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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #506 May 30, 2002 Plagues I wanted to talk this morning about the two plagues that impacted ancient Egypt. Now, you probably think I’ve lost it, because anyone who has ever been to Sunday school knows that the Lord brought ten plagues on Pharaoh through Moses. You’re right, there were ten plagues, but they only represented part of the two big plagues. The first plague was defiance and rebellion. In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, much of Egypt (including many Jews) simply didn’t believe in God or weren’t interested. They spent their entire lives in rebellion to God’s wishes for them. Even after the Jews were delivered from Pharaoh, many of them whined and rebelled and wanted to go back to Egypt and abandon God. The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" Numbers 11:4-6 NIV "Tell the people: `Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month--until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it--because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" Numbers 11:18-20 NIV The second plague was that of deliverance. How can deliverance be a plague if it brings deliverance and freedom? It was a plague to the Egyptians, because the freeing of the Israelites caused a national crisis. It shook their comfortable world and made them pick which side of the fence to sit on. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. Exodus 14:5-7 NIV It was a plague to the Israelites because after crying out for a deliverer for 400 years, they actually had one and were forced to do something about it. They weren’t really prepared, probably weren’t even really expecting God to actually show up and do something about their situation. The "world" faces a plague when someone accepts Christ, because the kingdom of darkness has lost another labourer. The plague can also impact many Christian churches on a Sunday morning. We give lip service to God, but secretly many of us want to ditch God and go back to our "worldly" lives. We pray for Holy Spirit to come and anoint us, to give us His blessing. Yet we structure our services so tightly that we don’t allow room for Him. If He did show up, many of the people in the pews would be offended because He messed up the order of service and made worship last too long. God answers our prayers and provides and we still grumble and whine. The deliverance that Christ offers us can be a blessing or a plague depending on who you are and how you look at it. There isn’t any middle ground. You must pick a side. To paraphrase a well-known verse: As for me and my family we choose blessings. How about you? Be blessed today. Hallelu Yah Kevin Do you know that God is alive, well and still speaking today? He still desires to have a personal relationship with people; to offer them love, guidance, forgiveness and acceptance. Email me and I’ll share some Bible verses that explain why a personal relationship with Jesus is so important and a prayer that will make it possible. Or simply begin the relationship by saying a prayer along the lines of: Dear God: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer let me know and I will direct you to some free non-denominational resources that will help you grow in that newfound relationship. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your prayer concerns and praise reports email us at corbin_writer@shaw.ca If you enjoy this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit http://hundred-acre-woods.com/magic-list/lists/ or email me at corbin_writer@shaw.ca Archived issues of Gleanings From The Word can be found on our web site http://gleanings.jesusanswers.com To share your thoughts on this issue of Gleanings, or to share prayer concerns email us at corbin_writer@shaw.ca or write us at Gleanings From The Word 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2002 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Ministries International All Rights Reserved
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