The next plague, darkness is the second one that God does not warn Pharaoh about, the darkness just comes over the land. We can recognize darkness because it contrasts so vividly with the light. For us, Jesus is the light of the world, and it is only through him that we come out of our personal darkness and into the light of His love.

The Egyptians had elaborate rituals to ensure that the sun would rise, they prayed to the god ra, and prayed prayers at dawn, noon, sunset, and midnight to ensure the safe passage of the sun god around the earth is his chariot. So this plague of darkness is pointing out the weakness of ra to the Egyptians. No amount of prayers to their idol will make light, only God is the creator of light.

Remember that there was three hours of darkness when Christ was on the cross, and we will see that in Revelation, there will also be darkness and the antichrist will not be able to do anything about it. Man has always had a fear of darkness, for we cannot see the enemy coming. When God created the earth, he divided the darkness from the light. Genesis 1:14-19 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in he firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and it was so. Then God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

A few thoughts. I think we take for granted the day and the night – miracles that we don’t even notice until there is an absence of one. So many of the new agers who feel that they are in charge of their universe forget the myriads of little miracles that occur every day, from sunset to sunrise, the heart beating, cells in our bodies, the earth revolving around the sun. This stuff is not accidental. It really would take a fool to believe that there was not a creator behind this.

And the other thing, if you read the creation, the days are marked like this, “And the evening and the morning…” For the Jewish people, the day begins at sunset, and the light then begins to increase on the earth. Without light there would be no plant growth, and no ability to function normally, so the darkness that God sends will be particularly terrifying to the Egyptians. Such a darkness would feel crushing. Without the light of the sun, imaginations and fears can run wild.

Exodus 10:21-22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

Thick darkness, this is not the usual darkness of night. There would be no stars, no moon, no sun, just darkness. The lights from the candles would not be able to pierce the thick darkness. Terror would abound. 

Exodus 10:23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”

I wonder what the Egyptians thought when they could not move, for the darkness was so thick. The Israelites had the glory of God.

Pharaoh will want to again try to bargain with Moses, but Moses will not bargain.

Exodus 10:24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”

Who does Pharaoh think he is fooling? He is wanting to have some means to control the Israelites, so that they come back. But God wanted complete liberation. He did not want the Israelites with a leash held by Pharaoh.

Exodus 10:25-26 But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. Our livestock also shall go with us not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the LORD our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.”

I find the last statement of Moses interesting, and so true. We give God our all, but we do not know what we must serve Him with until we arrive – that means we have to take the first steps in faith and know that God will then give us the next step. Pharaoh wanted the livestock because God blessed the Israelites with many blessings, and their livestock prospered. (Remember Jacob and the flocks and how God prospered them).

Exodus 10:27-28 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!”

You know here is a good example of the spirit of antichrist imitating God, for we are told that if we look on the face of God we will die (die to self, die to the flesh, for our sins cannot live in the light of God), but here Pharaoh is saying that if they looked on his face they would die – Pharaoh meant that he would have Moses and Aaron killed, but it is a mirror of God’s statement.

Exodus 10:29 So Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.”

Well, the next plague will be the last one and so distressing that Pharaoh will not be seeing because of his grief. And God will institute a feast that continues to today.

I am so grateful that we have God in our lives, that God will keep creating beautiful sunrises and abundant life. I am thankful each morning that God’s mercies are new every morning. I pray that you have a blessed day!

Heather

 Have you ever noticed how easy it is to judge another person? I look at Pharaoh and marvel at how prideful and stubborn he is. I tell myself that in similar situations I would make wiser choices and preserve the lives of the people and the plants and animals. Of course, when I look at my life and the strongholds that I have to still face, I see that I too tenaciously hold onto certain behaviors that I know are not in my best interests, and I keep getting some of the same lessons over and over. But God will use these to shape and mold me. The difference, I think between Pharaoh and us, is that our heart’s desire is to be teachable, to be yielded to God, and to obey God. The more we do that, the fewer plagues of circumstances will be in our lives and the fewer reruns.

Exodus 10:1-2 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

You have to admit, for those who have eyes to see, these plagues are certainly a powerful witness about God’s supremacy and superiority over Pharaoh. The plagues are troublesome to the Egyptians, but they have to be working on the Israelites too. Remember, they had been slaves to the Egyptians for 400 years, and God had to build up their faith to realize that God is superior to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The Israelites will know, by the time the plagues are over, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is ABLE. This will be important when God makes the change in their lives, having them leave the Egyptians.

God works that way in our lives too. He builds up our faith, when we walk with God in our lives, we see all the little and big circumstances where God has come through in our lives, and we store up those memories in our minds. It is good to be thankful to God for all the good He has done in our lives for two reasons. 1. God deserves our thankfulness, and 2. recounting the numerous wonderful things He has done in our lives builds up our faith. Then when the next trial or test comes we can remember what God HAS done, and trust that HE WILL do it again.

I sometimes wish that I could walk through life without trials and tests, but I also know that there is no testimony without a test – frankly I sometimes wish there was just a moany and that I could moan and gripe about circumstances and then God takes care of it, but it doesn’t work that way. He wants me to act in faith, to claim His word, to do His will, even when I don’t feel like it, even when circumstances don’t seem to indicate that that is the right thing (in my own understanding) to do. I have to trust God, and as I past the tests, then I have a testimony of the greatness of God.

Exodus 10:3-6 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD GOd of the Hebrews; ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth, and they shall eat the residue of what is left., which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians–which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

A locust is a herbivore and millions of them travel together in swarms. When a swarm arrives in an area, the sky turns black because the millions of locusts stop the light from reaching the ground. There can be as many as 40 million locusts in a swarm and they can travel 2,175 miles in one month. They do not travel at night, and they can fly up to 8 hours before they come to rest on an area of vegetation. Each locust can eat 2 grams of vegetation a day, and a swarm can eat 80,000 tons in one day. If they come to rest on a field of crops, the swarm can eat enough food to feed 400,000 people for one year. And a google search will show you that there are still plagues of locusts occurring now.

The Egyptian God seth is supposed to be the protector of crops, and seth will be unable to save the crops from the locusts, so God is showing Himself to be greater than seth. What God has been doing for Pharaoh, and what he does in our lives is to systematically expose and topple every false god and idol that we worship or value higher than God. Once they are exposed, we have a choice about what we will do with that knowledge. Pharaoh chooses to harden his heart, but we can also choose to surrender the idols and humble ourselves before God. Pharaoh could have become very great in Egypt had he bowed his knees to God.

Exodus 10:7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed.

Oh, this is such a profound statement about how we deal with situations with a hardened heart. We find out that our circumstances are deteriorating, but we ignore the evidence, and hold on tightly to our false perceptions. His servants are seeing exactly what is happening, but Pharaoh is not seeing that his whole world is falling apart around him. Now one thing I am curious about, what was the emphasis of what the servants said. “Let the men GO.” or “Let the MEN go.” We will see that Pharaoh heard the latter, but we cannot bargain with God that way.

Exodus 10:8-9 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God. Who are the ones that are going?” And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

Heather’s wondering comment, Moses said nothing about “we will go with our wives.” He does mentions sons and daughters.

Exodus 10:10 Then he said to them, “The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you.”

Pharaoh is threatening Moses with God, assuming that if Moses takes God with him (as if we can go anywhere where God is not) that God will give the Israelites grief like the Egyptians have had the plagues. What Pharaoh does not realize is that God is not fickle like their gods. God says what He means and He means what He says. He keeps His word, and He is sovereign. We cannot dicker with God, we cannot bargain. God values obedience. There is no halfway, God wants full commitment.

Exodus 10:11 “Not so! Go now, you who are men and serve the LORD, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

This is not acceptable to God, for God wants to deliver the whole nation Israel, not just let the men go and sacrifice. That is like Pharaoh saying that he will hold the women and children hostage until the men return. Pharaoh will not win this debate with God. God does not mind our debating and talking with Him and sharing our concerns with Him. But in the end, we need to agree with God, for God has our best interests at heart.

Exodus 10:12-15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land–all that the hail has left.” So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind on the land all the day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went all over the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. 

The above picture is from a recent plague of locusts in Egypt.

Exodus 10:16-17 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to haste, and said, “I have sinned against the LORD God and against you. Now therefore please forgive me my sin only this once and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only.

Haven’t we heard Pharaoh say these exact words before? And it is not only this ONCE. Pharaoh has consistently ignored God and not obeyed. It must be particularly humbling for Pharaoh to have to ask Moses and Aaron to ask God. Isn’t Pharaoh supposed to be the one who orders the gods around? Guess it doesn’t work with our LORD.

I know that in my life I have sometimes asked God something, made a promise, and then broke it. Not intentionally like Pharaoh, but still I have made promises and found myself doing the same old things I previously did. We make New Year’s resolutions and break them. At some point, we need to realize that real change comes from obedience to God, comes from turning things over to God and letting God work in us, as we obey God. But to just say “sorry” and not really mean it is displeasing to God. Just think about how our kids often say that they are sorry when they get caught doing wrong – what it often translates too is “I am sorry I got caught.” A discerning parent can tell when a child is truly sorry, or just conveniently sorry. So can a discerning God tell when we have truly repented.

Exodus 10:18-20 So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the LORD. And the LORD turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not only one locust in all the territory of Egypt. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s  heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

No surprises there.

Just a few interesting notes. Did you know that God considered locusts wise?
 Proverbs 30:24-28 There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the craigs, the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks; the spider skillfully grasps with its hand, and it is in kings’ palaces.

So natural locusts have no king, but they advance in ranks. What an interesting comment. One thing that this brings to mind is how strongly the Israelites pleaded for a king to be like the other kingdoms around them, and God warned them that having a king was not all it was cracked up to be. They really did better with judges and priests guiding them.

We are having locust plagues still on the earth, and they still cause major devastation. But, there will be one more plague of locusts, a plague so grotesque, for the locusts will not be what we are used to, and so unnatural that this plague will have a king.

Revelation 9:1-10 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. (Heather’s note in this case, the star is an angel sent by God to open up the bottomless pit) To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it: they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men for five months.

Revelation 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

Both of those names mean “destroyer.” So, we know this is an unnatural creature, not only because of its physical description, but because it has a king over it. While the above picture is an artist’s fanciful imagination of what the creature will look like, it is not your ordinary locust. God will send that plague as the first “Woe” where the plagues escalate on the earth. Some will realize that they need Christ and come to God, but many on earth will do as Pharaoh of old did, harden their hearts. God is making sure that there are ample opportunities to accept Christ. And if we don’t hear the message in a gentle way, God will up the ante. 

I think the most important lesson to learn from these plagues is that we really need to be aware of what God is saying in our lives, and obey Him. He is sovereign, and His goal is for our good, not for evil. But, just like with our children, if they disobey, we will give them repercussions, so will God in our lives. Just like we do not like to have to correct our children, neither does God want to have to correct us. I know that I could have saved myself a lot of grief if, when I was 8, instead of turning my back on God, I turned toward God. I cannot make up those lost years, I cannot forget the pain that I suffered because of my rebelion, I cannot turn back the pages of time, but now I have God in my life and God is a restorer.

One last passage that is very important. When God sends correction in our lives, when we make stupid mistakes, and sometimes make them over and over, when our lives are in a shambles and we finally wise up and turn to God, we can accept that this following verse is true in our lives, when we call out to God, Joel 2:25 So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust and the chewing locust. My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. And praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you: And My people shall never be put to shame.”

This is a near and a far prophesy, for God will restore Israel. But He will also restore us as we come to Him. If you listen to the testimonies of people who have accepted Christ in their lives, you will hear how God has restored what they destroyed in their own way of doing things, my testimony included in this. Only God can, as Isaiah 61 says, give beauty for ashes and turn our mourning to dancing.

Have a blessed day,
Heather

We were very talkative at this Bible study and went on several rabbit trails of discussions. I have presented it faithfully as I can, but there is a lot. Sometimes it is really neat to see how the rabbit trails come together in the end, and this time it did come together in a beautiful way!

Pastor Don started out our study by talking about a new phenomenon that he saw on the news – Shopping Rage. He said that they are calling it a psychological condition that brings out the worst in people who have to stand in line for so long and compete for a limited number of products. Pastor Don stated that we have gotten to a place where we are taking idol worship very seriously, rock stars, dignitaries, and lust for things have become idols that we worship.

The book of Isaiah is a good place to see the background for what is in the news.We are the first generation to clearly have world wide information that proves Bible Prophesy. But in our fear of terrorism, to get on a plane and go through baggage and person checks, is an example of how we are giving up our freedom for fear.  Pastor Don mentioned that there is now a machine that airports are testing out to reduce standing in long lines – it involves thumb prints and eye scans to identify the traveler. And there are also people who are suggesting chips be put in the hand for identification purposes. The European Union is already giving chips for ID for their employees. In America there is a push for this chip when there are health issues. Pastor Don says that one day they will go into the nursing homes and “for the resident’s own good” give them the chip to prevent the residents from getting lost. As usual, they will target the weakest, and then move on to the general population, after citing a few examples of how the chip has saved lives.

Pastor Don then asked, “Where is America in the Bible?” It isn’t mentioned in precise detail, although some do find references that they feel point to America.

Some background:

In the Bible is mentioned “The Day”, “The Day of the LORD”, “The Day of Vengeance,” These references are pointing to end times events when the antichrist has made an appearance on the earth.

When God mentions Israel, He breaks it into two categories: Jerusalem and Judah. In this is a hidden message, for Jerusalem refers to the Jews, and Judah to the Gentiles when we are looking at prophetic passages. Another way to break it down is Jerusalem – natural born Jews, Judah – Bride of Christ. Many of the prophesies in Isaiah have a near fulfillment with the natural Jerusalem and Judah of Isaiah’s day, but also Israel and the Bride of Christ in the end times prophesies.

There is a dangerous theory going around called Replacement Theology, which says that Jesus came and the Jews did not recognize him as Messiah, so God will replace the Jews with the Church. When prophetic history unfolds, there will be no Jews.

This is wrong! A careful reading of Romans and the Bible shows that that is not what God will do. Paul talks about one new man, and even though Paul mentions that He doesn’t know how God will save the Jew, he knows that God will. The Jews are the People of the Promise, sons of Isaac. We gentiles are spiritual sons of Abraham, as is the Jew.

Isaiah 50:1 Thus says the LORD: “Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce, whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, and for your transgressions your mother has been put away.

Pastor Don said that we have to be careful of people who refuse to acknowledge that scripture does not promote divorce. God let Moses permit divorce because of the hardness of the Israelites’ hearts, but Jesus made sure that they knew that God did not approve of divorce.

In Isaiah 50 God gives a out a divorce to Israel, and out of that we will see that He will restore and reclaim the children who came from that divorced union. Messianic Jews and descendants of the scribes and pharisees are part of the remnant restored by God.

An aside: Children of divorce should not be punished. When a child is born out of wedlock, it is called illegitimate, but really it is the “parents” who should be called illegitimate.

In the Bible prophesy is progressive.

In A.D. 70 many Jews were won to the Lord when Jerusalem fell. There was an active Christian community on the south side of the Temple. Within those 70 years after Jesus’ death the community of believers had risen to number about 10,000. Remember, after Peter’s first sermon 3,000 were saved. The Jews of that day were not upset with the denominations. Even today, the orthodox Jew may not like all the practices of the reformed Jew, but the orthodox Jew would still consider the reformed person to be a Jew. In A.D. 70 the Christians were accepted until persecutions increased, then the non Christian Jews made a deal with the Romans to separate the Christians out for persecution.

Is God concerned about these Jews? Yes. He touches their hearts and calls to them, He wants them to change their ways and come to Him. God calls these unsaved Jews – “Jerusalem.”

“Judah”, whose name means praise, yada praise – hand raising praise. We are yada folks. We get included into the family of God due to the sacrifice of Jesus. We see this also in Isaiah 7 & 9.  Jesus will be the light of the gentiles and God makes a place to include us, calling it “Judah”.

We asked Pastor Don how do we know if the “Judah” referred to is Judah at the time of Isaiah or the end times “Judah”, and Pastor Don told us that we have to read it according to context.

Hosea 6:1-3 Come, and let us return to the LORD, for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and the former rain to the earth.

(Heather’s note: Kay Arthur and others use this passage as a reference to the end times, to Daniel, etc. so this is the Judah of the end times, as well as a prophesy for the time it was made. Hence the former and later rains.)

Hosea 6:4 O Ephriam, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud. And like the early dew it goes away.

The Bible tells us how you believe is important. If God sets up and establishes a system of laws under Moses by which the Jews or anyone is to obey, and they fail to obey, they are subject to the Mercy of God. Before Jesus, people met God at the Mercy Seat, their sin was covered, but it was not eradicated. The sacrifice at the altar only covered the sin and had to be repeated every year at the Day of Atonement.

God says, that whoever calls on Him shall be saved. That is the Grace of God. When we look under the covering of the Grace of God (provided by Jesus sacrifice) we see that the sin is gone. Grace gives us the opportunity to, by faith, accept the act of Jesus to remove sin and accept that as done.  By our faith we are empowered to believe beyond the Mercy of God to the Grace of God. Salvation by Grace (sin eradicated)  is superior to salvation by Mercy (sin covered), for Grace removes sin by the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. The blood of bulls and goats is not sufficient to remove our sins.

Those Jews who lived under the law of Moses up until the time of Jesus, and even the time when Jesus was in the tomb could be saved. But there was a problem that Paul pointed out, no one could perfectly keep the laws of Moses. We all fail in that, so no one could be saved under the law.

Because we are all sinners in need of a savior, God tells us he loves us and will not forsake us, so He provided a savior, Jesus, to reconcile us to Himself.

Scripture tells us that God holds a special dispensation for the Jew. There will be judgment, but we are not told what that judgment will entail. Paul called it a “mystery”. We can’t take the fact that it is a mystery and infer that all Jews are going to hell. Hosea 6 points out that God will reconcile, and Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:4 (see above) Ephriam was not faithful. This tribe that chose to not cross the Jordan into the Promised Land and did not provide for the Israelites when they needed help.

The Judah mentioned in Hosea 6:5-10 is the Judah of the natural realm of that day, and they messed up. But look at verse 11: Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people.

Why is the word “also” there? This is a different Judah, a prophetic Judah, a Spiritual Judah, which includes Christians (gentiles), and Messianic Jews – the Bride of Christ.

The Gentiles were not under the law of Moses, they were of the covenant of Abraham.

It is during these current times that we can see that there is a difference between Judah of the time of Israel and the Judah of today, it was not apparent to Biblical scholars 100 years ago because events of history hadn’t occurred. Before 1948 the Jews were scattered, but when the Jews returned to their land as prophesied, the prophetic clock has started up again. But not all Jews have called out to God as prophesied, and accepted Christ as the Messiah, but that will come, and then God will save that remnant.

Psalm 126 and 107 talk about the returning of the Jews to the land.

The Last days refer to Jerusalem and Judah when God unites all together.

In an aside: Pastor Don spent some time talking about the 10 regions that the world will be divided up into (as mentioned in Daniel). That the European Union has already split out which countries will be in these ten division. From a spiritual point of view, God is not concerned about what we call ourselves, He has named the nations and He is concerned about Ethiopia, Rome, Jerusalem, Medes, Persians, Iraq, Iran, etc. He is concerned with the saved nations and the unsaved nations.

As we watch the news we will begin to see who are the players in this day and age.

For example who are the Edomites, the spiritual line that descends from Esau, who was a betrayer, wanted to kill his brother, and did not recognize Israel as blood brothers. Edom is in the land of Jordan, and helped to create the Palestinian problem.

Babylon will be utterly destroyed, and the descendants of Ishmael will amass from the East and North and come together and fall upon Babylon in the Day of the Lord. The prophets saw great destruction in the form of lightning, mountains falling, and great chariots in the sky. We can see that these can also, with a bit of imagination, describe the weapons of mass destruction that we have today.

A look at the clock brought Pastor Don back to the Bible verses he wanted to cover, and we did a whirlwind tour.

Isaiah 1:2-3 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken; “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebeled against Me; The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.

This can describe Israel back in the time of Isaiah and also today.

Isaiah 1:4-9 Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard. As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.

Another aside: The land was filled with sexual sin (Sodom & Gomorrah). We can see that today if we just turn on the TV. The US sells more porn to people than any other nation in the world. Our nation was born in freedom, but we want freedom without principles, freedom without morality and ethics, and freedom without morality and ethics is anarchy.

Why did God destroy the earth in the time of Noah, because everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes, and they kept transgressing against God. We are coming to that today in our country.

A great nation is a nation that gives freedom within the guidelines of morals and ethics.
A crumbled nation is when freedom is increased beyond the guidelines of morals and ethics.

The cry of the 60′s was more freedom, freedom to sin, sex – drugs – and rock and roll. This led to anarchy, civil liberties reduced morals and created more “freedom.” And in the three generations since, there is an increase in “freedom” but ethics have been severely curtailed.

Europe has thrown off its morals, and religion became based on buying their way out of moral restrictions. The church of England broke off with the Papacy so that the king could marry another wife. Power and money moved the morality and ethics of the day.

Today there is a push for the freedom to sell porn, to go beyond the ethical limits that our country was founded on.

We have seen this in our country with the current election. First we went very conservative because we were sick of unlimited freedom, then the people did not want to lose their “freedom” so they swung to the other side of the pendulum. We are going to end up with a reduction of freedom and rights, and a decided lack of morals in our country.

Back to the whirlwind tour of Isaiah:

Isaiah 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up–and it shall be brought low.

Isaiah 2:19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty. When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

Pastor Don commented that this would happen physically first, then spiritually. The Day of the LORD will affect people both physically and spiritually.

Isaiah 2:20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats.

Isaiah 3:1-4 For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of brad and the whole supply of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan, and the expert enchanter. I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them.

(Heather’s note, this is mentioned in Revelation).

Isaiah 3:6-8 When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father saying, “You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let these ruins be under your power. In that day he will protest, saying, “I cannot cure your ills, for in my house is neither food nor clothing; do not make me a ruler of the people. For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory.

Isaiah 3:18-23 In that day the Lord will take away the finery; the jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the veils; the headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands; the perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings; the nose jewels, the festal apparel, and the mantles, the outer garments, the purses, and the mirrors, the fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.

(Heather’s note: See Revelation 18:9-24)

Isaiah Chapter 4:1-2 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.” In that day, the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.

There will be a remnant.

Isaiah 5 talks about God’s vineyard, and we are grafted in. Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Isaiah 5:20-23 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe and take away justice from the righteous man!

Then we have the promise of salvation, of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of  His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Praise God for Jesus and His salvation, without that none of us would be saved, Jew or Gentile.

We ran out of time, sigh.
Hoping you have a blessed day!

Heather

God has just allowed a plague of boils to come upon the Egyptians, and Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. This time God did not give advance warning, and God honored Pharaoh’s desire to have his heart hardened. So far, after 6 plagues, Pharaoh still is not willing to allow Moses and the Israelites to go into the wilderness and sacrifice to God. Pharaoh wanted the sacrifice to be within the boundaries of Egypt, which Moses rejected because that could have caused the Israelites to be killed by the Egyptians for what they consider a distasteful act. So far Pharaoh has not budged from his position, although I think he is realizing that he is not the all powerful one that he thought he was. And he has observed that the plagues are happening only on the Egyptians, so even his people must be murmuring about what is going on.

Well God now will let Pharaoh have a warning about the next plague – Hail.

Exodus 9:13-14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let my people go, that they may serve Me, for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.”

God wants Pharaoh to know that He is sovereign. Now Pharaoh’s resistance boils (sorry couldn’t resist) down to pride. Will he acknowledge God as God, or will he keep allowing plague after plague to torment him and his people? I am certain that he is angry at God for the plagues, but the real culprit is Pharaoh, who refuses to obey God. And God has said, “Come, let us reason together.” God has allowed nations to go unscathed as long as they have not hurt His people, Israel. Even today, we have to be careful because God has promised to bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who hurt Israel. Where will we stand as a nation? But God is now trying to reason with Pharaoh.

Exodus 9:15 “Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in the earth.”

I think that this is where we get so messed up today, forgetting who God is. Forgetting that God has everything under control, it is not us who act independently, but there is a divine plan. We may want to pretend to ourselves that we are in charge of our universe, as the new agers claim, that we are gods, but in reality there is God, and God is sovereign.

Romans 9:14-18 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

God put the situation in front of Pharaoh and gave him the choice. Pharaoh chose to harden His heart, causing untold damage to his land and people. That is the problem when people pretend they are god, they are self-serving, caring only for their interests, and what ends up occurring is anarchy. The only true freedom and peace can come when there are absolute moral standards, and the only absolute moral standard that we can measure with is God’s Word.

God desires none will perish, but He is the potter and we are the clay. God raised us up for a purpose, and we have a choice to work with God and achieve the purpose, or not. It is not for us to fully understand how God will do what He will do, his thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are far higher than our ways. It is a blessing that He chooses to use us in the first place.

Exodus 9:17-18  And yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now.

God has Pharaoh’s number, that he has exalted himself. Here God has given Pharaoh a warning about heavy hail. Pharaoh can protect his people and livestock if he humbles himself and spreads the word. Let’s see what happens.

Exodus 9:19 Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.

So God tells Pharaoh bring the animals and people into shelter, for if they are left out in the open they will die. God does the same with us, he tells us to come under His covering, to obey and trust Him, and do as He tells us, and He will be with us in our situation. When we disobey God, we are no longer under His covering, and satan has a field day with us. Sin is death to us, and when we disobey God, we sin – leaving ourselves unprotected. It only takes a moment to repent and bring us back in the shelter of His wings, but our pride keeps us exposed.

Exodus 9:20-21 He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses, but he who did not regard the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.

Obviously when Moses speaks, others listen, even if Pharaoh chooses to harden his heart. Those who listened and believed the Word of God, and acted on it will be spared. Those who choose to ignore the Word of God will suffer consequences. It is not enough just to hear the Word of God, we must also act and obey it. Pharaoh heard the Word and did nothing to protect his servants and livestock, and he will suffer for that. How many warnings have we been given by God that we have ignored, and then found that we got pounded?

Exodus 9:22-24 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt–on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Revelation 16:21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

In Revelation the hail is about 100 pounds each. God is using these plagues, both in Exodus and in Revelation as a warning to people. Instead of repenting, turning to God, the people blaspheme God. Sometimes with my kids I try to get their attention, and they have selective hearing. If I mention a treat they perk up and listen, if I mention work and chores, they pretend they don’t hear. We can pretend we don’t hear God, but God will keep persisting to get our attention. It can be a gentle nudge or a 100 pound hailstone. It is our choice, will we listen and obey or not?

Exodus 9:25-26 And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both men and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

Don’t you want to go up to Pharaoh and say, “Take a hint!” Sometimes I wonder at the thinking of people, and what they choose to ignore, when the writing is on the wall in front of them, the warning lights are flashing, and they still choose to do what they are doing that will only lead to trouble.

Exodus 9:27 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.”

THIS TIME!!!!!!! Oh, Pharaoh, from day one when you wanted to start destroying the Egyptian babies you have sinned. This apology of Pharaoh is not sincere, as we shall see. Sometimes people are sorry, but it is not from a deep repentance, it is that they are sorry that they got caught, sorry that there will be consequences.

Exodus 9:28 “Entreat the LORD, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough, I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

Let’s see how he lets them go, and then we can judge his sincerity.

Exodus 9:29 So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.

The Earth is the LORD’s and we forget that. We have, in the new age era, started worshipping the creation, gaia, mother earth, and all of creation, forgetting that the Creator is the one to be worshipped. Moses knows that Pharaoh has not yet gotten to the point where He will honor his word, and where he realizes that God is sovereign.

Exodus 9:30-32 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in the bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.

Here is a good example of God’s mercy, because of the growing season in Egypt, God timed this plague of hail to hurt one crop, but there is still the wheat and spelt saved. The people do not have to starve, if Pharaoh does the right thing and lets the Israelites go. Will Pharaoh care about his people? We will see that He does not.

Exodus 9:33-35 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the LORD; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

I know that sometimes I have tricked myself, a trouble arises and I plead for God’s help, the help comes, and I trick myself into thinking that it was part of the natural order of things, and God had nothing to do with it. We can take a miracle of God and find a hundred reasons why it is not a miracle, but we are fooling ourselves. Once the crisis passes, we sometimes put God on the back burner, and forget our promises to Him. It is a huge mistake when we do that, for God does not lie. If He says He will do something He will. Pharaoh is only kidding himself when he thinks he can go back on his word to God about the Israelites. God will not be mocked. Pharaoh will come to realize that God is God and God’s will will happen no matter how godly Pharaoh thinks he is.

I am trying to cultivate the ability to listen to God the first time He speaks, not wanting Him to have to escalate His attention getting capacity. I pray that my first desire is to do His will, to respond immediately to His suggestions. I don’t always succeed, but I think with His help, I am improving.

Hoping you have a blessed week.

Heather

 Well we left Pharaoh hardening his heart. None of the plagues so far have caused him to think that maybe, just maybe God should be honored. We have seen that he refused to even let the Israelites go for three days into the wilderness to sacrifice to God. He has made promises to Moses about permitting this, and then taken them back. Each of the plagues given to Pharaoh have shown that God is more powerful than the idols that the Egyptians worshipped. We have now come to the Sixth plague Boils.

Remember that Pharaoh has finally crossed that line, where he has hardened his heart one too many times, and now God will honor that desire of Pharaoh. We will see God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, but that is only after Pharaoh made that choice five times previously.

Well, this new plague will be very unpleasant for the Egyptians, boils. What is a boil? It is a skin abscess, a localized infection deep in the skin. It starts out as a reddened, tender area, and becomes firm and hard. The center softens and fills with white blood cells to kill the infection, and this collection of white blood cells, bacteria and proteins forms pus. The pus forms a head which can be surgically opened or spontaneously drain out.

Imagine the fastidious Egyptians covered with pus filled boils. The Egyptian god, typhon, is the god targeted in this plague. Typhon was worshipped by sacrificing humans in a furnace (I would guess it would be the same furnace that Moses got his ashes from). Remember God requires obedience, not sacrifice. Typhon was a powerful Egyptian demon who constantly opposed a beneficent osiris. He is noted for bringing heat and drought and wind that came up from the Sahara desert, and destroyed everything that was vulnerable to heat. This wind later was called a typhoon. He was depicted as a monster of enormous bulk with several heads and wings from his shoulders. He imprisoned osiris in an ark and sent horus to an island. The other deities had to escape to save their lives, and hide in the shape of various animals, the same animals that the Egyptians later made into idols. He was later cast into Mount Etna, and is thought to have caused the blood red lava.

What is interesting about this plague is that this is a plague that God did not announce first, it just caught the Egyptians unaware. The Pharaoh could not pretend foreknowledge of it and He suffered as much as his subjects.

Exodus 9:8-10 So the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward the heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast.

Boils were not comfortable and it hurt the animals and humans, driving them mad. God permitted satan to try Job with boils too, but for a far different purpose. God wanted to show satan that Job would not reject God just because his circumstances were difficult. But from Job we can see how painful they boils were. Job 2:7-8 So satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.

I have to apologize to you, because before, after the plague of lice when the magicians told Pharaoh that this was the hand of God, I did not think they made another appearance in front of Pharaoh, but I was wrong, for they show up here unable to stand before Moses, brought to their knees.

Genesis 9:11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them just as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

God has escalated the plagues to a point where Pharaoh, had his heart not been hardened, should have realized that he needed to obey God. How many of us are like Pharaoh? Circumstance after circumstance in our lives gives us challenges, but we are determined to handle it ourselves instead of calling out to God. How often have we disobeyed God and then faced the consequences of that disobedience without repenting?

All it would have taken was a bit of humility on Pharaoh’s part and he could have preserved himself and his people some massive grief. But no, instead, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Now this plague came unannounced. But we will, in the end times also see a plague of boils which has been announced in the book of Revelation.  Revelation 16:2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.

I used to wonder about God and the plagues until I realized that in a way He is treating His creation like I would treat my child. When my kids disobey, I could not pat them on the back, smile and do nothing or else I would have created a tiny rebel. Instead they had to have consequences for their poor choices. I had to deprive them of an object that they loved, give them a time out, or as they got older take away a privilege. By doing this at an early age, I meet with little disobedience now, for they have grown to accept the limits that we value, and they honor them. The plagues seem harsh, but they did not start out as harsh. God first spoke to Pharaoh through Moses, then he showed him signs and wonders, and when that didn’t work there were annoying things. But Pharaoh chose to ignore God, and God had to speak “louder” to get Pharaoh’s attention.

How I pray that I am obedient to God, that I listen to Him the first time. It has taken quite some time for me to realize that God does not issue orders just to issue orders. Growing up in my home, I learned that when my parents said they loved me, it meant they wanted something from me and it would hurt. I realized that their demands were more self-serving and did not always have my best interests at heart. But God, God loves with an agape love mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13, and His love and commandments, and orders are not to make me jump through a hoop, but instead to help me grow in ways that are best for me. I had to learn that the Creator of the Universe knows what is best for His creation. If I follow God’s guidance, things go well, if not there are troubles. God wants to help us avoid the difficulties through our obedience to Him.

Hoping you have a blessed Sunday.

Heather

Pastor Don was asked about the origin of demons and weren’t demons all destroyed with the flood? So Pastor Don taught us about demons (spur of the moment, as it was not part of his planned teaching) so that we would have an understanding of them for Spiritual Warfare. Remember, that Pastor Don points out that so often we see a demon in every situation, but most of the times it is not demons, but our fleshly nature that is presenting itself.

In order to know where demons come from we have to go back to Genesis Chapters 6 and 7

Genesis 6:1-5Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

If you look back at the genealogy in Genesis 5 you will see that this is a line of succession that is all of men, so why would God then signal out sons of God. Those would be the fallen angels cast down to earth after the rebelion of satan mentioned in Isaiah. It is a separate group that is so bad that God decided to shorten the lives of men from the 600-900 year lifespan to 120 years. (Heather’s note, God will shorten that even more as we see in Psalms to 70-80 years). He did that because it protected man from himself.

Pastor Don pointed out that the word “giants” is found in Strongs as – Nephalim, and I looked that up and found out that that word comes from a word “naphal”, and listen to what that word means: fail, fall down, cast, fall away, divide, overthrow. We have no idea of how these sons of God mated with the daughters of men, whether it be in spirit possession, or if they actually did it bodily, but we do know that they produced offspring that were labeled giants – that were vastly different from others. And we also know that God tells us that they did evil continually.

When Joshua sent the 13 spies into the land, they came back with a report of the land flowing with milk and honey, grapes so huge that it took two people to carry one bunch, etc. They also reported on the inhabitants of the land.

Numbers 13:22 And they went up through the South and came to Hebron, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, and the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

The descendants of Anak are the Anakins, and they were giants like Goliath.

Numbers 13:28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong, the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

Numbers 13:33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak who came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own height, and so we were in their sight.

This word for giants is the same as what is mentioned in Genesis, Nephalim.

Pastor Don then asked why David picked up five smooth stones when he battled Goliath, and the answer was because Goliath had four brothers and David was prepared to take all of them out.

Archeology and History has shown that there are 8′ and 9′ tall people back in the days of the Old Testament. So we know that in David’s time, after the flood, the Nephalim were still on the earth And they are still here now.

What does the New Testament say.

2 Peter 2:4-5 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

God did not spare the angels or the people on earth whose bloodline was perverted by the nephalim. The only ones saved were 8 people who had not defiled themselves.

Jude 6-8 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also those dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

When it mentions that the angels did not keep their proper domain, this is referring to the sons of God and the daughters of men and the sexual immorality that passed between them. There was a massive judgment on those angels, and they were chained until the last days. But their ungodly offspring were still on the earth, and an example of that was Sodom and Gomorrah, where there was sexual immorality on the earth. And we shouldn’t kid ourselves, the times of today are worse than what occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

This is what spiritual warfare is all about. Demons were once mighty angels, who rebeled against God, and they were cast out of Heaven. God has a place prepared for them at the end times. So their time is limited and they know it. They are trying to upset God’s plan for salvation, and are seeking any way to pervert the line of descent from Adam to Jesus, and their tactic was to mate with the daughters of men and produce ungodly offspring. They almost succeeded, so that is why God reduced the age of man to 120 years, to prevent man from succumbing. He also had to destroy the ungodly offspring to preserve the line of descent.

Pastor Don mentioned that when we think about these descendants of Anak, we might want to consider mythology. Maybe some of the myths that have been around about creatures like cyclops, giants, medussa, loki, etc have some basis in reality. For they might be products of ungodly sexual immorality.

When God decided to intervene, look at Genesis 5:29 And he called his name Noah (which means rest) saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.

Noah was part of God’s plan for man’s salvation. Notice the plural “our work” which is another indication of the plurality of God (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit).

Genesis 6:6-8 And the Lord was sorry that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

The repenting that God had was not the kind of repenting that we think of, for God is not a man that He should sin – it is more a compassion that God had for the mess that man made of his life, and we notice that Noah found grace in God’s eyes, and God made sure to preserve Noah. Why did Noah find grace?

Genesis 6:9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

When it says that Noah was just it does not mean that Noah did not sin, but it means that he was perfect in his generations. That means that Noah and his offspring did not fall into the trap of satan of mating with the sons of God. His lineage was undefiled by the nephalim, so Noah’s bloodline was pure. So when the Messiah was born, he was not from a defiled bloodline, but a pure bloodline from Adam. Noah resisted the temptations of satan and was 600 years old. God came through at the 11th hour for mankind, for there were only 8 on the ark, the rest of mankind was destroyed in the flood.

God’s plan of Salvation was not destroyed by this ruse from satan and his demons. Even through to today satan is bent on destroying the bloodline – of killing the Jews, so that there will not be a second coming of Christ. Satan is getting desperate because he knows his time is short. He tried with the Romans in 70 A.D., and he tried with Hitler to destroy the Jews, but God has preserved a remnant.

We can see that satanic influence in the gods of mythology. In all of mythology the gods are not trustworthy, honorable, faithful. They are capricious, risking stuff, and when you go to one of them they mess with you, do what they want with you and then throw you off in a heartbeat.

We then talked a bit about dragons and how they appear throughout history. How all the great heros battled dragons, dragons appear on pottery, and other archeological artifacts. They are examples of Spiritual Warfare.

There are laws to follow, and the ability to enter into spiritual warfare shows up after Noah. Before Noah there is no where that Spiritual Warfare is mentioned in the Bible.

There are a limited amount of demons on the earth, these fallen beings have no place in heaven or hell, so they wander the earth looking for bodies to inhabit. They crave bodies, and they know that once Jesus Christ comes again to rule and reign on the earth, their fate will be the Lake of Fire. Their desire is to experience life again. Pastor Don mentioned the movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean to give us an idea of what their life is like. They do evil, they don’t do any good, and they want to experience life, but can’t.

The will power of a person can dominate a demon and enable a person to throw off a demon. The problem is that many people are comfortable in their sin and have no desire to throw off the demons.

The demoniac of the Gaderines had a legion of demons, (which made people realize how small they are), and they were so hungry for a body that they asked Jesus to put them in the bodies of pigs. The pigs became wild and destroyed themselves. That is what demons do to the bodies they possess, they drive the person to destroy themselves then the demons are out looking for another body.

So, back to the brother who stole from his brother (justified or not, see yesterday’s Bible study notes), his sin opens up the door for the demonic influence. The demonic beings do not always stay with one person, they wander and cause havoc. When a person does something that attracts their attention, the demons come back to torment. And what happens is that the demon might not show the same sin that opened the door. The thief might have a demon of worry, and then that will open the door to an obsessive/compulsive behavior demon. So when we are dealing with a person who has a problem of worry or obsessive/compulsive behavior, we have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the cause of the problem and then we can address the root cause.

Once satan gets in, he finds ways to open up the door to more demons. For example, a person arrested and put in jail for a minor drug bust, is now in a place where there are other demons from other crimes, and the jailed person will come out with more than he went in with. In our situation now there are  tv ads that advocate medicine to prescribe drugs for situations that may not even have happened in our bodies. These drugs can alter our being so much that it also leaves an opening for demons to come in.

Pastor Don mentioned that he has been studying the root of modern disorders and finds that it is a reduction in our immune system, our defense system. There is an onslaught of auto immune diseases. Pharmakia (excuse spelling) is one of the ways the end times forces are going to cause us to open the doors to demonic forces. Worry, fear, and other negative emotions wear down our autoimmune system and leave us open for a bevy of diseases. Some discussion by nurses and counselors in our Bible study show us that there is an increase in certain diseases in our day and age.

The devil wants us to believe that we can’t resist. That we are at the mercy of our lustful impulses. That is why nephalism is alive and well today. It is quite possible that only 1/3 of the planet will be preserved in the endtimes because they will be the ones that are not polluted by nephalism.

In Spiritual Warfare, we have to discern who we are dealing with. Many deliverance ministries are really stir up ministries. They cast out demons who then go right back to where they were cast out from. The deliverance ministers cast out the demons, but don’t teach the people how to stay free, so the demons go back into the host until the next time they are cast out. When a deliverance ministry comes to a church sometimes the demons show up and enjoy putting on a show for the people.

In order for someone to be free from the demonic activity in them, the person has to be taught to exercise their willpower and that they must fill up the empty space the demon occupied with godly things. If not, the room is swept clean and the demon returns with seven of his fellow demons.

We have to know what we are fighting, everyone who has demons does not want to be set free from them. Some are comfortable with the sins that open up the door for the demons. Others do not really want to be healed for whatever personal reason they have.

FIRST STEP OF THE BATTLE: Define who the enemy is.

Islam is not the enemy, but satan is using Islam to cause havoc. Denominations that do not agree with our denominational beliefs are not the enemy.

We have to have the RIGHT BATTLEFIELD. Our weapons are not carnal. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Back to Saul.

1 Samuel 16:24 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

The change in Saul’s demeanor must have been apparent to the people in the court. Yet when Saul was freed from this spirit, he never closed the door on sin.

1 Samuel 18:7-11 So the women sang as they danced and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”  So Saul eyed David from that day forward. And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with is hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

Saul got angry at the accolades given to David, and he sinned in the emotional realm. It did not have anything to do with demons, but that sin opened the door so that later on the demon came in and affected Saul. Saul had a spear at hand and chucked it at David twice. Remember, David was already anointed as God’s next pick for a king, but he stayed humble and faithfully served God’s anointed, Saul,  even though it is now life-threatening for him to do so. David could have resorted to anger as well, but instead he chose to honor God, and did not react in kind to Saul.

1 Samuel 18:12-15 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him. Therefore when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.

When we walk in righteousness, evil people are afraid of us, of who we are in Christ. So, what we need to do is 1. Do not be afraid and 2. Do not worry. Worry and fear give openings to satan. We need to walk in love, and make sure that our thoughts fill our minds with things of God. For our weapons are not carnal.

Hoping you have a blessed day.

Heather

Well, I sure hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I know that I have a lot to be thankful for. I am glad that I finally have a few moments to sit and type out the Bible study. Pastor Don is still teaching on Spiritual Warfare.  I have to tell you that this week I think God has given me homework on this front because there has been such a spirit of depression hanging around me, and a lot of other little irritations. Some days I was better at standing on God’s Word, other days I did not succeed as well. God is also having me revisit some issues from my past for a deeper healing on certain levels, so I have been walking around rather numb. But it is good training for standing on His Word, and speaking the truth into a situation, and telling satan to take a hike. While I do not like the pruning process, I also know that God wouldn’t allow it if it wasn’t for my best interest.

One little irritation during Bible study, my pen ran out of ink, but fortunately a friend had one I could borrow.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

1 Samuel 16:21-23 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight. And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

(Heather’s note, remember from a previous Bible study, Pastor Don pointed out that the Jewish language did not have permissive verbs, so the spirit from God was not that God put it on Saul, but that God did not put a covering of protection over Saul, so Saul, because of his disobedience, was open for what spirit would rest on him and God did not prevent it.)

Saul opened the doors for the spirit because of his behavior, and rebelion to God. So the spirit could come and reside with Saul, but it was not with Saul all the time. It would come and go. Something in Saul’s nature was in cooperation with the spirit.

If you have a person who is reprehensible coming into your presence, you have a choice, you can tolerate the person or ask them to leave. We have to reckon with the reality of that spirit when we open up the door because of our unrighteousness, which permits the work of that spirit.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Paul did not open up the door, but had Paul acted in an unrighteous manner and not repented, that messenger of satan would have found a way into Paul to create havoc.

Satan walks around looking whom he can devour, and that is why we must be ready to do warfare. When we do not fight off the spirit, it becomes part of our personality, and our personality can change. Saul had such a change of personality that people around him noticed.

Pastor Don pointed out that the spirit that comes in might not have anything to do with the sin that opened up the door for the spirit. For example, if a person hates their brother, and comes in to the brother’s house – sees money on the table and steals the money even though they know that will make times financially tough for the brother, they have committed a sin of stealing. The person may tell themselves that they are justified in taking the money because the brother has often borrowed money from them and not paid it back. Whether or not the action might be justified, it is still a sin of stealing and opens the door for spirits. In the spiritual realm the devil and his demons notice the sin and start coming through that open door. Remember satan is called the accuser of the brethren. In God’s kingdom we are given dominion. If we fail to exercise that dominion we have a reduced capacity to fulfill the mandate of God, our dominion is taken away or diminished because we have compromised right and responsibility. When we chose to disobey God, it was not a demonic thing, it was a choice we made from something that was already in our hearts. So often, we want to blame our wrong choices on the demonic, but really they started from our choice, and that opens up the door. But when that demon manifests, it may not have anything outwardly to do with the brother – it could be a spirit of gluttony, anger, disorder. That is why we must have discernment, so that we can ask the Holy Spirit the source of the demonic activity.

Remember that in Genesis, God told Cain that if he did right all would be good, but if he didn’t satan was waiting at the door. We want an excuse so we try to put satan into the situation well before he has shown up. But before satan is in the picture, we have already opened up the door of our own free will.

Romans 7:8-9 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

Notice, Paul did not mention satan in the above passage. The law was what makes us aware of evil. By the way, when were we alive without the law, Pastor Don asked us. It is when we were little children, before the age of accountability. Once we understand the law, then we are accountable to the law.

Pastor Don asked what the speed limit was on the road outside our church – 35 mph. If there was not a traffic sign that read 35 mph and you drove down the road at 60 mph there would be no sin, for there was no law. Once the sign went up with the speed limit, then if you go 60 it is a sin. Apart from the law, there was no sin.

When Cain slew Abel there was no 10 commandments. Of course God did wire us with a sense of right and wrong, but Cain did not break the commandment of thou shalt not kill, because it wasn’t given to man yet. But Cain knew he was not doing God’s will.

Pastor Don then mentioned that so often we judge people based on expectations of how we want others to treat us. The problem is the other people do not know the laws we are basing our judgment on, and they can’t read our minds.

For example, if you have a “law” in your mind that if you are within 10 feet of me, you must greet me. And I don’t greet you when I am within that distance, you judge that I am angry, distant, unfeeling, or whatever – not realizing that I didn’t know that 10 foot law. What if my criterion was that I had to greet people when I was within 5 feet of them, and so I was not aware of your requirement?

Now, under Christ, in order to get to know God’s law, we must know God, to be in relationship with Him, and then we keep the law because of that relationship.

When God issued the 10 commandments, Moses gave them to the people along with 660 rules and regulations because the people needed things spelled out more. The people were not able to figure out how a situation could be linked to one of the 10 commandments, so God let Moses spell it out. (Heather’s note, those 660 rules and regulations have expanded to included many minute’ rules).

Pastor Don then mentioned the law of corban which Jesus condemned the people for. Corban had to do with the commandment of honor your mother and father. If a person did not want to take care of their parents into old age, they could invoke corban. They would go to the priest and tell him that they will give 10% tithe to the temple, and the priest would write up a document absolving the person from taking care of their parents. The parents could end up out on the street suffering, but the person was declared righteous by the priest. Needless to say, Jesus was not pleased with the law of corban.

Today there is so much in our culture that undermines God’s perfect law and opens the door to sin. Pastor Don mentioned that a child watching Heckel and Jeckel and seeing one hit the other, then hits his brother/sister and gets in trouble, is genuinely confused. He saw it on tv, and it got a laugh on tv, but when he does it to his brother/sister it doesn’t get a laugh, it is met with punishment, and it was fun to hit. Our culture has made evil seem funny.

Romans 7:11-12 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

The law is holy. When we are children we are not subject to the law until the age of accountability. Evil resides in you prior to knowing the law, but once you learn the law then you are accountable. Satan does not have to be in you to cause you to break the law, there is a beast nature inside of you that causes you to act in ungodly ways.

For every temptation we succumb to  we have to have seen the attraction, figured out that it seems good, and then we act on that information, and that allows satan access.

Romans 7:15-19 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will do, that I do not practice, but what I hate, that I do. If then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

We become aware of sin because we learned the law. And once we know the law, then there is a temptation to sin. In that 35 mph zone, we go 36 mph. Then we get to a stop sign, and we decide not to stop. The sin in you becomes alive.

Notice, that in verse 18, it isn’t the devil in Paul that caused the sin, but the flesh. To sin is to will to sin.

According to Pastor Don, there are not enough pastors telling people that they have the will power to do what they want to do. A whole lot goes awry before the devil shows up. And it is lack of will power or misdirected will power that opens the door for satan.

Satan is not superior, satan is not the Holy Spirit. Satan cannot be everyplace at once, he wanders around looking for weakness in us and when he finds it, then he acts. If we are strong, if we are applying our will, if we are focused on God, satan will move on to the next more available target.

Demons will look for a person who has opened a door and many will pile in. Someone commented that they must be very small, and Pastor Don agreed. God gave us the ability to preserve our flesh, mind, and spirit, he gave us victory over satan and his demons. Only if we open the door to oppression do we let them in to affect us. Pop music of today is very dangerous because it often comes across with the message, “I can’t help it.” Lyrics like, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.” “I can’t help falling in love with you,” Etc. The truth is, we can help it. We have choice. It is a lie from the pit of hell that we are helpless. It reduces us to the level of an animal state, with no willpower.

Then we got into a discussion about where demons come from. I am going to share that with you tomorrow, for it is an interesting study. It pulled Pastor Don off track for a bit, but provides a lot of background to help us understand more about Saul and David, and spiritual warfare.

I am hoping you have a blessed day.

Heather

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Hoping you enjoy your

We had an incredible Bible study tonight, but it is late and I want to spend some time composing it, so after our turkey is in the oven, I will try to start typing out the notes.

Have a blessed day!

Heather

I took today to visit your sites, wanting to make sure that before all the preparations for Thanksgiving that I at least got to say “Hi” to you and catch up on what is going on in your lives.

I had fun today, it was report card day for my kids, and I got to divide up the kids teachers with my husband and we went and met every teacher. I love doing this because my kids are well behaved, and the teachers have many compliments about them. My middle son could be a bit more focused on studies, but even he came away with merit honors, and my others came away with high honors. I am very proud of their hard work. Hard to believe that next year my oldest is off to college. Sigh. They grow so fast.

Someone recommended a book to me called: It Hurts to Heal. I searched Amazon and found a few titles, figuring that the one they meant was by John and Christine Huggett. It came in the mail yesterday and I have been riveted.

Wanted to share a quote: on page 53 Christine Huggett is talking about a retreat that she and her husband went to to learn prayer counseling

” The first part of each day was filled with lectures. We were reminded that we can all be bound to habits, fears, circumstances, and negative attitudes. We can also be bound to people in unhelpful ways, especially our parents and those closest to us. But the Lord can set us free from these invisible chains. He has given us His word, the sword of the Spirit, to cut right through them. Sometimes the bonds are too strong for us to break through by our own prayers and we need experienced Christians to do it for us in Jesus’ name.
     Negative attitudes, such as guilt and resentment, can damage us inwardly and affect our health. But the Lord will replace them with positive ones, like love and forgiveness, as we cooperate with Him.
     What interested me most was the healing of the memories, for I knew that I needed this. The leaders reminded us that we act and react according to our backgrounds, that we are all products of our yesterdays. Memories of traumatic events together with hurts and wounds, are stored in our subconscious minds and lie buried there. Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever he can go back in time and heal these things, dealing with them at their very root. We can go back with him in our imagination as he gently soothes away the pains of the past.
    This is rather like peeling an onion. He begins with the outer layer and removes a layer at a time as we are ready, gradually working deeper. This doesn’t mean that incidents are forgotten, but that we are released from the painful effects which they have had upon us, so discovering a new freedom.”

This is a remarkable description of how God has been working in my life. When I first started counseling with Pastor Don, I felt such a void. To be honest, there are still areas in my life that I wonder if they will ever be healed. Yet, God had done a remarkable work on me so I have to have faith that He will heal all areas, including the ones that are still hurting.

One time I asked Pastor Don why some seem so quickly healed and for me the process has been slow – seemingly grain of sand upon grain of sand. Pastor Don told me that God had healed me completely, but He is removing the old layers bit by bit. He knows just how much I can handle at a time and, while He will move me beyond my comfort zone, he will not crush me – a bruised reed he will not crush. God knows the best way to effect total healing, and which areas to work on at a time. I just have to trust Him, for He will complete the work in me that He has begun. It is rather like peeling an onion.

That does not negate that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus, even though old areas are being removed, but there are still some strongholds of resistance. It reminds me of the devotional that occasionally comes my way about Jesus coming to visit my house, and I let him in the living room, he wants to go into another room, etc. Each room He enters He changes for the better until the place of last resistance, the attic, and Jesus goes in there and finally the whole house (our body) is perfect for there is no area closed to Jesus. Believe me, the devotional says it better.

For me, I think that there are a few pockets of resistance. One of which is that there is still a bit of an air of being ruined goods – that what my father did to me damaged me far too much. There is no childlike innocence for I was never allowed to be childlike, so don’t have a clue. There is far too much control, for control meant survival, and there is still a lot of tiptoeing around in the kingdom, fearful of attracting the attention of God.

I know that this is not fair to God, because God is not like that, but I have to battle these false beliefs in my life. The other area is that I still tend to not take care of my body too much, things like diet and walking around feeling out of place. Again, this is not fair to God, for God created me and I know God does not create junk.

Anyway, there are still areas that need healing. That being said, I am so grateful that God came into my life, that He pursued me for 40 years when I wanted nothing to do with Him. That He has blessed me, protected me, and is helping me to become more what He knows is best for me. He truly has made beauty from ashes, and turned mourning into dancing (or at least great happiness).

I am hoping that you have a blessed day. Tomorrow is shopping for Thursday. I have ordered the turkey and have to pick it up and all the fixings. The kids are off from school for the rest of the week, and I have to tell you that that will SEVERELY limit my computer time.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving and rest of the week.

Heather

Well, by now Pharaoh, if he honestly looked at his situation, should have realized that God was God and Pharaoh was not. But Pharaoh did not acknowledge God and allow God’s chosen people to go out and worship God. The last plague, flies, came only upon the Egyptians. God separated out Israel – this is also a picture of how Israel is separated out by God even today, and also how we, as Christians grafted into the vine of Israel, are also separated out from the world. We are in the world, but not of the world.

Now we have the fifth plague: Livestock. Remember in Pastor Don’s last Bible study about Spiritual Warfare (see the previous two entries), Pastor Don talks about that split second decision where we open the door for satan, or make the wrong decision that has life-long impact. Pharaoh will make this wrong decision after the livestock plague, and it is the last time that Pharaoh hardens HIS heart. From now on God will honor that desire of Pharaoh for a hardened heart, and God will harden Pharaoh’s heart. I really believe that in each of our lives there is a point where we reject God that one last time and God honors it (hopefully we never get to that point). I am so grateful that God kept pursuing me, and placed Pastor Don into my life. Had I rejected that attempt from God, I don’t know if God would have continued. God loves us so much that He gives us free will. God will not force us to love Him, He wants us to have the free will to choose a relationship with Him or not to choose. I pray that those who have not fully accepted God, will make the choice to let Him in their lives.

This plague affects the bedrock of the economy of the Egyptians, their livestock, which is used for warfare, the plowing of the fields, and the work of the nation. There are many animal deities that are reflected in the animals affected. Here are a few:

Cow – hathor & horus (hathor is kind of like the Mary figure)
Horse – chariot of ra the sun god is pulled by horses
Donkey – seth (set) a satanic figure
Camel – is for pack animals
OX (bull) apis, ptah the potter

What we are seeing is that God is striking Pharaoh in the place of his pride. Pharaoh is realizing that he does not have the control over the earth that he was brought up believing that he had. The people are also seeing a weak and ineffective Pharaoh. After having to dig water to have viable drinking water that was not bloody, scratching lice, swatting flies, and squishing and smelling frogs, now their income will be affected. I am certain people are wondering what their god Pharaoh is doing, why he does not stop the plagues.

When you come to think of it, God has shown us many signs and wonders in our lives, some simple others more complex. Before we accept Christ, we harden our hearts too, wanting to have things done the way we want them to be. How many things have we hardened our hearts to? And even after we have accepted Christ into our lives, there are still areas of resistance where our hearts are hardened. Pharaoh has had a long history of dealing with Moses, and now has had several signs and wonders, and still he will choose to harden His heart. And soon God will honor that choice. One thing that we forget when we reject God is that that rejection does not only affect us, but it impacts the people around us. In Pharaoh’s case the whole kingdom suffered because of Pharaoh’s hardened heart.

 One of many dangerous ideas in the current new age movement is that what we need to do is what is right for us, that each person has their own path, and they too have to choose what is right for them. All is wonderful, all is good, and each person should tolerate the other’s choices for we are all gods. WRONG. What we do impacts others, we do not live in a vacuum. And I suspect that it would be easy to test how tolerant these people are in their walks of life. Of course, by today’s definition of tolerance, not only must a person be allowed to believe what they want, but they want others to accept their beliefs as true. I have no problem allowing others to believe what they want to believe, but I do not feel that I must agree that they are believing truth. If they want to believe what I consider a lie, that is ok, but they cannot force me to accept what I see as a lie as truth. Tolerance only goes so far though. Once a person’s beliefs impact another’s intolerance arises. If someone feels “divinely” led to destroy another person’s prized possession, I predict intolerance would arise.

Exodus 9:1-3 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews; “Let My people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, behold, the hand of the LORD will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—-a very severe pestilence.

This profoundly affects the economy of the region.

Exodus 9:4-5 And the LORD will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel. Then the LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing to the land.”

Again, here is the division between Egypt (the world) and the Israelites. God will protect His people. Sometimes God will sovereignly protect us through difficulties that others have, other times God will be with us as we walk through the difficulties. Here God is making sure that when Israel leaves for the Promised Land, that they have wealth, and livestock is one form of wealth. We will see that the Israelites will gain much wealth, and the Egyptians actually pay them to go (it is probably the equivalent of 400 years of wages). Can you imagine the dinnertable discussions about Pharaoh after these plagues which have hit the Egyptians, but not the Israelites. I am certain that there was quite a bit of discontent in the Egyptian households.

What I sometimes still have a hard time understanding is how, after so many miracles from God that the Israelites turned to idolatry so many times. It is kind of helping me to see that signs and wonders are not all that is needed to hold onto faith in God, but that the relationship with God is vastly more important in faith building. If our faith is just built on signs and wonders it will be very feeble for we will go from sign and wonder to sign and wonder. If there is no sign or wonder then we will think God is not present. God teaches us to listen to that still small voice, and to trust Him no matter what the external circumstances reveal. We have to come to that point of basic trust in God, knowing He is faithful. Signs and wonders, while they do exist, are not the measure of faith, nor are they the measure of the presence of God in our lives.

God had a SET TIME for this to occur. And we know that all that occurs in Egypt at this time was laid down before the foundation of the World. God knew that he would use these plagues with Pharaoh both to strengthen His People’s (The Israelites’) faith, and at the same time to show the world that God is God, sovereign and almighty.

Exodus 9:6-7 So the LORD did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites were dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.

God kept His word. God will always keep His word. Those who say that God will not do what He has promised to do regarding judgment and end times events, will one day wake up and realize that the SET TIME has arrived. God has a timetable, and He will do what He says He will do.

I would have liked to have been a fly on Pharaoh’s wall to hear what he had to say when he discovered that things occurred just like God said that they would. Did he throw a royal temper tantrum? Did he strike out at his servants? Did he rage. Did he have a little bit of fear that maybe he was up against something that was more powerful than him? Whatever his reaction, the end result was that yet again, Pharaoh hardened His heart.

I pray that God continues to bless your lives, and that when we celebrate Thanksgiving that we remember the manifold blessings of God.

Hoping your day is blessed.

Heather