Exodus 6-7 Devotional Bible Study

Genesis 6-7 Devotional Bible Study

Genesis 6-7 Chapter Summary

God then reminded Moses of the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan and promised to fulfill His promise. Bringing the Israelites out of Egypt would prove Himself to them.

God said to Moses,

“You are to say everything I command you,

and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,

and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you.

Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment

I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.

And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord

when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

- Exodus 7:2-5

 

Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 when they went to talk to Pharaoh. To prove God was speaking to them, Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh, and it became a snake, but the magicians of Egypt did the same thing. Aaron’s staff, however, swallowed their staves. Still, Pharaoh would not listen.

 

Next, Aaron stretched out his staff over the Nile and the whole land, and all the water turned into blood. But the magicians did the same thing.

 

They Will Know

Exodus 6:6-7; 7:4-5

“Say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians…I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Why does God rescue the Israelites? Why does He punish the Egyptians? He gives the same answer: So that they will know He is God.

What if we started to understand everything that happens in that light? “Why is this happening? Why is that happening?” So that we will know He is God. So that we will know He is in control, not us. So that we will depend on His power, not our own. So that we will live according to His righteousness, not our own sense of what should be right and wrong. So that we will wake up and seek Him, not keep walking blindly through life ignoring Him.

I’m glad God does things to get our attention. Does knowing He does what He does to show you Who He is give you new perspective on what’s happening in your life?

 

God Swallows Satan

Exodus 7:8-13

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The wise men and sorcerers and magicians also turned their rods into snakes. It doesn’t say this was a trick, some kind of sleight of hand or an illusion. They really did turn their rods into snakes. How?

Satan has power. He can work supernatural wonders. In fact, Revelation 13:13-14 tells us that Satan will set up a figure who will perform “great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth.”

The good news? God always triumphs. God’s power is greater than Satan’s. Just as Aaron’s staff swallowed up all the staves of the magicians, so God will defeat all of Satan’s schemes, and one day, throw our enemy into the lake of burning fire to harass us no more.

What supernatural signs does Satan perform in the world today to turn people’s hearts hard against the Lord?

 

Punishment or Salvation?

Exodus 7:17-18

“This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”

John 2:6-9 - Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

Matthew 26:27-28 - Then Jesus took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Our God has turned water into something twice: blood and wine. One was a punishment for sin. The other was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ shed blood for the forgiveness of sin. We have a choice. We can experience God’s wrath for our sin, or we can trust in the way of salvation, Jesus taking God’s wrath for us. Thank God He gives us that choice!