15th January Morning
Exodus 9-10
The tension between Pharaoh and God continues. Pharaoh does not want to let go of his slaves but God wants him to let his people go by all means. While Pharaoh sees slaves in the Israelites, God sees people in them. How Satan sees and understands us is not the way God appreciates us. God saw people to be saved while Pharaoh the satanic figure saw people to abuse and exploit. We must understand that the object of the battle between God and Satan is you and I (human race) as the object. When Satan fell his first mission was about man. When God came to die on the cross he was after nothing else in nature but only man. It is as if once the problem of man is sorted, everything is put back to order.
The land of Egypt suffered plagues because of the problem of man. What we see in Egypt is the livestock and the entire economy being hurt due to people. There is thunder in the heavens, hail storms falling and fire, due to the sin of man. Did Pharaoh understand the impact of his sinning? The Egyptians are losing all their livestock due to the choices of the Pharaoh. There is something that I always teach and I term it: THE LOGIC OF A PROSTITUTE.
Pharaoh wanted to keep the Israelites for the economy and development of Egypt and Egyptians as well. But what we see is that the more he insists on keeping them around, the more the nation loses all it has built because of the plagues. Sometimes in life, we are as stubborn and stupid as Pharaoh. We hang on something in fear of what we are to lose and in the process we lose more than we would have lost if we had let go. Whenever Pharaoh insists on not letting the Israelites go, God does not hurt Pharaoh but the entire country. Chapter 9 is telling you to learn when to let go.
Perhaps you are in a dysfunctional relationship that does you more harm than good. Or it is a business that makes more losses than profits. Whatever it is, in life there are things we hold on for so long which hurt us more than they should be helping us. Letting go is one of the hardest things to figure out in life. As your emotions usually cloud your logic, and because your feelings make it harder for you to concentrate, it seems like the art of letting go can be confusing and complicated. JoyBell C says: “You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them.”.
Should you let go of a particular person, of your current job, of your past feelings or of your resentment? Or should you hold on and let them consume you altogether? The Israelites whom Pharaoh thought were a solution had now become a problem. It happens in life. This generation teaches people not to give up but I am telling you, learn when to give up.
In chapter 10 the fellow leaders of Pharaoh asked: Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” Exodus 10:7. There are times when everyone sees that you are suffering from the mistake of holding on something or someone you would have let go. You are domestically abused because you have never decided to leave. You have all sorts of logical but not productive excuses you make. You are holding on to burning fire and that fire does not hurt you alone but even your neighborhood.
Finally, Pharaoh decided that he should let go, but his question was WHO IS GOING? “The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. “Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the LORD, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. Exodus 10:10-11. Pharaoh wants them to go but not all of them. The Devil lets part of you go and holds back some of you. Satan wants you to go and worship God but leave some of your family members like children with him. The devil has no problem with a worship warrior mother in the house as long as the husband is a drug addict or an alcoholic. God is not convinced with a selective worship in one family. Satan always wants you leave him with a leverage with him. Something too valuable that you will eventually need and come back to him.
Never leave anything valuable in a place you have decided to leave for good. When you leave a marriage and you think children might be a reason for your return, go with them. If it is your spouse then leave with him. If it is money, then leave with it. Do not leave anything with the devil that he will use against you and have you back. LEAVE WITH EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING YOU NEED. This is what Moses said: “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” Exodus 10:9.
15th January Evening
Exodus 11-12
God struck Egypt with many plagues but one of the last, if not the last, was DARKNESS. THICK DARKNESS. This broke down the hardened heart of Pharaoh and he said to Moses, go but not with your livestock. That is what the devil wants us to be. He wants us to be hungry worshippers, beggars not worshippers, he wants us to be poverty stricken as we worship God. He wants to take all the wealth that God has blessed us with. Satan is after your economic life. He steals from you in various ways. He harms your wealth. People steal from you and you make losses after losses. But when he was reminded of the darkness he gave up. He knew he could steal the Israelites’ live stock but would not see it. He knew the fundamental problem with DARKNESS.
In darkness the truth of the matter is that: YOUR ENEMIES CAN SEE YOU BUT YOU CANNOT SEE THEM. That is the difference between DARKNESS and LIGHT. In light, you see everything and everyone, but in darkness, you are seen by your predator while you the prey cannot see a thing. Did you know that many cats (Lion, Leopards, Cheetahs, Jaguars, etc) have night vision that Zebras, Antelopes, Gazelles, etc. do not have. This was what shocked and broke into obedience the hardened heart of Pharaoh.
When it is physical darkness at night, we need to lock our doors at night, and if it psychological or spiritual darkness we need the light of the gospel to shine in our lives so that we can see clearly all the harm and all the good. We need to help people who thick religious darkness has fallen. We need to help those upon whom is thick culture darkness. We need to lift up those on whom thick political darkness has fallen. We need to flash light to the thick greed darkness. This world needs light. Unfortunately, the reality is as Jesus put it: And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19.
While darkness was never enough, the consequences of the hardened heart of Pharaoh now led to the death of the firstborns of each family. To kill the first born was to kill the first seed and therefore to uproot the entire foundation of Egypt. Pharaoh and the Egyptians knew they were headed to demise and history would have no trace of them. Sin equals Death and death is not anything but nothingness. The killing of the firstborns unlike other plagues was not exclusive but inclusive. This involved the Israelites too. Even those of the Israelites were to die if they did not follow the provision of the blood.
God has a plan to save all of us from death and that plan has a means which is none other than blood. The only family to be saved from that night of destruction was that which sacrificed a lamb and put blood on the door post. And it did not matter whether that family was Egyptian or Israeli. All had to drop their cultural beliefs and obey the only means of blood. Whoever did not, it did not matter how religious they were, or what bloodlines they were, or the political power they commanded. They died. We are saved by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ alone. It does not matter who you are or even what you have done and not done, you will be destroyed if you do not follow these divine means of salvation. Now I ask: have you washed your sins in the blood of Jesus Christ? Do you believe in salvation by grace through faith? Or do you still have something to trust?
God bless you. I invoke TRUTH, KNOWLEDGE, and FAITH.
Am Pr. I.T.White. THE GOSPEL HAWKER
@Think and Become (Inspirational Link)
iTiS Well of Worship Ministries John 4:24
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 