Daily Devotion

Selection Taken From:
A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

Make this the year you let God's Word "dwell in you richly"---and marvel at the results! Each entry in this 365-day devotional features Scripture verses in which God speaks, accompanied by insights and applications to enhance your understanding. Learn what God says about hope and fear; perseverance and quitting; companionship and isolation; and more! 384 pages, softcover from Nelson, Copyright 2010.


God Will Outlast You
GOD said to Moses: "Go to Pharaoh. I've made him stubborn, him and his servants, so that I can force him to look at these signs and so you'll be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I toyed with the Egyptians, like a cat with a mouse; you'll tell them the stories of the signs that I brought down on them, so that you'll all know that I am GOD."
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "GOD, the God of the Hebrews, says, 'How long are you going to refuse to knuckle under? Release my people so that they can worship me. If you refuse to release my people, watch out tomorrow I'm bringing locusts into your country. They'll cover every square inch of ground; no one will be able to see the ground. They'll devour everything left over from the hailstorm, even the saplings out in the fields—they'll clear-cut the trees. And they'll invade your houses, filling the houses of your servants, filling every house in Egypt Nobody will have ever seen anything like this, from the time your ancestors first set foot on this soil until today."
Then he turned on his heel and left Pharaoh. - Exodus 10:1-6 MSG

Just as sometimes several whacks are needed to get a rock to break, so God knew it would take more than a single plague to get Pharaoh to break. Moses became discouraged at the beginning of the process, wondering why he didn't have immediate success in getting the people freed from their slavery. But thanks to God's instruction and encouragement, Moses kept confronting Pharaoh. Each time, the results were the same, with only minor variation. Every time, Pharaoh ended by telling Moses no.

Locust plagues weren't unusual in the ancient Middle East, though the severity of this particular plague was far above average. It was the worst such plague ever to have happened to Egypt. The timing of it was out of the ordinary also; it happened just when Moses said it would happen. Rather than the plague being a random event, it was clearly the hand of God.

The purpose of the plagues was not just to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. It also taught both Egyptians and Israelites that God was stronger than Pharaoh and all the many gods of Egypt. The plagues built their faith and helped prepare them—and their descendants—for the journey ahead. Don't be tempted to give up just because it's a long, hard trip.