- But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? Exodus 8:26 – After three more plagues Pharaoh speaks to Moses and is seeking a compromise to end the devastation. Pharaoh agreed to let God’s people go do their sacrifices like they asked to, but it must be done in the land of Egypt. That option though wouldn’t work, for the Israelites would be sacrificing cows, goats, and sheep, all animals that were sacred to the Egyptians. If the Egyptians saw them doing this, not only would they react in anger toward the Israelites, but they would be completely turned off from the Lord. Let us remember, while the plagues were coming on all the people of Egypt, God’s aim wasn’t to turn all the hearts of the Egyptians away from Him. The Lord was doing all this to show His power and to turn Pharoah’s heart to Himself. In fact, we even see in Exodus 12:38 that during the exodus and “mixed multitude” of people went with the Israelites, showing that some of the Egyptians turn to believe in the Lord as a result of what God had done. As Moses did here in our verse, let us be careful not to be an “abomination” to those outside our faith. Yes, we are going to live faithfully and not compromise our beliefs, but if by our actions we are giving a sour representation of Jesus to those who don’t yet believe then we’ve missed the point. Our freedoms in Christ ought to be used to demonstrate the wonders of the Lord to people, not to purposely turn people away from Jesus. Dwell on the ways you live out your Christian walk in front of those who don’t follow Jesus, and even those who follow other religions. Would they be turned off of Jesus by how you live or would they be attracted to Him because of your life? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3152
- Exodus 8 Daily DEVO The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Exodus 8:18-19 – Here is the beautiful moment when the enemy finally has to admit his powers don’t compare to God’s. What’s amazing here is that even those who follow the enemy, who would have never acknowledged God’s power before, are now seeing and speaking about the power of God. As we read through these plagues be sure to take heart that God is so much more powerful than our enemy. Nothing the enemy had could stop what God was doing. What God is doing now is setting you free, pouring grace on you, and filling you with everything you need to live for Him. Nothing the enemy has can stop God from doing that. Remember you’re on the winning side. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 802
- But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” Exodus 8:7-8 – Something not often talked about is how the plagues so far that God brought the magicians of Pharaoh were able to replicate. They too were able to turn water into blood and they too were able to bring frogs. Yet notice here that Pharaoh still had to plead with Moses to take away the frogs. The magicians were able to imitate the works of God, but they couldn’t reverse the works of God. They couldn’t stop God from doing what He set His mind to do. Know our enemy can deceive us in so many ways, making us believe he has just as much power as God. Yet just watch how much power he has when he tries to stop God from doing something God desires to do. It’s like a toddler holding the leash of a massive dog; there’s no chance that toddler could stop the dog from doing what the dog wanted. Remember who truly has the power. Our enemy plays a good game of deception, but is powerless when it comes to Jesus. I loves you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1891
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