9 August Exodus 9

God want to show his power - the earth is the Lord’s

Exodus 9:15-16 (AMP) 15 For by now I could have put out My hand and struck you and your people with a pestilence, and you would then have been cut off (obliterated) from the earth. 16 But indeed for this very reason I have allowed you to live, in order to show you My power and in order that My name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth.This verse gives a powerful glimpse into the heart and the purpose of God when he says to Pharaoh, “But indeed for this very reason I have allowed you to live, to show you My power”. God will make himself known through Israel, but he’s also known through Pharaoh. God put Pharaoh where he was, when he was, so that God could demonstrate to him and the world that He is sovereign. The point God is making, is that He is in control. God put Pharaoh in power, raised him up on purpose. Nonetheless God could have wiped Pharaoh and the Egyptians off the face of the earth. God was giving Pharaoh a choice in Exodus 9:13 (AMP) “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.”Rather than wiping Egypt off the map God is helping Pharaoh make the right choice by sending plagues. All this is being done to show God's glory - " to show you My power and so that My name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth.” Romans rightly says in Chapter 9:14-18 (ESV) “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills”.In Exodus 9:29 (AMP) we read “Moses said to him, “As soon as I leave the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, so that you may know and acknowledge that the earth is the Lord’s.” Here the God of Israel showed Pharaoh that He is the God of the elements, the entire world, and all the people in the world, even the people of Egypt.The storm of hit all of Egypt; every plant, animal, and person who did not listen to God's warning and find shelter was killed by lightning and hail. However, the people of Israel in nearby Goshen had no hail and were not harmed by the storm. God wanted Pharaoh to understand that He, not Pharaoh, was the true God controlling the land.Psalms 24:1 (NLT) The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. The Bible says that the earth is the Lord’s. The whole world belongs to God. Confirmed by Exodus 19:5 (ESV) Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine”. Furthermore, Psalms 89:11 (ESV) proclaims: “The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them”.Finally, I conclude with 1 Chronicles 29:11 (ESV) “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all”.