Psalms 13:1 starts off with, "How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?... How long will my enemy be exalted over me?" I can imagine the children of Israel banding together in little prayer groups all over Goshen as they cry out with agony, "O Lord, how long? How long will Pharaoh be exalted over us?"
Psalms 14:1 starts off with, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God!" In these chapters in Exodus 7-8 we see Pharaoh again and again hardening his heart as he says, "Who is God? There is no God! I don't have to listen to him."
Here's some of the spiritual parallels to the story of Jesus that I see from today's reading:
Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron. Show us a sign! They did... Turning rod into serpent. The magician's copied this sign, but Aaron's rod ate up theirs... Satan may produce a counterfeit, but ultimately the Word of God (the Rod) will swallow up the counterfeits.
In Jesus day, Pilot, Harod and others also asked Jesus for "a sign." But Jesus was the sign! He needed to show no further sign!
Pharaoh would not accept the sign -- the Word of God displayed by the Rod, so the plagues began... 1,2, 3, 4... ugh! I can't imagine living with any of these plagues.
Finally after the 4th plague of flies, Pharaoh seems to have had enough, "Go sacrifice to your God, but don't go too far!" So he's offering freedom to worship with stipulations. This reminds me of how the world talks to Christians today. "If you must be a Christian, okay...but don't go to extremes! Don't go too far away from us! Stay near!" The world and Satan are always trying to get us to compromise.
This following passage from Patriarchs and Prophets is powerful and shows how Moses prefigures Christ!!
"But the prince of evil had a still deeper object in manifesting his wonders through the magicians. He well knew that Moses, in breaking the yoke of bondage from off the children of Israel, pre-figured Christ, who was to break the reign of sin over the human family. He knew that when Christ should appear, mighty miracles would be wrought as an evidence to the world that God had sent Him. Satan trembled for his power. By counterfeiting the work of God through Moses, he hoped not only to prevent the deliverance of Israel, but to exert an influence through future ages to destroy faith in the miracles of Christ. Satan is constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ and to establish his own power and claims. He leads men to account for the miracles of Christ by making them appear to be the result of human skill and power. In many minds he thus destroys faith in Christ as the Son of God, and leads them to reject the gracious offers of mercy through the plan of redemption." – {PP 264.4}
This following passage from Patriarchs and Prophets is powerful and shows how Moses prefigures Christ!!
"But the prince of evil had a still deeper object in manifesting his wonders through the magicians. He well knew that Moses, in breaking the yoke of bondage from off the children of Israel, pre-figured Christ, who was to break the reign of sin over the human family. He knew that when Christ should appear, mighty miracles would be wrought as an evidence to the world that God had sent Him. Satan trembled for his power. By counterfeiting the work of God through Moses, he hoped not only to prevent the deliverance of Israel, but to exert an influence through future ages to destroy faith in the miracles of Christ. Satan is constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ and to establish his own power and claims. He leads men to account for the miracles of Christ by making them appear to be the result of human skill and power. In many minds he thus destroys faith in Christ as the Son of God, and leads them to reject the gracious offers of mercy through the plan of redemption." – {PP 264.4}
Are we too crying out today, "Show us a sign Lord?" Are we hardening our hearts against the Word of the Lord? Or are we willing to trust His Word by faith?
Tomorrow's reading: Exodus 9-10 and Matthew 21
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