Verse
of the day: Exodus 14:27 And Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea
returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
Once
again we see Moses obediently following the LORD’s direction, and God doing the
work. In this case, we see God’s vengeance finally being executed against Pharaoh
and the Egyptian army. This vengeance came after four hundred years of
suffering. Some would say that it was cruel of the LORD to allow His people to
suffer for so long, but we must not forget that the Israelites themselves had
turned from God in the first place. Each time God has allowed His people to be
enslaved and taken into captivity, it was because of their own rebellion
against Him. So it is today when people are quick to blame God for the “bad
things that happen to good people”, when it was man who sinned against God in
the first place, bringing sin and death into the world. Praise be to our God
that He is merciful, and in spite of our rebellion and hard hearts, He
continues to love us, be merciful toward us, and eventually comes to our
rescue. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not
consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new
every morning; great is Your
faithfulness.” I had not previously noticed this, but
Pharaoh and his people perished by the same manner in which he tried to keep
the Israelites from growing in population. In Exodus 1:22 we read, So Pharaoh commanded all his people,
saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every
daughter you shall save alive.” Here, we read that God’s vengeance brought
Pharaoh’s own wicked schemes back upon him and his army. Proverbs 26:27 reminds
us, “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who
rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.” Pharaoh paid the price for
his wickedness, and met the same end as those children he ordered drowned in
the river. This should serve as a reminder for each of us that the God who saved
us, and who is still sits on the throne, sees everything, including the moments
when we are mistreated by others. He sees when we are persecuted, and He sees
when we are treated unjustly, even by our own family, or so-called brothers and
sisters in Christ. Nothing escapes Him, and He has instructed us in how we are
to respond to those who mistreat us or persecute us. Jesus said in Matthew
5:44-45, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless
those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who
spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in
heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust.” Furthermore, we are told in
Romans 12:14, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”
In Romans 12:17-21 He says, Repay no one evil for evil. Have
regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much
as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge
yourselves, but rather give
place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if
he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap
coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good. Sadly, in our pride, impatience, and unwillingness to
forgive, too many of us seek our own form of justice, and vengeance, against
those we are told to love, pray for, and forgive. We waste years “renting space”
in our heads to people who do not give us a second thought, and who go on
living their lives as if they did nothing wrong. All the while, we are the ones
who get bitter, sick, and miss out on the blessings that God bestows upon us,
because we are too preoccupied with thoughts of how God allowed this person, or
that person, do this, or that, to us; and now He is doing nothing about it. God
may delay His vengeance against those who do wrong against us, but the ultimate
goal in His delay may be to teach us patience, how to truly love and forgive as
He does. He wants to teach us to trust Him to do whatever He is going to do, in
His time, not ours. He may even choose us to be the vessel He uses to be kind
and loving when that person suffers under similar circumstances that they put
us through. If they are not saved, we might be the messenger God chooses to
bring them the Gospel message. The bottom line is that we must trust God’s
judgment on how He will mete out His justice on our behalf, even if that justice
is receiving God’s love, forgiveness, and eternal life.
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