This Bible study is all about being completely devoted to God alone and what that looks like in your life.
Get access to the complete Exodus Bible study and free guide Here!
The plagues of Egypt were meant to strip away all of the false gods of the Egyptians. This showed them that their idols had no power. In the same way, you need to have your idols exposed so that you can be completely devoted to God.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Read all about how to be completely devoted to God alone, before reflecting on it below.
Exodus 9-12
The Israelites were set apart
The fifth plague was against livestock. This plague represented the Egyptian god of love and protection (Hathor), who had the head of a cow. All of the Egyptian animals would die, but God would make a distinction between the Egyptians and Israelites, and the Hebrew animals lived. The Israelites were supposed to trust in God for love and protection.
Who (or what) do you trust in for love and protection (Psalm 62:8)?
Where to turn for healing
The sixth plague came without warning. God sent boils on all of the Egyptians – but spared the Israelites, again setting them apart. This plague was against the Egyptian goddess of medicine and peace (Isis). There was nothing the magicians – who were those considered to be healers – could do. Their boils were so bad that they could not even stand before Pharaoh.
Where do you turn for healing, both spiritually and physically (Jeremiah 17:14)?
God is bigger than your chaos
Then the Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh and warn him that the seventh plague would send hail and fire from heaven that would destroy everything growing in the fields. It hailed all throughout Egypt, but it did not hail in Goshen – the land the Israelites were. This plague was against the Egyptian god of the sky (Nut), who was the protector of the dead as they enter the afterlife and the barrier between chaos and order.
God is bigger than the chaos you are going through, and can bring peace to your life. God can also allow chaos into what you try to order without Him. Are you relying on God and following His plan – whether it seems more chaotic or ordered than you want (Philippians 4:9)?
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
Because this plague came with warning, the Egyptian officials who feared the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside, under protection from the coming hail. These Egyptian officals forsook what they were taught and grown up believing to follow the Word of the Lord.
Do you fear the Lord and hurry to do what He has called you to do (Job 28:28)?
Being devoted to God means following His plan
For the eighth plague, Moses warned Pharaoh that there would be swarms of locus throughout the land. Still, Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. The locusts came and ate all of the remaining crops, leaving nothing in their path. This plague was against the Egyptian god (Set), who was the protector of crops and the god of storms. This plague would hurt the Egyptians as their food source was destroyed and they started to fill hunger emerge.
Every Egyptian God was being destroyed by the one true God. Although it often hurts when your idols are exposed and destroyed before God, it allows you to be completely dedicated to God alone. What idols in your life need to be exposed and laid bare before God (Hebrews 4:13)?
Completely devoted to God alone
Each of these plagues was meant to show the Egyptians that their gods had no power. The God of the Israelites is the one true God. Because the Egyptians had so many gods, each plague could target more than one. The point is not each specific god, but rather how we all put idols before God and God wants to destroy them. We need to be completely devoted to God Alone.
Darkness that can be felt
The ninth plague came without warning and lasted for three days. Again, this plague only affected the Egyptians, and the Israelites were spared. This plague of darkness was against the most powerful Egyptian god (Ra) – the God of the sun – and it was a darkness that could be felt. Not only was there no sun, but not even candles would light. It was an eerie darkness.
Is there any darkness in your life? Is there an area that you need God to shine through (1 John 1:5)?
The final plague
The final plague was against the Egyptian god Osiris, who was thought to be the giver of life. This plague was also against Pharaoh. Even though Pharaoh was considered the most powerful man by the Egyptians, he was powerless to save his own son by human wisdom. The only thing that would have saved Pharaoh’s firstborn was repentance to God. But Pharaoh was too caught up in his own evil desires to do such a thing.
Are you repentant to God? Or do you try to do everything by your own wisdom (Proverbs 3:5-6)?
Looking ahead to the Passover
The passover is a parallel to Jesus dying on the cross to take our sins. Just as the Israelites were warned beforehand with the Passover, they were told that Jesus would die and rise again. The Israelites were to eat the Passover lamb, representing that the lamb is not just something to look at, but it is nourishment. In the same way, Jesus offered bread as a representation of His body during the last Passover with His disciples (Matthew 26:26).
The Israelites were also to have a feast of unleavened bread for the seven days following the Passover lamb. Leavening is used to symbolize pride and evil because a little bit of yeast works through the whole dough and puffs it up. Jesus warned His disciples to be on their guard against the yeast of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6). Having unleavened bread was not only a reminder that the Israelites left Egypt in a hurry, without time to leaven their bread. It was also a reminder to remain pure and faithful to the Lord.
Being devoted to God means doing what He says before it makes sense
Moses was instructed to do and say all of this BEFORE the Lord delivered them from the Egyptians. It must have sounded crazy to Moses and the Israelites that they should change their calendar for something that had not even happened yet. However, they did as God commanded, and they Sacrificed the lamb and painted the blood over their doorways.
Has God told you to do something that doesn’t make sense right now? Are you willing to follow Him in faith (Deuteronomy 31:8)?
Reflect on being devoted to God
Are you completely devoted to God in everything you do? Or do you have some idols that need to be toppled over and destroyed?
