Mensa Otabil - God of the Strangers (10/11/2025)
We are now on the fifth plague, almost halfway through the ten plagues. Exodus chapter nine, verses 1 to 3: «Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go into Pharaoh and tell him, „Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep-a very severe pestilence."'
God is patient with Pharaoh, although Pharaoh is stubborn and resistant. God is patient with him, and He never changes His position; He just keeps saying what He has been saying all along: «Let My people go.» There is something we must learn about the Lord: He will constantly demand what He demands, and He will work with us until we come to the place of accepting His will. That’s what He is doing for Pharaoh; He is patient with him and accommodating toward him because God is not willing that anyone should perish. His desire is that all should come to repentance. For us, He is still very patient, and that is why He bears with our wrongs, sins, and evil-not because He accepts them, but because He wants us to come to the place of repentance.
That’s what He is doing with Pharaoh; He stays where He is and seeks Pharaoh’s repentance. He warns Pharaoh about a coming plague-this is the fifth one-and He says it’s going to be very severe. There are a couple of things I want you to note about this passage. First, God describes Himself as the God of the Hebrews. The word «Hebrew» means a wanderer or a stranger. God called Abraham out of his family, and Abraham was a wanderer; he kept moving from place to place, looking for the place that God had appointed for him. His descendants were called Hebrews-wanderers-who had no certain place; they were dispossessed people.
But God still loves them, and that shows you the heart of God toward people who are strangers, who do not have property and do not have much; they are still God’s people, and His eye is on them. For us Christians, we are also like the Hebrews; we are pilgrims here on earth. This world is not our home; we are passing through, and we must live our lives as people who are headed somewhere, not receiving everything here as all that we are going to have. We are pilgrims here on earth; we are also Hebrews and we are God’s people, strangers passing through and living our lives to please God. The second thing I want you to note is the phrase «the hand of God.»
This is the first time in the sequence of events during the plagues that God says, «I will stretch My hand.» Remember in previous plagues, Aaron would be the one who stretched out his hand with a rod and then a plague would start. But God says, «This time, I’m going to stretch out My hand.» It’s getting severe-it’s getting more intense; God is getting more involved in what is happening, and everything is escalating. This is what He said from the beginning: Pharaoh will be stubborn, but I will escalate My actions, and this time, the action is going to be on the livestock of Egypt. We will learn why it is the livestock that is under attack tomorrow.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are the defender of the defenseless, contending for Your people against wickedness. In Jesus' name, amen.»