Today's Devotion
Tuesday January 20, 2026
INTERESTING FACTS : THE EXPRESSION "THUS SAITH THE LORD" IS REPEATED 415 XS. IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE; 148 OF THESE UTTERANCES, OR 28%, WE FIND IN ONE BOOK - JEREMIAH[1] .
DAILY READING : [EXODUS 7 - 9]
TEXT : Exo 9:29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD'S. Exo 9:30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God. Exo 9:35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.
THEME : DELIVERANCE
We discover our first introduction to the powerful utterance - "thus saith the Lord," in the Book of Exodus [chapter 4]. Perhaps the prevailing quote of men through the ages in describing the Bible's authority and God's authorship of Holy Scripture, we find "thus saith the Lord" used ten times in the Book of Exodus. This happens to correspond with the number of plagues brought on Egypt by the Lord. Throughout the Bible, we repeatedly read men state they are voicing what God told them, not their own mind. Hence, "thus saith the lord," "God said," "the Lord spoke," God said unto," and so forth, is the assertion of the Bible's forty writers. This includes those who are mentioned in the Bible who did not write [known as non-writing prophets] who made the same claim. Therefore, the Bible claims it is of Divine origin, and not the work of Man. It was, and is the Word of God! The Apostle Paul wrote - "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." [1Th 2:13] From this verse, we learn God used men to write and speak His Word. It was His Words, and not those of the speaker or writer. So much more, we should treasure the Book of Books!
Starting in chapter 7, God begins His supernatural deliverance of His people Israel by the use of Moses. With only an ordinary shepherd's staff in his hand, Moses staff becomes the "rod of God." With the combination of the staff and "thus saith the Lord," Moses approaches Pharaoh with God's command. "Let my people go," is the demand of God. Yet, Pharaoh has no respect for the God of the Jews, and continually refuses to let Israel go into the wilderness to serve the Lord. However, his stubborn refusal is ordained of God, so God can show His power, strength, might, ability, and control over all nations and people. God wants to "prove" He, and He alone is the Lord. Specifically, He wants all people to know He is the One True God, and there is no God beside Him. This is why we see God's judgments against Egypt so precise in their nature. That is, each judgment is a display of power against the Egyptians superstitions, customs, and practices. In short, God is judging their gods. Albert Barnes explains - "Each of the inflictions has a demonstrable connection with Egyptian customs and phenomena; each is directly aimed at some Egyptian superstition;... [ref][Dr. Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible/ref]" This includes Pharaoh as well, since the Egyptians believed the Pharaohs to be gods similar to Roman tradition and religion.
It is interesting to observe the stubbornness of Man. No matter how the judgments multiply as they go on, Pharaoh refuse to acknowledge God and will not concede to Moses' message although the Lord is destroying his nation and people. We see a similarity in the Book of Revelation where it states - as plagues and judgments fall on the nations and the earth one after another - that men curse God and refuse to stop their evil deeds. The heart of Man is dark and impenetrable when it comes to God and His Will. God tells us - "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" [Jer 17:9] God's judgments start out as a simple display of His power against the power of Pharaoh and his magicians in the swallowing of the magician's serpents by Moses rod, then changed to a serpent. Then, the judgments increase until there are millions of deaths of all that opened the womb. That is, the death of all males born first of animals and human beings. This becomes the final and worst judgment of all.
TRUTH FOR TODAY : THE CHRISTIAN DOES NOT NEED TO FEAR WHAT OTHERS FEAR!
The Christian finds great encouragement in the following verses. Exo 8:22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. Exo 9:4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. Exo 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. Exo 10:22 23 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Of course, all of these Scriptures are from the days of the great judgments on Egypt. One can see here, that God put a difference between those He would deliver and save, and those He would judge.
Finally, we see the great deliverance of God Almighty in the last judgment - the death of all the firstborn of Egypt. The Scriptures record - Exo 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Exo 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. All the firstborn of man and beast died.
Yet, not one of Israel's firstborn died - of either man or beast. This is the great feast of The Passover. It is the deliverance of God as well as the forming of the people of Israel as a nation. The occasion and feast is so great in this Biblical event, that to this day the Jews still celebrate it. We read - Exo 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. Exo 12:24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. Exo 12:25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. Exo 12:26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? Exo 12:27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
Not only is the feast of Passover a reminder to the Jew of the great deliverance of God for their nation, but it is a foreshadowing of our eternal salvation in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote - "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:" [1 Cor. 5:7] Christ is the Christian's Passover! Through Him we are "more than conquerors," since He died on a Roman cross for all of our sins. His blood is on the door posts of our heart, and the angel of death must "pass over" us. Death has no more power. The grave has no more sting. He has taken our sins and forgiven them. We are new creatures in Christ. We have the gift of eternal life. In fact, we have so many promises, the Apostle Peter wrote - "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." [2 Peter 1:4] God is able to separate between those He will save and those He will judge. Therefore, we need not to fear what others fear. Christ, has overcome the world!
