IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

No One Like the Lord...surrender to Him

Date: Sep. 12, 2015

Passage

Exodus 8:1- 19  (ESV)

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 11 The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” 12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. 13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” 17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 8:9b

Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.”

First, there is no one like the Lord (1-15). The second act of judgment was the plague of frogs. Pharaoh's heart was still hard. Yet God confronted him with the truth that he must let the Hebrews go. Aaron again stretched out his staff, and frogs filled the land. This plague was directed at the frog god of Egypt, Heqet. The frog was worshipped as a symbol of fertility. Pharaohs' inability to control the frogs proved that he was not a god as he claimed to be. He was vulnerable, an ordinary man with a stubborn heart who needed ask for God's mercy for him, his people and his land.

Second, God is leading us to the point of surrender (16-19). The continued, hardened heart of Pharaoh was answered by a plague of gnats. Even animals were suffering. The magicians surrendered to God saying, "This is the finger of God." They were on their way to having a personal encounter with the God of the Bible.

Prayer: Lord, on my own I would just follow the stubbornness of my own heart. But thank you for working so that I could listen to your word and acknowledge your mighty work.

One Word: This is the finger of God

Daily Bread

Then You Will Know That I Am the Lord

Joel 2:18-32

Key Verse: 2:27

  You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
    and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.
  And my people shall never again be put to shame.

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