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God Tells Pharaoh
Yes! You Owe Me Everything! - Know that I've always been there from the very beginning
"Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." - Exodus 9:15,16
(Bible Study Online Article Covers : Exodus 9:15,16)
Short Recap
Often, it is easy to become so focused on the "divine challenges" that the Lord brings before the Egyptian kingdom that one might overlook or ignore the smaller details within the overall "judgment process." This is why in the last article, we took a closer look at a statement that the Lord had made while He was instructing Moses on what to do next when it came to Pharaoh:
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him. Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: 'Let My people go, that they may serve Me, for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.'"'" - Exodus 9:13,14
Now, at first glance, the passage is basically a confirmation of what's been happening all along.
Being that one should've realized by now that the Lord was indeed using Pharaoh as a "warning example" for the "generations of the world" that was to come after him.
And on top of that, we must not forget, this was also a fulfillment of a promise (prophecy) that the Lord had made to his servant Abraham some 400 years before:
"Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
'And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.'" - Genesis 15:13,14
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Going Beyond
But when one goes beyond the surface of the Sacred Text, one can gain a much deeper insight and understanding of the Sacred Record overall. And from within this passage, we're able to find one of those "golden insightful nuggets" that will continue to add tremendous value to our "spiritual growth walk" when it comes to the Lord and our everyday lives.
And this is why we took a closer look at why God had said: " ...for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart." I'd pointed out that this meant the Lord was using the "judgment process" to target everything Pharaoh believed had made his kingdom great. And this holds to this very day, for there will always be that part of humanity who believes that they have a better way when it comes to their lives.
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There Will Always Be Those...?
Know that there will always be that "element of the human race" that will continue to be defiant towards the Most High God, constantly mocking Him and His followers, insisting that there is no One True God, or that they care not to know, so on, and so forth. And just like the Pharaoh who came before them, there will come a time in their lives when all that they had believed to be true will come crumbling down around them.
For they will soon discover that the "powers of the world" that they had invested in and sought favor with will cast them aside when they no longer have any use for their services and loyalties. And just like the world that they had decided to serve, their accomplishments and the temporal things that had made them who they were will soon be forgotten and have no type of longevity of any sort.
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Piece By Piece
And it's for these reasons that I'd also pointed out that with every blow that the Lord had struck Pharaoh's kingdom with, a piece of him, and what he believed to be "truth" would be forever tarnished, or destroyed in the eyes of the people, and to those generations who were to follow. Know that God wanted to make it clear that everything that made Pharaoh who he was came by his hand, and not by the way of Pharaoh's pagan deities, not by the way of his intellect, philosophy, and worldly ideology:
"Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." - Exodus 9:15,16
Notice how God reminds Pharaoh that He could have destroyed him and his people long ago. Still, He chose not to: "Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth." Be that as it may, the Lord goes on to tell Pharaoh the reason why he had been spared up to this point: "But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Notice how God says "I have raised you up?"
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Without God - They Went Only So Far
Keep in mind that I've been constantly pointing out as we make our journey throughout this part of the Sacred Record when it comes to the "Great Exodus" that it was God all along, who had allowed Egypt to be in the powerful worldly position that they were now finding themselves in - before the "judgment process" had begun.
Sure, Egypt had seemed to do well on its own when it came to its first twelve family dynasties, for all was going well with the Egyptian kingdom. Also, know that during this period, the Egyptians' twelfth family dynasty represented their greatest era as a kingdom. But after their twelfth family dynasty had ended, their thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties weren't as successful.
As a matter of fact, the Egyptian kingdom would eventually become so weak as a nation, that there would come a time that they had lost the middle and lower parts of their kingdom to foreigners who would end up representing the infamous fifteenth (and perhaps the sixteenth as well) family dynasty, or dynasties that was known as the Hyksos Kings.
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Remember Joseph?
It would also be during this period that Jacob's favorite son, Joseph (who was betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers), would find his way into the hands of the Hyksos Empire. It's during this time period that Joseph is promoted to the second most powerful position within this empire. The Lord would speak through Joseph at the time, and by doing so, Joseph was able to interpret the troubling dreams that the Hyksos ruler was having.
And because of this, Joseph was able to warn them about the "seven years of great abundance" that would be followed by the devastating "seven-year famine." However, despite this troubling news, it would be during these fourteen years that Egypt would be able to solidify itself as a great power. The Hyksos rulers had shown great wisdom by listening and obeying the Word of God that had been spoken through His servant Joseph.
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Tremendous Advantage
And because of this obedience, Egypt was able to be properly prepared to deal with the "seven-year famine" that would eventually send the rest of the world's nations reeling from the drought and severe hunger that the "seven-year famine" had wrought against them.
Understand that these nations had no choice but to go to Egypt for aid if they wanted to survive. And of course, this gave Egypt a tremendous advantage, which would eventually elevate it above everybody else. And all of this was made possible because God had included Egypt in His overall plans for the Israel nation.
For if God had chosen a different nation, the Egyptians wouldn't have been in such a powerful position in the first place. So this is why we find God reminding Pharaoh of these facts: "But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."
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God Tells Pharaoh
Remember that before all of this had begun, Pharaoh had mocked God and His followers. The Egyptian ruler would go even further by eventually punishing the Israelites because of who they were:
"And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words." - Exodus 5:8,9
And know that before it's all said and done, God will show Pharaoh and the Egyptian people as a whole that everything that they had achieved as a kingdom, who they were as a people, was made possible by the Most High God, and not by their false deities. The Egyptians would soon realize that they indeed owed the God of Israel everything.
In the next Bible Study Online Article:
In the following article, we will take a closer look at the tremendous cost of going against God. Also, is God the vengeful, hateful, and unloving God that the world claims Him to be?
May God blessings be upon you, and thank you for your ongoing support
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