Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Monday September 22 2025
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Exodus 12:38 (ERV)-A great number of people who were not Israelites went with them, along with many sheep, cattle, and other livestock.
Most would agree that the greatest miracle of the Old Testament (second to the creation of the heavens and the Earth) was the miraculous Exodus of the Jews from the land of Egypt. After having been enslaved for hundreds of years, God sent a deliverer-Moses-to lead the Hebrews from the fierce hand of Pharaoh and his people, the Egyptians. After the Ten Plagues that God delivered, the stubborn Pharaoh finally allowed the Jewish people to exit the land.
God provided for the Jews, every step of the way.
But did you know that there were other reasons God intervened in Egypt in such a powerful way? Indeed, one reason for the Plagues and the Exodus was to show the Egyptians that Yahweh is the one true God, and to save the Egyptians from the false gods!
“The events of the exodus from Egypt were remarkable in that they repeatedly focused on the fact that everything that was happening to the Egyptians and to Pharaoh in particular had an evangelistic thrust! Almost one and a half dozen times in these Scriptures, the reason that is given for the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea is that they were not simply to eradicate the Egyptians or their king, but instead all of this was to take place so that “the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (Exod. 7: 5; see also Exod. 7: 17; 8: 22; 14: 4, 18). It is stated even more strenuously in Exodus 9: 14, 16: “[ T] his time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. . . . But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” There can be little mistaking that the word know here connotes more than a mere intellectual or cognitive awareness of who God is. It expresses a desire that the Egyptians might themselves come to a personal, experiential knowledge and appreciation of who Yahweh is. God would proclaim his own name among the Gentiles even if the Israelites were not outgoing in their witness. Should the question be raised as to the effectiveness of all these demonstrations of the power of God and proclamation of the word of God through the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, the answer is available to us. When Israel left Egypt, a “mixed multitude,” or a group of “many other people,” went out with them (Exod. 12: 38, author’s translation). This would seem to indicate that many Egyptians were more than merely impressed by what they saw and heard. Instead, they became some of the firstfruits of the work of God in their midst. Given the background of the Egyptian religion, with all of the gods symbolized by the very elements that were being directly hit by the plagues, it would seem fair to say that the plagues announced Yahweh’s victory over the power of the occultic religion of Egypt. Moses wanted Pharaoh and the people of Egypt to know through the plagues “that the earth is the Lord’s” (Exod. 9: 29). The idols of Egypt, as in every other nation, cult, or religion, were no match for the one and only living God! God’s word and power exceeded everything a mortal could ask for in a deity. Indeed, many of “those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside [from out in the fields]. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field” during the plague of the hail (Exod. 9: 20–21). To fear the word of the Lord was to believe in him and to act on the basis of what he had said. Salvation was coming to some of the Egyptians because they responded obediently to the word of God.” (Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations, 13-14 (Kindle Edition): Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic)
Now, let’s talk about application.
First, sometimes God may have several reasons for doing the things that He does, or for allowing the things that He does. These reasons are always ultimately for the greatest good-even if we don’t fully realize or appreciate it at the time. God acts-when the time is right. We can trust Him and His good will.
Second, God’s love extends beyond that of one nation. He chose the Jewish people to be the chosen race through whom the Messiah would come, but that didn’t suggest that He has no love for the other nations as well. Indeed, we see here many important lessons regarding the love of God for “outsiders,” and that encourage us in how we love others as well.
Finally, we are reminded here again of the reality of the spiritual war that rages around us. Whose side are we fighting for?
Father, thank You for Your grace displayed to the Egyptians in the Exodus. Thank You for showing that same grace to us. Guide our footsteps today and lead us to someone that we can speak and show the love of Jesus to. In His Name we pray, Amen,
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