It was the beginning of the liberation of Jacob's sons, who had already lived 215 years as slaves in Egypt. The total time of the captivity of God's people was 430 years, the first 215 of which took place from Abraham's call to Jacob's descent into the land of Ham (Galatians 3.17). Now the time had come for them to possess the land that the Most High had promised Abraham. When Jacob and his family went to this country, where his son Joseph was the ruler, everything went well; after all, his firstborn son with Rachel had saved Egypt (Genesis 41).

      When that Pharaoh died, the kings who succeeded him didn't know the virtue of the sons of Jacob and, inspired by the devil, made slaves of them: people without the right to receive the slightest consideration (Exodus 1.8). The same has happened with those who are oppressed and abused for someone else's satisfaction. However, God was not asleep or dead; His eyes were watching the seeds of the patriarchs, the people with the heavenly mark (1 Peter 2.9)!

     The demonstration of God's power would begin and end with greatness, when the "gods" of Egypt were put to shame. They would learn of the truth that sets free not by force of arms, but because of the miracles worked there. There was not a single one of Israel who died by the false gods, because such were not able to face the Lord and so, in despair and humiliation, they witnessed the departure of the heirs of the Most High towards the Promised Land.

In verse 10 of Exodus 7, the Bible records the beginning of the demonstration of power and grace to the Egyptians: So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. At that moment, Pharaoh didn't want to accept that this was coming from heaven, so he called his magicians, who did the same with their rods. That was the beginning!

Even today, the devil's servants display a certain supernatural power to deceive as if they were gods. But when God began to perform wonders on that occasion, the Egyptians were put to shame. Satan goes to great lengths, but the Lord is omnipotent, so Egypt would suffer the consequences of Pharaoh's hardness of heart. Many people suffer because they don't heed God's invitation and so, they are whipped night and day by the evil, becoming his servants.

Faced with Pharaoh's stubbornness in not letting God's people leave Egypt, the ten plagues came (Exodus 7 to 11). Each one represented a demoralization of the gods of that land. However, the demons managed to imitate Moses only up to the second plague; in the third, the magicians recognized the power of the Most High (Exodus 8:19). Those plagues showed that Israel had the only and true God. Later, on the cross, Jesus freed humanity from demons, brought healing for diseases, and gave salvation to all. Let's follow the example of the master, our Deliverer!

When God works, the devil runs away from the fight because he has no structure, nor will he ever have one, to face heavenly power. Jesus declared that He cast out demons by the power of God; then He commanded His followers to do the same (Luke 11.20). Believe and claim the deliverance guaranteed through Christ. He is visiting you right now to give you peace, salvation, and health.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares