Fear of God

April 23

Read: Exodus 7:13 - 12:32

*Feel free to skim over / read in chunks

(Plagues part 4)

Fear of God

“By this you shall know that I am the LORD…” (v. 7:17)

The plagues of Egypt were orchestrated by God to put on display his power so that “by this you shall know that I am the Lord”. This is intentionally something “scary” and overwhelming about these plagues. The relentless nature of them all… one after another after another… came crashing onto the Egyptians in full view of the Israelites. Why is it that God did this? He tells us in his own words throughout the passage.

“By this you shall know that I am the LORD.” (v.7:17) God puts his power on display for his people to assure them that he is the Lord. He is aware and near to them… he is listening to them. The Lord’s “closeness” is affirmed when he mentions again that he is doing this “that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.” (v. 8:22) Take note of that phrase… “in the midst of the earth”. The Lord is here… ruling…”in the midst of the earth”. God is not distant or far away, but in our midst.

There is nothing else like God in all the earth. Nothing. Even the Egyptian magicians throw in the towel… “The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” (v.8:18,19) The “dark arts” of the Egyptians could partially replicate some of what GOd was doing… but in the end they could not hang! God flexes his power “so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.” (v. 9:14) God is totally present and totally distinct and “greater than” anything else in creation.

God’s power and presence if - frankly - scary. It has the capacity to produce fear. I think in some ways this is what God was working out in Egypt and in his people - he was instilling in them a “fear of God”. We see this at work in chapter 9. When hail is being sent to the Egyptians, God warns them. There were Egyptians who feared God and made preparations that saved them: “Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses…” (v. 9:20) Those who feared him were spared. The opposite is true of Pharaoh: “I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” (v. 9:30 ) This is how we know that “fear of the Lord” is a part of what God was cultivating. Fear of Lord leads to obedience and blessing… and arrogance leads to disobedience and destruction.

Without a healthy fear of the Lord we will become arrogant and proud. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (v. James 4:6) This is why the Lord asks Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (v. 10:3) The fear of God humbles us before him. God knew how important this was… he knew his wonders would need to be multiplied for people to understand. He foretold this: “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” (v. 11:9)

God’s displays of power are designed to be told from generation to generation. As the people of God, we need to be telling our children and grandchildren. The Lord says, “that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.” (v. 10:2) We so quickly forget God’s power… his majesty… his justice. We forget that he is in our midst. We forget that he is greater than anything else in this world. We need to remind each other. This healthy fear of God leads to our humble-ness before him, our obedience, and ultimately to our rescue and freedom! May God we “fear the Lord” and be humbled before him… reminding our children and our children’s children that he is good, near, in our midst, powerful, and working. Love you guys. - JDP