FAMILY DEVOTION GUIDE The Church at Trace Crossing MEMORIZE Exodus 9:35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. READ Monday Tuesday Wednesday Exodus 7:8-25 Exodus 8 Exodus 9:1-12 Thursday Friday Exodus 9:13-10:20 Exodus 10:21-29 SING Monday Tuesday Wednesday Who You Are Great Are You Lord Our God Thursday Your Love Never Fails Friday How Rich a Treasure We Possess DEVOTIONS Each of these devotions is designed to enhance and enable family worship. They will almost always reflect the Sunday morning sermon. You may use this guide in any way you choose. I recommend setting aside time every day, whether in the morning or evening, to read the passage for the day and the devotion that accompanies it. The songs for the week can be found on the Trace Crossing website under Worship Preparation (tracecrossing.org). Each devotion should take about 5-10 minutes to complete. If I can help you in any additional way, or if you have any general questions for me, feel free to contact me. Mathew Gilbert Associate Pastor for Children and Preschool Phone: (662) 321-2325 Email: mathew@tracecrossing.org
Monday Devotion (Exodus 7:8-25) What do you think about when you hear the word warning? Most of the time it is written like this: WARNING. While warnings make us feel scared, they are actually very good for us. We need them. Tornado warnings are issued when a tornado has been spotted. When a tornado warning is given, we all run to our safe place. Ignoring tornado warnings can be dangerous and even deadly. The only people who died in a tornado that hit my hometown in Kentucky four years ago were people who ignored the warning. One couple died because they decided to drive to the store to get some food. They tried to outrun the tornado, but it caught up with them and destroyed them. They were warned by the weatherman. But they ignored the warnings and sadly it cost them their lives. The Bible is filled with warnings because the God of the Bible is a merciful and patient God. His love and grace lead him to warn those who are in danger of judgment. When God warns, he warns people about the danger of sin. Sin is dangerous and deadly. If we ignore the warnings God sends, our sin will destroy us like a tornado. And much like the couple I mentioned, there is no outrunning sin. God promised his people he would rescue them from Pharaoh through judgment. He said he would strike Egypt with acts of judgment (Ex. 7:4-5). Before the Lord begins to smite Egypt with his mighty hand, he warns Pharaoh with two miracles, or signs. Pharaoh saw Moses as a weak shepherd. How could he demand things from the most powerful man on earth? God tells Moses to prove himself to Pharaoh by telling Aaron to throw his staff on the ground, so it will become a snake (7:8-10). When Pharaoh saw this miracle, he commanded his magicians to do the same thing. And they did! But just like any magician, this was only the trick of a snake charmer (7:11-12). The supreme might of the Lord is seen in the fact that Aaron s staff swallowed up their staffs. The Lord is the one true God. In this first miracle, the Lord showed Pharaoh that he meant business, but Pharaoh ignored the warning. In the second miracle, the Lord commands Moses to command Aaron to place his staff in the Nile River as Pharaoh passed by. When he did, the river turned to blood (7:14-19). The message is clear: judgment is coming. Unless Pharaoh turns from his disobedience and let the people of Israel go, the Lord will judge him. Even though Pharaoh witnessed another warning and miracle, his heart remained hardened and he ignored them (7:22). Pharaoh made excuses for his lack of obedience. We do the same thing. We convince ourselves that sin is better for us than obedience. It s the oldest trick in the Book (Gen. 3). Turning from our sin and trusting Jesus is a total change of heart. Hearts that have been softened by God are hearts that seek to actively obey and rejoice in God. Don t ignore God s warnings against sin. Instead, see them, listen to them, and run from the tornado of sin into the safe place of the cross. Think about times when you have ignored and listened to warnings against sin? How did you act? Thank God for his patience in warning us from sin and judgment, and for providing for our sin and deserved judgment in the cross.
Tuesday Devotion (Exodus 8) People in authority who act with integrity typically bring down judgment with consistency. No leader is perfect, but for the most part the best leaders discipline with consistency. Parents and teachers who discipline their children usually have a pattern in the things they do. Children know this is true, especially in school. I remember having a teacher that would assign the class a chapter to read for homework. The next day he would stand before each student in the class and ask, Did you read the chapter last night? He was one of those teachers you just couldn t lie to. He could smell a lie a mile away. Because of this, most of us would do the reading. But if you didn t do the reading, you would have to spend the next 30 minutes of the class out in the hallway by yourself reading the chapter you failed to read for homework. This was the punishment every single time. Everyone knew it was coming. He was consistent in his expectations and judgment. As God begins to make himself known in Egypt through the judgment of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, he too develops a pattern. As you read through Exodus 7-10, you will notice a number of phrases and themes that repeat themselves. The Lord sends Moses to Pharaoh with the same message: Let my people go or I will send. The only thing that changes is the form of judgment. There are nine different plagues, but they always come after Moses demands release from Egypt and Pharaoh says, No! Pharaoh s disobedience results in swift judgment from God. After suffering the effects of various plagues, Pharaoh begs Moses to plead with God so that the plague would end. In Exodus 8, we see this pattern begin to develop. In Exodus 8, Moses explains three plagues. The pattern in these plagues is the Lord s sovereign control over nature, particularly animals. First, the Lord responds to Pharaoh s disobedience by sending a swarm of frogs to overwhelm the people. Next, God creates gnats out of the dust of the earth so that they fill the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:16-17). Finally, God responds to Pharaoh s rejection of his plan by sending a swarm of flies into Egypt. After the frogs were released in Egypt, the magicians were able to perform a trick similar to the miracle of God, just like they were able to mimic the turning of the Nile River to blood. But their tricks were nothing compared to the sheer power of God in the plagues. After the magicians were unable to produce gnats or flies, it was clear to them, This is the finger of God (Ex. 8:19). As the Lord of heaven and earth, God can do whatever he pleases with his creation (Ps. 115:3). The world and everyone in it are like clay in the hands of the Potter. What s not surprising is that God hardens Pharaoh s heart and judges all of Egypt with devastating plagues. What s surprising is that it pleases the Lord to shower equally unworthy sinners with love and grace. The God who owes us nothing and to whom we owe everything, gives us in Christ far more than we could ever hope or dream. How does it make you feel that God is in total control of nature? Is this right for him to control things like this? Why or why not? Thank God for his sovereign control over all things and for loving his people despite our sin.
Wednesday Devotion (Exodus 9:1-12) It has been said that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus turned creation upside down. While every aspect of creation has been poisoned by sin, the redemption of Christ sets the world up for future glorification. The whole world will one day be fully redeemed. Paul once said, For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now (Rom. 8:19-22). There is a direct connection made between creation and salvation. In the New Earth, the people of God and all of creation will be glorified reflections and demonstrations of his glory. Because of the connection between creation and salvation, it makes sense that God would use his own creation in his acts of salvation. The plagues in Egypt teach us that the Lord is sovereign over his creation and he can use it however he so desires. The total sovereign control of God over all things isn t automatically good news, though. Without knowing the character of God it is impossible to know whether or not it is good that he controls all things. But since the God who controls all things is full of steadfast love, grace, mercy, and complete holiness, we can trust his sovereign decisions and actions. Exodus 9:1-12 gives us a picture of God s continued sovereignty over creation in the judgment of his enemies and the salvation of his people. First, after Pharaoh once again refused to let the people of Israel go, God sent a severe plague on all of the Egyptians horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks (Ex 9:1-3). Second, God told Moses to toss dust in the air and it became boils or sores on the Egyptians (Ex. 9:8-10). The pain was so great, the Egyptians struggled to even stand up (Ex. 9:11). But as Pharaoh was judged, the Israelites were spared (Ex. 9:6). In God s grand work of redemption, we see each of those elements: (1) God s enemies are judged and (2) God s people are spared. The rescue of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt is the Old Testament s picture for what happens to everyone who trusts Jesus. Through the judgment of Pharaoh, God s people are freed from slavery. Through the judgment of Christ in the place of sinners like us, everyone who believes in him will be forever free from the slavery of sin (see Rom. 6). The God who sovereignly controls nature also controls human hearts. And the God who hardens hearts is also the God who softens hearts. The ultimate goal of all that God did in Egypt was to make himself known (Ex. 9:16). The point of both creation and salvation is the eternal worship of Jesus. How do you see the gospel in the plagues of Egypt? How does it help you face and fight sin each day knowing that God completely judges his enemies in the cross? Thank God for his sovereign goodness and for making himself known to sinners.
Thursday Devotion (Exodus 9:13-10:20) The seventh and eighth plagues are described in Exodus 9-10. God continues his pattern of judging Egypt and making himself known by telling Moses to go to Pharaoh and command him to release the Israelites (Ex. 9:13-14). Though God is totally in control of every event, including the heart of Pharaoh himself (Ex. 9:16), he also explains that Pharaoh is responsible for his rebellion and sin. Because he is exalting himself against the people of God, God is about to send worse plagues than before (Ex. 9:14, 17). First, after warning the Egyptians about the coming judgment, God sends storms of hail on Egypt like had never been seen before. Second, after Pharaoh once again failed to let the people of Israel go, God sent a swarm of locusts into Egypt (Ex. 10:1-6). Even though Pharaoh s own servants had given up and the storms and locusts did extreme damage in Egypt, Pharaoh still refused to let the people of Israel go. At this point in the story of the Exodus, it becomes hard to believe that Pharaoh would continue to disobey God. Didn t he get it by now? The Lord has come to declare his glory in Egypt and free his people. He has given Pharaoh multiple opportunities to repent and let the people of Israel go. But it seems that the harsher the plagues become, the harder Pharaoh s heart becomes. He has moments of fear and regret because of his own suffering, but in the end he is only concerned about his circumstances, not about doing what the Lord says. He can t see that he needs to give in to the supreme authority and power of the Lord. Hearts that are hardened against God will disobey him no matter what. In our sin, we are all like Pharaoh; stubborn and self-exalting. We want our way and even when we see just how dangerous our sin can be, we don t run from it. We are convinced our way is best and God s way just doesn t taste good to us. Like Pharaoh, everyone who is outside of Christ has hard hearts cold to God s will. What we learn from the plagues of hail and locusts is that Pharaoh was both stubborn and selfexalting. He desperately wanted glory for himself. He couldn t bring himself to submit to the sovereign will of God because he wanted to be Lord of his own life and people. But the truth is there is only one true and living God. He is the one who commands nature and it obeys. He is the one who sovereignly hardens and softens hearts for his glory. And he is the one who will always rescue his people by his grace and judge his enemies for his glory. When we encounter the Lord, we are forced to make one of two choices: (1) Repent in humility, or (2) rebel in self-sufficiency. Pharaoh s words in Exodus 10:16 are correct, but the posture of his heart is all wrong. His heart is standing proud, though he sounds low. Never confuse sorrow over consequences for true repentance. Instead, allow the holy presence, action, and glory of God to lead you to repent and trust Christ for all his provision. How have you acted like Pharaoh in Ex. 8-9? What is the difference between godly and worldly sorrow? Thank God for the wonders you have read in Exodus 8-9. Thank him for showing his glory, and ask him for grace to truly repent of sin, instead of having sorrow over consequences.
Friday Devotion (Exodus 10:21-29) Have you ever experienced true darkness? I m not talking about sleeping at night in your room with the lights out. I m talking about can t see your hand in front of your face darkness. At the elementary school I attended as a kid, there was an old closet hidden in the top floor of our gym. All of the boys used to dare one another to sit in that closet for just one minute. It doesn t sound so bad, but that closet was really small and really dark. When you sit in a closet like that, one minute feels like one hour! Even though my friends were right outside the closet laughing, and I knew I would get out in just a few seconds, by the end of the time I was truly scared. Nothing scares us quite like pitch-black darkness. The eight plagues we have seen so far have been God s way of showing the world his glory. He has shown that he is the Lord of his creation. He can do with it what he pleases. The ninth plague serves as not only judgment, but a warning of final judgment. God brings pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days (Ex. 10:22). It was so dark that the people of Egypt couldn t even see one another for three days (Ex. 10:23). Can you imagine living in darkness so dark that you couldn t even see the people living in your own home for three days? It was a darkness that had never been seen before. They could light a candle, but no one would have seen it. Fearing the consequences of his own disobedience, and the judgment of the Lord, Pharaoh tells the people of Israel they can go, but they can only leave under certain conditions. In other words, Pharaoh is still trying to control things. Moses said the Lord demands the Israelites bring livestock with them for sacrifices, but Pharaoh wants to negotiate. His hard heart led him to once again not allow the people of Israel to leave. Pharaoh was sick of Moses and never wanted to see his face again (Ex. 10:27-28). Moses knew this was it (Ex. 10:29). Final judgment, a death that was darker than the darkness that filled Egypt for three days was coming. This same darkness and death is coming for those who are not in Christ. But in God s tremendous grace, the darkness we deserve to experience was experienced by Christ on the cross. There is no negotiating with God. He sets the rules and he controls the hearts of men. Walk in the light of Christ by living according to his will, not yours. How does the darkness in Egypt serve as a picture for the experience of those outside of Christ? How have you tried to obey God on your terms, and not his? Has this hurt your walk with God? Ask God to help you obey him according to his will, not yours.
LOVE GOD. LOVE OTHERS. MAKE DISCIPLES. FOR HIS GLORY.