Devotional from John Wilson: Powers Overpowered

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” — Colossians 3:15

Like Israel under Egyptian rule, pastors and ministry leaders can become so burdened by their task list that they lose sight of the mightiness and magnificence of God. The phone calls you haven’t made yet, the emails you haven’t written, and the Bible study you haven’t prepared yet—these can all stack up against you and block your view of the God you’re serving.  

You have much to do today, but God has already provided everything you need to fulfill your ministry with confidence and purpose. Scripture is filled with reminders of God’s ability and promises of God’s presence and help as you tackle your task list. Consider Exodus 7–10, popularly known for recounting the 10 plagues in the land of Egypt. This passage encourages you in at least five ways that will lead you out from bondage to your to-do list and into service in God’s household. 

Opposition is Expected 

Exodus 7 picks up where the Hebrews are at their lowest and Pharaoh is at his highest. Moses has already met with God in the burning bush and received his call to deliver God’s people (Ex. 3–4). Moses also met with Pharaoh to communicate God’s word: “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness” (Ex. 5:1). It didn’t go well. Not only did Pharaoh refuse to let Israel go, he increased their burden. Moses did not seem to start on the right foot with the Israelites.  

However, God reminds Moses everything has gone according to His plan. The rest of Scripture testifies that God loves to use the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). He has simply set the stage for His arrival in power. Once more, Moses and Aaron must meet with Moses. This time, God reveals Himself. This time, Aaron’s staff turns into a serpent that consumes the serpent of the magicians. God displays His power and wisdom “so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth” (Exodus 8:22).  

Not Against Flesh and Blood 

Each of the plagues that God sent upon Pharaoh and his servants was targeted less at the Egyptian people and more at their gods and the destructive religious system in Egypt. The Egyptian pantheon included gods for virtually every aspect of life. They had a Nile god, fertility and childbirth gods, dirt and dust gods, gods for healing, gods for livestock and crops, a god who protected the fields against bad weather, a god who kept locusts at bay, and many more. Each plague that God brought upon Egypt targeted those gods and their wicked servants. 

Moses, the author of Exodus, does not seem to think that the Egyptian gods are imaginary figments. He does not imply that the Egyptian sorcerers are tricksters. Instead, he says the magicians were able “by their secret arts“ to do the same kinds of miracles that God was doing (Exodus 7:22, 8:7).. Notice, however, that these manifestations of demonic power could only reproduce a small copy of God’s power. For all their fearsome strength, they could not repair the plagues; they could only replicate the destructive elements. 

These secret arts and the displays of power they enabled remind Christians today that there are real forces of darkness at work in the world around us. We live in an unhaunted age, where spirituality, angels, demons, and miracles are seen as unscientific, incredible, or worse—real but unserious. Demons are real and frightening and powerful. They are perhaps more active in the world than we give them credit. The human souls you serve are embattled against the world, their own flesh, and the devil with an army of fallen angels (Ephesians 6:12). 

God’s Arm is Strong for You 

Throughout this passage in Exodus, God easily overpowers the spiritual forces and their followers that ruled in the land of Egypt. The plagues echo Noah’s flood on a religious and societal scale. God un-creates the Egyptian economy, rendering them without prosperity (the Nile), comfort (frogs, gnats, and flies), health (boils), livestock (plague and hail), and crops (hail and locusts). Eventually, God even takes away His first creation, light.  

In these plagues, God prefigures His final judgement against sin. Many of the plagues targeted Pharaoh’s specific sins against Israel. He had commanded that the Israelite sons be cast into the Nile, and now the Nile returns the blood on Pharaoh’s hands back to him. The Egyptian god of childbirth, Heqet, was represented by a frog. Pharaoh had commanded the midwives to betray the Israelites during childbirth, and now frogs fill the Egyptian bedrooms. The Israelites were forced to make bricks without straw, and now hail and locusts have taken away all straw and food-bearing crops from the entire nation of Egypt. 

One day, God will rain fire from heaven and deal out wrath that is stored up in heaven upon the specific sins in everyone’s life. The punishment will perfectly fit the crime for an eternity as a display of God’s—wrath, yes—infinite worthiness to be obeyed and worshipped.  

There is, however, a gospel in these chapters of Exodus. The same God who systematically disarmed the gods in Egypt would send His own Son to disarm “the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [Christ]” (Colossians 2:15). God did not spare the Egyptians in his wrath against Pharaoh, the son of Re. As goes the king, so goes the people. However, God did not spare His own Son when He poured out wrath against the sins of His people (Romans 8:32).  

These de-creation stories put your task list back into perspective. Between Egypt and eternity, God sent His own Son to deal the death blow to the spiritual enemies that assail you, your family, your ministry, and your church. Behind your to-do list is a host of spiritual needs that Christ means to meet through you. Serve Him in the strength He has provided. His divine power has overpowered every spiritual power behind every spiritual need you will face today.