Let My People Go!
Read Exodus 5-14

Once God has set forth His mission to redeem the Israelite people, He then sets into motion the most astonishing series of events. He sends Moses to Pharoah with the daring request from the Lord to "Let my people go...."  As expected in human terms, Pharoah, the great king of Egypt, is appalled, and responds: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey him...?"  And that is precisely what he is about to find out.

First, God turns the water of the Nile into blood.  Pharoah does not budge.  Moses returns a second time with the same request: "Let my people go...."  Pharoah refuses and the whole country is infested with frogs.  This time Pharaoh relents for a time, but once the plague has passed, he changes his mind.  Next come the gnats, then the flies, the plague on the livestock, and then the plagues of boils, hail, locusts and darkness.  Still, Pharaoh does not relent, just as God had declared it would be. Pharaoh continues to assert his power, but surely he was becoming aware that this God was not someone he could easily oppose.

Finally, the most devastating and decisive plague of all - the death of the firstborn.  The firstborn child of every Egyptian in the land, including the son of the king, died that night.  And yet, not one of the Israelite children was harmed.  As the Lord had commanded His people, each household took a lamb to eat, and spread some of the blood over the door, since God had promised that "when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (12:13).  With this final plague, Pharaoh eventually gave way.  The people of Israel were finally free.

And how they rejoiced at their freedom, those who had been so long in captivity!  The Bible, in fact, records the song they sang after they had crossed the Red Sea (15:1-18).  Here is a portion:

The Lord is my strength and my song; 

  he has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise him...

Who among the gods is like you,

  O Lord?

Who is like you - 

   majestic in holiness, 

   awesome in glory,

   working wonders....

In your unfailing love you will lead

   the people you have redeemed.

In your strength you will guide them

   to your holy dwelling...

Little did these people know that their great redemption story would later become just the prologue of a far greater salvation narrative, when Jesus, God's Son, would come into the world - this time not primarily to save us from the oppressive circumstances of our lives, but to save us from ourselves, from the sin that is our greatest enemy.  And while the Israelites spread the blood of a young lamb over their doorposts as a sign that they were covered by God's grace, Jesus Christ would later die a brutal death on the cross, so that his own blood would be our covering.  He became known to Christians as "The Lamb of God" and when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to be baptized, he exclaimed "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"  This is the redemption story in which I rejoice today.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the amazing acts of power you displayed as you rescued your people in ancient days from their suffering.  And thank you, too, that by your grace you have saved me too.  May this be my constant song of praise!