Exodus 9:10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens; and it became boils with blisters breaking out on man and on cattle.

      The judgment that God brought through Moses and Aaron over Egypt was a judgment that confronted all the gods the people of Egypt served and worshiped. One by one All Mighty God brought down the Egyptian gods to mere ashes. The people’s trust in their deities was shattered and they felt the suffering results of bowing to the gods of flies, frogs, and darkness. There is no difference between the gods of the past and the ones people worship today. What people eventually turn into personal gods, will end up disappointing their souls. The results of serving the deities of commerce, ego, real estate and government parties are just as meaningless to the soul as it was to serve the dark and mercurial gods masquerading as supreme beings that the Egyptians were bowing down to. Life can only come through a living God. John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

      Throughout history, the human exhibition of character has demonstrated that man tends to erect altars, monoliths, and carvings of gods that cannot deliver any blessings or wisdom to those who bow down to them. The sad thing is, that the gods they created out of ignorance, did nothing for the morality of the people and they ended up bound by the dark spiritual forces of the day. This resulted in people falling into deeper ignorance, and another handful of ashes fell upon their lives. 2Pet. 2:6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.

      The Lord Jesus came to deliver mankind from themselves, and the sinful nature that continually causes man to fall into iniquitous idolatry. Through His sacrifice on the cross, our Saviour gave us His righteousness to save our lost souls. Only the Lord could turn our ash-filled life into the beauty that God has for each one of us through the sacrifice that Jesus gave of Himself. Isa. 61:3 To appoint to mourners in Zion, To give to them beauty instead of ashes, The oil of joy instead of mourning, A covering of praise for a spirit of weakness, And He is calling to them, ‘Trees of righteousness, The planting of Jehovah — to be beautified.

      What causes people to look for other gods besides wanting to live within the sin of one’s choice? What got Israel into trouble was that they wanted to be like the nations around them. They wanted a king to rule over them because everyone else had a king. They were comparing themselves to others. Even though they were being led and cared for by the one and only true God, they still compared themselves to what others had and were doing. President Theodore Roosevelt was known to say, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” How true this is. This became a reality for the nation of Israel. They had lost their joy of the Lord which was their strength. They became as weak as the nations around them and as sinful. 1Sam. 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

      After Israel embraced a carnal-mindedness like their neighbouring countries, they too began to fall in the ashes of defeat. Neh 2:17a Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. The thing that gets lost in a lot of people’s hearts, is that when someone falls into perdition, they always bring others with them. No one falls alone, and there is always collateral damage to those who are part of the church. If a pastor falls into adultery, embezzlement, or any other life-damaging sin, the families, friends, and acquaintances of all involved are hurt along the way. Everyone affected by the sinful choice of one or many ends up with the taste of ash in their mouths, and the voice of corrosive acrimony comes forth from the hearts of the ones now living in bitterness. Heb. 12:15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

      The only ashes the Lord is interested in, are the ashes of repentance available to us through the finished work of the cross. Matt. 11:21 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago. The Lord wants us to have a heart willing to be washed of our sins, cleaned of our iniquities, and relieved of our transgressions. Our Heavenly Father leads us to walk upright in the gift of salvation that was won for us through Jesus Christ. God says to come out from among the ones who live their lives in the rubbish heap of life and to separate ourselves for the use and blessing of the Lord. Let us turn in our ashes for the beauty of the Lord’s grace that He so lavishly lays upon us with the love of His forgiveness.