The sovereignty of God
Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Exodus 10:1-20 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).
‘Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine among them,and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them—so that you may know that I am the Lord.’ Exodus 10:1-2
‘How many times do I have to tell you?’ – this familiar cry from a parent or teacher reflects something of the frustration that God must have been feeling as He sends another plague on Egypt. Pharaoh’s ongoing refusal to accept God’s mandate from Moses to ‘let my people go’ (5:1, 8:20, 9:1 etc) is ultimately one of those standoff moments in life; potentially placing everyone on edge!
The plague before us today is no ordinary plague – it’s a plague with a purpose. Verses 1 and 2 make clear that the eighth plague is primarily about teaching future generations about the sovereignty of God - 'so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians.’ Engaging with the younger generations and helping them to come to an understanding, an experience, and a response to God as sovereign Lord, is a significant responsibility for the people of God today as much as it was for Moses and Aaron. But what do we teach them? What is the application from the plague of locusts and the other nine plagues?
I think it has something to do with submission and the acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty in our own lives. Are we prepared to humble ourselves before God, to acknowledge that He is Lord, to embrace Christ as King over every aspect of our lives?
Preaching just two months before his untimely death, Martin Luther King spoke about how he would like to be remembered, and in doing so, he zeroed in on that ultimate question: ‘If Christ is King, what does that mean? If Christ is ruler over our lives, then my Nobel Peace Prize is less important than my trying to feed the hungry. If Christ is King, then my invitations to the White House are less important than that I visited those in prison. If Christ is Lord, then my being TIME magazine's "Man of the Year" is less important than that I tried to love extravagantly, dangerously, with all my being.’
Recognising the sovereignty of God in our everyday lives and living under that sovereignty, appears to be something that God is trying to teach Moses, Pharaoh, and ultimately each one of us. We all have a tendency to want to be in control, but plague eight reminds us that when the east wind blows, whenever and wherever it pleases, our worldly securities can very quickly be taken away and it is at that moment our faith is laid bare.
The Very Revd Peter Howell-Jones, Dean of Blackburn