Readings for today: Exodus 5-9
John Calvin once said our hearts are idol factories, constantly churning out false gods. It seems human beings will worship anything and everything except for the one true and living God. In ancient Egypt, the people worshipped Pharaoh. They sacrificed for him. They served him. They gave him everything and, in return, he maintained order. Through the elaborate rituals he performed, the sun rose and set each day. The Nile flooded each year. The seasons changed and the ground produced. From birth, the Egyptians were taught to believe this about their god-king. And it wasn’t just the Egyptians who believed these things about Pharaoh. For four hundred years, the people of Israel were also conditioned into this belief. They were conditioned to believe they were his slaves. They were conditioned to believe there was no hope for freedom because of the power Pharaoh held over their lives. This is why they wouldn’t listen to Moses when he delivered God’s message. “But when Moses delivered this message to the Israelites, they didn’t even hear him - they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions.” (Exodus 6:9 MSG)
The Exodus story is more than a story of deliverance. It is about the introduction of God to the world. It is about the humbling of the greatest empire on the face of the earth and the utter destruction of her most powerful king. It is about teaching humanity - not just Israel - who God is and what He’s all about. The goal of this whole enterprise is not just to save Israel from slavery but to teach the pagan world all about God. Listen to what God says to Moses, “Look at Me. I’ll make you as a god to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to speak everything I command you, and your brother Aaron will tell it to Pharaoh. Then he will release the Israelites from his land. At the same time I am going to put Pharaoh’s back up and follow it up by filling Egypt with signs and wonders. Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, but I will have my way against Egypt and bring out my soldiers, my people the Israelites, from Egypt by mighty acts of judgment. The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I step in and take the Israelites out of their country.” (Exodus 7:1-5 MSG)
Why is God so passionate for His own glory? Why is He so zealous for His own Name? Because He knows the false gods of this world can’t deliver on what they promise. He knows the false gods of this world are weak and empty. He knows the false gods of this world don’t even exist. And because He loves humanity so much, He hates to see us fall for the lie. He hates to see us place our trust in something false and untrue. He hates to see us give our lives in service to something that will ultimately never satisfy. But we are stubborn. We don’t give up our idols easily. We don’t let go of false beliefs very quickly. So God has to subject us to judgment, often in the form of pain and suffering. Listen again to what He says to Pharaoh, “For one reason only I’ve kept you on your feet: To make you recognize my power so that my reputation spreads in all the earth. You are still building yourself up at my people’s expense. You are not letting them go.” (Exodus 9:16-17 MSG) If we are honest, we are all like Pharaoh. Hardening our hearts against the will of God. Only the Holy Spirit living inside us can soften our hearts. Only the Holy Spirit doing His sanctifying work inside us can loosen our grip on the idols we’ve created. Only the Holy Spirit can do the work of regeneration we all so desperately need. Pray today for the Holy Spirit to reveal the idols you worship and ask Him to give you the strength to cast them down.
Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 10-13