July 13, 2026
Monday, July 13
I don’t often add disclaimers to my devotionals, but the things we’re going to talk about this week are disturbing. They involve the suffering and death of thousands of people, including children. To make matters worse, this isn’t dystopian fiction; this really happened. To make matters even worse, God was behind it all. In other words, we won’t just read about some troubling things that happened three thousand years ago; we’re going to be dealing with some tough questions about God.
As we move through the story of Exodus 7-11, some of you will react emotionally in one of two ways. Some of you will say, “It’s good to be a child of God, so I don’t have to worry about His judgment falling on me.” But this story should make believers examine their hearts as well.
Others may say, “If the God of the Bible is this bloodthirsty and ruthless, I don’t know if I can continue to be a Christian.” If you are in that group, I hope to show you that God is neither bloodthirsty nor ruthless. In fact, He is the only force of unadulterated good in the universe. More than that, He is the only hope for overcoming the bloodthirsty and ruthless nature of this world.
Last week, we saw Moses approach Pharaoh in Exodus 5 and demand, “The Lord says let my people go,” and Pharaoh’s response was, “Who is the Lord?” He threw Moses and Aaron out, and then made life even worse for the Israelites. So God told Moses, “I’m going to show Pharaoh who I am.” I stressed that the whole point of the Exodus story is not to simply liberate one ethnic group from slavery. It’s not just to start a new nation called Israel. The point of everything that happens in Exodus is making God known to the world.
At the start of Exodus, only the Jews knew about God (and it’s debatable how well even they knew Him). Every other nation on earth worshipped multiple gods. And their gods weren’t moral. Their gods didn’t care when men raped and abused women, or when people lied, cheated or stole, or mistreated poor people, orphans, and widows. As long as you made your sacrifices, they blessed you. Only Israel believed in ethical monotheism, the idea that God holds us accountable for our behavior. So when Pharaoh says, ‘Who is the Lord?” what he’s saying is, “I have a whole pantheon of gods I worship. And look how they’ve blessed me! I’m the most powerful man in the richest nation on earth. Why should I listen to any other people’s God, especially the God of a people who are slaves?” God is going to answer that question for Pharaoh. And He’s going to use Pharaoh to make himself known to millions upon millions of people…even today.
“Lord, I thank you that your Word is truth, not propaganda. There are stories in it that are disturbing to me. Help me to understand your Word, and more importantly, to understand who you truly are. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
