THE HEAVENLY VISION Week 5 Day 5 The Vision of the World Morning Nourishment Exo. 8:2-4 ... I will now smite all your territory with frogs. And the River shall swarm with frogs, and they will go up from the River and come into your house and into your bedchamber and upon your bed, and into the houses of your servants and upon your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. And the frogs shall come up upon you and upon your people and upon all your servants. In the fourth conflict with Pharaoh, the Lord smote all the borders of Egypt with frogs (Exo. 8:2). Frogs came up from the waters of the rivers, the streams, and the ponds. By coming upon Pharaoh, all his servants, and all the Egyptians, the frogs destroyed the enjoyment of the comfortable Egyptian living. How troublesome these frogs were! By sending the plague of the frogs upon the Egyptians, the Lord wanted the Egyptians to realize that their life in Egypt was not really a life of enjoyment but a life of trouble. The Egyptians did not realize that, in the eyes of God, all their enjoyments were “frogs.” In principle, we may experience the same thing today. Throughout the course of my life, I have gathered many things that turned out to be “frogs.” At first, I enjoyed these things. But one by one, they became “frogs.”...The frogs in Egypt did not kill anyone, but they were a nuisance to everyone. They were everywhere. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 196) Today’s Reading The plague of the frogs unveils the nature of the water in Egypt, whereas the plague of the lice unveils the nature of the dust in Egypt. The dust becoming lice indicates that the source of the supply of our living in the world eventually becomes a cause of irritation....Although water and dust were created for us by God, they have been taken over by Satan and used for his own evil purpose. The universe was not only created by God but also arranged and ordained by Him to meet the need of man. Therefore, God has ordained certain principles or laws to govern the function of the universe. In the seventh plague God changed the principle related to the functions of rain. The rain no longer watered the earth for the production of life, but became hail to damage the life on earth. Instead of quenching people’s thirst, it killed them. Exodus 9:23 says that as the hail was coming down, fire ran along above the ground. Furthermore, the fire was even mingled with the hail (v. 24). Hence, two extremes were mingled together as an indication that God had changed the function of the universe. It is possible to apply this plague to our own spiritual experience. If our relationship with God is proper, He sends the spiritual rain upon us to water the garden in our spirit and to quench our thirst. But if we are stubborn or rebellious against the Lord, our relationship with Him is destroyed, and He alters the spiritual function of the rain by sending hail upon our spirit and fire with the hail. This change of spiritual function causes severe damage. The plagues...caused damage to human living conditions in Egypt. The blood ruined the water, and the frogs disturbed the Egyptians’ peace and comfort. In the plagues of the lice and the flies, the soil and the air were damaged. After the flies came the pestilence, and then the plague of the boils that broke forth with blisters. The plague of hail damaged the environment, and the locusts devoured all that remained after the severe damage caused by the hail. Finally, the plague of darkness made it impossible for anyone to move. But even after these nine plagues had passed, Pharaoh still was not subdued, although the entire environment related to human living in Egypt had been damaged. In 12:30 we are told that among the Egyptians there was “no house where there was not someone dead.”...By this last plague Pharaoh was subdued (11:1; 12:21-30, 33)...to such an extent he was willing to let all Israel go, not only with their little ones, but also with their flocks and herds (12:31-32)....He and all the Egyptians actually drove the children of Israel out of Egypt (v. 33). (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 199, 214, 241-243) Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 18 Enlightenment and Inspiration:
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 12:54:54 +0000
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