Wednesday, January 30, 2019        Day 30

Exodus 16-18            GREATER THAN ALL GODS

Truly, they got their salvation, they got their deliverance, baptism and they sang their songs after the Red Sea. But they have never learnt to rely on God who is greater than all gods. They needed to be taken through the process of knowing how to rely on God.

Exodus 18:10-11 “And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.”

God took them into Egypt to build them into a nation. After their exit, He did not take them through an easy path of the Philistine, to through the wilderness where He would make them His people.

The first wilderness was the Wilderness of Shur; a sick land. There they came across a bitter water called Marah. This was the first challenge in their journey to the Promised Land. The sickness was as a result of the bitter water. When a land is sick, barrenness and death will be there. The water was polluted, and nothing grows in the land. This was the same situation in the beginning of Elisha’s ministry, 2 Kings 2:19-22. By the sweetening of the water, their trip in the wilderness received God’s blessing.

There are lives just like this case and there are marriages in similar situation. They appear good, but the water is bitter and, therefore, they are not getting the expected joy. It would usually be as if there is no God again in their marriages and situations. People don’t think of their unyielded part of themselves but kept looking backward (Egypt), with the thought that it was better there. The truth is that the life in Egypt, no matter how splendid it was, cannot match the new life across the Red Sea. The type of song on the other side of the Red Sea cannot be heard in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 15:11-18 “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. …. 18 The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.”

May the Lord give you a song to sing and a dance to dance in the name of Jesus Christ.

When you look critically at the deliverance of the children of Israel, you will realize it was in stages.

1. Gods of the land of Egypt
   1. The waters,
   1. The first born
2. Hand of the Egyptians
3. Hand of Pharaoh

For the gods of the land, the powers of the waters were at play in the first sign and first two plagues. Aaron’s rod became a serpent by divine instruction, but those of the magicians became serpents by enchantments. This was a battle of words from two worlds; light and darkness. Moses and Aaron received theirs from light while the magicians received theirs from dark world. They worshipped water spirits. In Egypt, firstborns were regarded as another god. These two gods were the confidence of the Egyptians which they were proud of. God showed His supremacy in dealing with these gods.

When the Egyptians realized how powerful the God of the children of Israel is, they gave up on them, but Pharaoh remained adamant. The Egyptians wanted them out quickly, but Pharaoh still held unto. But because our God is greater than all gods, His deliverance was complete.

The word of God is powerful. The children of light must not ignore any of His report. It becomes very dangerous to walk away from the covering of His word. The children of Israel walked under the covering of His word through the mouth of a prophets. The victory over the powers that be in Egypt was because the prophet followed divine instructions.

Across the Red Sea was another scenario. In Egypt, the prophet alone heard and followed the voice of God. He knew God. But the children of Israel needed to know the same God and learnt His ways.

The second wilderness is the Wilderness of Sin. These two wildernesses posed challenges to them. In this one, it was famine. What they expected was not what they got. This usually happen after our new birth. But the truth is, in most cases, the problem isn’t from our past as the children of Israel thought that leaving Egypt was the problem. The issue usually is that God wants to put us to test and train us to know His ways. on these two cases of challenges, the scripture says they were put to test.

Exodus 15:25 “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,”

Exodus 16:4 “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”

As soon as a person becomes born of the spirit, such is born into the world of the Word. Submission and obedience is the key to sustain self in that world. The remnant of Egypt will only be flushed out by the word of God. The mindset needed to be re-oriented; not Egypt-ward but the promised-land-wards.

When we become born again, most times, we think that there won’t be any more problems in our lives. But the challenges we come across are to take us through the route of wilderness where we get to know Him and learn His ways through His words.

The children of Israel faced these challenges in preparation for the law.

May the Lord give us the grace to live by His dear word in the name of Jesus.