Friday, October 11, 2019
Exodus 9:13 says, And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Moses could only deliver God's message, just as we can only deliver the gospel today. Verse fourteen states, For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. God told Moses that He would send plagues on the heart of Pharaoh and the people, so that they would know that He was God. God does not send plagues on people today, but He does touch the heart of each individual in such a way that that person will know that He is God. Verse fifteen adds, For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. God said He was going to make their suffering even worse than it had been. I believe that people will always suffer spiritually when they reject God's gift of salvation, but the more and the longer they reject it, the harder their hearts will become toward God. Verse sixteen continues, And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Some people would interpret this to mean that God had caused Pharaoh to be as he was so that God could show the world His power, but I believe that it means that God had allowed Pharaoh to become this powerful. God could just remove all those in power that do not believe in and follow Him, but He allows people to make their own choices, and some become quite powerful. Verse seventeen asks, As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? God asked Pharaoh if he would still exalt himself above God, and this is the question everyone eventually has to answer for himself or herself. When we reject the gospel, we are putting our will above God's will. Verse eighteen declares, Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. God gave Pharaoh a warning that about the same time the next day that it was going to hail as it had never hailed before. God has already given us His warming of the coming destruction of the world because of its sin and rebellion, and it may not happen tomorrow, but it indeed could. Verse nineteen adds, Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. God warned Pharaoh to not let anyone or anything be caught out in the hail storm or they or it would die. We today have God's warning to not be caught out in the coming storm of judgment without Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Verse twenty states, He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: Those that believed God fled to their houses and got their cattle under shelter. We today who believe God's word will flee from the world to the shelter of the cross. Of course, we cannot save the material things of the earth when we do, but we can place everything under God's guidance and protection. Verse twenty-one adds, And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field. Just as there were people then who did not believe God, there are people today who will not believe God and accept His gift of salvation. Verse twenty-two declares, And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. God had Moses stretch out his hand for the hail to begin. Moses represented God, and God wanted there to be no mistake that He was behind the hail. I believe that when God sends His judgment , there can never be another explanation for what is happening. Verse twenty-three states, And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. Moses did what God told him to do, and God did what He said He would do. We today are to share the gospel with the world, and God will save those who believe, but He will also allow those who do not to go away into everlasting punishment. Just as the people of Egypt had but two choices, so do people today. Verse twenty-four declares, So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. Then verse twenty-five adds, And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. I have seen some bad hail storms, but never one that had fire mixed in with the hail. This was indeed God's act of judgment, and everything caught outside was destroyed. Everybody who does not accept Christ as Savior and Lord will face an even worse punishment, and that is everlasting suffering separated from God. Verse twenty-six proclaims, Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. Once more, this was what we would call a precision strike, because God's people were spared the destruction, just as we will be today if we accept God's gift of salvation through Christ.
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