Lenten devotions: Exodus 7
(please read the chapter before reading this devotion).
The chapter
begins with the visitation of pharaoh by Moses and Aaron. It is [almost] the
last attempt to “make peace” with the royalty. Instead of a decent conversation,
the pharaoh set his sorcerers, magi etc. on Moses and Aaron. Aaron single-handedly
wins the battle.
Then time
comes for the first plague. This plague is deeply symbolic in nature – the water
[of Nile] turns into blood. Modern scholarship is full of theories, trying to come
up with an environmental explanation of the event. They will all fail, because
the event had super-natural background.
It was God
who wanted to bring up the blood to the attention of the Egyptians. Many years
ago – about 80 – the pharaoh of the day wanted to murder the Jewish boys. The simplest
way to kill them – drop them into the Nile. I talked about it in the first devotion.
Now, many
people have forgotten about it. But God didn’t – He is the God of remembrance. He
begins the series of plagues by bringing to their attention the sign of the
bloodshed they had done in the past. Their sins were exposed in a very visible
way. Grievous sins: murder of little vulnerable babies, what can be worse?
When we come
to Lord’s Supper, it is not a party time. It is the time of remembrance. We remember
our sins, at the same time claiming the power of His blood – the blood of
Christ that was spilled for us on the cross. Either we will remind God of blood
of the covenant, or He will turn us to the mirror of the LAW. The perfect Law
of God sets the standard so high that we don’t stand a chance to reach to this
bar. Nothing but mercy and grace we can rely on. May He lead us to the Altar of
His grace more and more often.
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