Devotional Thoughts

Exodus 8:25-29    "And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."   The plague of flies certainly had Pharaoh’s attention. At this point, Moses and Aaron were certainly not among ...

Isaiah 9:6     "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."   There is no doubt that this verse of Scripture has been quoted and preached many times since it was written. I'm not sure that I can add anything, nor do I really want to add anything as I write about it this week. My hope is that as we read this verse and think upon it that our minds will be stirred to a greater appreciation of our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ.   "For unto us a child is born." That in itself is a miracle. Solomon spoke concerning the formation of a child in its mother's womb. "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." (Ecclesiastes 11:5) Please note the wo...

Exodus 8:20-24    "And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies."   In spite of all the...

Isaiah 9:6    "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." This verse is very familiar to all of us. We usually read it on Christmas cards and are usually used as sermon texts around Christmas time. The names of our Lord that are recorded here give us great comfort and encouragement when we take time to meditate upon each one. The Lord willing, we will look at each individual name this week, but this morning I want to look at them generally. Let's look back at verse two of this chapter: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." We looked at this verse last Friday, but I want us to think about it in terms of today's passage. Isaiah prophesied of a great light that would shine upon the pe...

Exodus 8:16-19    "And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said." There is a wonderful consistency in the things the LORD does. We sometimes read it without it impacting us as it should. With every action that Moses undertook in the name of the LORD it began with “And the LORD said (or spake) unto Moses.” Although Moses was responsible for doing as the LORD commanded him, Mos...

Exodus 8:12-15    "And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said."   Moses demonstrated great trust in God when he told Pharaoh to choose the time when the frogs would be destroyed (Exodus 8:9-10). Moses also showed great compassion when he agreed to pray to the LORD on Pharaoh’s and Egypt’s behalf. His attitude could just as easily have been “Why should I pray for you to be delivered when you have enslaved my brothers and sisters?” Finally, he showed great faithfulness in going out from Pharaoh and praying for him as he promised. Moses did not wait for the appointed hour to begin...