Exodus 5-8
Moses has been instructed to go back to Egypt and gain the support of the Israelites and then go to Pharaoh and request him to allow God's people to go and worship Him and leave Egypt. After gaining the support of the Israelites in Exodus 4, Moses then goes before Pharaoh in Exodus 5. He and Aaron (his brother) say this to Pharaoh, "God says, 'Let my people go, for they must go into the wilderness to worship me.'" Pharaoh in his disbelief in God and in his selfish contempt for Israel, refuses to allow them to go and on top of that, he doubles their workload. This causes great hostility among the Israelites and causes Moses to doubt the mission God has sent him on. We should know that when God challenges us with a task, the way will not always be paved smooth and the road be easy to travel.
God has caused Pharaoh's heart to harden and not listen to Him. Why would God have done this? I believe that it was exactly what God said in Exodus 7:3-so that God can prove Himself to the Israelites and the Egyptians. If Pharaoh were to immediately give in, then the Israelites might have placed their full trust and worship in Moses. But God must have the credit for this miracle!
The Plague of blood, although duplicated by the magicians of Pharaoh's palace, was devastating for it poisoned all drinking and cleaning water. Not only that, but all of the living in the water were killed! This put a drastic end to the most popular food to be eaten. Finally this brought devastation upon the Egyptian pagan worship for part of the worship was for the River god and the gods of the great alligators who lived in the river.
The second plague was the plague of the frogs. This was an insult to the Egyptian god of resurrection who watched over childbirth who was in the form of a frog. Again, God takes aim at their worship and announces that He is a mightier God! Pharaoh was convinced and allowed Israel to go tomorrow; but he soon changed his mind after the frogs had all died.
The third plague was of gnats. The dust of the ground became swarms of gnats which was probably more of a annoyance than anything. When the magicians could not imitate this plague, they told Pharaoh that this certainly was of God and that Pharaoh should give in. But his heart remained hard and refused.
The fourth plague is of flies. This time God caused the miracle to single out only the Egyptians. The flies would not swarm around the Israelite homes. only the Egyptians. When this happened, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and attempted to compromise with them. "Offer your sacrifices here in Egypt." We cannot be tempted to compromise the word of God. If God says something, do just that. If God says do not lie, then do not compromise and think that avoiding the truth is a good idea. Compromising God's standard will never do. Pharaoh gives in and says that he will allow the Israelites to go, but hs soon changes his mind and hardens his heart.
This is a Psalm that as you read, you will picture Jesus on the cross. In fact, much of this Psalm is a direct prophecy of Jesus' suffering on the cross. Psalm 22:1 speaks for itself, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me." Obviously David is enduring some great trial here. And this is not a cry of doubt to God; rather, it is a cry of appeal to God of "HELP!" This is what Jesus said on the cross (Matthew 27:46). We have probably found ourselves in such a difficult trail that we have said to God, "Where are you?" "I need you!" "Why are you not listening to me?" Don't you know that God is a big enough God to hear our cries like this? He can handle our criticism such as this. Although we end today's Psalm reading in an awkward place, we can be assured that God does hear our cries! Sometimes we may feel that He is ignoring them; but He hears them and He will answer them (we will read that in Psalm 22:24)!
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