Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Exodus 7:14-25.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn;  he refuses to let the people go.  Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile;  and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent.  You shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness.  But behold, you have not listened until now.”  Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD:  behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood.  The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.”’”  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood;  and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

So Moses and Aaron did even as the LORD had commanded.  And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.  The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile.  And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.  But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts;  and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.  Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this.  So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile.  Seven days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.”  Exodus 7:14-25.

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God could have compelled Pharaoh to let His people go after one miracle.  After all, God simply summarized His work in Exodus 6:1.  “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh;  for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”  But, God wanted to show off His power by many miracles.  

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.  When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.”  Exodus 7:3-4.

“11 I shall remember the deeds of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all Your work
And muse on Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy;
What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
You have made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have by Your power redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.” Psalm 77:11-15.

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”  So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Romans 9:17-18.  

God could have wiped out Pharaoh and his army in the first miracle rather than in the last miracle.  But, God wanted to distinguish the saved (those on whom He shows mercy) from the unsaved (those whom He hardens). 

“But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’”  Exodus 11:7.

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”  Romans 9:22-24.