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By Mike Caton

Exodus 6:6, “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”

One rule of Biblical exegesis – that’s a fancy word for understanding and explaining the Bible – is this: When you see the word “therefore,” you need to figure out what it is there for. This word is a way to bring two thoughts together, because of what was said before, this is what you need to do about it or know about it. God has just stressed to Moses that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and that he had made a covenant with those men, and that he was about to fulfill part of that covenant. Because of that, God is going to do something powerful now, and he wants these two things to be tied together. It is not an accident that these things are going to happen to Pharaoh, not bad luck, or bad timing, or anything else. It is the divine hand of God!

God is about to bring them out from the yoke of the Egyptians, he is going to free them from their slavery and harsh labor He is going to end their abuse and suffering. God is going to rescue them! And this rescue is going to be dramatic and powerful. The outstretched arm shows that God is reaching out, that he is taking the initiative to get this done. Mighty acts of judgment speak for themselves, it is going to be powerful, awesome, things that simply don’t ordinarily happen. And be clear about this, it is God’s arm that is going to do it.

We need to remember that God’s arm is still available for us today. God does reach out to us in many different powerful ways. Miracles still happen today, things that from a human standpoint are impossible. God specializes in those impossible things. We had a report yesterday of a man who went to the doctor for a follow up, and the doctor told him it was only by the power of God he had walked in there, that the doctor thought he would never live this long. That is just one example of the way God works in our world today. If we are honest, we have seen it. And we need to praise the Lord for those blessings.

Father, thank you for working in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works full time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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