Day 19: Exodus 7, 8 and 9

I have raised you up for this very purpose (Exodus 9:16).

Do you notice how the magicians match Moses miracle for miracle at the beginning? (Okay, I know Aaron’s rod/snake eats their snakes, but still.) Even though the magicians unleash some pretty amazing stuff, once it’s out of the box, they can’t seem to put it back in. Pharaoh pleads with Moses: Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me (8:8).

The gnats are gnext. (See what I did there?) The magicians try but cannot produce. Then with the flies is where things get really interesting. God makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. From this point on the plagues are specifically aimed at Pharaoh and his people.

Here’s our highlighted verse in its entirety: But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Remember the words of Mordecai to his niece Esther? Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14).

The further my walk takes me, the more I realize the importance of submitting my will to God. Esther and Pharaoh were both raised up by God to save the Jewish people and to bring him glory in the process. Esther submitted; Pharaoh did not. How would his story be different if he had?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Is there a purpose for which God might be using your tough times? Can you honestly say, “Thy will be done”? And what difference would it make if you did?