July 17, 2026
Friday, July 17
We read Exodus 7-11, and recoil at the idea of all that suffering and death. We especially have a hard time with the last plague; all those innocent Egyptian babies snuffed out. How could God do such a thing? I would be lying if I said I didn’t struggle emotionally with that as well. But I have two things to say about that.
First, we have those feelings because we’ve never been enslaved. The Israelites, I am sure, felt quite differently. To put things in an American perspective, think about how black Americans 150 years ago felt about the Civil War. Truth be told, there is nothing uniquely American about racism or slavery. Virtually every race or nation has a history of cruelty to the “other.” What’s unique about American slavery is that it gave birth to the Black Church. Men and women who were the victims of terrible injustice invented songs about how God would deliver them. Many of those songs and sermons came straight from the book of Exodus. They saw how God saved His people from slavery then, and they believed He would do it again.
When the Civil War hit, enslaved Christians didn’t rejoice that scores of people were dying and our nation was tearing itself apart, but they rejoiced that God was using these awful events to bring them freedom. When Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address said that this terrible war—still the deadliest in our nation’s history--was God’s judgment on our nation for the sin of slavery, they said, “Amen.” When you’re the one being oppressed, it’s not so hard to rejoice in the wrath of God, because you know it means He’s fighting for you.
The second thing I would say is that God’s grace is greater than we think. Remember, God said repeatedly that He wasn’t out to destroy Egypt; He wanted to prove to them that He was the Lord. I believe He succeeded. Exodus 12:38, about the moment Israel is set free at last, is a verse people often skim right over: “A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.” Who were in this “mixed multitude?” They were non-Jews who said, “I’ve seen what Israel’s God can do, and I’ve seen what Egypt’s gods cannot do. I choose to follow the Lord from now on.” I can’t prove this, but I feel certain many of these people had also put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of their houses, and if they did, their first-born children were saved, too. In other words, with each of the plagues, every Egyptian family had a chance to repent and be saved. The choice was theirs.
Tomorrow, I will show one more lesson this dark story tells us about our God—perhaps the most important one of all. But for now, let’s praise Him together:
“Father, you are the one who saves. All who call upon you are saved, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. You’re my Savior, by your grace alone. I don’t always understand you, but I’ll never stop trusting or praising you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
