Merciful

In Egypt, plants were harvested at different times. The research I found said that the barley and flax were harvested about a month before the wheat and spelt. Why does that matter? The plague of the hail came first, and then the plague of locusts after that. The hail gets the barley and the flax, and then the locusts come and strip everything green that is left. Meaning the wheat likely hasn’t turned that nice golden brown it turns before harvest, and the entire Egyptian crop is wiped out.

Last time we talked about how God began to make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. Before the plague of the flies, the Israelites were suffering right along with the Egyptians, but then God made a distinction so that the plagues left the land the Israelites inhabited untouched. Can you imagine what kind of impression that would make on a desperate people?

The Israelites were a broken people by the time Moses came to bring them out of Egypt. One passage says they were broken of spirit. But as God is coming in to deliver them, He is teaching them how to have faith. Even though He started in a way that seemed like Pharaoh was going to win with the magicians being able to replicate the plagues, and Pharaoh seeming to automatically get the upper hand with the additional workload. God is building.

First, Pharaoh gets a win. Then the magicians can duplicate the plagues. But then they can’t, and they recognize the finger of God. Then God makes a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. Now as the Egyptian crops are being wiped out as well as their livestock, the Israelites are being fully protected. God is proving a point. He is the Lord Almighty.

And He is trying to prove that to both sides, as well as to the surrounding nations. This is vital both for the Israelites and for the Egyptians. It’s like God is providing a way for anyone to come to believe in Him as Lord. When the Israelites finally leave Egypt, it says a mixed multitude went with them. Presumably some would have been Egyptians who had seen the miracles of God and chosen to believe.

When things are hard, and it is difficult to see what God is doing, sometimes it isn’t just about us. As I look at what God is doing through the plagues in Egypt, I see Him trying to build a lot of people’s faith: Moses, the people, and even the Egyptians. And what that tells me is this God we serve is a merciful God.