Broadcast
Lessons for Today - Part 1
Exodus 8:16-17
03/04/2024
16 Then the LORD said to Moses, ``Say to Aaron,
`Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the
earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land
of Egypt.'''
17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with
his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and
there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of
the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.
(ESV)
The historic Collect for the Word says:
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be
written for our learning, grant that we may in such
wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest
them, that by patience and comfort of Thy holy Word we
may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of
everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in our
Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee
and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.[1]
What do we learn from the Old Testament lesson for the Third
Sunday in Lent? This is the account of the third and fourth
plagues which struck Egypt before Pharaoh let the children of
Israel leave the land. Is this merely history, or can we draw a
lesson for today from this account?
We know that the entire Passover account, including the ten
plagues, point us to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Passover, as
John the Baptizer confessed. Pharaoh's reaction to the plagues
certainly give us a reason to pause, to consider how God is
greater than all of our human powers.
Then the LORD said to Moses, ``Say to Aaron, `Stretch
out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so
that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.'''
And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his
staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were
gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth
became gnats in all the land of Egypt.
May our Lord grant you His richest blessings as we learn of
His love, grace, and mercy. Amen.
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1. The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 14