Exodus 9-11 & Psalm 22:12-31

Exodus 9-11

Exodus 9 continues with the plagues of God upon Egypt and its Pharaoh.  God has caused Pharaoh's heart to be hardened against the Plagues because He wants to be the God of all.  So God continues to show that the gods of Egypt are worthless in these plagues.

The fifth plague of the death of all of Egypt's livestock.  But none of Israel's livestock will suffer.  The day this happened, all of Egypt's horses, cattle, donkeys, camels, and sheep fell dead.  But none of Israel's were harmed.  The cow in Egypt were the supreme gods in their pagan worship.  The cow was the head goddess who oversaw all mothers.  The bull was the "creator" god who was also the god of fertility.  But God put to death both of these gods with this plague and Pharaoh was still refusing to allow Israel to go.

The sixth plague was the plague of boils.  Upon the skin of both humans and animals that were left alive, boils broke out with great pain.  With this plague, God put to death the god of medicine for the Egyptians for this was something no medicine could cure.  Even the magicians broke out in boils and yet Pharaoh still would not let Israel go. 

The seventh plague was preceded with a warning.  A great hailstorm will begin and the people of Egypt were challenged to seek cover or they will die.  Some had feared God enough that they listened; but, there were still some who had no respect for God's word and they were left out and died.  When we do not obey the word of the Lord, it will have great consequences on our lives! The hailstorm was so great that it left Egypt in ruins.  God showed them all that their pagan gods of the sky, the goddess of life, and the god who protected the crops were useless. Pharaoh finally confessed his sin.  But confession is not enough is it.  For even though Pharaoh admitted his sin, he still refused to allow the Israelites to leave.

The eighth plague is of the locusts.  Even when the palace officials to Pharaoh advised the Pharaoh allow the Israelites to go, he still refused.  But rather, he tried to strike a deal with Moses.  "Who will go?"  Pharaoh asked.  "I will allow just the men,"  He said.  But since they all could not go, Moses lifted his staff and the locusts came and ate all that was green and all plant life died as a result.  Again, God showed that the goddess of life and the god who protected the crops were of no match of the God of the universe!   "I have sinned," Pharaoh said again.  And the locusts was blown away; but, Pharaoh still had a hard heart and would not let them go.

The ninth plague was the plague of darkness.  It became utterly dark for three days.  No one could see.  God showed to Egypt that they sun gods were of no match for the God of the heavens.  With this plague, Pharaoh attempted once more to compromise and allow all of Israel to go but to leave their cattle.  This was not what God has said, so Pharaoh's heart was hardened and would not allow them to go.

Then Moses announced the tenth and final plague to Pharaoh.  He said to him that the spirit of God will pass through Egypt and every firstborn will die.  The firstborn child of the families and the first born animal.  Egypt will suffer greatly.  But the Israelites will not suffer.  For God has made a distinction between Egypt and Israel.  This will put to death the gods that Egypt worshipped--the god who is the giver of life; and Pharaoh who was worshipped as a god among the Egyptians.  The God of heaven is greater that all other gods that Egypt had worshipped.  

Psalm 22:12-31

As we pick up in this Psalm that we began yesterday, we can sense the real agony that David must feel.  He feels abandoned by God.  He feels completely surrounded by his enemies.  Psalm 22:16-18 again is a prophecy of Jesus' death on the cross.  According to Matthew 27:35, Jesus' hands and feet were pierced with nails as he was nailed to the cross.  In addition Mark 15:24 tells us that the roman soldiers gambled for the clothing of Jesus.  The reference to the enemies being "dogs", "lions", and "wild oxen" makes me picture the sheer violence and viciousness of those oppressing David (as were the roman soldiers who persecuted Jesus).  Psalm 22:22 takes a turn in attitude.  Where David was crying out to God not to ignore him, beginning in verse 22, David beings praising God for not ignoring him.  God never did ignore him.  Although God may not always answer our prayers the way we believe that He should; He listens and He hears.  God's plan may differ from ours.  Therefore, we must submit to God to be ruler and authority over our situations and trust in His plan.  Only then can we truly come from trials praising God for His intervention!