One of the things about early morning devos is that sometimes it can be a bit foggy between the ears when opening the Word. Times when that first cup of coffee is enough to open the eyes but not quite enough to have adequately lubricated the synapses firing in the brain. Creates a situation where though I am clearly reading my bible, I’m not always reading clearly my bible — if you know what I mean.

So, this morning as I take in one of my Old Testament readings — a reading that concerns Egypt — I immediately think of the exodus as I read of a great deliverance.

When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender and deliver them.
. . . and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

But then I do a double-take as I remember that I’m not reading in the book of Exodus but in the prophet Isaiah. The fog clears and I realize that this isn’t a promise about deliverance FROM Egypt, it is a promise about the deliverance OF Egypt.

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender and deliver them. And the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

(Isaiah 19:19-22 ESV)

What a shock it must have been for Israel to have heard Isaiah’s prophecy. This prophetic word alone would have been enough for some (many?) to discredit him as a heretic. Egypt saved? Egypt delivered? Egypt healed? Egypt worshiping God? The LORD making Himself known to the enemies of God? Never!

But for those who knew the Word, for those with ears to hear, the fog clears, and they remember the promise made to their father, Abraham.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

(Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

You will be a blessing . . . in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed . . .

Egypt blessed? Yup. Oppressors shown mercy? Uh-huh. Those sick in sin healed? You got it. Enemies made family? Yeah, that’s the blessing; the blessing made available to all the families of the earth through the seed of Abraham, Jesus, the Son of God.

Deliverance from the tyranny of sin and the bondage of death offered to all through the finished work of the cross where Jesus the Redeemer offered Himself once-for-all and once-forever for our trespasses and transgressions against a holy God. Reconciliation made possible for all the nations with God our Maker (Isa. 17:7) because of the reality of an empty tomb and a risen Savior. That’s the blessing.

The blessing known by this guy. Once himself an enemy of God, shackled by sin, and with no real hope of defeating death. But this morning, even if a bit foggy between the ears, knowing God, worshiping in holiness (not his own, but Another’s), because he has been counted as a friend of God the Father, able to master sin through God the Spirit, even as he stands as more than a conqueror over death in God the Son.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

O, what grace! To God be the glory!