๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Have you ever considered owning a more affordable version of a known brand? Why or why not?
โข What is one thing you make sure that you never run out of?
โข Has there ever been a title or position you really wanted? What did you do to achieve it? Did you get it?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.โ ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, โ๐๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐: ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ.โโโย ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ณ:๐ญ๐ฑ-๐ญ๐ณ
(Read also ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ณ:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ญ๐ต; Study ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ณ:๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐ด:๐ญ๐ต.)
The miracles that God performed through the ten plagues in Egypt were to make His power known to both Israel and Egypt, and to prove to them that there is only one true God. Before each plague, God, through Moses, told Pharaoh โ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ.โ God wanted His people to leave behind the oppression they experienced so they could walk in His plans and promises for them. God made it clear that the plagues were in response to Pharaohโs disobedience. The first three plagues went like this: the water in the Nile River turned into blood, then frogs swarmed over Egypt, and thirdly, gnats covered the whole nation. Today, weโll look at what we can learn from the first three plagues inflicted on Egypt.
๐ญ. ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ผ๐น๐.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฉโ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ณ:๐ฎ๐ญ-๐ฎ๐ฎ
In the first plague, God targeted the pride and joy of Egyptโthe Nile. This river was Egyptโs source of life, being a channel for trade, drinking water, and food, to name a few. More specifically, it was a key source of security and identity. In fact, they worshiped several gods whom they believed were connected to the Nile. Knowingly or not, we too may have counterfeit gods. These could be things or people that take the place of God in our lives that we put our trust, security, and identity in. What is one counterfeit god that people usually encounter? Have you experienced it before? How did you submit this to God?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฉ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฉโ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ด:๐ญ๐ด-๐ญ๐ต
Ultimately, even the Egyptian magicians failed to replicate the plagues God was inflicting on Egypt. They had turned water into blood and made frogs appear, but they could not replicate the gnat plague, even admitting to Pharaoh that it wasย ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ (Exodus 8:19). Not a single human being can come close to matching the power of the one true God. There is no other god that can compare to Him. He is the only unfailing source of life, security, and significance. Recall a time when you looked elsewhere for security or significance. How did you come to realize that only God can satisfy?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What are your alternative sources of life (e.g., career, relationship)? How can you come to the point of submitting these to God?
โข What do you think are the counterfeit gods you rely on for security and significance (e.g., social media, self-care routines)? What steps can you take to begin seeing these with the right perspective?
โข What is one thing you can do to refocus your worship on God each day? How may you encourage others to do the same?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Prayerfully submit any alternative sources of life to God with humility and trust.
โข Ask God for the grace to rely on Him alone fully each day for security and identity.
โข Pray to remember daily that God is sovereign, and He loves you and has a plan for you. Ask God to show you people who need to hear this truth this week.