By Jonny Wright

In today's SOTD of Exodus 9, the plagues are really heating up (literally, there is a hailstorm of fire) God demonstrates his power again to both the Israelites and the Egyptians so that they may know who God is. In verse 3 God promises to bring his whole hand to fall on Egypt if they continue to refuse Moses. If you remember from yesterday, the magicians were outdone by God and his gnats and they described that plague as "the finger of God". Well, these plagues are the hand of God coming down on all of Egypt. We see in this chapter a glimpse of God's wrath, but in the midst of this outpouring of wrath God provides mercy to the Egyptians by warning them of the seventh plague (hailstorm). Knowing what the Lord of Israel has already done, some Egyptians responded correctly, yet some still refused to act:

"Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field." (Exodus 9:20-21)

All the Egyptians had the same message from the LORD: "A hailstorm is coming and will kill all things outside; bring in your livestock, slaves, and yourself so that you may not die." Though the message was the same, the response wasn't. Some Egyptians did absolutely nothing after hearing God's word. They kept going on with life without any change in action. How crazy must those Egyptians have been who did not listen to God and act! As God said, all those who did not "fear the word of the LORD" were killed in the hailstorm.

Sadly, we too easily read this passage and don't see the connection. God speaks, people don't respond to the message, and they are destroyed. Think about the Bible: God speaks, people don't respond to the message, and they are destroyed. To all those who read the Bible and do not respond, let the Egyptians be a warning. As for the Christians, we must see the importance of being in the "word of the LORD" daily and responding correctly. That's why SOTD is so important. It is an opportunity for all of True North to fellowship over God's Word and become accountable to it. We are not called to be distant readers of the Bible, but are commanded to live in a new way because of what we read. As James puts it: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22). Every Egyptian heard the word of God, but it was to those who put it into action who received the benefit.