...TRUST GOD...

Warning of the Final Plague

1 The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away. 2 Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.’ 3 The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials, and in the sight of the people.

4 Moses said, ‘Thus says the Lord: About midnight I will go out through Egypt. 5 Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 6 Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been nor will ever be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites—not at people, not at animals—so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me, and bow low to me, saying, “Leave us, you and all the people who follow you.” After that I will leave.’ And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.

9 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’ 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. Exodus 11:1-10.

Dear friends, this chapter (11:1–10) has a three parts to it. The announcement of the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn (11:4–8), is carefully sandwiched between two reminders of what previously had been revealed: 1st, the tenth plague would at last produce the exodus and that Israelites would be financially prepared for it by obtaining wealth from the Egyptians (11:1–3). 2nd, the whole series of prior plagues had not resulted in the exodus because that was the way Yahweh had planned things (see 11:9–10). I point this out to you so that you might recognize the fact that this final plague of death on the firstborn and the resulting exodus of Israel from Egypt was not merely just another single event in itself but the culminating act of a long process controlled by God and brought to fruition exactly as he had predicted it before any of the process had started. 

What I want you to see is that Moses was writing this story not merely to help his fellow Israelites trust Yahweh as things happened but also to help them learn to trust that Yahweh is the One who makes things happen in the first place, as part of God's great redemptive plan for the benefit of His people.

What I see as so important in these chapters about the plagues is that, for all of us who live centuries later, is that in these stories we are called by God to trust God no matter what happens in our lives. I just buried my 33 year-old son from a tragic accident. Why I hear God saying to me and to my son, Andrew are these words: TRUST ME! MY WAYS ARE NOT YOUR WAYS. I WILL MAKE ALL THINGS WORK OUT FOR THE GOOD!

So I trust God that Andrew is OK. He has entered the spirit world of eternity.I don’t need to worry. Instead, I need to trust God.

So today in your prayer, take time and give your heart to the Lord. Ask the Lord for His mercy and grace, so that you may TRUST GOD in all things, especially the difficult things you don’t understand.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.