EMPATHIZE?

This is the face of our enemy, showing no mercy.

It is grotesque to superimpose on that picture the words we heard last month about how America should employ "smart power" as we fight our enemies.  What was the quote?

"America should use every possible tool and partner to advance peace, leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect even for one's enemies, trying to understand and insofar as psychologically possible, EMPATHIZE with their perspective and point of view."

Would that have worked well in Paris today?

This radical Islamic terrorist execution squad can be heard on the video shouting the phrase we've come to dread..."Allahu Akbar!".  Every single person on Planet Earth is invited to make God's name famous, but these men make it famous in the most perverse of ways.

Coming out against people armed with pen-and-paper (four of whom are shown right, including the editor and three cartoonists) these killers didn't look like third-world fighters hanging off the back of a small careening pickup.  Instead, the scene looked like something from a Bourne movie as they entered and asked for specific victims by name.

Even though it is hard, look again at that first picture.  It is taken from above, so we can easily imagine the Lord looking down as this scene played out.  Imagine God's eye of omniscience seeing that policeman's family and the agony down the years that one instant will cause.  Multiply that by eleven other victims.  Then think of all the fears that will be generated around the world.  NONE of that is from God, who says "fear not".

Isaiah told us a long time ago that in all our suffering, He also suffers...so in love and mercy, He saw our helplessness and came down to redeem us.  This world was never intended to be the way we have chosen to make it, and one day it will return to God's way in a grand makeover.

Romans says that God has a fixed opposition to sin and His wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness.  Some of that wrath may be expressed now because the latest news is that the killers are connected to a Yemeni terror cell and police may know them by name.  But certainly justice will be fairly carried out when they stand before the Lord in judgment.  The usurpers say they avenged their prophet's name, but God says vengeance belongs to Him.

We see the terrorists' ungodliness (as they display none of God's characteristics of love or kindness or patience or mercy) and the terrorists' unrighteousness (as they break God's laws).

Their day is coming, but in the meantime we pray.  We ask for comfort for the French families and a sharp mind for the French police.

And while we're at it, we should pray for our own leaders that they would clearly understand what America faces.

This deadly worldwide threat certainly has no concept of "empathy".

STANDING GUARD

When you hear "cherubim", you do think of these chubby little baby angels?  I guess Raphael's church fresco paintings have influenced us.

Scripture says the cherubim were armed angels and it would be pretty hard to picture babies with a flaming sword.  Cherubim were especially tasked to protect the holiness of God and the entrance to God.

Consider these two particular places that cherubim were found: Eden's garden gate and the Tabernacle.

GARDEN OF EDEN
After the LORD drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, the cherubim were posted to ensure the guilty pair could not come back in.

By that, God was denying them access to the Tree of Life (the impartation of eternal life).  That was not God being harsh; that was God being compassionate.  He knows the ravages and degradation of sin and He did not want Adam and Eve to live eternally in that state.

THE TABERNACLE
The cherubim were also found in the specific orders God gave to Moses as to how He would have the Tabernacle built.  These guardians were to be woven figuratively into the curtains of the Tabernacle and also cast as golden figures over the Ark of the Covenant.

1.  THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
Solid gold cherubim were to go above the mercy seat, which was the lid on the Ark of the Covenant.  That is where the presence of God was said to come and dwell.

The ark was found in The Most Holy Place and was to be accessed only once a year by the high priest.  On the Day of Atonement, the high priest confessed his personal sins and the sins of Israel before entering.

Once inside, the high priest sprinkled lamb's blood on the lid of the ark.  God then showed mercy (hence the name "mercy seat") as His wrath was appeased for another year.  A rope was tied to his leg so that if he went in without being properly cleansed and the LORD struck him dead, they could drag him out.

2.  TABERNACLE CURTAINS

Thick, three-story curtains surrounded The Holy Place and also divided it from The Holy of Holies.  The curtains were made of tightly twisted linen in royal colors of blue, scarlet, and purple.  Moses was told to include a design of cherubim in the curtains.  Why?

The LORD was teaching them that a holy God cannot be accessed by an unholy people.  They must come to Him in a particular way.  They must approach Him through the blood of a sacrifice. 

Israelites (both men and women) and Gentiles could come into the larger courtyard.  But only the High Priest and the Levites charged with upkeep of the Tabernacle were allowed into The Holy Place.

As they entered and looked up toward the three-story curtain (shown open for the sake of illustration but would have been closed) they saw the cherubim and knew access to God was restricted.  Even the most "religious" Israelite, the high priest who entered beyond the veil, was reminded of separation when he saw the beautiful golden cherubim standing guard.

Why was access to God so hard?  It seemed hard to people because He made only one way.  Today people struggle for the same reason.  They want to think any approach to God is worthy, but that's not what God says.

These curtains represented Jesus' body.  At the instant Jesus died, God the Father shook the earth, turned out the lights, and the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom, opening a way into The Most Holy Place.  Hebrews 10:20 explains that Jesus was the Sacrifice that bought our accessibility into God's presence.

God wants to dwell in our midst and He made a way - a very costly way for Him - to deal with our sin so that we COULD come to Him.

No wonder good works will not gain entry...nor trying to be goody-two-shoes...nor thinking your way to Him through philosophy...nor reaching for him in church attendance.  Those human efforts insult the good work His Son accomplished.

"THERE IS SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG PEOPLE BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED."  ACTS 4:12

"SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE WILL BOW - IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER."  PHILIPPIANS 2:11

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

It's a sad kettle of fish when Americans don't expect anything but lies from leadership.

Didn't these schemers have a Mama that taught them the truth will out?  How in the world did they expect God to bless something built on a crooked foundation?  You don't do wrong to do right.

Dr. Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist and senior advisor to Obamacare, went to the White House nine times in his consultant role.  We paid him $400,000.  Other states contracted with him for another million-and-a-half.  Economically, it was a very good year for the professor.

Then he "stepped in it" when his comments from 2013 showed up.  At first, it was only Fox reporting and the mainstream media ignored it.  Gruber made a shallow apology, saying "I spoke off the cuff".  Then more videos came out with him saying more of the same.  What did he say that was so noteworthy?

Bottom line was...Dr. Gruber said they lied on purpose.  He said if Americans had known what Obamacare really did, it wouldn't have passed.  We were too stupid to understand how good it was.

In fact, Obamacare sits atop a hill of doozies which were used to (as Charles Krauthammer has said) "lead the masses to the promised land".   We were told:

"If you like your doc/if you like your plan...you can keep your doc/you can keep your plan."  "The website is ready/the website is secure."  "A family will save $2,500."  "It's NOT a tax!"  "It won't fund abortions."  And, "It's not wealth redistribution."

ALL WERE KNOWN TO BE UNTRUTHS WHEN THEY WERE SPOKEN.

Americans are beginning to figure out the fraud, as evidenced by the midterms which kicked to the curb twenty-eight Senators who voted for O'care.  So we are THAT smart, Dr. Gruberomics.

But thanks anyway for offering us a comic book with pictures so we could understand.  At 160 pages, it must be the longest comic book known to man.

And by the way, we do have a bit of buyers remorse for the slug of cash we paid you, Sir...when you've never held a job in the private sector or run a business.  Your tenured position at MIT is full of theory.

Another thing.  Would someone please tell Ms. Pelosi that no one believes a word she says?  LINK   On the other hand, Jay Carney was forthcoming when he called Dr. Gruber "the architect of the President's Affordable Care Act".

In 2008, if the country voted for TRANSPARENCY (tired of political spin), IMPROVED RACE RELATIONS (tired of rancor) and a desire to HELP THE POOR...

...we sit here in 2014.  We're reeling from the lies and lack of transparency... reeling from Ferguson (where comments by the President and Eric Holder did not help)...and reeling from the reality that it's only the 1% who have prospered under President Obama.

Things haven't exactly panned out. But here's what IS encouraging...

Even in the professor's arrogant and elitist attitude, the truth came out shining.  For all its false promises, Obamacare was exposed to be a fraud.

"Fraud is a form of compulsion.  False choices are not free choices. If you promise someone bountiful goods in exchange for their signature on a contract, and then fail to deliver the goods, they did not make a “free choice” that turned out badly.  You robbed them, as surely as if you stuck a gun in the poor sap’s back and took his wallet.  That is why we empower the government to prosecute fraud. Robbery and fraud do not become acceptable because the perpetrators say they are acting in the best long-term interests of the victims."  Eric Erickson

Prof. Gruber's video began to surface on Monday (the 10th) and this LINK to Megyn Kelly's report is from Tuesday (the 11th).  The mainstream guys waited days to even mention it; CBS picked it up on the 13th and at that time neither ABC or NBC had given it any time.  The University of Pennsylvania (where Gruber spoke) tried to take the video down.  We want a free press who don't circle the wagons.  

Contrary to what Jack Nicholson said in "A Few Good Men"...WE CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH.

RED GOVERNORS

Yeah, I know.  It's a little early.  But do you think a governor might be the next president?

It makes sense.  Governors are tasked to make budgets and keep them (versus just printing more money), and governors understand the impact of policies on their people.  That front-line experience could translate to the larger scale.  It has happened before.  From Jimmy Carter forward, four of our last six presidents were governors.

Americans feel threatened by the economy (jobs), terrorism, and government overreach.

Before the election, there was a strange defeatism that permeated the national mood.  We felt like our children will not have it as good as we've had it.  We feel like the government efforts to help...have hurt.  And we don't feel protected.

We wanted change and hope.

Enter some fresh faces and re-elect winners that defy the stereotype given to Republicans.

These aren't the "old white guys".  They're diverse (but not hyphenated) Americans.  Three  are strong, proven women...and one is in a wheelchair.

Take a look at the Republican governors-elect  and re-elected:

HOMEGROWN
Arkansas voted red for Governor-elect Asa Hutchinson.  We are historically a blue state, but we've had a few red ones (think Mike Huckabee).

Asa and Susan Hutchinson have been married for 41 years and they have four grown kids and five grands.  Asa practiced law for 21 years, and at age 31 was named the youngest United States Attorney in the nation.  Then he began a career of government service which included a term in Congress, Director of the Drug Enforcement Agency, and head of a division of Homeland Security.

TRUE BLUE
Illinois has a reputation for being blue across the board, but this year they elected a red businessman and philanthropist named Bruce Rauner.  Some think Governor-elect Rauner is red in name only, but that is yet to be seen.

Two other strongly blue states also put red governors in charge.  Maryland elected businessman Larry Hogan (head of a commercial real estate brokerage firm).  And in Massachusetts, Charlie Baker (former CEO of a healthcare corporation) can trace his roots to the colonial era.  With a strongly conservative father and liberal mother...it would have been fun to sit around their dinner table.  Governor-elect Baker has already said he is not in favor of providing illegals a driver's license.

WILD WEST
In Texas, Greg Abbott defeated Wendy Davis in an incredibly unkind and untrue campaign.

Texas didn't like it.  Can you tell?

In Arizona, Jan Brewer left the state in the hands of Doug Ducey, a businessman (CEO, Cold Stone Creamery).  He married his college sweetheart Angela, and they have three boys.











RE-ELECTED
Republican governors were re-elected with the exception of one (Pennsylvania).

Red votes went for Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin (with the same 5.7 point margin with which he won the last election).  Gov. Paul LePage won in Maine...and a sliver margin of 1.1 point re-elected Governor Rick Scott in Florida.

Over in Tennessee, Governor Bill Haslam was re-elected by 47 points, winning every county in the state.  

Governor Nathan Deal beat Jimmy Carter's grandson Jason Carter by an 8.0 spread in Georgia and Governor Mary Falin had a 14.8 point margin in Oklahoma.  In Iowa, Governor Terry Branstad takes the prize for re-election to a SIXTH term by 21.8 points.

Alaska, Vermont, and the Virgin Islands are still counting votes, but here are the known results:

The Republican Southern governors are in AZ, NM, TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, TN, NC, SC, AL, GA, and FL.  The Republican Mid-American governors are in NV, ID, UT, WY, ND, SD, NE, KS, ID, WI, IL, MI, IN, and OH.  In the East, there are governors of ME, MA, MD, and NJ.

Perhaps there is a Presidential candidate in one of these 32 governors.

LIGHTBEARERS

Who doesn't want all things to work together for good?  The verse says they do for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Are you one of those?  What is His purpose for you?

Most people wonder about God's demands on them.  They just want to know what it is He wants.  The Old and New Testaments both use exactly the same words to describe what He wants.

Did you think the Old Testament has an expired shelf life?  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  And we remember Jesus said "Don't think I came to abolish the law; I came to fulfill it."

In our Exodus study at BSF, we just have read how God saved Israel out of Egypt and now is about to give them the law on Mt. Sinai.

Here's how God explained His expectations to Israel:

"You yourselves (Israel) have seen what I did to the Egyptians 

and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples

for all the earth is Mine;

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Exodus 19:4-6

He wants a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  Wanting to know more about what that phrase "kingdom of priests" means, I found this summation from Dr. Matthew S. Harmon, a prof at Grace Theological Seminary.  He melted the phrase down to four "I's".  See if this job description for Israel doesn't match our job description, too.

INCARNATE

As they lived, Israel was to be an example to the people of other nations who would see her holy beliefs and actions - and be impressed enough to want to know personally the same God Israel knew.

INVITE

Israel was to proclaim the truth of God and invite people from other nations to accept Him in faith as shown by confession of belief in Him and acceptance of His covenant.

INTERCEDE

Israel would intercede for the rest of the world by offering acceptable offerings to God (both sacrifices and right behavior) and thus ameliorate the general distance between God and humankind.

INSCRIBE

Israel would preserve the promises of God, preserving His word already spoken and record His word as it was revealed to them...so that once the fullness of time had come, anyone in the whole world could promptly benefit from that great body of divinely revealed truth, that is, the Scriptures.

Priests serve, and Israel was called to be servant lightbearers.  So are we.  In 1Peter 2:9, the exact same message is given to believers.  

"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

We are set-asides...consecrated for God's purposes...a holy nation employing intentional missional living.

We were not saved just for going to heaven.  We were saved to carry His good news to the whole world so they might come out from underneath their heavy burden of guilt...and go to heaven with us.  Doesn't that stand starkly opposite to those who make believers at the tip of the sword?

In Revelation 5:10, it says believer priests will "reign" on the earth.  That's not a "lording it over others" rule, but a continuation of service as we take our cue from Jesus, the Servant Leader who came not to be served, but to serve.

GLORY!

"...all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD."

Well, that sure has happened THIS fall.  The photo on the left (made by D. R. Keck Photography) may be my favorite fall blaze of glory picture.  It was made around the golf course at Bella Vista on October 30th.

Mike and I have spent time this month at our "little cabin in the woods", which is waaay out in the Ozark Mountains and square in the middle of nowhere.  It's where my husband breathes freely and there's even an unexpected cell tower to keep me connected.

God has said He makes everything beautiful in its time and we agree as we see the maples and hickory and gum and understory dogwoods and sumac.

The blaze of this sumac is made brighter with the backdrop of an overcast day and the brown woods.  We took this picture on the way to Hawksbill Crag in the Upper Buffalo River wilderness.

Mike hiked down to Whittaker Point (Hawksbill Crag) while I waited and read up at the trailhead.  It was three miles total and he got some nice shots along the way.

This is spectacular unless you have trouble with heights.

Mike says the people on the trail were all very chatty and friendly; their cars were from several different states.  There was a group of Mennonites (with their hair gathered under their white pleated caps) happily having lunch on the point.

We have heard this place is the most photographed in Arkansas.

And then on the way back to the cabin, had to stop for this tree with soft orange leaves...

...and this creek in the woods.












Our BSF study this year has been in Exodus and several lessons ago we talked about the burning bush. I remember our discussion about how the Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ) appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from within a bush that was not consumed.

One morning we had a mini-burning bush of sorts at the cabin.  We had finished breakfast and were sitting, contemplating the view over coffee.

The day was overcast, but the view is always quieting...so I took a picture.

It wasn't two minutes until I thought I was seeing things.  All of a sudden one of the sun's rays broke through in a pinpoint.  You can see it lighting up the trees in front and then the light running up the hill.

Pretty cool, eh?  It made the trees look like they were  on fire.  God's glory made our day.

What is God's glory, anyway?

We see creation and call that glory. We read that we were made for His glory.  Sometimes we hear heaven described as "going to glory".

The heavens declare the glory of God, and so do the blazing trees.  But material things don't last; all the gorgeous leaves will blow away.  A deeper understanding of glory expressed as brightness...is the essence of God's character.  It's His goodness and purity and kindness and mercy and justice that are all the fountainhead of glory.

Later in Exodus, Moses asks the LORD to show him His glory.  God told Moses he couldn't see His face and live, so Moses was hidden in the cleft of the rock.  God covered Moses with His hand while He passed by.  God was sheltering Moses from the dazzling light that comes from God's purity.  In the presence of a holy God, man sees his corruption.  

Moses' sheltering rock was Horeb, the rock that had previously brought gushing water to sustain two million Israelites in the desert.  Now the rock hid Moses from God's justice.  In 1 Corinthians 4 we learn the rock is Christ.  He shelters and provides and covers us from God's wrath.

Glory, hallelujah!

WHO IS GOD?

Many worshippers claim God's name, but they can't all be right because they're so different.

America's tolerant society teaches us to elevate all faiths to an equal playing field.  Such egalitarianism inflates our pride of open-mindedness, but is that what God says?

Who is God?  The LORD tells us in ancient Egypt, defining Himself as He does battle with Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt.


THE PLOT
God gives the nation of Israel an assignment to make Him known in the pagan world and Moses is the point man.

This is larger than a Cecil B. DeMille story about Pharaoh and Moses.  Yahweh is declaring Himself to be God over the little gods.  And He accomplishes the evidence by using the pagans AND their demonic power to prove who He is.

THE PLAYERS
In one corner are two eighties-something poor Hebrew slaves carrying only a shepherd's staff.  In the opposite corner stands Pharaoh, the rich and educated king of the whole world, carrying the importance of being thought to be the reincarnation of the sun god, Ra.

The battle doesn't sound too promising, does it?  It's reminiscent of the time God had Elijah pour water on the wood before He lit it.  Jehovah wants everyone to understand that the power and glory are all His.

THE NARRATIVE
The story is familiar.  God and Pharaoh go head-to-head around three areas of Egyptian worship.  Egypt had about 80 different "nature gods", but the plagues squared off against the most prominent (two river gods, four land gods, and three sky gods).

Each time Moses and Aaron go into the Pharaoh's presence, God is giving  the ruler a chance to know Him.  However, the Pharaoh progressively hardens his own heart until finally, God hardens Pharaoh's heart.  In between, there is much razzle-dazzle as the supernatural powers fly.

GOD'S POWER (over the two river gods)
The first battle salvo was eye-catching.  When the Nile turned to blood, desert people would take notice of the lack of drinking water and crop irrigation.  God was saying to the people..."You pray to the god of the river, but I am the Living Water.  Where is the river god that you think protects you?"  Their sorcerers took note that they could duplicate the phenomenon, but could not reverse it.
And Pharaoh hardened his heart.

After the blood had killed the living things in the water, God caused a malignant number of frogs to appear from the river.  Again, the priests of Pharaoh could duplicate with more frogs, but couldn't remove the frogs.  And since the people worshipped a god with a frog's head, they couldn't very well kill the frogs; that would be like an Indian killing a cow.  Pharaoh begged Moses to take the frogs away, but Pharaoh didn't change his heart.

GOD'S POWER (over the four land gods)
Moses was told to tell Aaron to strike the dust of the ground and all the dust of Egypt became lice/gnats.  God was showing His sovereignty over all of the ground.  Remember, we were made from that dust and so His rule extends over us.  But Pharaoh hardened his heart.

After the gnats came the dogflies, bloodsuckers more damaging than gnats flying up your nose.  This plague affected Egyptians, but not Israelites.  Here the LORD begins to make a redemptive distinction between His people and demon worship.  Beelzebub was known as the Lord of the Flies (or Satan) and Egyptians called on him as an insurance policy to protect them.  But even in Beelzebub's own territory (flies), the "Lord of the Flies" was impotent.  God took away the flies, but Pharaoh hardened his heart.

The third challenge to the land gods again only affected Egyptians.  God sent an infectious disease which may have been like mad cow.  When it destroyed livestock, it hit Egypt's economy because people measured wealth in the number of their livestock.  The worship of Isis (the queen of the gods who sometimes was pictured with cow horns on her head)...and Egypt's other bovine worship...was an affront to the LORD.  The bulls were signs of strength and fertility, and were used as sacrifices in their worship.  No wonder when Moses came down from the mountain and found the Israelites around the golden calf, he threw down the tablets. God saves those who put all other "gods" away.  Idols can be anything from filling your mind with  something other than God...to worshipping a false understanding of God.

When Pharaoh doesn't respond to the destruction of livestock, the severity of consequences are ratcheted up.  We take note that a nation's leader can inflict great damage on his people as we watch Pharaoh's choice result in itchy boils full of puss all over the Egyptians' bodies.  Again, Israel was spared.  Egyptians were known all around the world for their advanced medical knowledge, but it wasn't helping them now.  Think that didn't humiliate Pharaoh's personal physician...and the priests who couldn't even come before Pharaoh because their boils defiled them?  With THIS plague, God hardens Pharaoh's heart.

GOD'S POWER (over the three sky gods)
Today in Egypt, Cairo only receives about two inches of rain annually so the next plague would have been an attention-grabber.  The Lord filled the skies with clouds that brought hail and lightning and thunder.  The hail beat down everything in the fields and stripped every tree everywhere except in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived.  This time, God told Moses to warn the people of the coming destruction.  Some believed and moved themselves and their cattle into shelters.  Pharaoh's response?  He made a "sort-of" confession, but his heart was not changed.  Again, he hardened his heart.

Then Moses stretched out his hand and the LORD sent a strong east wind that blew locusts in from the Arabian desert.  They ate everything that was left in the fields after the hail; there would be no harvest in Egypt that year.  Now the officials at court begged Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  They knew the grain god (Nepri) and the guardian of the fields (Anubis) and the deity of the harvest (Min) could not help them.  But still Pharaoh would not let God's people go.

The ninth plague had to do with darkness so complete that it could be felt.  Their choice to live in darkness had been fulfilled in darkness.  But the light that was on in Goshen should have made things pretty obvious.  Egyptians worshipped the sun (Ra) and moon (Heliopolis) and the Pharaoh himself.  Now it's really in Pharaoh's wheelhouse.  Pharaoh offers a compromise, but God does not compromise.  Have you ever tried to cut a deal with Him?

THE TENTH PLAGUE
In the death of the firstborns, God  demonstrates His character traits of justice and mercy.  While all men are sinners who earn their wage of death, God gives unmerited favor to some.  One group (called Egyptians) received JUSTICE for their sins because they trusted idols in the face of great evidence to the contrary.  The other group (called Israelites) were shown MERCY for their sins as they were given instructions on how to trust God's sacrificial way to cover sin.

Both groups are an illustrated picture book for us.  Will we humble ourselves and trust God to instruct us?  In faith, the Israelites applied blood to the doorpost of their homes and the death angel passed over their home.  Sadly, there was loud wailing in Egyptian homes as death visited each house.  With this great personal cost, Pharaoh finally relented and let the Israelites go.

CONCLUSIONS
1.  All worship is not equal.  The Bible was written that we might know who God is and what He expects.  He presented Himself to the Egyptians THEN and He presents Himself to the whole world NOW as we read this big story of salvation.  God said "By this you will know that I am the LORD."

2.  Who are these gods of Egypt?  There are two supernatural forces in the world; God says that if worship is not of Him, it is demonic.  The Bible calls the priests of Egypt "sorcerers" and their magic arts were limited.  God is more powerful than Satan and He says "there is none like Me in all the earth".

3.  This story was really over at the beginning when Aaron's rod swallowed up the sorcerer's rods.  All that lacked then was for the details to be played out.  But the Book says when Pharaoh observed that powerful demonstration of God's power, he left the room uninterested.  With some people, no amount of evidence will sway them.

4.  Did you know that in the end times, the LORD will send similar plagues?   In the first bowl judgment, He will inflict painful sores on those with the mark of the beast that sound much like the boils of the 7th plague.  And in Revelation 16, it says "Great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe."

5.  Egyptians were very religious people, worshipping everything around them.  God came to call them to true worship, proving He was greater than all their gods.  We can take note that it is dangerous to harden your heart.

6.  By the time Israel left Egypt, both sides had a clear picture of God's power and protection and plan.  And surely all those who lived in the surrounding nations had also heard the story as the knowledge of God spread.  Not all in Egypt believed, but the Bible says the ones who did believe went along with Israel in the exodus.

So who is God?  He is MERCIFUL and MIGHTY, the One True God who graciously reveals Himself in His creation, His miracles, and in His Word.  Just as then the Israelites followed His instructions to deal with their sin by the blood of the lamb, now the blood of the Lamb deals with sin once and forever.

God has drawn a red line of expectation in the knowledge of Himself.  He wants us to worship the Creator, not the created.  His demand on Pharaoh's life to acknowledge Him as LORD is the same call He offers each man as He gives us an offer to deal with our sins.  It's a good offer.