Mensa Otabil - God Is Your Light
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Welcome to a brand new week, and as you know, for a long while, we’ve been looking at the book of Exodus and examining God’s dealings with Israel. We’ve looked at the plagues and various forms of them, and now I’m jumping to the ninth plague. Later, we’ll consider the tenth plague. We look at Exodus chapter 10, verses 22-23: So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. This is the ninth plague that God brought upon the people of Egypt.
So much has happened: plagues that touched the land, the vegetation, the animals, and their bodies. But still, Pharaoh is not making any move towards acceding to what Moses is talking about. The plagues had progressed in severity, but as they progressed, so did Pharaoh’s stubbornness. Now, this plague touches the sun or light. Like most Egyptians, Pharaoh also worshiped the sun god. The sun god was a supreme deity for the Egyptians. Thus, God had to do something to let them know who was superior- whether the sun god was superior or Jehovah was superior.
So, the sun was not shining in Egypt, but it was shining in Israel. This is not just a natural phenomenon; this is a supernatural act of God to, within close proximity of space, block sunlight and release sunlight. This is a divine work. Two things I want you to notice: first, there is darkness in Egypt, and this darkness lasted for three days. It was palpable darkness; you could feel the thickness. There was no source of light, except perhaps the lanterns they had. But when you read the context, it would seem that even their lanterns and other artificial lights were not working because the darkness was so deep that people could not rise from where they were sitting.
At the same time, there is light in Goshen, where Israel is staying. This shows the hand of God. If you’ve noticed throughout the last plagues, there was always a distinction between what happened to Egypt and what happened to Israel. God had to make a demarcation and preserve His people. This plague is telling Egypt that God rules over all, including the sun. It also shows the spiritual darkness that Egypt finds itself in, while on the opposite side, it reveals the light that God wants His children to walk in and live in.
One of the things we must understand about the Christian faith is that when we become Christians, we’re supposed to be children of light in a world full of darkness. All around us, God shines His light in us, on us, and through us. Therefore, we must live in the light of God. That message is clear: God separates the light from the darkness, and the children of light must walk in the light, live in the light, and exemplify the light. This is what we see as we study the beginnings of this plague that befell Egypt in the ninth plague.
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, You are my light. Though the world lies in darkness, surround me in Your light. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.