Exodus chapter 9.
After seven plagues you wonder how could the Egyptians not believe that there is a God! I relate that today to our scientists who try to demonstrate how there is no God. When science actually demonstrates that there is a God. How could we look at creation and not come to the conclusion that there is a God? For example:
1. Our eyes are so complex. For just one eye, We have about three fourths to 1.7 million nerve fibers. In our retina alone we have about 120 to 150 million rods and about 6 to 7 million cones. That's complex!
2. If we stretched the DNA in one cell it would be about 6 ft 7 in Long. That's just one DNA in one cell. If we were to stretch all the DNA in our body out it would be twice the diameter of our solar system. Hello! That's complex.
That's just too little examples of how complex we are yet how awesome God is. Some will believe and some will not, but we must be faithful even in an Unfaithful world. We must love people. We must be wise of God's word. And we must be wise in general to be able to speak truth about God. Sometimes God allows Hearts to be hardened so he can demonstrate his power and be glorified. So let us not be discouraged in an unbelieving World, God is still in control!
We see more of the plagues happening in chapter 9. It’s mind-blowing to stop and think about even just a few of the awesome and powerful things that God has done and does! There’s no limit to His power! I look again at Pharaoh’s magicians and they don’t seem to be even trying to compete with Moses or God anymore! There’s nothing they can do to prevent what is happening and they aren’t immune to the devastating effects of the plagues themselves. We read in verse 11 that they couldn’t even stand before Moses because of the boils. I can’t help but think how foolish Pharaoh appears to be throughout these plagues, but the reason is because we are told that his heart is hardened. We can also see how God protected the Hebrews throughout this whole process.
Good morning BP
15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.
This reminds me that God will eliminate whoever he needs to whenever he needs to.. His plan
I coached with a guy who wouldn’t kick anybody off the team, he said that would be too easy and didn’t want to be their excuse why they are no longer on the team. “blame” the coach. So, what he would do is make practice harder for him , that way he was forced to conform or quit.
When God talks to me I need to stop what I’m doing…. and listen.
Blair I am so glad you mentioned that sometimes the Lord allows hearts to be hardened, so others can see his power and be glorified. I was struggling to understand where it said, “the Lord hardened pharaohs heart” and then of course seeing all of the work Moses is doing through the Lord to get Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, knowing his heart will stay hardened. It makes much more sense now.
I have the hardest time with those I love who do not believe in God. I fear for their eternity and I want to convince them of Gods love and realness to save them from what fate will await them after this life.
They have their “reasons” for not believing. My sister felt forced from a young age to conform to the Catholic Church without growing into it herself with her own views. She felt subjected to inappropriate content (graphic videos for pro life purposes) at too young of an age. My husband’s sister never had the “feeling” God was real. Just went through the motions. I think she has a small fear she “should” believe just in case she could go to Hell. And her husband is incredibly brilliant, a PhD in mathematics and works for John Hopkins University. He lost both parents to cancer at a young age and he can explain and reason all the ways God doesn’t exist.
Their hearts are hardened and it completely breaks mine. When we gather around at Christmas or holidays together, or the once in awhile phone conversations we have, I find myself going round and round trying to debate, convince, plead, that God is real and sin is wrong. I am often discouraged after my attempts fail.
I will continue to pray for them, and keep faith that God is working in all things. I will follow His ways and hope to bring more of Him into their lives.
love all the thoughts and comments … Sarah, I will pray for your loved ones too. Would you pray for my son and daughter and their families?
v 16 God says to Pharaoh, “for this purpose I have raised you up.” God is sovereign. There’s always a bigger picture that we cannot see or begin to understand. Our God is an awesome God.
On the beauty of creation, I had an ECHO test (basically an ultrasound of the heart) the other day. Looking at your own heart as a a beating organ in your body is an amazing thing. God made us with this little machine pumping away inside us with no battery – no means of power. Without the heart, we are dead. How incredible to us as believers that anyone can look a the complexity of the human body and not believe in the Creator. PTL!