August 5, 2025 Morning Devotional

Morning Devotion: Read Exodus - The Sixth Plague: Boils

Exodus 9:8  And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9  And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10  And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

Always, at the instruction of God, Moses acted. Moses did not act out of frustration or fear or malice of any sort. He represented the LORD. Here the LORD instructs Moses to take ashes from the furnace and sprinkle it toward heaven, God did the rest.

This plague was not just for one false god but for the entire worship system of the Egyptians. We also see that this plague affected both man and beast.

In any religion there is an element of cleanliness involved. Washing of hands and feet and nostrils, cleaning the body for worship, cleaning the place of worship, all are performed to please the false god’s. Some of  the false cleansing comes by mandate of the priest in the form of some religious exercise such as hail Mary’s and our father’s prayers or penance or some other ritual.

As a Christian, our cleansing comes from God not through any ritual or religious performance of our own.

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

If there is a cleansing on our part it is not in order to be saved but rather self examination after one has already been saved (born again).

James, writing to brothers and sisters in Christ tells us to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. James 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

For the born again believer the Lord wrote 1John 1:7.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Moses takes the ashes and sprinkles them toward heaven, when the ashes fall God uses them to make boils and blains to appear on all the Egyptians. Pharaoh, his magicians, the people, and beasts, everyone except God’s people got the boils.

The furnace was a brick kiln possibly a place of human sacrifice used for the victims of Pharaoh’s judgment much like the furnace used in Daniel’s time by Nebuchadnezzar when he threw the three hebrews into the furnace.

The boils made everyone and everything unclean for Egyptian worship. The entire worship system was shut down and all the false god’s were useless. They could not enter their own temples nor sacrifice the animals, everything had boils.

Boils take between one to three weeks to heal. The process is often difficult to endure. As a result people with boils can become ornery and difficult to deal with. Notice, Pharaoh hardened his heart once again.

Proverbs 29:1  He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

When someone shares with you the gospel of Christ and His salvation, how do you respond? When someone shares with you the fact that you are a sinner in need of salvation how do you respond?

The choice is still yours,

Pastor Cook