Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Exodus 8:25 says, And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.  Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron to come to him and told them to go sacrifice to their God.  Pharaoh still wasn't acknowledging God as the only God and wasn't offering to allow the people of Israel to go with them.  I believe he was looking for a compromise with God, just as many people do today.  Verse twenty-six states, And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?  Moses said it would be an abomination in the eyes of the Egyptians for them to do so, and that they would be stoned for worshipping their God before the Egyptians.  Moses and Aaron could not compromise on God's command to bring His people out of Egypt, even if they were allowed to worship God.  I don't believe it was a fear of being stoned that kept them from accepting Pharaoh's offer, but the knowledge that this was not what God wanted.  We cannot compromise on our calling from God today.  Verse twenty-seven adds, We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. Moses said that they would go three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to God so that He could command them.  Spiritually, we need to separate ourselves from the world today to see what God wants us to do,  Verse twenty-eight declares, And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me  Pharaoh said that he would allow them to go, and asked Moses to intreat, or speak to God for him about this.  Until they come to accept Christ as their Savior and Lord, people today need us, as followers of Christ, to intreat with God for them.  Verse twenty-nine proclaims, And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.  Moses said that he would speak to God on Pharaoh's behalf, and that the swarms of flies would be gone the next day.  This would show beyond a doubt that the power of God.  Moses also warned Pharaoh about dealing deceitfully with God.  There are people today who will profess to believe God simply hoping to get what they want in this world, but they need to heed the warning that Moses gave Pharaoh, and that is to not deal deceitfully with God.  Verse thirty states, And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.  Then verse thirty-one adds, And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.  Moses dealt fairly with Pharaoh and spoke to God on his behalf.  God answered Moses' prayer.  We may go to God in all sincerity today on behalf of other people because they have asked us to, and God will hear our prayer.  Verse thirty-two declares,  And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.  As soon as Pharaoh got what he wanted from God, he changed his mind about fulfilling his promise to God through Moses and Aaron.  People today make promises to God until they get what they want, sometimes even people who have asked us to pray for them, and then they forget their promise to God.

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