I love reading the Old Testament. Exodus is actually one of my favorite books because I relate so easily to the children of Israel. While reading this specific passage, God revealed a lot about His character and mine. I hope you enjoy this small little bible study from Exodus 7-9. Keep reading to see what I learned!

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Scripture to Read: Exodus 7-9.

GOD’S POWER

Right off the bat, we can see the character of God. When God tells Moses to perform these miracles, it is ultimately God’s power that is fulfilling these acts. The cool part is that He uses Moses to do it – He could have easily done these miracles without the “help” of Moses, but this is a simple example of God’s character and how He wants to give us His power to carry out His will.

When God gives us power or authority over the things in our life, we can think about Philippians 4:13 in its context. We really can do all things through Him who gives us strength. No matter the job, the person, the situation, the failure, or the brokenness of our hearts, we can take on His power and overcome the things that wouldn’t seem possible.

GOD’S GRACE

Along with the many signs of wonders, not only does God show the depth of His power, but He also shows the depth of His grace. While reading this passage of scripture, I remember asking God why He had to perform 10 miracles/plagues in order for Pharaoh to get the message that it was time to let the Israelites go. I mean come on? 10 chances to get it right is A LOT.

But what God revealed was so profound to me. If you take time to really think about it, each time God allowed Moses to perform these miracles, He was giving the people of Egypt time to repent. And He did this simply because He is so gracious.

And as much as we hate to admit it, a lot of us are like Pharaoh in this story. In scripture, we see that Pharaoh repeatedly “repents” for his sins. After each plague, he tells Moses that he has sinned and asks Moses to intercede for him to ask God to remove his sins. But how many of us are like this in that we ask God to forgive us of our sins and then as soon as we are forgiven, we go right back to sinning? This is awful because it is a complete denial of God’s authority.

But how many of us are willing to be like Moses? I’m sure it is easy to think of the people in our lives who intentionally sin even when they are aware that it’s wrong? Are we willing to continue interceding on their behalf even when we know that there’s a high likelihood that they will sin again?

GOD’S LOVE

But in the midst of all of that, here’s where the mind-blowing starts. Each time Pharaoh repents, God STILL forgives him. He still forgives people like you and me who constantly sin because He loves us. So let’s add it up. This all shows His power. It all shows His grace, and it all shows His love for us. But let’s think a little deeper about this. Yet again, God reveals more of His character by demonstrating that He wants to receive more glory.

GOD’S GLORY

At the beginning of chapter 7, God explicitly tells Moses that He will harden Pharoah’s heart and multiple His signs and wonders, and He tells Moses that Pharaoh is not going to listen to him. It really struck me when I realized that God wanted all the glory so much that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, just so He could receive it. He wanted everyone to know that it was Him who performed these works through Moses.

At first, I was asked “why?” but I think C.S Lewis explains it perfectly, “So if God loves us enough to make our joy full, he must win from us the praises of our hearts — not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can be found only in knowing and praising Him, the most magnificent of all beings.

God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimate loving act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things ‘for the praise of his glory,’ he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world that can satisfy our longings.”

God receiving all of the glory is a true reflection of His love for us. As described in Colossians 1:16-17, we have been designed and created in Christ and FOR Christ. So what does that mean? It means that we are our happiest when we are living by the design we were created for.

Because we were created to worship Him, God receiving more glory brings us more satisfaction – praising Him completes our enjoyment. There’s a reason why we feel like our cups are running over during praise and worship. There’s a reason why we feel so full and content when we step into His presence, lift our hands and declare that He is Lord. It’s because that’s what we were created and designed to do.

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So in case any of you were wondering or if you cared at all, I made a new Instagram account! I really felt like it would be a great way for me to share my posts, inspirational quotes & scriptures, and build connections with other Christian bloggers or believers. I’m really excited about how God will use this platform and outlet to reach people who are in need of Him. If you haven’t already, follow me and say hi!

Praying for each of you!