My revelations with Exodus began in Moses' burning bush moment. God tells Moses that He's going to free the Israelites, but promises that the path to freedom will be difficult.
"But I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt."
Exodus 7:3
Sometimes, God places difficult situations in our lives so that He will be glorified through them. At first glance, this doesn't make losing a family member or changing jobs or moving across the country any easier; however, if you can shift your perspective from how a situation affects you to how you can glorify God through your situation, then joy and hope will come. As long as you focus on the Father, you'll be infinitely more affected by His heart and the valleys of life won't shake you. In stress and devastation, think about how your grief can glorify God. He reiterates this in a message to Pharaoh halfway through the ten plagues:
"By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. But I have spared you for a purpose-- to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth."
Exodus 9:15-16
As Christians, our end goal is to glorify the Lord with how we live. God is more than worthy of our worship and praise, and the second you realize that, the second your perspective begins to change from the temporary to the eternal.
The Spirit brought another revelation when I read about the plague of flies. God tells Moses that for this plague, He will spare the Israelites' region of Egypt. Again, there's a promise that He is the Lord and that He is present in the heart of struggle.
"But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I am present even in the heart of your land. I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow."
Exodus 8:22-23
We serve a good, good Father who longs to take care of us. He is present in our less than, imperfect, messy lives. He loves us through our mistakes and disobedience. He longs for the day when we will be brought back to Him. Yahweh, the Great I Am, sees us in the midst of a fallen world and reaches out to wipe our tears. The Israelites had suffered through plagues of blood, frogs, and gnats before God decided to spare them. They suffered, but He didn't forget them. If you feel like you've been forgotten or abandoned by the Lord, think of the Israelites. They suffered, but God never left them, even after their disobedience in the wilderness.
Lastly, I saw a foreshadowing in the Passover that I hadn't noticed before. When God is explaining the purpose of the Passover to Moses, He commands that each year, the firstborn male animals be sacrificed as a memorial to the plague that finally softened Pharaoh's heart.
"Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the Lord killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the Lord-- except that the firstborn sons are always brought back."
Exodus 13:15
"The firstborn sons are always brought back." Before Isaiah ever prophesied about the coming Messiah, God revealed that His son would be brought back. Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, killed at Passover, who was brought back just as the Israelites' firstborns were. Isn't that incredible? Centuries before Christ came, God promised the resurrection. God planned for Christ to come possibly before the world began, and He knew every moment of your life before Creation. There is always a purpose for everything in God's hands.
I encourage all of you to open the Word today. You may reread a familiar passage and discover something new. You may read a scripture that heals your heart in a way only the Word can.
