Too Good To Not Believe: God Works Wonders (Exodus 8:6-19)

“You’re the wonder-working God. All the miracles I’ve seen, too good to not believe!” – Brandon Lake 👀

Dear despairing doubter,

Ever felt so useless when it comes to bringing people to God? Or do you yourself doubt the power of His blood? Whatever your unbelief, whether your doubt in God or self-doubt, some proven truths to you I’d like to shout.

Previously, I blogged about the Israelites’ slavery in Egypt. Now, we’re going to see a glimpse of what the country had to suffer because its king wouldn’t let go of God’s people. See what truths you can learn.

Exodus 8:6-19 (NKJV)

⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁹ And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”

¹⁰ So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. ¹³ So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. ¹⁴ They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” ¹⁷ And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

¹⁸ Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.

These are the second and third plagues. The first was turning the waters of Egypt into blood. The fish in the Nile River died, it stank, and the Egyptians couldn’t drink from it. The river that provided fertile land to Egypt, the river that made them arrogant, the river that was central to their deities, the river that killed Israelite baby boys had been cursed by God.

Moses & Aaron (created in Animal Crossing: New Horizons)

God sent ten disastrous plagues upon Egypt “to show the Israelites that the God of their fathers was alive and worthy of their worship and to show the Egyptians that their gods were nothing (Got Questions Ministries).” The Egyptians had been oppressing Israelites for 400 years, and we may think that all these things happen just for people to worship God. Well, we can’t help it if everything is for the glory of God, but I think this is a lesson for the proud. If you recall, Joseph served the Pharaoh in his time and helped the country during the severe famine. Everyone bought food from Egypt. People had to work for Pharaoh because they’ve given everything they had just for food. Now, a new Pharaoh saw the Israelites as a threat and used the power Joseph gave the country to oppress the people of his God.

The Israelites couldn’t free themselves from slavery on their own; they needed God. It’s the same way we need Him to free ourselves from sin. We can’t do it on our own. We can’t boast of our own righteousness because we are but filth compared to God's holiness.

Back to the Israelites, they were told by God through Moses that they’ll be delivered from their bondage, but they didn’t believe. God then commanded him to tell Pharaoh to let go of His people, but Moses asked how Pharaoh will listen to him when these people didn’t even trust his good news (Exodus 6).

True enough, Pharaoh didn’t heed God’s message yet in our passage. In verse 8, he promised he’ll let them go when the Lord takes away the plague of frogs. Only God kept His end of the bargain. Then came the plague of lice. The magicians weren’t able to copy this and even claimed, “This is the finger of God.” One truth we can see here is that God works wonders no one can do. However, Pharaoh still didn’t let the Israelites go.

If I was in this situation, I might have felt it was hopeless to try to convince stubborn people like Pharaoh or even the unbelieving Israelites since the oppression had been going on for four centuries. I’m glad we’re in a time where Jesus had already come to save the world. We have this assurance that there truly is a living God. We have this hope that He’ll bring the faithless to Himself. We won’t have to rely on our own abilities to persuade people of the truth of Christ.

There are a lot of wonders that happen today that prove God is at work. I’ve experienced simple miracles like getting headaches healed by just singing to God. It’s not much compared to stories I hear within the Church. The song I’m featuring today, “Too Good To Not Believe” by Brandon Lake, is a song I discovered on Spotify. (You can find it in the playlists here.) The bridge mentions testimonies like cancer disappearing, dissolving of metal plates, resurrection, freed addicts, and so on.

God can do anything. He can take away sin, He can change people, and He can heal. With just the thought of Him, He can turn around the bad things I feel. If you think you can’t, think God can. Bring it in prayer, and in Jesus’ name, say amen. What a God we’ve got! Search around for miracles and you’ll hear a lot.

With love,

Celina <3

References

Got Questions Ministries. (n.d.). What was the meaning and purpose of the ten plagues of Egypt? Retrieved from GotQuestions.org: https://www.gotquestions.org/ten-plagues-Egypt.html

 

Next: Power in the Blood: Who We Must Remember (Exodus 12:12-17)

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