Blogging Exodus 8:20 - 32
20 And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the
morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him,
‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
21 Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I
will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into
your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and
also the ground on which they stand.
22 And in that
day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no
swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord
in the midst of the land. 23 I will make a difference between My people and your people.
Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’ ”
24 And the Lord did so.
Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his
servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted
because of the swarms of flies. . .
The first 3 plagues had affected
everyone in Egypt. For a week, neither
the Egyptians nor their Hebrew slaves could find a cup of water blood red and
stinking. The frogs had hopped through the
palaces in Egypt and the slave quarters in Goshen. Lice had chewed on the flesh of slaves,
overseers, masters, and visitors to the country. The wrath of God had fallen on the whole nation
of Egypt in general.
But then God sent word to Pharaoh,
“I will set apart the land of Goshen, in
which My people dwell. . . I will make a difference between My
people and your people.”
When Pharaoh refused again to
grant religious leave to the Hebrew slaves, thick swarms of flies invaded the
homes and lands of ethnic Egyptians. The land was corrupted because of the swarms
of flies. Corrupted in this sense
means “contaminated.” The flies brought disease. The insects were just gross and inconvenience. People died. But not Hebrew people.
The flies didn’t fly in Goshen
because God made a difference between His people and the other people.
When the process of deliverance begins
it feels like a general disaster.
Companies all over are
closing.
Kids in every community have lost
their minds.
Families in every demographic dissolve
in an epidemic of divorce and infidelity.
Every faith and denomination is
tainted with scandal.
Every political persuasion is guilty
of hypocrisy against their stated values.
The poor urban (black and brown)
kids are addicted to crack and weed. Rural
white kids are addicted to meth and weed.
The middle-class and rich kids are addicted to heroin (and weed). Old folks are addicted to opioids, and
everyone else is on sleeping pills and/or antidepressants.
The plagues afflict us all.
They say “Misery loves company,”
but if you’re waiting on God to save your people, shared misery doesn’t
actually make your situation any better.
But then.
Even while things in the country are generally miserable, watch for that moment when God makes a difference for you.
Even while things in the country are generally miserable, watch for that moment when God makes a difference for you.
After the Civil War came
Reconstruction and the Freedmen’s Bureau which made such a difference that the HBCU’s
were founded, African-Americans were elected to Congress, and in 1870, a new,
independent Christian denomination was founded, fully led and administered led
by ex-slaves (the Colored Methodist Episcopal church). God made a difference for His people.
After Vietnam and the Cultural
Revolution of the 1960’s Affirmative Action and the Office for Civil Rights. The
list
of firsts in that period is to long for this blog post, but you see the
pattern, right?
God’s people cry out to Him. He sends them the promise of deliverance, but at first things just get worse. Their enemies double-down on their attacks, and the outpouring of Divine wrath meant to get the nation to repent is a series of general disasters in which God’s people suffer, too. But then, the story shifts and God starts making a difference between His people and everybody else.
God’s people cry out to Him. He sends them the promise of deliverance, but at first things just get worse. Their enemies double-down on their attacks, and the outpouring of Divine wrath meant to get the nation to repent is a series of general disasters in which God’s people suffer, too. But then, the story shifts and God starts making a difference between His people and everybody else.
We call that “a season of favor.”
What is the difference that God is ready to make in, among, for, and through His people? What is the DIFFERENT approach to alleviating poverty that communities of faith can deliver? What is the DIFFERENT approach that Bible-studying people can find to make the legal system a system of actual justice? In the midst of all the disastrous news pouring out of every crevice of the country, what has God put in the church, in YOUR church, that will set apart your response and make a difference between how your people deal with the next crisis?
What is the difference that God is ready to make in, among, for, and through His people? What is the DIFFERENT approach to alleviating poverty that communities of faith can deliver? What is the DIFFERENT approach that Bible-studying people can find to make the legal system a system of actual justice? In the midst of all the disastrous news pouring out of every crevice of the country, what has God put in the church, in YOUR church, that will set apart your response and make a difference between how your people deal with the next crisis?
Think about it. Pray about it. Because as surely as other plagues followed
the flies in Exodus 8, another crisis IS coming after whatever next goes wrong in
America.
Be ready God’s people. Be different.
--Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for
education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is
pastor of Bailey Tabernacle CME
Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He writes the popular blog: A Word
to the Wise at
www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves
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Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401
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