PASTOR’S NOTES
Not a hoof shall be left behind.”
As we come to the end of the plagues, the 9th punishment of God turns off the lights. Literally!! Just imagine being scared, tired, hungry, discouraged, in pain, and now the lights go out. Just take a moment and imagine being in that moment. That is a moment that most of us have lived in or live in now ourselves.
For the Pharaoh, the 9th plague completely breaks him. The Pharaoh has been concerned and desired for God to relent, but it is not until now we see Pharaoh scream “Get away from me.” Darkness has broken the most powerful man in the land.
In this plague, God punishes the sun god Ra. Ra was the largest God in Egypt and the people believed that the Pharaoh was the son of Ra. So the people not only worshipped Ra, but also the Pharaoh as a God.
When the true living God blotted out the sun, the Pharaoh and the people of Egypt knew that they were alone and without hope. The plague of darkness proved God’s absolute power over creation. Go can unmake what He has made. If you look at all the plagues, we read a story of a de-creation. God is showing His mighty hand over all things of the Earth.
The 9th plague was a physical punishment, but also a spiritual one. All throughout the Bible, darkness is used as the image of sin and lostness. Darkness is used to explain the condition of someone’s heart that is living in sin as well. Now, the people of Egypt physically lived in what they spiritually were.
For you and I today, the only way to escape the darkness is to place our lives and trust in the name of Jesus. The light of the world!
When our savior died on the cross, He took on darkness so that we would could be given light. He would not stay in darkness though as after the third day He rose again with the light of God’s glory! Jesus came to this earth to take us away from the darkness that we once loved and lived in. Praise God for calling us out of the world, with not even a “hoof left behind.”
SCRIPTURE TO GO ALONG WITH THE MESSAGE
Read Matthew 4:16 and Luke 23:44 on the love of Jesus related to this plague.
HIGHLIGHT IN YOUR BIBLES
Highlight verses 28 and 29 in this week’s text.
