God is a God of wonder and He is also an inexhaustible. There are dimensions in God that we have not even scratch yet. I love the parable of the blind men and the Elephant; I have read it a couple of times. Six blind men had the privilege of touching an elephant for the first time. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, "This being is like a thick snake." Another one whose hand reached its ear said, “it seemed like a kind of fan.” Another one whose hand was upon its leg, said, “the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk.” The one who placed his hand upon its side said “the elephant is a wall." Another who felt its tail and described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk and said “the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.”
The dimension of God that you are currently enjoying now is not the final. There are still more about God that you haven’t discovered yet and so, you cannot afford to relax yet. If there is a prayer that we should pray all the time, it is that God in His mercy should reveal Himself more and more to us. But we have to be hungry for Him.
Text: Exodus 11:1-10
“And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether.” Before exodus chapter eleven verse one, there had been nine other plagues that came upon the Egyptians because of Pharaoh’s refusal to let the children of Israel go. And lest we forget, it was not out of place that Pharaoh was a hardened leader and an obstinate person. The reason he was like that is because God purposely raised him up (this particular Pharaoh) so that he could make him an example. Don’t forget that it was a Pharaoh that made Joseph the Prime Minister. But the Bible says in Exodus 1:8 that “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.”
So, this particular Pharaoh was preordained by God to be stubborn and to be obstinate so that God could show His Mighty and Sovereign power to the people through him. Romans 9:17, 22-23 says: “For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,” So, don't be too hard to say Pharaoh was a terrible leader, he was only acting out a script. Your prayer point should be that the Lord should not set you up for destruction in order for certain people to learn. There is a Yoruba prayer that goes like this: “kii Olorun ma fii wa da’ara tii koda.” That was the example that God made with that particular Pharaoh.
“Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbour and every woman from her neighbour, articles of silver and articles of gold.” 3 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.” Verse two to three shows us a wonder Dimension of God, and it is FAVOUR! Receiving favour from God is a proof of His wonders in your life. It was the Lord that made the Egyptians favourably disposed towards the children of Israel (verse 3). Left to the Egyptians, they would not have released their articles of gold and silver to the Israelites had the Lord not made His favor to shine upon them.
THAT TELLS US THAT IT IS GOD WHO WORKS OUT FAVOUR IN OUR FAVOUR. There is such a thing as the time of favour from God. Psalm 102:12-13 says:
But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favour her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
So, we see here that there is such a thing as “the set time of favor.” When that set time has come, God looks down on you and begins to orchestrate events and activities to be favorably disposed to you. A man cannot receive favour from God and from man if God has not engineered it. Proverbs 3:4 says:
And so, find favour and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
A man who has been favored by men have first and foremost, been favored by God. Luke 1:30 says: “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.” Also, in Luke 2:52, the Bible says: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.” The whole world received favour from God and that is why God gave Christ as a Ransome for all 1 Timothy 2:3-6 says: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time…” Also, Matthew 20:28 showed us the same thing: “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
So, favor is a wonder dimension of God and we see it in the story of the children of Israel while exiting Egypt. God caused the Egyptians to favor them and in one night, they became God’s choicest people.
The Faith Dimension to Favor: Rehab!
There is also a faith dimension in God that brings about God’s favor towards you. I personally have seen this dimension work in my life over and over again. I have enjoyed numerous favors simply by reposing my faith in God. But let me show us the example in the Bible with the story of Rehab.
“Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So, they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So, she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
It was by Faith that Rehab and her family in the Bible was not destroyed with Jericho because she found favor in the sight of God, simply by believing. She believed in the God whom she had not seen, by hiding the spies that came to spy on the land, and she and her household was speared. Hebrews 11:31 say: “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” So, if you will choose to put your trust in God, God will show up for you in numerous favors. That is how it works!
Let us jump to Exodus 11:5-7. The Bible says:
“Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. 6 Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. 7 But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’”
One of the greatest wonders of God is His ability to set a difference between His people and those who are not His people. There is this mark of distinction that separates God’s people and those who are not His. How do I know this truth? 2 Timothy 2:19 says: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” The Lord sure knows those who are His and we saw that clear-cut distinction in the land of Egypt when the destruction came upon their firstborn. God told Moses: none of the children of Israel, not even their animals or beasts would be affected by this carnage that is coming.
Take a look at this year 2020 for example and the destruction that Covid-19 brought upon many souls. Look at the devastating effect of the virus in the United States of America, in the United Kingdom and many places. But God preserved His own people in it and through it all. I haven’t heard of any believer anywhere in the world that died of Covid-19, I don’t know if there are, but I haven’t heard such news since Covid-19 started. God sure knows His own people and He takes care of them. Nahum 1:7-8, Numbers 16:5 and John 10:14, 27 tells us:
The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.
8 But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.
“…and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.”
“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
That is why as a child of God, you cannot be afraid because there is a sign of “touch not mine anointed and do my prophet no harm” upon you. God said thousands shall fall by your side and ten thousand by your right hand, we your eyes you will see it, no evil shall come near you. The reason this is so is because God knows His own people and He will not allow evil to befall them. Well, someone may be thinking like this: “ARE YOU SAYING BAD THINGS DON’T HAPPEN TO CHILDREN OF GOD? WHAT ABOUT THOSE CHILDREN OF GOD THAT WE SEE ALL THE TIME THAT EVIL BEFALLS?” My simple answer to this kind of thought is that, in the midst of it, still seek God. Whether it happens to you or not does not mean that God didn’t know you.
God knew Job but terrible things still came upon him. In all of it, learn to seek the face of God and He will always show up for you.
Let us jump to Exodus 11:8-10:
“And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. 9 But the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
How to Experience the Wonder Dimension of God!
Believe in God! To experience the wonder of God, you must be a man or a woman that believes in God. You cannot continue to doubt God and the efficacy of His power and think you would experience His wonders. The Bible says that “a double-minded man or woman will not receive anything from the Lord.” To believe in God simply means to have faith in Him and in His abilities. In Matthew 9:27-29, the Bible says: “When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Notice Jesus didn’t say “according to my faith” but according to theirs. If you want to experience the wonder dimension of God, it must be according to your faith! It is your faith that determines your outcomes in life.
In 2 Chronicles 20:20 and John 11:38-40, the Bible says:
“So, they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
“Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Obayomi Abiola Benjamin and Gboyega ADEDEJI!
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