Scripture

And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.

Observation

The Lord tells Moses that they are to dedicate to the Lord the firstborn of all livestock and the firstborn son of every person. The firstborn donkey can be redeemed with a lamb in its place. Otherwise its neck is to be broken. They must buy back the firstborn sons.

They must celebrate this rescue at the hand of the Lord each year, telling their children the reason for the celebration.

When Pharaoh lets the people go, the Lord does not lead them by the straight route through Philistine territory. If they faced a battle, they would want to return to Egypt. So God leads them by a longer route through the wilderness.

The Lord goes ahead of them as a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night.

Application

The Lord’s presence did not leave the people of God. The pillar of cloud was with them every day. The pillar of fire was with them every night.

That must have been a very encouraging sign to the people. The Lord was always there with them.

We have the same promise today. God is always with us. Jesus said, “I will never leave you until the end of the age.” Not only that, but every believer has the Holy Spirit in them.

What an encouragement that should be to us. God is always with me- ahead, behind, inside. I can never escape from His presence, even if I wanted to.

When we go through times of suffering, distress and darkness, God is with us. He walks with us through the tough times and the good times alike,

How awesome is that!

Prayer

Thank you Lord for this knowledge that you are always with me. When I am tempted to believe that you have abandoned me, please remind me that you are here. Amen.

Scripture

On that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.

Observation

Following the death of the firstborn sons, Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron, and now he orders them and the entire Israelite people to leave Egypt.

The Israelites gather their possessions and herds. They ask the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold which they give to them.

The people are like a great army of 600,000 men plus women and children. The Lord instructs them about celebrating Passover.

The Lord has brought Israel out of Egypt like a great army, as He promised.

Application

The Lord set the Israelites free from Egypt after exactly 430 years there, some of it in slavery. Nobody could have foreseen how or when this would happen. Yet the Lord did it in His time.

The Israelites did not leave as slaves but as wealthy people as the Egyptians willingly handed over to them all of their wealth.

When God makes a promise, we can be certain that it will come to pass. We may become impatient because God’s time scales are always different to ours.

God fulfils His promises in ways we can not anticipate. A nation of slaves does not just get up walk out into freedom. But in God’s plans, this is exactly what happened.

The message at the heart of this passage is that we should not give up on God. If He promised it, it will happen.

Keep praying! Be patient! Be expectant!

Prayer

Thank you Father that you do keep your promises. Please help me to be patient and to keep on trusting. Amen.

Scripture

That night at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed.

Observation

The Lord instructs Moses that the current month is to be the first month in their calendar. On the fourteenth of the month, they are to take a lamb, slaughter it, and smear its blood on the doorposts of their houses.

The people are to be fully dressed and ready to leave. The Lord will strike down the firstborn son of every Egyptian, but the Israelites He will spare. This is judgement on the gods of Egypt.

So in the middle of the night, the Lord strikes down the firstborn son of every Egyptian from the Pharaoh down.

Application

The last and most devastating plague resulted in the death of every firstborn son in Egypt. The Israelites were spared by the Lord, but every Egyptian family, including Pharaoh himself, was stricken.

As the Lord stated in v. 12, this was not a judgement on the people of Egypt but on their gods. None of these gods was able to protect Egypt from the wrath of the Lord. Even Pharaoh, who claimed to be divine was not immune from this judgement.

The Lord is the only Lord, the only God. All people, all ideologies, all gods, all social and economic systems; they are all subject to the Lord. He reigns over all things, and nothing can stand in His way.

Prayer

Lord God, you are greater than all we can imagine. Yet you love your people and rescue those who seek you. Glory, praise and honour to you, Most High God. Amen.

Scripture

Moses had announced to Pharaoh: “This is what the Lord says, ‘At midnight tonight, I will pass through the heart of Egypt’”

Observation

The Lord tells Moses that He will strike Egypt once more and then Pharaoh will order the Israelites to leave.

The Israelite men and women are to ask their Egyptian neighbours for gold and silver. The Lord has given them so much favour amongst the Egyptians that they will be happy to do this.

The last plague will be the death of the first born son of every Egyptian, including the first born of their livestock.

Application

The Egyptians worshipped life above all things- not too dissimilar to our own culture which denies the reality of death. The Lord alone is the giver of life and the one who can take it away. Every person needs to be ready to meet the Lord on His terms.

Moses announced that the Lord would pass through the heart of Egypt. We tend to think of the Lord passing through as a happy event. When the Lord confronts sin, however, it can be far from happy. If the Lord comes to judge, and people are not prepared to repent of their sins, then suffering will be the result.

This applies to christians as much as anyone else. The Lord wants us to be holy and set apart for Him. To the extent that we cling to our sinful attitudes and behaviours, we too might be subject to a cleansing that ultimately brings us closer to Him.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to turn away from every form of sin, and to live only and wholly for you. Amen.

Scripture

“Very well,” Moses said. “I will never see you again.”

Observation

Pharaoh’s officials are becoming worried about the damage being inflicted on Egypt. Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh that if he refuses to let the Israelites go to worship the Lord, there will be a plague of locusts such as Egypt has never seen before.

Pharaoh tells them that the men can go to worship the Lord, but the women and children must stay behind. So Moses raises his staff, and the locusts descend.

Next, the Lord sends darkness on the land, except where the Israelites live. Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and tells them the Israelites may go, but they must leave all their livestock behind. Moses tells him they need to take their animals in order to select some to sacrifice to the Lord.

Pharaoh now tells Moses to go away. If he comes back, Moses will die. Moses replies that he will never see Pharaoh’s face again.

Application

The Egyptians believed that their god Osiris caused the plants to grow. The plague of locusts coming at the Lord’s command showed that the Lord was greater than Osiris.

Pharaoh was believed to be an incarnation of the sun god. But the Lord is the one who controls light and darkness.

Pharaoh finally reached a point where he is past relenting or repenting. The next plague demonstrates that the Lord is an existential threat to the people of Egypt.

Sometimes people’s hearts are so hardened towards the Lord that nothing will bring them to a place of repentance. No miracle or sign or revelation or disaster is big enough to take their eyes off themselves and on to God.

We cannot make the judgement about the state of another person’s heart. We should continue to pray for them and share with them when we can, but we should also be realistic.

Prayer

Father, thank you for rescuing me from my sin. May my heart never be hard towards you. Amen.

Scripture

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn.

Observation

The plagues continue, with all livestock dying, except that belonging to the Israelites. A plague of festering boils follows, and then the worst storm in history destroys the crops of flax and barley.

Pharaoh sees the destruction and pretends to repent. He pleads with Moses to stop the rain and hail. Moses agrees, but says, “I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord.”

Moses lifts his hands to the Lord, and the storm ends. Pharaoh again becomes stubborn, and he refuses to let the Israelites go.

Application

At the height of the storm, Pharaoh confesses that he has sinned against God and promises to let the Israelites go. But when the storm is over, so is Pharaoh’s repentance.

Many people have gone through the motions of repentance during testing times, only to walk away from the Lord when the trial is over.. They treat confession of sin as a bargaining chip to buy God’s favour.

When God’s anger seems to be overcome, they think that they can return to their normal life of self-centred pleasure.

Like Pharaoh, their repentance is not genuine, and so it does not last.

Real repentance is not about confessing our sins in order to get God off our case. No, it is an honest recognition that we have made ourselves god of our own life, and this has not worked.

To repent means to invite God to be on the throne of my life- and to let Him stay there.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please take the throne of my life, and rule over my thoughts and feelings. I relinquish everything to you. Amen.

Scripture

“This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord predicted.

Observation

Three more plagues infest the land of Egypt. Increasingly, Pharaoh and his magicians recognise that God is in control and their magic cannot compete with His power.

But still Pharaoh remains stubborn, and he refuses to let the Israelites go.

Application

Frogs were revered by Egyptians because of their ability to live in both water and the land. Likewise flies seemed to be able to turn death into life as their young emerged from decaying matter. Biting insects would have made life very unpleasant for everyone.

By the time we get to the plague of flies, the Lord is exempting the land where the Israelites live. Flies do not respect lines on a map, but the Lord ensured that this supernatural plague hurt the Egyptians more than the Israelites.

Both Pharaoh and the magicians can see that a greater power than they can imagine is at work. But Pharaoh remains stubborn.

The idea of losing a large slave population must have seemed threatening to Pharaoh. Maybe he thought that he could manage the crisis, just riding out each plague until things returned to normal.

God cannot be managed, resisted or out-waited. If we are for Him, blessings abound. If we oppose Him, serious consequences will flow like a tsunami.

Whether we are rulers of great nations or humble every day people, surrendering to the Lord Is always the best way.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to surrender to you, to let you have your way in my life. Amen.

Scripture

“I will make the Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.”

Observation

The Lord again commands Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh. Pharaoh demands to see a miracle, so Aaron throws down his staff which turns into a snake. Pharaoh summons his magicians who do a similar miracle, although Aaron’s staff eats their staffs.

Then the Lord tells Moses to meet Pharaoh at the river. When Pharaoh again refuses to release the Israelites, Aaron raises his staff over the river, and the Lord turns it into blood, killing the fish and making it undrinkable.

Pharaoh’s heart remains hard, and he refuses to let God’s people go.

Application

God confronts Pharaoh’s heart, multiplying miracles in Egypt to convince him that the Lord is the one true God.

The plagues that afflict Egypt seem random to us, but to God they had a definite purpose- to destroy Egypt’s religious system and demonstrate that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews is greater than the gods of Egypt, even on their home ground.

The Egyptians worshipped the Nile because it was the source of life and prosperity for them. When the Lord turned it instantly into blood, becoming dead and putrid, it shod that God’s word is greater than the river gods.

This is not just about water, important as that is. It is the religious issue of the source of life.

It is God who gives us life. In many western nations there is a push to liberalise abortion and assisted suicide laws. Soon the State will be seen as the source of life and death.

Christians must proclaim that the Lord, and the Lord alone, gives life.

Prayer

Thank you Father for the gift of life in this world and in the world to come. Amen.