F O O T H O L D
READING
58 PEOPLE WHO WON'T LISTEN
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PRAY Lord God, open my eyes
to see your sovereignty, and my ears to
hear your voice.
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READ Exodus 628-725.
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THINK Are there any
instances in this passage of God's sovereignty and
human anti-God behaviour?
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FOCUS Things are really
beginning to happen now. God is opening the way
for his people to leave
Egypt.
PASSING ON THE MESSAGE (6:28-7:5).
Pharaoh was given another
opportunity to let Israel go.
But he let it pass by. He ignored
the message he was given.
However, it was God's message that
Pharaoh was hearing - and
rejecting. When we speak for God, it
hurts if people take no
notice. But the message they reject is
not our own - it is God's.
We need to be careful, though, that
they don't reject it because
of a thoughtless or insensitive
approach by us.
PROOF BY A MIRACLE. It is
not easy to explain the strange events
of verses 8-12. If we accept
that Aaron worked a miracle through
God's power (9,10) what do
we make of the similar 'miracles' of
the Egyptians? Some people
have suggested this was a clever
conjuring trick. It is also
possible to hypnotise snakes and make
them rigid. Others believe
they were using Satanic power. We are
reminded in 2 Thessalonians
2:9-10 that evil-doers can certainly
posses such powers. In any
case verse 12 shows that God's power
was greater.
PLAGUE OF BLOOD (14-24).
Pharaoh refused to listen and so God had
to use more drastic measures.
God doesn't want to see people
suffering but sometimes they
bring it on themselves Pharaoh and
the Egyptians only had to
stop, listen to what God was saying and
obey him and their troubles
would have been over. When God begins
to act nothing can stand in
his way.
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PRAY Pray for wisdom to
identify God's word among the many voices you
hear.
