God gives the people of Israel some specific applications of the 10 Commandments.  Consider:

• God’s Love – Law after law shows God’s concern for people as he limits retribution to fit the crime, and protects the vulnerable (the poor, sojourners, widows, orphans) from mistreatment.  Do you have this same heart for people?  How does it show in your life?
• God’s Justice – Closely related to his love is his justice.  God’s laws are designed to create a just society for the nation of Israel.  People are to treat each other fairly and rightly.  How well does that describe your interactions with the people in your life?
• God’s Authority – Finally, these laws remind us of God’s authority.  God has the right as Israel’s Redeemer and God to command them.  And God has the right as our Savior and God to command us.  Do you recognize his authority in your life?  Are you walking in obedience to His Word?

God comes down onto the mountain with thunder and lightning, fire and earthquake, to speak to the people.  Observe:

• God’s authority – God had the right to command the people of Israel.  He created them both individually and as a people.  He redeemed them from bondage.  He is the one true God, and he speaks with absolute authority.  Have you placed yourself under his authority?  Will you submit to God, or are you still trying to do things your way?
• God’s commands – He gives the people 10 commands that sum up God’s moral expectations.  Throughout the rest of the Scriptures, we see these commands repeated and applied.  Read through them again.  Can you claim to be guiltless?  Can you stand spotless before God?  Remember today how desperately you need a Savior!  And ask God to help you grow in your obedience.
• Fear the Lord – The people see the smoking mountain and hear God’s voice thunder, and they are justifiably terrified.  Moses tells them not to be afraid (in the sense of being scared), but rather to fear the Lord (in the sense of reverent awe).  Do you have a healthy fear, a reverent awe of Almighty God?

God leads the people of Israel into the wilderness, but Pharaoh and his army chase after them.  Consider:

• God’s powerful deliverance – God creates a way through the sea for the people to walk through, but he crashes the waters down on their enemies.  How has God powerfully brought you through a sea of troubles?
• Israel’s praise – After they are saved from the Egyptian army, the people of Israel begin to praise him for what he has done.  Do you praise God when he answers your prayers and helps you in difficult times?  Take some time now to praise God for his help in your life.
• Grumbling – After so many demonstrations of God’s power and help, you would think that the people would go forth trusting God in all things.  Instead they grumble – indicating a lack of trust in God.  They grumble about no food.  They grumble about no water.  Instead of looking to God, they grumble – as if God was impotent or uncaring!  Grumbling is a terrible affront to God’s character.  Do you see this tendency in your own life?  How might you cut off this evil habit?

God prepares the people for a final plague. All the firstborn sons in Egypt will die, but God provides a way of escape for Israel.

• Passover – Israel must sacrifice a lamb, and place the blood on the doorposts so that God’s judgment might pass them by. Christ was sacrificed as our Passover Lamb so that God’s judgment might pass us by (I Corinthians 5:7). Stop and thank God for your Passover Lamb.
• Redeemed from slavery – God redeemed the people of Israel from slavery, bringing them out of Egypt with great power. This is a wonderful picture of what God has done for us through Jesus. God has redeemed us from our slavery to sin through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection. Stop and praise God for your deliverance – and go live like a person freed from sin!
• Remember – The people of Israel were called to remember what God had done for them through a week-long festival which included the Passover. God wants us to remember our salvation too. It is no mistake that Jesus initiated the Lord’s Supper while celebrating Passover. The Lord’s Supper is a regular reminder to us of what Christ has done for us. Remember…and celebrate!

The battle of the gods continues. Notice:

• God is exalted – God sends frogs. The magicians helpfully send more! God sends gnats, but the magicians cannot. They tell Pharaoh that “This is the finger of God.” Indeed the magicians cannot mimic any more of God’s plagues. Instead, the plague of boils comes upon them so that they can longer stand against Moses. The representatives of the Egyptians gods are defeated, showing the defeat of the gods too. None can best God’s awesome power. And by his power, he is exalted in Egypt. Ponder the great power of God, and stop to worship.
• Humility – In the face of God’s power, Pharaoh should have humbled himself, but he refused. Instead, Pharaoh continued to exalt himself (9:17, 10:3). In what ways are you exalting yourself? How do you need to humble yourself before the LORD?
• God’s sovereignty and man’s choice – Again and again, we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God is sovereign over all. And yet we also read that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Pharaoh could not blame God; he was responsible for his own choices. God is sovereign in your life, but you can’t blame God for your poor choices. What bad choices do you need to repent of? What choices are before you today?

Moses goes to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh will not let the people go. The scene is set for the great contest between God and Moses on one side and Pharaoh and his Egyptian gods on the other. Note:

• Trust in the waiting – Pharaoh responds to Moses by increasing the work the Israelites have to do to levels impossible to meet. The Israelites who believed at the end of chapter 4 have given up faith now in chapter 5. Moses too is disillusioned. What situations in your life only seem to be getting worse? Will you trust God in the waiting?
• Battle of the gods – The contest is engaged not only to free the people of Israel, but that Israel and Egypt will know that the LORD is the one true God (6:7; 7:5, 17). Aaron casts down his staff and it becomes a snake. The Egyptian magicians do it too – but God’s snake swallows the Egyptian gods’ snakes. God causes the Nile to turn to blood. On a smaller scale, the Egyptian magicians also turn water to blood. Note they don’t turn the blood back into water – which would have been more helpful! The battle is engaged. What is God doing in your life to reveal himself to those around you? How has God shown his power in your life?

Israel had become a numerous people enslaved in Egypt. They cried out to God, and God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Observe:

• God’s covenant – When the people cry out to God, God remembers the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not that he had forgotten, for God has already made the people numerous as he had promised. Now, after many years, God will bring them back to the land as he had promised. God’s timetable is not ours – it is still many more years before God will make the people into a great nation. What promises do you need to patiently trust God to fulfill?
• God’s name – God identifies himself first as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then, he calls his name, I Am Who I Am, from which we get his name Yahweh (usually translated LORD in our Bibles). This is Israel’s God and our God.
• God’s enabling – When God calls Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, Moses asks, “Who am I?” He is of course nobody on his own, but God has called him, and God will be with him. To Moses’ complaint that he can’t speak, God says that he will give Moses the words to speak. God made us, and he is well able to enable us to do whatever he calls us to do. What is God calling you to do? Will you trust in his enabling?