"Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out." Joshua 24:5
Have you ever had moments in life where it felt like your struggles would never end? Or have you ever had a difficulty, a situation so devastating that you think you'll never get out from under it? The children of Israel did. They had come to Egypt a single family escaping a deadly famine, and had grown into a great nation living peacefully with the people who had helped and protected them. But then came a king who didn't know about Joseph, who didn't know the history of how the Israelites had come to his land. He only had paranoia and fear. He allowed this to drive God's chosen people into slavery. He even attempted gendercide to bring them down. That kind of life - being forced to labor endlessly, being treated with cruelty, and having no rights, even over the life of your own baby. That. Sucks. The children of Israel were living a nightmare, and they dreamed of a light at the end of the tunnel - a day when they would be free from oppression and fear. Enter Moses and Aaron - two men sent by God to free the slaves.
One thing I almost never think about when I examine this story - it was 10 LONG plagues. It is very tiring to hope in something that you see appear to fail almost 10 times in a row. And all the while your situation is worsening. Everything your supposed emancipators are doing is only causing greater cruelties on an already arduous existence. That's what they were facing. A long trial that didn't seem to end. A struggle where the solution seemed always just out of reach. Sound familiar?
But God said, "I plagued Egypt... and afterwards I brought you out." I've always thought about this as just being chronology. God was stating the order of how things happened. Then I realized there was more (There's always more! How awesome is that??!). God, Who loves order, the omniscient, omnipotent One, could have performed one plague. He could have started with the last one. He could have brought the children of Israel out first, BUT He had a purpose in every single one of those ten plagues!
Did you know that for every plague that God sent, one or more false Egyptian idols were demolished? And why did God do this? For the benefit of the Egyptians who would believe. There were so many by the end of the last plague who believed in the God of Israel. You see, God was removing His children from their land, and with them, His witness. Who would tell the people about the one true God with Israel gone? And being a land of wealth and power, the people didn't think that they needed the one true God. They felt that they could take care of themselves. (Sound familiar again?) The plagues were not just about punishment - they were about salvation.
God had to give the Egyptians every chance to know that He was greater than their false idols, that He was the source of their wealth, and it is God and God alone, who can grant salvation. He had to give them one more chance, and He had to leave a witness. He was taking away all of His people, so He left the legend of the Passover Lamb.
Even though those 10 plagues felt like a long process, by doing it His way, God accomplished something great. He saved more than just His people, and left a witness that spread to more than just the Egyptians. (Don't forget the people like Rahab. She became a believer from that witness, and later was in the lineage of Christ!)
So when you are facing a trial, you're under difficult circumstances, or you feel the light at the end of your tunnel is too faint, remember that God is accomplishing something bigger than you, though you may not see it right now. God has not forgotten you. Just like He heard the cries of the children of Israel, He hears you, and He will accomplish His will in your life. Only trust Him!
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
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