made; the fleeing of Moses into the wilderness; the change bought about in Moses’ life living in the wilderness; God’s revelation to Moses at the burning bush; the reluctance of Moses to lead; God’s determined will being done in the life of Moses. (see, Hebrews 11:23-26)
When Moses came back to Egypt from the wilderness, he and his brother Aaron “gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” Exodus 4:29-31(NKJV)
(Isn’t it interesting that the words that Aaron spoke were followed by signs following. This is what Jesus told His disciples in Mark 16:15-18 would happen when they preached the gospel. Mark 16:20 (NKJV), And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.”)
In Exodus 5:1-3, the initial confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh is recorded. This sets the tone for what will take place between Moses, God’s spokesman, and Pharaoh, Egypt’s ruler. It reflects the spiritual battle between God and Satan. God calling His people out of Egypt, a type of the world, to worship Him; and Pharaoh, a type of Satan, the ruler of the world, seeking to keep Israel (humanity )in bondage. It contrasts the worship of the One True God, with the worship of the false gods of Egypt. Each of the plagues were against an Egyptian god.
Exodus 5:1-3 (NKJV), Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel to? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, let He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
The initial confrontation sets the tone. The TENsion has been planted in seed form. What follows next in the Book of Exodus is God, through Moses, revealing to Pharaoh, to the nation of Egypt, and to the nation of Israel who He is, and why they need to obey His voice. Remember, it has been 400 plus years since the arrival of the family of Jacob coming into the land of Egypt. God had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That story is the bulk of what is recorded in the Book of Genesis. God has not forgotten His covenant. He is also having His plan of salvation lived out on the earth.
Here is my premise. What has been planted in seed form at the time of the first confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh will sprout and grow into full bloom as God backs up His word as Moses confronts Pharaoh to let His people go. God backs up Moses words by sending 10 plagues throughout the course of the confrontations. The TEN plagues cause the TENsion to rise in the nation of Egypt and in the nation of Israel. The study of the 10 plagues is fascinating. The TENth plague is especially riveting because it follows a plague of darkness. The TENth plague foreshadows Christ as the Lamb of God who takes the away the sin of the world. Christ is the Passover Lamb. The TENth plague is when God passes over all the households in Egypt to kill the first born in each household. There is a death in each household where the Lord does not see the blood of a lamb, that had been killed, applied on the lintel and on the two doorposts of the house (picture of the cross).
Exodus 12:12-13 (NKJV), The Lord said to Moses, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night (the night of the TENth plague), and will strike all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. (Notice, there is no differentiation stated at point between Egyptians and Hebrews.); and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord(emphasis mine). Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you (the blood makes differentiation); and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” (parentheses mine).
A series of TEN plagues has been witnessed and experienced by the Egyptians and the Hebrews. All TEN plagues affected the Egyptians; however, not all TEN plagues directly affected the Hebrews as they did the Egyptians. The Hebrews lived in the land of Goshen situated in the nation of Egypt and God made differentiations between His people and the nation of Egypt. For example, when the darkness of the ninth plague blacked out the nation of Egypt for three days, there was light in Goshen. Exodus 11:21-23 (NKJV), “Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt. So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
God is Sovereign over all, and in His Providence He cared for, and differentiated for His people.
Israel had cried out to God (Exodus 2:23-25), He heard their cry, remembered His covenant, and providentially interrupted Moses’ life for a leadership assignment.
What God intended to do through Moses was not to make people feel good. His intervention was confrontational, revelational, and fearful. I submit is caused TENsion.
Pharaoh had boasted to Moses saying, “Who is Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2, NKJV). The truth is that he did not know who the Lord was, , therefore, why should he acquiesce to what God was asking him to do?
The scripture tells us, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks upon the heart. (I Samuel 16:7). God knew the heart of Pharaoh. God knew Pharaoh’s constant response to Moses would be negative and He knew that Pharaoh would hardened his heart as he repeatedly said, no. God will have His people released from Egypt. God will show Pharaoh, and the Egyptians who He is; and God will show the nation of Israel that He is the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and that He loves them and will keep the covenant that He had made with them.
From this initial confrontation, Pharaoh increases the burden on the people of Israel; Moses leadership is challenged by the people of Israel; Moses complains (Exodus 5:22-23, NKJV) to God; “God why have you brought trouble on this people?”; “Why is it You have sent Me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.” I don’t get it God. God reassures Moses, I have got this under control,(my paraphrase). “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see (emphasis mine) what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” (Exodus 6:1, NKJV). In Exodus 6:2-8 (NKJV), God has Moses undivided attention, and God continues, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: “I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it you as a heritage: I am the LORD.” (emphasis mine).
I wonder if Moses had a mental flashback to his encounter with God at the burning bush. (Exodus 3:1-12) Notice the bracketing (vs 2 and vs 8) of God’s Word to Moses: “I am the LORD”. That is straight forward, succinct and all inclusive. Moses is hearing from God; the Holy One of Israel; the Creator of the universe; the One True God; the Almighty God; YHWH, the LORD, I AM THAT I AM.
Now what?
Exodus 7:1-5 (NKJV), “So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD (emphasis mine), when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
God has spoken His Word to Moses. Moses is to speak God’s Word, through Aaron, to Pharaoh. God will confirm His Word with signs and wonders (plagues) following .
Moses will come before Pharaoh and speak to him God’s Word to let His people go. Pharaoh will respond in different ways; but the end result is always a negative response, and a continuing hardening of his heart.
There are TEN plagues. The TEN plagues are sent in response to Pharaoh’s refusal to let Israel go. The TEN plagues are miraculous interventions by God. God’s manifestations through Moses create a growing atmosphere of apprehension, of fear, and TENsion. Question: Does the continuation of the plagues make ‘believers’ of the people regarding God’s Word through Moses? Do they take it to heart? Is the realization setting in that when Pharaoh says, NO, Moses is instructed by God to ‘stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there will be… ‘ And what God says will happen does take place. Now now having seen and experienced the the outcomes of the previous nine plagues and being told what is going to transpire with the tenth plague, will God’s people, heed the instruction of God regarding the TENth plague.
Exodus 12:1-3,5a,6,7,11b-13 (NKJV), “Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household’…Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year….Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it…It is the LORD’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD (emphasis mine). Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague will not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” (the blood differentiates. It did then, it still does.)
The TENsion that had been planted in seed form when Moses first spoke to Pharaoh has grown and will now culminate in death; except where the blood of the lamb has been applied “on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they (Israel) eat it(the lamb).” (Exodus 12:7 NKJV,)(emphasis, insert mine)
God has used a series of TEN signs and wonders (plagues) to authenticate His Word through Moses to the Egyptians and to the Israelites. It is interesting that some of the plagues, God allowed to afflict the Egyptians and the Israelites. As the plagues progressed, God differentiated between the Egyptians and His people. He allowed some plagues to affect Egypt but not affect Israel. The first two plagues had no distinction; in fact the magicians of Egypt were able to duplicate the plagues. God allowed it. Satan does have the ability to counterfeit things. However, when the magicians tried to duplicate the third plague, they were unable to do so; why? may I interject my thought? The dust of the ground was struck and life was created out of the dust of the ground. How was Adam formed? Out of the dust of the ground. This time the dust was struck and lice were formed. The point is that God is the Creator of life. The magicians of Egypt could not duplicate this. Their response was, Exodus 8:19, (NKJV), “Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them (Moses/Aaron) as the Lord had said.” (insert mine). Plagues 4,5,7,9 says that Israel was not affected by the plague. God made a difference. Plagues 6, 8 do not say that Israel was not affected. We need to remember that God is Sovereign of all; and that He is Providential toward His people.
I do not believe that I am out of place saying that the people in the land of Egypt were feeling the TENsion growing within them personally and in their surrounding atmosphere as the plagues continued to come just as Moses had declared they would. One wonders what took place in the minds of people who were not close to source of conflict between Pharaoh and Moses. There is no internet or cell phones, no fast communication. But, I do not think it is unreasonable to suggest that the Egyptians were wondering what will happen next?
God is making believers out of everyone in the nation of Egypt, whether they are Egyptian or Hebrew. Is it possible some didn’t believe? Absolutely. It doesn’t say. The one who was affected the most was Pharaoh. Is it safe to say that he came to believe what Moses was telling him was going to be true; but his heart was hardened so that he could not say yes until after the TENth plague. Only then could he call for Moses and tell him to take the people and go. His pride was strong and it hardened his heart. Exodus 12:29-32 (NKJV), “And it came to pass at mid-night that the Lord struck all the first born in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and the first born of the livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said. Also take your flocks and you herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” But it didn’t end there, “And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them our of the land in haste. For they said, We shall all be dead. ” Exodus 12:33, (NKJV). Israel exited in haste.
Why all the preparation? The TENth plague is coming. The TENth plague is the crescendo for the deliverance of God’s people. It is a foreshadowing of the teaching that points to the foundation of God’s plan of salvation. The coming of the Son of God, who is the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. He will come and be killed. His death on the cross will be an act of propitiation that will completely satisfy the wrath of God against sin. His death, burial, and resurrection will conquer death, hell, and the grave. His death renders Satan powerless. Death has died in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
In the age in which we are living, there is a growing TENsion that is building in the atmosphere of this world. The Kingdom of God and kingdom of darkness are both maturing. The wheat and the tares are sown in the earth. We are witnessing an exponential rise of evil throughout the world. The enemy of our souls has become very bold. Jesus says in John 10:10 (NKJV), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” There is spiritual warfare.
Remember, Romans 5:20,21, (NKJV), “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (emphasis mine)
I believe we are going to see a manifestation of God’s Grace by the power of the Holy Spirit in these last days. Just as God confirmed His Word, through Moses, in Egypt, a type of the world; He will confirm His Word through the His Church to the world today. The Lord will raise up a standard of righteousness by the power of His Spirit through the preaching of the Word; He will confirm the message of the Gospel with signs and wonders just as He said He would to His disciples in Mark 16.
Change is coming, the Holy Spirit will come with Pentecostal renewal and power to the Church, as it did on the day of Pentecost.
I believe in the ministry of the Word, with signs following.
So, I ask again, why all this preparation? Because there is going to be another deliverance of God’s people, those who are believers in Jesus Christ.
Acts 1:9-11, (NKJV), “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. and while they looked steadfastly t0ward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, “who also said, “Men of Galilee, who do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from y0u into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Before Christ returns again, there is going to be a growing TENsion. It is all part of God’s plan of salvation.
Are you under the blood? Have you passed from death unto life by accepting Jesus Christ as your Passover Lamb?
Malachi 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I do not change.”
Amen, Thank you LORD.
a believer in Christ, deo
Living Words of Encouragement 