Justin Houtz

Exodus 8, Luke 14

DateVersionReading Plan
February 27, 2025ESV (2016)OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027

Exodus 8

Observation

Exod. 8:5 – The LORD said to Moses that Aaron was to stretch out his hand with his staff over the rivers, canals and pools and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. The instruction for Aaron to stretch out his hand and staff over three water sources seems to provide an indication that the number of frogs that came up was very large.

Exod. 8:7 – The magicians did the same and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. The NAC gives explanation as to how we are to understand this:

The answer must be essentially the same as it was in the case of the prior two portents: the magicians duplicated by magic, on a small scale, what God had done on a nationwide scale. Their efforts could provide some comfort for persons wanting to doubt the exclusive power of Yahweh to control events but could do little more than represent a token imitation, by deception, of what divine power could do.

Exod. 8:8-10 – In response to Pharaoh asking him to plead with the LORD to remove the frogs, Moses spoke to Pharaoh and gave him opportunity to choose the time of its ending. The CSB Notes state that this would “show that the end of the plague was under the Lord’s control.”

Exod. 8:16-18 – The third plague was of gnats that came by way of Aaron striking the dust of the earth as instructed through Moses by the LORD. This was the first sign that the magicians failed to reproduce.

Exod. 8:19 – In their failure to reproduce the gnats, the magicians told Pharaoh that this was the finger of God, but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and did not listen to them. Wheres before, Pharaoh excused himself of the sign of God because the magicians were able to replicate its effect, now he had nothing, revealing a much deeper level of heart hardening.

Exod. 8:20-23 – The LORD told Moses to present himself to Pharaoh the next day and tell him that, if he did not let God’s people go, God would send swarms of flies on him, his servants and his people. However, the people in Goshen (God’s people) would be spared the flies. The CSB Notes says that “During the fourth plague and others to follow, the Lord would distinguish his people from Pharaoh’s people in order to give knowledge of his sovereign presence.”

Application

The progression of Pharaoh’s hardness of heart demonstrates the degree of sinful rebellion to which man is capable in the face of God’s presence and power. Starting with the third plague and onward, Pharaoh was dispossessed of the excuse that the magicians were able to match God’s signs. The hardness of Pharaoh’s heart was not of any external source but from within himself. As much as we would like to claim Pharaoh exceptional in his manner, this is the disposition of every human heart unless or until God performs a transformative work by His Spirit.

Luke 14

Observation

Luke 14:12 – Jesus told the Pharisee who had invited Him that he should not invite friends, relatives or rich neighbors to his dinner or banquet, lest they invite him in return and he be repaid. Instead, he is to invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind that cannot repay him. The motive for invitation was not to be reciprocation.

Application

Jesus’s instruction of the Pharisee regarding who to invite to a banquet strikes a particular chord. More than I would like to admit, I often operate out of a transactional motivation, expecting to receive from someone as I give to them. It is sinful and selfish and not aligned with the Lord’s calling on my life to live in self-sacrifice. To live knowing that every need is supplied in Christ is be free of the need for recognition and repayment by others, thereby releasing them of the obligation of return.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, how awesome are You in wonder and grace that you would so choose to soften the hearts of your children and bring the dead to new life in Your Son. Lord, help me to see your glory and live out your calling on my life to take up my cross and live self-sacrificially. By Your Spirit, remove from me the selfishness and manipulation from my heart that I may walk in obedience to Your Word.

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