One of the most important themes in the Bible is the creation by God of a nation he called his own. God made a covenant with Abraham, a promise that his descendants would be the people of God, occupy the land of Canaan, and become a blessing to all the world. The promise continued through Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob, and Jacob’s son Joseph. I wrote about this in a series of posts about the book of Genesis.
God’s plan from before the beginning was to create a nation that would bring blessings to the whole world. From this chosen people would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God’s solution to the problem of sin would come through Israel and specifically through Jesus.
God was keeping his promise when he made one of his people, Joseph, second in command of Egypt. Joseph then brought his entire family to Egypt to live. That was the extent of the people of Israel at the time. Egypt is where this family grew to become a great nation.
Years later, God’s people are still in Egypt, but now they’re slaves. The great people of God are oppressed and enslaved and mistreated, and generation after generation lives and dies without seeing anything of God’s promise.
Maybe you’ve felt like that. You believe God for so many things, but nothing ever changes. You wake up each day with hope and go to bed at night in the same situation. Gradually, you begin to lose hope. But the story of Exodus reminds us that there is no difficulty too great for God to handle — when the time is right.
Amid this oppression, God raises up a man named Moses. You can read all about the call of Moses, and the excuses that Moses gave to God for not obeying, here.
Moses, after great hesitation, agrees to the call of God to be his instrument in freeing the people of Israel from Egypt. In God’s timing, it’s finally time to lead his people out of Egypt and into the land he had promised to Abraham.
God tells Moses:
Say therefore to the people of Israel, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 6:6-7)
It would have been easy for God to change the mind of Pharaoh so that he would suddenly free the Israelites. But then the people would have praised Pharaoh for letting them go. The story of Exodus isn’t just about God rescuing a group of people. This is God doing something in such a way that the people of Israel will know without a doubt that he is the only God, he is their God, and they are his people.
So God does things his way. He begins a series of plagues that fall on Egypt. The Nile River turns to blood, which not only takes away a major source of water but also kills all the fish, a major source of food for Egypt.
Then God sent frogs. I have to admit that I hate frogs. They give me the heebie-jeebies. The thought of placing my foot in my shoe only to find a frog there, or opening up my coffee canister only to find a frog in it wigs me out. If I was Pharaoh, I would have let the people go right then and there. But I’m not Pharaoh, and apparently, frogs didn’t intimidate him. So God sends plagues of gnats, flies, the death of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness.
Again, God didn’t have to bring all these plagues. He could have ended this very quickly. We saw earlier that he did this so that Israel would know that he is God. But he has more than Israel in mind:
For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:14-16)
Remember, God chose a people so that through these people all the world would be blessed. The Exodus isn’t just about God freeing his people. It’s so much more than that. God did this the way he did so that not only his people but Pharaoh would see God’s power. But more even than Israel and Pharaoh, God delivered his people for the same ultimate reason that he created Israel — so that his name would be proclaimed and praised and worshipped through all the earth. God did all of this for his glory so that ultimately people around the world would see what he did, know who he is, and turn to him.
The tenth plague is the worst of all. God sends the angel of death and takes the firstborn sons of every Egyptian home. One can only imagine that night. It was absolutely devastating. But God, through Moses, gives his people a heads up:
So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.” (Exodus 11:4-6)
Then God gives Israel specific instructions so their firstborn sons will be safe:
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it…The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 11:7, 13)
So the people of Israel follow all of God’s instructions, including sacrificing a lamb, eating a special meal, and putting the blood of the lamb on their door frames. And death passes over the homes of the Israelites but takes the lives of all the firstborn of the Egyptians. God provides a perfect picture of his plan of salvation, when the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, will shed his blood for our sins, and the penalty of death will pass over his people.
Pharaoh, after the tenth plague, finally lets the people of Israel go. Israel is out of Egypt at last. They’re not in the land of the promise yet, but they’re on their way. God has delivered them.
I wonder, is there anything you need to be delivered from today? Is there…
Addiction
Fear
Doubt
A sinful habit
Bondage
Discouragement
God is still a deliverer. He has the power to deliver you from anything that oppresses you.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)
God is your rock, your fortress, your deliverer. He is greater than any issue you face. Ask for his help, and trust in his timing. He is still the Great Deliverer.