BIAY Day 26 - Plagues and Power
Exodus 5-8, Psalm 22:1-11
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Today, the great showdown between God and Pharaoh moves to the forefront. Also, the psalm today is the first part of Psalm 22. You may recognize the first verse, which Jesus quotes on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Read the rest of the psalm today and tomorrow with the scene of the cross in mind.
Here are thoughts on some of the readings in Exodus today.
Freedom from slavery is for worship (5:1) - This is one of great themes of salvation in the Bible, neatly captured in just one verse at the beginning of the execution of the Exodus deliverance. God’s mouthpieces, Moses and Aaron, deliver the word of the Lord to Pharaoh: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” There is freedom from, which is great. Freedom from slavery, sin, death, oppression, injustice, sickness, etc. But salvation is not just a negative; it is a positive. It is freedom for. Freedom for worship, holiness, righteousness, friendship with God, etc. This is the greater goal of salvation. The actual purpose of freedom from is to get to freedom for, which is ultimately worship of the one true God and everything that flows from that.
Evil doesn’t give up easily (4:6-21) - This is a hard one. Moses and Aaron’s request to let the people go is met with resistance that immediately escalates into outright hostility. When the possibility of freedom for the Hebrew slaves arises, Pharaoh intensifies his cruelty and oppression. Evil doesn’t give up easily. The Hebrews experience this as God’s promise of rescue making their lives worse, not better. Apparently, getting free is no walk in the park.
Never too old to serve the Lord (7:6-7) - Scripture records that Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they went to challenge Pharaoh. The Bible provides example after example of people who could be considered too young or too old to serve the Lord, but God isn’t concerned with that.
Pharaoh’s hardened heart - This is something we see throughout the plagues. If you read through them, notice the end of each plague story. The comment goes something like this: “But Pharaoh hardened his heart.” Or, “But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.” Each time, God demonstrated His power. Sometimes Pharaoh even admitted that he should relent and let the people go. Or he would acknowledge God and ask Moses to pray for him. But at the end, he would still harden his own heart. We have a choice. We can choose to cultivate a tender heart toward God or choose to harden our hearts toward God.
Questions:
Do you most often think of salvation as from something or for something?
When have you encountered greater resistance once you decided to make a positive change?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me choose to keep my heart tender towards you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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