Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever had a time in your life when ‘bad news’ and catastrophe’s just kept happening, day after day? Did you wonder if you’d ever get through that season of your life and what lasting damage you’d live with after this season finally passed?
We’ve been looking at a time like this in Egypt about 3500 years ago as we look at the Exodus story. All across the landscape of Egypt people have been working for days burying or burning the carcasses of dead livestock. What exactly killed them? Was it a parasite or a virus or simply widespread heart attacks, we don’t know. What we do know is God had given Pharaoh ample warning and the opportunity to PREVENT this terrible calamity, but his hard heart refused…so lots of animals died, but only those owned by Egyptians!
Now a few days later, Moses is again walking toward the palace for another rendezvous with the Pharaoh. Rather than meeting in his throne room, evidently Pharaoh heard Moses was coming so he went outside to meet Moses in an open courtyard area. With Moses’ previous visits, Pharaoh’s opulent, dignified throne room had been invaded by snakes, frogs, gnats, flies and the smell of dead animals! So I think Pharaoh went on the offensive. If he had to meet with Moses again, it would be outside! Seems they met where there was an area for fires used for cooking or warming people on cool nights. We have no record of their conversation but we do know what God had instructed Moses to do: “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron ‘Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on animals and people throughout the land.” (Ex. 9:8,9)
So evidently Moses did exactly what he was told. My daughter lives in an African country where fine dust is in the air almost constantly, sometimes even sand storms. No matter how often they clean, or close their windows and doors, within hours a dust covering is on everything… tables, chairs, beds, kitchen counters, even food! In other parts of the world we’ve seen volcanoes erupt in recent months, and the huge, billowing ash cloud leaves a covering of ash over everything, even penetrating clothing. So it shouldn’t be difficult for us to imagine this cloud of fine dust emanating from the handfuls of soot that Moses threw up into the air.
As the cloud grew larger and larger spreading all across the city where Pharaoh’s palace was, and across the entire nation, oh my can you imagine what the people were experiencing? The dust penetrated into homes and bedrooms and even Pharaoh’s throne room! Once again everyone, even the Pharaoh, found themselves huddling under sheets for some relief from the dust…everyone that is except the Hebrew slaves in Goshen! Yes, one more time God did a double miracle! He sent a dust storm across the entire land of Egypt except in one province, Goshen, where the sky was cloudless and the air clear!!
How long this dust storm lasted, we don’t know. But by morning as the sun rose and people could wipe the dust off their eyelids enough to see, screams of shock were heard all across Egypt. First they looked like little skin pimples on people’s bodies, then after a few moments it looked like a rash, maybe even like chicken pox. But as people watched their bodies and the bodies of their children, the rash spread and grew into boils, painful, festering, oozing boils. People couldn’t lie down, for they had boils on their backs. And they couldn’t sit for they had boils on their bottoms! There was no comfortable position…and oh the pain…even in the palace, for yes, Pharaoh’s officials, family and even the Pharaoh himself saw festering boils on their bodies. The noise of the screams was rising all across the palatial city. But once again God protected His people… not one Hebrew was affected with boils!
We have no record of how long this terrible disease lasted, but it appears just as God sent it upon the people, so God removed it. We presume Pharaoh had once again begged Moses to pray asking God to remove this plague. Now think about this a moment… Pharaoh with oozing boils all over his body, including his face, is standing in his throne room telling, maybe begging Moses to pray. No physician has any medication to bring relief to these boils. Pharaoh and the entire Egyptian population are in terrible pain and suffering, yet look at Moses standing there in Pharaoh’s throne room. Moses has clear skin, no boils and no pain! Evidently Moses did pray and God did stop the spread of the boils, and slowly they began to heal. But once again the record says: “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart…” (Ex. 9:12)
My “Walking with Jesus” friends, there’s something very important for us to consider here. Each of these plagues were not simply arbitrary judgements causing pain to Pharaoh and his people, the Egyptians. This was a multi-level strategy which God was utilizing here. Each plague was amazing, supernatural, a miracle! And each plague impacted and interrupted the normal lifestyle of the people of Egypt. Some of the plagues powerfully impacted the Egyptian economy. But did you know each plague also had powerful spiritual implications? The Egyptians worshipped many different ‘gods’ and had fabricated many idols to represent those gods. You’ll recall God had said to Moses: “The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out My hand against Egypt…” (Ex. 7:5) Almighty, holy God was defeating, humiliating these Egyptian ‘gods’, one at a time, with each plague! Here’s a well prepared chart which shows us each plague and the Egyptian god it confronted:
I’ve often wondered if the boils left scars on the skin of the Egyptians as they slowly healed? Those scars would have reminded the people, for the rest of their lives, of this remarkable, unique season of Egyptian history. But it wasn’t over! Pharaoh still refused to allow the Hebrew slaves to leave and he refused to acknowledge Moses’ God as the supreme God. So Moses once again returned to the Pharaoh and warned Pharaoh with a new message from God. The Exodus record says: “This is what the God of the Hebrews says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me, or this time I will send the full force of My plagues against you and against your people, so that you may know there is no one like ME in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the face of the earth. But, I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My NAME might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Ex. 9:13-16)
Pharaoh knew it was true. God’s power was undeniable, and God’s control of His power, as seen by His protection of His people the Hebrews, was also undeniable. God had been merciful and not allowed the plagues to kill Pharaoh or his people. But I believe my friends, that last line of God’s message to Pharaoh kept him awake that night, and probably had him out on his balcony looking up at the stars and out across his city reflecting in a whole new way about the ultimate purpose of his life! Take special note of these words from God which deeply troubled the Pharaoh: “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My Name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Ex. 9:16) God was saying that from the time of Pharaoh’s birth, his entire life had been pointing forward to this season of the Exodus. His primary purpose in living was not to build great buildings with slave labor, but to BE the instrument, in the hand of God, to show the world the power of God!
Now I want us to pause right here and I invite us all, you and me, whoever you are, wherever you are, to ponder and own that statement from God. For your greatest life purpose and mine is to BE a person in whose life the power of God is greatly seen!! Here’s another way to say it: our greatest accomplishment in life is making Jesus famous! Now I challenge you to really ponder that as you consider your life, and we’ll come back to it tomorrow. In fact will you join me in memorizing Exodus 9:16? It might change your life!
Today’s Scripture is Exodus 9:8-16.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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