FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Exodus 8:20-10:29

1. Bargaining – Continued

Please read Exodus 8:20-32 for the background to this section.

God’s wrath (verse 24). Just as God promised, the next day great swarms of flies invaded the land, entering the homes of the people and even the palace of the king. But the flies were more than just an immediate nuisance to the people, for their coming caused some long-range problems as well. The swarms of insects no doubt carried disease germs that affected the people, and it’s possible the insects deposited their eggs on the vegetation and the larva that came out ate the plants and thus ruined the land. Some students think that the fly was especially sacred to the Egyptian god Uatchit, so the plague was also God’s way of dishonoring another one of the false gods of Egypt.

Pharaoh’s offers (verses 25-32). During the time of the plagues, Pharaoh offered four compromises to Moses and Aaron. The first two are recorded here, during the plague of the flies; the third came during the locust plague (Exodus 10:7-11); and the fourth occurred during the three days of darkness. The fact that Pharaoh even thought he could bargain with God is another evidence of his pride. What is mortal man, even the king of a great nation, that he should dare to negotiate the will of God? These offers were all part of Pharaoh’s hypocritical scheme to outwit Moses and Aaron, for his heart was still stubborn and unyielding. He wasn’t interested in either the will of God or the welfare of the Jews; all he wanted was to stop the plagues.

God’s people face similar “Egyptian compromises” today as we seek to serve the Lord. The enemy tells us we don’t have to be separated from sin because we can serve God “in the land.” God’s reply is found in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. “Don’t go too far away,” the enemy whispers, “or people will call you a fanatic.” James 1:27 and James 4:4 demolish that proposal. True service to God means giving Him authority over all our possessions and all the people in our family for whom we’re responsible. Not to do so is to disobey Mark 10:13-16; Ephesians 6:4; and Deuteronomy 6:6-13. Once we start to negotiate the will of God and see how close we can get to the world, we have already disobeyed Him in our hearts.

In his first proposal, Pharaoh offered to let the Jews hold their worship feast in the land of Egypt, an offer Moses and Aaron rejected. They knew that some of the animals the Jews would sacrifice were sacred to the Egyptians, and what began as a meeting for solemn worship would quickly turn into a riot. The Jews were a separate people, living in Goshen, a land that had been set apart by God, and they had to separate themselves a three days’ journey from Egypt in order to please the Lord.

Pharaoh’s second offer was that Israel leave the land but not go too far away. The appendix to his offer (“Plead for me.”) shows that his real concern was to get rid of the swarms of flies. On the surface, it looks like Moses and Aaron accepted this second offer, because Moses promised to get rid of the flies. Perhaps they thought they could travel farther once they got out of the land, but surely they both knew that Pharaoh wouldn’t keep his word. Pharaoh had a habit of begging for help when he needed it and then changing his mind once the plague was removed. God answered Moses’ prayer and removed the flies, but Pharaoh only hardened his heart even more.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Delivered, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015 by Tyndale House.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Exodus 8:20-10:29

God is gracious and long-suffering, but there comes a time when He will no longer tolerate the disobedience and arrogance of defiant sinners. “To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd” (Psalm 18:25-26, NIV). If we walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to us (Leviticus 26:23-24).

“God shows Himself to each individual according to his character,” wrote Charles Spurgeon, and no individual in Scripture illustrates this truth better than the king of Egypt. For months, Moses and Aaron had dealt with Pharaoh, but the king was unwilling to obey God’s command or even acknowledge God’s authority. The water courses in Egypt had been turned into blood, slimy frogs had invaded the land, and swarms of pesky gnats had irritated the people, but Pharaoh had refused to bend.

What did God do? He declared all-out war on both the ruler of Egypt and the gods of Egypt. The Lord sent six painful and destructive plagues to the land, and then a seventh plague which brought the death of every firstborn son. As you study Pharaoh’s responses to these plagues, you see the moral and spiritual deterioration of a man who wouldn’t submit to God and paid a terrible price for his rebellion.

Let’s consider Pharaoh’s responses to the judgments of God but, at the same time, let’s examine our own hearts to learn whether or not we are responding positively to the will of God.

1. Bargaining

Please read Exodus 8:20-32 for the background to this section.

At certain times of the year, Pharaoh would go to the sacred Nile River to participate in special religious rites, and it certainly must have irritated him on that particular holy occasion to see Moses and Aaron waiting for him. In Pharaoh’s eyes, these two men were national nuisances. Actually, Pharaoh was the cause of the nation’s troubles, but he would not admit it. God was dealing with Pharaoh in mercy, wanting to bring him into submission; for it’s only when we obey God that we can truly enjoy His blessings. With one blow, God could have wiped out Pharaoh and the nation (Exodus 9:15), but He chose to give them opportunity to repent.

God’s warning (verses 20-21). We’ve already noted that before sending seven of the ten plagues, God warned Pharaoh what was coming but, of course, he refused to believe the Word of God and persisted in his disobedience. The fact that each plague occurred just as God described it, at the time announced, should have convinced Pharaoh and his officers that the God of Israel was in control of these spectacular events. They weren’t caused by Pharaoh’s magicians, who could neither prevent them nor reverse them, nor were they mere coincidences. The hand of the Lord was against the land of Egypt.

God’s grace (verse 22). The Lord added a new feature to this plague by announcing that the Jews in the land of Goshen would escape the plague completely. Only the great God of Israel could control the flight pattern of tiny flies and keep them from entering the land of Goshen. But God’s providential care of Israel was evident in all these seven last plagues, because the Jews escaped each and every one of them.

Often in Scripture, the land of Egypt symbolizes the world system with its pride and bondage, while the Exodus of Israel from Egypt pictures the deliverance of God’s people through the blood of the lamb (John 1:29; Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:18-19). During the time when Joseph was in Egypt, Pharaoh had given the land of Goshen to the Jews, and now God set it apart for His people. In this way God made a “division” between His people and the Egyptians. The word translated “division” in Exodus 8:23 means “a redemption, a ransom, a deliverance.” Because they belonged to God in a special way, the Jews were “different” from the Egyptians, but Pharaoh wouldn’t acknowledge this fact.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Delivered, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015 by Tyndale House.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:1-10

Doing Good (verses 9-10). Growth in our relationships does not happen automatically; growth takes effort and with that effort it becomes more complete through practice. Hard work is required if broken relationships are to be rebuilt. In these two verses Paul simply encourages Christians to keep on working at building their relationships: Let us not grow weary of doing good. To say that Paul’s emphasis on faith means that he was against works is obviously an inaccurate interpretation. Although he warned against relying on the works of the law as the basis of blessing (Galatians 3:10-14), he clearly taught that true faith expresses itself through love (Galatians 5:6) and in the hard work of serving one another (Galatians 5:13) and carrying each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Our blessing of our salvation is not based on the works we do, but rather the works we do are derived from the blessing of our salvation.

One of the greatest obstacles to rebuilding broken relationships is simply fatigue. We can easily lose heart and run out of strength when we come up against the same problems over and over again as we deal with others. Even Paul sounds discouraged when he talks about his efforts to rebuild his relationship with the Galatian believers: “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain” (Galatians 4:11). Paul recognized that fatigue and discouragement might cause Christians to throw in the servant’s towel and quit. So he presents two incentives to keep us from giving up when we grow weary of serving others in love. First, he assures us of a reward for doing good: for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Sometimes the harvest is experienced in this life. When we sow acts of love, we reap a harvest of love in return. When we give generously and sacrificially to the needs of others, we reap a harvest of gratitude as those needs are met. When we sow the seed of God’s Word in needy lives, we experience the joy of response. But we must remember that reaping a harvest almost never happens on the same day as sowing the seed. We may not even see a harvest in this life from what we have sown. Nevertheless, we must never give up, because we know that in due season our Master will return and reward those who have been faithful servants.

Second, Paul motivates perseverance in service to one another by reminding us that we are part of a great family: So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Although there are no limits placed on the scope of our service to everyone, our priority is certainly to serve the household of faith; in other words, to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Here Paul picks up a central theme of his letter. All believers are children of Abraham by faith in Christ, the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:6-29). All believers enjoy the full rights of the children of God (Galatians 4:4-7). All believers are the true children of the free woman; the heavenly Jerusalem is our mother (Galatians 4:21-31). These great truths about the family of believers should motivate us to keep on doing good to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We belong to one another in one family, since we, as believers, belong to Christ.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:1-10

Reaping What You Sow (verses 7-8) – Continued

Those who are sowing to please the sinful nature are destroying relationships with others. As we’ve shown before, they are biting, devouring, provoking and envying others, thereby consuming or destroying one another (Galatians 5:15, 26). In their arrogance they are seeking to pressure everyone to conform to the same ethnic customs and traditions that they themselves hold dear. Churches are being torn apart and destroyed by ethnic rivalries and social competition. Sowing to please the sinful nature will always result in a harvest of destruction, a destruction of relationships with others and with God.

Sowing to please the Spirit means “through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13), restoring one who has been caught in sin (Galatians 6:1), carrying or bearing the burdens of others (Galatians 6:2), giving generously to those who teach in the church (Galatians 6:6) and doing good to all (Galatians 6:9). Sometimes sowing to the Spirit has been defined in terms of private, personal holiness, as if it were something done in a closet by oneself. But sowing to the Spirit in the context of Paul’s teaching here involves building relationships based on love with others. Sowing to the Spirit cannot be done in isolation or separation from others. Carrying the burdens of others requires in-depth participation in their pain and sorrow. As we see in verse 9, sowing to the Spirit means doing good to others. If sowing to the sinful nature means selfish indulgence, then sowing to the Spirit means selfless service. The harvest of sowing to the Spirit is eternal life. The meaning of eternal life must be understood within the “already-not yet” structure of Paul’s thought in this letter. From Paul’s perspective, Christians have already been delivered “from the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4) and are already in the new creation (Galatians 6:15). But the battle between the Spirit and the sinful nature is not yet over (Galatians 5:17). In Christ we already have new relationships with God and with one another: we now relate not as slaves but as children who call God Father (Galatians 4:6-7); and we relate to one another not as people divided by racial, social and gender barriers but as people united in Christ, children of the Father, thus, brothers and sisters in Christ (Galatians 3:28). But since the battle between the Spirit and the sinful nature continues, we do not yet experience total harmony in these relationships. Those who continue to grow in these relationships by the power of the Spirit will ultimately experience the fullness of eternal life, perfect harmony in relationship with God and others.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved