Page 40 - Living Light Autumn 23

Friday October 13 - The Egyptians’ evil hands
That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians...
Exodus 14:30
Back to hands. The Egyptians’ hands, mentioned six times in Exodus, focus on the way they used their hands for evil, to dole out misery and keep Israel enslaved. Furthermore, they felt very comfortable doing so, boasting about their power and use of the sword in their hands to destroy their enemies (Exodus 15:9). They felt they had good reason for boasting. Were they not the most significant world power of the time, bolstered by an authoritarian state and mighty army? What was there not to boast about?
In truth, their hand was not as strong as they thought. It was fragile because they had used their hands for the wrong purposes, to do evil not good. Their weakness was fully and finally exposed when their army drowned in the Red Sea.
What happened then was like a sketch of a masterpiece that would later be revealed in the cross of Christ, who was executed by the hands of wicked men (Matthew 17:22). Colossians 2:15 says the ‘powers and authorities’ of the Roman world sought to do away with Jesus in the most degrading of ways by crucifixion, nailing his hands to a cross. Ironically, they weren’t disarming him, he was disarming them – stripping them of their weapons and power. He ‘triumphed over them on the cross’, so setting us free. Powerful hands lifted up against God never win!
Thank you, Father, for the pierced hands of Jesus, which defeated the empty hands of evil powers and won my freedom on the cross. Amen.
Saturday October 14 - The Lord’s almighty hand
And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord... the people
feared the Lord and put their trust in him... Exodus 14:31
It’s not uncommon for people who witness spectacular events to notice different things and see them in different ways. But when Israel observed the drowning of the Egyptian army they had a united understanding of what had happened and a united response to it.
Their united understanding was that this was the Lord displaying his ‘mighty hand’ against the Egyptians. God’s hand was the hand that counted – not Egypt’s, or even, at the end of the day Moses’. Had we been there, we might have seen tragedy and sought to mount a rescue mission. We might have debated the drowning or questioned whether we remembered it accurately. The Israelites saw it as God intervening to judge evildoers and ensure salvation for the wronged-against. In a more tolerant climate, do we get unnecessarily embarrassed when God exercises his just judgment?
But their response to it wasn’t to rub their hands with glee but rather to learn a deeper lesson. If God could do this, he was obviously not a God to mess with. He may be their God, their God of deliverance, but he was not to be treated casually but rather respected deeply. Hence they ‘feared’ him. But they also knew they could trust him. Having proved himself in this spectacular way, he could be trusted for the ordinary as well as the special events in life. Sadly, they didn’t always remember this.
Miraculous and just God, please help me to live in reverence and trust of you, today and always. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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PRAYER FOR TODAY