Exodus 9:20-21 Can you believe it?

"Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD

hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside.

But those who ignored the word of the LORD

left their slaves and livestock in the field.

Exodus 9:20-21 (NIV)

_________________________________

I was going to just continue on with the rest of this section, but something about these two verses really struck me.  There are only two verses, yet the contrast between those who feared the word of the LORD and those who ignored it is very stark.  I think that this is because it clearly shows that what a person believes about the word of the LORD actually has an effect upon how he will live his life.  In this chapter of Exodus, the ones who ignore the word of the LORD are going to be in for a rather rude awakening.

Then I thought about what people in general think about God's Word today.  I've noticed that in internet comments upon various issues, the general consensus among people who do not seem to be following God is that those who do have a reverence for God's Word (the Bible) are either ignorant or are choosing to believe a fairy tale.  The fact of the matter is that although faith is certainly required to believe that what God says in the Bible is true, there is actually quite a bit of evidence that the Bible is not just some kind of religious writing.  It is a totally unique type of book.

I hope to do a post or series of posts about why this is so.  Some things which I would like to address are:

• Are there really so many variations in the manucripts which are available that we can't say that we have the actual text?
• Is prophecy just for raving lunatics or is there any validity to predictive prophecy?
• Are there errors in the Bible?

If you have any other questions or areas which you would like me to explore, just leave a note in the comments section of this article.  Remember, if you are wondering about an issue, there are likely to be many other people who are wondering about the same thing, so no question is too insignificant.

Meanwhile, back in the book of Exodus,  some of Pharaoh's officials scramble to get their slaves and lifestock to safety, while those who did not believe God's word to Pharaoh ignored the warning and probably mocked those who did take action.