Exodus 8: A stubborn king and a patient God (Day 56)

Pray

Lord, prepare me to receive your word. Clear my mind and warm my heart. Assure me of your loving purposes for me, and speak into my life today.

Read

Exodus 8 Luke 11 Job 25–26 1 Corinthians 12

Daily reflection: Exodus 8

These plagues show us something about human nature and something about God's nature.

Faced with the horrible series of ‘natural’ disasters inflicted on his country – frogs, gnats and flies – Pharaoh continues to resist Moses' request. It's not that he doesn't believe God is responsible for what's happening – he asks Moses to ‘Pray to the LORD to take away these frogs’ (verse 8) – it's that he hasn't grasped the seriousness of the situation. He appears, in spite of everything, to believe that he is in control.

Of course, in theory he was. God does not override our choices. But sometimes he makes the right course of action so plain to us that it's impossible to ignore it. When we do, we're not just mistaken; we're guilty. Pharaoh was building a case against himself.

We also learn something here about God. These plagues aren't a kind of divine terrorism. They're expressions of God's forbearance; he is ‘patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins’ (2 Peter 3.9). They escalate in severity to their terrible conclusion in the death of the firstborn (Exodus 12) because of Pharaoh's refusal to do the right thing.

We should not think that when bad things happen to us it's always God's doing. But we should try to be in tune with his will for us, and be thankful for his patience; without it we too would face judgement, because we so often get things wrong.

Pray

God, thank you for your patience with me. Help me to see the right path to take, and to follow it fearlessly. Forgive me when I get things wrong, and help me to do better. Amen.