Sat.’s Devo - The Plagues Have Begun

Read: Exodus 8:1-9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 6:1-5 The plagues had started. They began with the Nile turning to blood. Pharaoh didn’t give Moses his request so it began a stream of plagues where Pharaoh was given another chance to do the right thing and refused. The second plague was frogs, the third was gnats and the fourth was flies. On the fourth one, God made a distinction between Goshen where his people were and Egypt where Pharaoh was. None of the plagues crossed the line anymore. They all stayed in Egypt just in case Pharaoh thought these were natural disasters coming on the whole land. The flies didn’t travel to Goshen. Their cattle weren’t killed in the fifth plague and their people and animals didn’t get boils in the sixth plague. The seventh plague was hail and it only fell in Egypt. Through all the plagues Pharaoh vacillated back and forth but in the end hardened his heart. These plagues were specifically against the gods of Egypt. They had a god for everything God touched. They had a frog-god, a Nile-god, a gnat-god, etc. The last god to be brought down would be Pharaoh himself as he believed himself to be a god. In Matthew, we get to see the personal side of Jesus who loved children and made it clear that he had time for them. Then he was approached by a very righteous man who addressed Jesus as “Good Master” and wanted to know how he could have eternal life. Jesus asked him why he addressed him as good when only God is good but he told him that if he wanted to enter into life he should keep the commandments. Jesus wasn’t talking about eternal life, he was just talking about living on this earth. Eternal life was not offered until he rose from the dead. The man then wanted to know which commandments he was talking about and Jesus gave him some of the Ten Commandments. He assured Jesus he had done those from a youth so Jesus then dealt with his heart. Jesus told him to go and sell all he had and come and follow him. The man turned away because he was very rich and his riches had his heart. Jesus told his disciples that it was very hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven but not impossible because with God all things are possible. Lord, may our hands and heart be pure and may we have a right relationship with you.