God’s Deliverance and the Enemy’s Deception
Recently I preached a sermon in Exodus, you know the Plague chapters. We always hear so much about the plagues and how devastating they were and we walk through each one but sometimes we don’t seem to focus on why “The Plagues” Why did God use 10 when he could have taught His lesson and finish it off in round #1.
God always wants to deliver His people from the bondage they are in. He wanted to do it for the Israelites as I preached and He wants to do that for us today! Where God wants to deliver, it seems like the enemy is always trying to deceive. No matter where God proves himself over and over to us again and again, the enemy is there trying to show us he can do it better. God wanted to deliver the Israelites out of bondage but at the time they didn’t want to hear about it even when Moses tried to tell them what was about to happen with God’s own words. We know God sent “The Plagues” to Egypt not just because He wanted His people gone from the land but because He wanted to teach Pharaoh and all of Egypt that they were building their lives on something false while worshipping their gods but also that He and He alone is God and He alone should be worshipped.
Through these plagues, we learn that they were Miraculous, Meaningful, and showed the Mercy of God, and through each and every plague, although Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (and flip-flopped many times as we learn), God had a purpose in what He was doing. This wasn’t just happening because of God’s actions BUT also because of Pharaoh’s inaction.
Sometimes God brings us through a process instead of doing something immediate on our behalf (just me?). We see right here in Exodus that there was nothing the way God did to rescue his people that was fast, painless, or easy. We can learn a lesson today just like Pharaoh and the Egyptians did back then. First, He was saying I alone am God, I alone should be worshipped. He wanted to be known in all the earth then and He wants to be known in all the earth today! Second, what will we do in those hard places?
We continue today going through the tough processes BUT remember, we also get to choose, we can harden our hearts like Pharaoh did in the process and we can see Him as just our judge, or in our hard places we find ourselves in, we can submit, embrace, and allow Him to deliver us and look to Him as our savior and worship Him and him alone!
About the Author
Teri Rising is pastor on staff at Verge Church where she the community pastor where she heads up and develops community group leaders. She attended the University of Valley Forge where she received a Batchelor of Science degree in youth ministry. She preaches and speaks at Verge Church or where the Lord has opened up doors for her to Along side her hubby, they have two strapping young man children whom she will eternally call no matter how old they get! Teri has a heart to inspire, empower, and come along side women of all ages to walk in their calling and purpose God has created them for and help them understand their true worth in Christ and what it means to live an authentic, Spirit led life.