Dark and the Ultimatum!

For Friday, January 31, 2025:

Exodus 10:21 NLT: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.”

Living in the city, we never experience total darkness. There are street lights, porch lights and lights on vehicles. But in Egypt 3k years ago, it was totally dark for three days. No one could see each other. No one dared move.

Pharaoh called for Moses: “Go and worship the Lord,” he said. “But leave your flocks and herds here.”

That wasn’t going to work. Part of worship back then involved animal sacrifices, so Moses needed to bring the livestock too.

On the one hand, Pharaoh had been challenged by the plagues Moses and his God had brought on the Egyptians. But on the other, he was just plain sick and tired of the whole thing. After all, there weren’t any problems like these until Moses showed up! So Pharaoh issued an ultimatum: “Get out of here! I’m warning you. Never come back to see me again! The day you see my face, you will die!”

Even after darkness, the ninth plague, Pharaoh still didn’t understand God’s power, so he’s leaving himself vulnerable to God’s final effort on behalf of the Israelites. As believers, we understand and believe what Pharaoh did not, that God is all-powerful and totally in control of everything. We love our God; Pharaoh resented God, thinking that he, Pharaoh, should have had the last word. But we know that the one true God is the final word on everything!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship