It’s a New Year! Or at least it will be by the time Sunday rolls around. So how will 2016 be any different for you than this past year? You can make lots of New Year’s resolutions and promises, but experience tells us that most of those won’t last. It’s far easier to look back at last year and think about what changes you would make, what decisions would be different, what people you would listen to more — if you could actually do any of those things – but wouldn’t it be nice to get a do-over sometimes?

One person who I’m pretty sure would like a New Year do-over is Pharoah. We’re back in Egypt now, reading Exodus 7:14–9:35 (it’s a long passage, I know) which is all about “The Plagues of the Lord.” Pharoah has a hard heart and is making some pretty bad decisions. Sadly, his bad decisions will affect all Egyptians. And I have to admit, as a Christian I always wince at the story of Egypt’s sufferings; I feel badly for the individual Egyptians who suffered because of Pharaoh’s hard heart and bad decisions. Having said that, however, the Egyptians as a whole shared the false religion that stood behind Pharaoh’s resistance: most believed that their many gods, including Pharaoh himself, were more powerful than the single pathetic god of the enslaved Hebrews.

Understood in this context, God’s judgments on Egypt were visible demonstrations of a spiritual battle; God was discrediting the false gods to turn people from empty objects of worship to truth and life as its found only in Him. God specifies that his plagues are at least partly directed against “the gods of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12 and Numbers 33:4). In this passage, we’re shown the sovereignty, power, and knowledge of God. And we also get a little better understanding of the first four commandments (see Exodus 20:1-7). And in the end, somehow, it all leads us back to Jesus and the Gospel (doesn’t it always?). Come this Sunday and hear for yourself. See you then Dr. Dave

P.S. – This Sunday marks 19 years serving as your Pastor. Thanks for sticking with me!