The Exodus

Exodus 7 - 12

as some of you already know, one of my resolutions is to read thru the Bible this year. well, at the rate i'm going, i will be completed with it in june. :) so far i've gotten thru the lives of Joseph, Isaac and Jacob. and now i just finished reading about the plagues and how God hardened the heart of pharoah. (can't you just hear that silly song we used to sing..."pharoah, pharoah...oh baby..let my people GO! uugh!!! yah yah yah yah yah?)

i don't know what type of life pharoah lived in Egypt. all i know is that he lived in africa, had some kids and was a slave driver. he was hard-hearted - a real jerk! and God's people were forced into slave labor. it's a long story how they originally got there, but it has to do with Jacob's brothers selling him into slavery. they jacob bailed them out later on. that just a brief description of how they got to africa.

so this pharoah guy... he has heard the warning of moses and aaron about the water turning into blood, infestation of flog, gnats, flies, diseases, livestock killed, his firstborn child killed. wouldn't you think he would get the bigger picture to get this group of people out of your land? i can only imagine the power of God to keep pharoah from a change of heart.

after the death of his son, finally pharoah decides to let the israelite people return to their land to worship their God. so the israelites pack up and leave - everything is going fine. but you know pharoah - doesn't know the Truth when he gets stuck face to face with it. he sends his best fighting men out after them. well, if you don't know what happens - they all die in the red sea. God opens a way for the israelites to cross the bottom of the sea on dry ground. how cool is that? so pharoah's army also goes into the sea, thinking they'll capture the israelites. but no. they all drown. God again watches over His people. so why did God allow the israelites to remain in egypt of so long under the horrible conditions? why did God harden pharoah's heart for so long. i don't know how much time passed from when moses and aaron first visited pharoah, warning him about the plague of blood and the final warning of passover, but quite a lot of time passed. in total the israelites were in egypt 430 years. (exodus 12:43)

Father,
sometimes Your plan seems so unrealistic from my simple understand, but You have a magnificent way of working everything out. oh for those people who were walking in the red sea with walls of water on both sides of them and a cloud of Your glory in front of them. i praise You for opening ways for people to be amazed at how You work. You still work miracles. thanks for being as close to us as You were to them. thanks for protecting them from the army which attempted to attack. You became their salvation, and You've done the same for me. Thanks.
in Jesus' name~Amen!

---

*Mike *Lucy *Ashton