God's Power

Introduction

People sometimes ask for a sign or miracle from God. The Bible gives plenty of examples of miracles. In fact, there are so many this page is only the start.

Freeing the Israelites

Long ago the Israelites enslaved by the Egyptians. God heard the oppression of the Israelites and called on Moses to deliver them to the promised land. The Pharaoh wasn't going to let the Israelites go without major convincing. God freed the Israelites by sending what's now called the 10 plagues of Egypt.

Moses first met God at the burning bush, a bush that was on fire but did not incinerate(Exo. 3:2-3). God asked Moses to go to Egypt and demand Pharaoh free the Israelite slaves(Exo. 3:9-10). To convince the Israelites Moses was the deliverer, God made Moses' staff turn into a snake(Exo. 4:2-3). If that wasn't enough to convince the them, God would turn Moses' hand white as snow with a skin disease and then cure it(Exo. 4:6-7).

When Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh and demanded the Israelites be freed, Pharaoh asked for a miracle. God then turned Aaron's staff into a serpent(Exo. 7:8-10), but Pharaoh was not impressed. Pharaoh's sorcerers also turned staffs into serpents(Exo. 7:11-12). Then Aaron's serpent swallowed the serpents of the Pharaoh's sorcerers(Exo. 7:12). Despite this, Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites, just as God predicted(Exo. 7:13).

Later on Aaron raised his staff and turned all the water(rivers, canals and stored water) into blood. This killed all the fish and made the water undrinkable(Exo. 7:20-21). Egypt's magicians could also do this(Exo. 7:22). Pharaoh was stubborn and still refused to free the Israelites(Exo. 7:22-23).

The second plague happened when Aaron raised his staff over the waters of Egypt and frogs came up everywhere(Exo. 8:6). Pharaoh's magicians could do this too(Exo. 8:7). However he agreed to free the Israelites if the frogs were gone. Moses agreed, and God killed the frogs(Exo. 8:8-13). After the frogs died, Pharaoh changed his mind and refused to free the Israelites(Exo. 8:15).

The next plague occurred when Aaron struck his staff on the ground and swarms of gnats appeared across the entire land(Exo. 8:16-17). Pharaoh's magicians tried to do this but failed(Exo. 8:18) . They said this was the work of God, but Pharaoh still would not free the Israelites(Exo. 8:19).

The fourth plague occurred when Egypt became infested with flies everywhere except for the area where the Israelites were(Exo. 8:20-24). Pharaoh then said the Israelites could go and make sacrifices but must not go far(Exo. 8:28). When the flies disappeared, Pharaoh again changed his mind(Exo. 8:31-32).

Moses again asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites. A plague that followed killed all Egyptian livestock, including horses, camels, donkeys and cattle except those belonging to the Israelites(Exo. 9:1-6). Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go(Exo. 9:7).

The sixth plague occurred when Moses and Aaron took soot from furnace and then Moses threw it into the air and boils broke out on the people and animals(Exo. 9:8-10). The magicians could not stand before Moses because of this(Exo. 9:11). Pharaoh still refused to free the Israelites after God hardened his heart(Exo. 9:12)

God told Moses to demand Pharaoh to free the Israelites again(Exo. 9:13). Moses lifted his staff to the sky and a hail storm appeared that was worse than any in Egypt(Exo. 9:23-24). The hail struck down people and animals that were outside except where the Israelites lived(Exo. 9:25-26). Pharaoh agreed to free the Israelites(Exo. 9:27-30). After the hail stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind yet again(Exo. 9:33-35).

Before we continue, God allowed this pattern to continue as long as it did so the descendants of the Israelites would know the power of God and how the Egyptians were punished(Exo. 10:1-2). Moses raised his staff over the land of Egypt, and a wind brought locusts out all over Egypt in dense swarms(Exo. 10:12-14). There were so many they darkened the land and ate all vegetation(Exo. 10:15). Pharaoh then said he sinned(Exo. 10:16-18) but changed his mind after a wind removed the locusts(Exo. 10:19-20).

For the ninth plague, Moses lifted his hand to the sky and brought darkness over Egypt that was so dark people could not see each other for 3 days. The only ones that had light were the Israelites(Exo 10:21-23). Pharaoh then said the Israelites could leave but must leave their livestock behind(Exo. 10:24). Moses objected because the livestock were needed for sacrifices(Exo. 10:25-26). Then God hardened Pharaoh's heart again, and the Israelites still were not freed(Exo. 10:27).

The last plague on Egypt was the death of all firstborn sons(Exo. 12:29). Pharaoh and his officials woke up to wailing heard all over Egypt as every household had someone who died(Exo. 12:30). This was the last straw for Pharaoh, and he demanded the Israelites leave(Exo. 12:31).

Exodus

Perhaps the most famous example of God's power is the parting of the Red Sea. When the Egyptians pursued the Israelites Moses raised his hand over the sea, and God parted the sea with a strong east wind(Exo. 14:21). The people walked across with a wall of water of both sides. When Pharaoh's forces followed them God twisted the chariot wheels and made them difficult to drive and confused the Egyptians to buy the Israelites time to cross(Exo. 14:24-25). Once the Israelites reached the other side of the sea, the waters covered the Egyptians and drowned them(Exo. 14:26-28).

The long journey to the promised land required food and water, which the Israelites did not have enough of for the whole journey. When the Israelites came to the oasis of Marah, they found the water too bitter to drink, so God instructed Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water. This purified it(Exo. 15:23-25). For food God provided quail and bread(Exo. 16:13-16,31).

The Israelites were God's chosen people. Despite being slaves, God delivered them from Egypt and saved them from the Egyptians. God would continue to look out for the Israelites but only if they kept their faith in the Lord. As the Bible describes in subsequent books, the Israelites prospered when they did and suffered when they didn't.

Last updated 5/30/2011