God judges the gods of Egypt: Living word devotional by Pastor Mensa Otabil

LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil

Saturday 11th June 2022

GOD JUDGES THE GODS OF EGYPT

Scripture Reading: Exodus 8

And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel. ” Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”. Exodus 9:4–5

As with the fourth plague, God made a distinction between the livestock of Israel and those of the Egyptians.

The Egyptians worshipped many gods who were represented by animals. They obviously believed that the spirit of some god lived in every living thing upon the earth. Thus, they had taken some animals and molded their images with wood, stones, and metals. They had created idols as symbols of the gods whose spirits supposedly in-dwelt the animals. And they worshipped gods such as the ram-god, the bull-god; the calf-god and cow-god among others.

The Lord used this plague to judge the false gods of Egypt. He demonstrated that no animal of the world and no god of animals controls the animal life of the world. The Lord is the Sovereign over all things.

To clearly illustrate the extent of His power, the Lord did two things.

• He determined the boundaries of the plague. As the Lord had done previously, He limited the extent of the plague affecting the livestock. Some biblical historians believe this plague came in the form of a livestock infection such as anthrax. The Lord has power over bacterial infections. May He set a boundary around His children against every bacterial and viral infection.

• He determined the time of the plague. This plague was linked to God’s timing. The Lord mercifully gave Pharaoh and Egypt some time to prepare ahead of the plague. Maybe, they were able to hide some of their livestock in Goshen or in other lands before the plague came.

We see God’s mercy in the midst of judgment. He warns us ahead of judgment and grants us the opportunity of salvation from destruction.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, let your kingdom rule over all the kingdoms of our world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.