I want to take you to a familiar passage in Exodus today. A story so familiar, that even children could recite the details of its contents. I want you to envision with me the last day in the land of Egypt after the devastating plagues swept through their great land of plenty. I want you to imagine this sight with me as if a drone hovering over the land of Egypt. Raise your vision over the children of Israel (but not too high, or your view might be fogged by the cloud which God placed above their heads for protection, or perhaps singed by the fire that guided them at night). The children of Israel are gathered together with all of their families, their herds and their belongings. Their faces are beaming with joy and anticipation as they see their freedom stretched out in front of them.
Now quickly turn your sight back toward the land of Egypt. Glide toward the blood stained banks of their rivers that are covered with decaying fish and holes where desperate Egyptians dug to find water that might quench their thirst. Look outside their houses, all throughout the villages and in the fields, and notice heaps and piles of dead frogs everywhere. There is no escape from the stench of death that fills their land. The bodies of their inhabitants have been tormented by lice and flies, most likely spreading disease and illness. Their flesh is still raw from the boils that covered their bodies. All of their cattle are scattered throughout the pastures, lying dead. Now glance over their fields that days before were filled with fruitful herbs and trees, but now lie limp and burned with trees left as splinters after hail and fire consumed them, along with many dead servants who were left in the fields that day. All of the remaining crops and fruit that were not destroyed by hail and fire have been consumed by locusts, until there was nothing left remaining. Alas, at the end, nothing was left remaining in the land of Egypt except for the cries of their people grieving for their fathers, brothers, and sons as the angel of death took the lives of all the first born men and beasts whose houses were not protected by the symbol of faith shown in the blood painted over their door frames. In desperation, the people of Egypt give away their gold, silver and jewels to beg the people they once enslaved to leave them in their misery. It is a sobering sight to imagine, and all because of their hardness of heart toward the One true God.
Now gaze back toward the children of Israel. Their bodies are untouched by disease.
All of their legs, from the oldest to youngest, God strengthened for the journey ahead of them, so that none of them would stumble.
Their livestock surround them, leaving not a single hoof in the land behind them. God kept His covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and prepared to lead His people to the land of their inheritance.
In Psalm 105, the writer recaps the story of God’s faithfulness to His people, and then declares:
“O give thanks unto the Lord; Call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.
Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth." – Psalm 105:1-5
The same God who fought for the children of Israel, is our great God still today and forever more.
He is always with us and strengthens our legs for the journey He places in front of us.
Proclaim His great works that He has accomplished in your life, and rejoice in the God of your salvation.
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