Exodus 9

Bible Passage:  Exodus 9

Warning: This sharing could be deemed to be rather “harsh” in some ways. Although there is no need for viewer discretion, please do not be offended by it, as it is only just a sharing.

3 plagues.. 2 sides.. 1 chapter..

Yes, in this chapter, we can see the plagues from God getting more and more devastating. If you thought that being overrun by little animals was bad enough, wait till you experience loss of vast amounts of property, painful sores on your body, and destructive weather.

And like the plague of flies, these 3 plagues showed a clear separation between God’s people and the people of Egypt. As in, God made the plagues fall upon the people of Egypt, but the people of Israel were not harmed.

One side had all their livestock intact, while the other side said bye-bye to theirs. One side had no pains, while the other side would’ve been crying. One side had good weather, while the other side had a little taste of “The Day After Tomorrow” (Editor’s note: I would use a more recent movie like 2012.. But well.. The older one wasn’t coupled with some prophecy).

That having said, these 3 plagues kinda remind me of these 2 groups of people. If we look at verses 21 and 22, we clearly see them, and anyway, the description of the 7^th plague caught my attention for this short sharing:

He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharoah made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. – verse 21

But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field. – verse 22

And of course.. we know what happened to those who remained in the field when the hail came a pourin’ down..

And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. – verse 25

Those who were still in field, I would presume, might have been seriously hurt or even killed by the hail. And I think that we can get that subtle indication that those who actually feared the word of the Lord and fled to their houses might have probably been spared from the hail. Of course, all this didn’t happen in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were residing in.

Not really drawing any comparison with the Egyptians or even highlighting anything about the 2 nations. But I’d just like to mainly bring your attention to the point that there were 2 kinds of people: People who did fear the word of the Lord and people who did not regard His word. (Wow.. When did I sound so formal?)

Anyway.. Even though we may be believers of the true church, and we have the truth, the word of God. But are there any among us who might not really/truly regard the word of God? Do we truly listen to the word of God and heed to His teachings?

God gave a warning to the people of Egypt that a hail was coming, and those who listened and regarded the word actually fled and were probably spared. Likewise, God is telling us that He will come again and that we have to prepare ourselves for that great day. But if we do not regard this, then what do you think will become of us? It may not be like the hail, but we know it’s gonna be something much worse than that..

Hear, O earth!

Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people,

Even the fruit of their thoughts,

Because they have not heeded My words,

Now My law, but rejected it

–        Jeremiah 6: 19

Of course, we know that it’s not always that something would happen to such a person immediately or within a short period of time. But we are certain of the ultimately fate of those who do not heed to the words of the Lord, or even fail to hold fast to His word till the end.

Like I said in the disclaimer at the beginning, this is not meant to scare anyone. But rather, I hope we all can remind ourselves, to always listen to the words of God, His teachings, His warnings, His rebukes, His commandments… And if we can do these things, then I think we can be spared too..