The psalmist warns us: “He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever.” Exodus 11 begins like the sound of a pealing bell, ringing out across the countryside: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go […]
Read More… from October 21, 2021 — Pharaoh, It’s Closing Time
Moses shows that we can be both meek and mighty. Meek isn’t weak; it’s strength in control. Although “the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Ex 10:23), for three long days, darker than the darkest night, the Egyptians had only time to think. What was Pharaoh thinking? We don’t have to guess. Here […]
Sometimes we can see things in the darkest times that may be easily overlooked in the light. Northwest of Cairo’s center and 60 feet below the surface lie the ruins of biblical On, later called Heliopolis (Sun City) by the Greeks. Here Joseph’s father-in-law, Poti-Pherah, served as a priest. This was the center of the […]
Read More… from October 19, 2021 — The Illuminating Darkness
Locust swarms can contain 4-8 billion, eating in a day what 3.5 million people would consume. As Exodus 10 opens, the Lord explains that these plagues are also lessons “that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt” (v 2). Every generation […]
Read More… from October 18, 2021 — Pharaoh, What’s Eating You?
This was no child’s tale. They really felt as if the sky was falling—with nowhere to hide. I know this would not be your first choice in naming a daughter, but Nut, the sky goddess, was well connected in the pantheon of Egyptian false deities: granddaughter of Atum-Ra, daughter of Shu and Tefnut, wife of […]
If we learn to obey God’s soft voice, He won’t raise His voice. But He’ll shout if He has to! Pharaoh had someone check and, sure enough, there wasn’t one Israeli cow dead. God was making His point! “But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go” (Ex 9:7). […]
Read More… from October 14, 2021 — The Sixth Plague: A Body Blow
Slowly, God is loosening the king’s clutching fingers from the things that would doom his soul. Pharaoh tries another ploy with Moses: “I will let you go,…only you shall not go very far away” (Ex 8:28). Doesn’t this sound like the devil? You don’t want to be too different, do you? But if you’re close […]