KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES || Lesson 29 

KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES – Lesson Twenty-nine

TEXT:  Psalm 78 (Cont’d.) – V.40-44

[We continue to “consider the marvelous works” listed in this psalm, in keeping with I Samuel 12:24 – But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Be sure to fear the LORD – Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.]

V.40 – How often they rebelled against him in the desert and grieved him in the wasteland!  Examples: Deuteronomy 9:7-8 – ⁷Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD. ⁸At Horeb you aroused the LORD’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you.

Deuteronomy 9:22-24 – ²²You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, “Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him. ²⁴You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you.

V.41-43 – ⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.  ⁴²They did not remember his power–the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, ⁴³the day he displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.

His miraculous signs in Egypt – Example:  V.44 – He turned their rivers to blood; they could not drink from their streams.

See Exodus 7:14-25.  [V.15 – Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.  (Note that Pharaoh was on his daily mission to pay his morning devotions to his god, the Nile.  This plague was an attack on that god.)

V.22 – But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.  (“The Egyptian magicians” are named in 2 Timothy 3:8 – Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth–men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.)

V.24 – And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.  (It is inferred that the Israelites were not affected at Goshen.  Note: Exodus 8:22 – “`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.

Exodus 9:26 – The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

GOSHEN: Genesis 45:8-11 – ⁸“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. ⁹Now hurry back to my father and say to him, `This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. ¹⁰You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me–you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. ¹¹I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’

See Genesis 46:31-47:11.)]

Application:  Let us thank the GOD OF MIRACLES for Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Let us also ask Him to help us to live in “Spiritual Goshen” – Psalm 91:1 – He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.