Three days

DEVOTION

EXODUS

THREE DAYS

Ex 8:20-32

20 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are. 22 "'But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land. 23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.'" 24 And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies. 25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land." 26 But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us." 28 Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me." 29 Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." 30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD, 31 and the LORD did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

NIV

Another plague, another act of deceit. But first we should note this time God made a distinction between the Egyptians and his people. There was a line of demarcation where one side there was a swarm of flies and one the other, not a single fly. If anything, this should show us the awesome power of God. He is able to control the flies, to keep them from flying across into the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. However magnificent this truth is, our lesson is in the response of Moses. We could focus again on the deceitfulness of Pharaoh, saying it was alright to go, in order to be rid of the flies, then changing him mind after the flies are gone. But it is the idea of the Israelites offering sacrifices to God in the land of Egypt that shows us a truth to live by. Certainly the Israelites were aliens in Egypt, yet they also were not citizens of another country as of yet. Although God had promised them a new land, they had not actually ever possessed it or became their own nation within it, known as the land of Israel. Moses said it would be detestable in the eyes of the Egyptians for the Israelites to offer sacrifices in their land. The idea of the Egyptians stoning them seems a little odd as Pharaoh would have been able to make a decree for that not to happen. But the point seems to be it would be more detestable to offer sacrifices to God among the heathen land of Egypt. The people needed to be outside the borders of this land in order to worship God as he should be worshipped. Perhaps it is a little leap here, but if we are not aliens here in this world, if we consider ourselves as citizens of this world it would be detestable to offer sacrifices to our God. We have to leave this world behind in order to truly worship our God. We have to depart from this land, separate ourselves from its ideologies, its practices, its humanism, its deceitful heart. We need to be outside of this world in order to worship God as he should be worshipped. We cannot share our worship of God with the world. We cannot be on the fence, having one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom. Moses told Pharaoh they needed to travel three days journey so not a single foot would be close to Egypt. We need to travel that journey away from the ideas of the world. We cannot be on the fence, we cannot be lukewarm.

Rev 3:14-18

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

NIV

We cannot share God and the world, which would be the lukewarm he speaks of. We have to be completely sold out to God, all the way, leaving this land where we are aliens, strangers, foreigners, no longer holding citizenship here, but rather in heaven, our true home, although we have not yet lived there. But in our heart and mind, in our spirit we do live there. We have left this world behind, no longer living by its standard, no longer ascribing to its ideologies, its practices. True we must live among them in the flesh, even working for them, as the Israelites labored for the Egyptians. But in our spirit, in our heart and mind we are not among them, we are in the place God has drawn us to, a place far away. How far is a three day spiritual journey? Far enough not to be lukewarm.