Yesterday we ended our reading with the LORD bringing the first plague of blood in the Nile upon the defiant Pharoah of Egypt. And today, we see frogs (8:1-15), gnats (8:16-19), flies (8:20-32), plague on the livestock (9:1-7), boils (9:8-12), hail (9:13-35), locusts (10:1-20), utter darkness (10:21-29) and the warning of the final plague of death upon all firstborn of Egypt in chapter 11.
Throughout these chapters we must note several distinctions. There is a distinction between the LORD’s power and that of the magicians. They were able to replicate the first two plagues, but by the third plague of the gnats, they were unable to do it. Nor where they able to reverse any of the plagues. We see the LORD make a distinction between Israel and Egypt by the fifth plague of flies. He sets apart the land of Goshen so that none of the plague would touch them (8:23). Within that distinction we see blessing and cursing, wrath and mercy, judgment and grace. He is blessing the people of Israel and cursing Egypt; he is pouring out his wrath upon Egypt while showing mercy to Israel; and he is passing his judgment upon Egypt and giving grace to Israel. We also see a distinction as time goes on in Moses himself. He is the man who started out as poor in speech and needed his brother to speak on his behalf and carry out the instructions. By the time we get to chapter 9 we begin to see Moses doing the talking and the work. He is maturing into the role of leadership that the LORD called him into in preparation for the work ahead.
Yet again, all of these distinctions bring us to one conclusion, which is repeated throughout these accounts. The ultimate purpose in all of these things was so that that all people (Pharoah, the Egyptians, the Israelites, the original audience of the text, and you and me) would know there is none like the LORD in all the earth (8:10; 8:22; 9:14; 9:16; 9:29; 10:2; 11:7).
Each of the plagues grew in their severity and destruction, and with each one Pharoah’s heart was hardened. With each plague the power and absolute sovereignty of the LORD was put on display to a greater degree. He was not just revealing this power to the Egyptians, but also to those whom he called his own people – the Israelites. They needed to see it more than anyone else.
And so do we.
The God we serve is not some grandfatherly Santa Claus-like weakling who is just hanging on our every word to give us what we want and to dote on us. The God we serve is all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal, full of wrath and justice, perfect in his being and all of his attributes. Yet, he is merciful and gracious and his steadfast love endures forever with those whom he calls his children. We should be in awe of our LORD and even though in Christ, we are saved from his wrath, we should still tremble in awe and wonder of his absolute power and majesty.
Soli Deo Gloria.
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