The purpose of God’s miracles in Chapter 10
Exodus 10:2
And I will ask you to do what I did to the Egyptians,
And in the ears of your sons and your grandsons the miracles that were done among them,
that you may know that I am the LORD.
Chapter 10 talks about the sixth time Moses spoke for God to Pharaoh - "Let my people go", but was not accepted by Pharaoh, which led to the eighth plague of locusts and the ninth plague of darkness. , and led to the Pharaoh's two compromise plans. The central sentence of this chapter is verses 1-2, which reveals God’s purpose of hardening Pharaoh’s heart up to this point. God only needed one plague to bring Pharaoh to his knees (9:15), but God “hardened the hearts of him (Pharaoh) and his servants, in order to show these signs of mine (God) among them” (1) . The final miracle God was going to show them was the miracle of the Passover Lamb.
The purpose is for this miracle to be "preached in the ears of your sons and your grandsons, so that you may know that I am Jehovah." (2) Therefore, we should also spread this miracle to Needless to say, it should be passed on to our children in their prime of life so that they may know the Lord. In this way, the theme of Chapter 10 should be “God’s Purpose in Performing Miracles.” Below we will share the content of this chapter in two units.
The first unit (1-20) is passed on to the ears of sons and grandsons
The second unit (21-29) Pharaoh’s compromise plan
Unit 1 (1-20) To spread the word in the ears of sons and grandsons
"Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, 'This is what the LORD God of the Hebrews says:' How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. "(3)
This chapter is the sixth time that "let my people go" is declared. God said: "If you are unwilling to let my people go, tomorrow I will send locusts into your territory" ( 4), announcing the locust plague. The locust plague was the eighth plague. “The servants of Pharaoh said to Pharaoh, ‘How long will this man be a snare for us? Let these people go and serve the LORD their God! Egypt is corrupted, don’t you know? ’” (7) So Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron again and asked them, “Go and serve the LORD your God, but who is it that is going? "Moses answered and said, "We will go with our young and old, our sons and our daughters, and our flocks and herds with us, for we must keep a feast to the LORD. "(8-9) Pharaoh said, "Don't all go, you young men, go and serve the Lord! "(11) It also means asking them to leave their women and children alone, that is, a trick of using their sons as hostages. This is Pharaoh's third compromise.
Think carefully about what Satan proposed There is something cunning about this plan because it directly conflicts with God’s word in verse 2: “And I will cause you to do what I did to the Egyptians and what I did among them. A sign, in the ears of your sons and your grandsons, so that you may know that I am the LORD. "But Pharaoh told them to leave their women and children and go alone.
In the future, if your children ask you
What is the purpose of God commanding the Israelites to keep the Passover? It is not for this purpose. The generation at that time, but for the future "Your sons and daughters will ask you: 'What does this salute mean? ’ Then you say, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD. When the Israelites were in Egypt, he smote the Egyptians and passed over the houses of the Israelites, and saved every one of our houses. "(12:26-27) That is, in order to prevent future generations from forgetting the deeds of the Lord. However, Pharaoh only allowed their men to go. Do you know what the last thing Moses did before he died in the land of Moab? Moses was The second generation (sons and daughters) of the Israelites born in the forty years of life are gathered before the LORD, “so that you (them) may obey the covenant that the LORD your God makes with you today and the oath he has sworn to you. ” (Deuteronomy 29:11-12) From this we can see that it is an important mission that every parent should fulfill to make “the miracles that have been performed in the ears of your sons and your grandsons” (2). However, Pharaoh But let them leave their children alone.
In the New Testament era, what was the purpose of the Lord Jesus asking us to practice the Holy Communion in memory of Him? The Bible says: “Every time you eat this bread. , drinking this cup is a sign of the death of the Lord, (to be passed down from generation to generation) until he comes. ” (1 Corinthians 11:26) Even so, surprisingly many of God’s people have succumbed to the cunning Satan’s schemes. In the history of the Bible, it can be said that Judges Chapter 2:10 is a representative example— —“The people of that generation also returned to their fathers. Then another generation arose that did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel. "The vicious cycle of the Age of Judges is still continuing.
So the most important thing is to "know the Lord." So how can we know the Lord? The answer is in verse 2. According to God, only Only by spreading God's "deeds and miracles" to people can they know Jehovah. The most important thing among God's things is the great event of salvation of "redeeming us and making us his people." The greatest miracle in salvation is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, known as the "sign of Jonah."
We want to pass this on to our descendants so that they can know Jehovah. This is the purpose of God’s miracles. I hope you can think about the counterexamples that contradict it, and take this as a warning to keep a vigilant mind.
① If we focus on the characters in the Bible instead of God’s words, we will not know God.
② If we pay more attention to the teachings of how people should do and not to what God has done, then we will not be able to know God.
③ If we are more enthusiastic about God or blessings such as the five loaves and two fishes but are not enthusiastic about the gospel of the cross, then we will not be able to know God.
④ If we introduce the gospel to young people like a biblical fairy tale or a biography of a great man, then they will not be able to know God. How much do our children living in this day and age know about how God fulfilled the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? If they know nothing, they cannot know God. Is it not the case that only adults come out to serve God, but their children are left behind to not serve God due to one or another excuse? Isn’t it happening frequently?
Unit 2 (21-29) Pharaoh’s Compromise
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your rod toward heaven and make darkness appear in the land of Egypt, and the darkness seems to be tangible. . '" (21)
In this way, the ninth plague of "darkness" enveloped the entire land of Egypt for three days, "but there was light in the houses of the Israelites (the land of Goshen)" (21-23). "Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, 'Go and serve the LORD, but your flocks and herds must stay behind, and your women and children can go with you.'" (24) This is his fourth. Compromise. For the Israelites, cattle and sheep were all their property, but Pharaoh told them to leave the cattle and sheep alone, which was to use their property as a threat. What would happen if they accepted this plan? They will surely turn back like Lot's wife, and eventually come back because they can't let go. Even if this were not the case, wouldn’t it be difficult for them to let go of their nostalgia for Egypt and keep saying, “Let’s go back to Egypt”? The Lord Jesus said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) In other words, Pharaoh’s trick was to ask them to leave their hearts in Egypt and only take away an empty body.
Let’s consider the four compromises proposed by Pharaoh. ① Sacrifice to your gods here! (8:25) ②Don’t go very far (8:28) ③Don’t all go, you young men, go and serve the Lord! (10:11) ④ Your flocks and herds shall remain (10:24). You might as well ask yourself, can I be like Moses and categorically reject Pharaoh’s four proposals? In other words, which of these four would you agree with? Or should we accept it all? brothers! If we want to serve God on this earth, I believe Satan will not even stop us. If we don’t go too far to serve God, I’m sure Satan will agree. Satan would also smile knowingly if we promised that only those in their prime of age would serve God. If you agree to "leave the herds and flocks alone and go alone," Satan will applaud you.