7:1-2 Moses was still reluctant to speak to Pharaoh but the Lord said Moses would be "like God" to Pharaoh and Aaron would be like Moses' prophet who would speak for him. The Lord expected Moses to say everything he was commanded to say. The words would be communicated from the Lord to Moses, from Moses to Aaron, then from Aaron to Pharaoh. In class we compared this to how God spoke directly to a pagan leader, Abimelech, when He told him that Abraham's "sister" was really his wife (Genesis 20). Sometimes God speaks directly to pagan leaders and sometimes indirectly.
v. 3-13 The Lord said He would harden Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses. Then the Lord said He would "stretch out my hand against Egypt" with plagues and bring the Israelites out. Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83. They did just what the Lord commanded. They were given the power to perform miracles such having an ordinary staff turn into a snake when it was thrown down on the ground. When Aaron did this in front of Pharaoh his magicians were able to do the same thing with their staffs. But Aaron's snake/staff swallowed up their snakes. Yet Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen to them.
Plague 1
v. 14-24 Moses was told to meet Pharaoh early in the morning at the river. He told Pharaoh that the Lord commanded him to let His people go to the desert to worship Him. Moses struck the water of the Nile River and it changed to blood. The fish died and the river smelled so bad they couldn't drink the water. The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his hand over all the streams, canals, ponds and reservoirs and they would all turn to blood as well. Even the water in the buckets and stone jars turned to blood. But Pharaoh's magicians were able to do the same thing through their "secret arts" and Pharaoh would not listen. He went back to his palace while the people dug along the Nile to get drinking water. Seven days went by before the next plague.
Plague 2
8:1-15 Moses was again sent to tell Pharaoh to let the Lord's people go so they may worship Him in the desert. The next plague was frogs that came up out of the Nile and invaded the palace, their homes, their ovens and kneading troughs. The magicians were able to do the same thing by their secret arts. Pharaoh asked Moses to pray that the Lord would take the frogs away. Apparently his magicians could make frogs appear but they couldn't get rid of them. Moses allowed Pharaoh to set the time that the frogs would be gone so he would know there is no one like the Lord. He said, "Tomorrow." Moses left Pharaoh and prayed. The next day the Lord made the frogs die except for those in the Nile. The people piled up the dead frogs in heaps and the land reeked of them. But Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not honor his promise that the Israelites could leave.
The Egyptians worshiped many pagan gods and goddesses such as a frog god, a river god, a sky god. Through the 10 plagues the Lord was systematically undermining the authority of their false gods. He showed that He was stronger than all their other gods put together. The entire world would eventually hear about these plagues and they would know about the God of the Hebrews who had such incredible power.
Plague 3
v. 16-19 The Lord told Moses and Aaron to strike the dust with the staff and the dust became gnats. They came upon people and animals. This is the first plague the Egyptian magicians could not replicate. They told Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen.
Plague 4
v. 20-32 Moses told Pharaoh again to let the Israelites go worship the Lord or else the next plague would be flies. This is the first plague in which the Lord made a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. There were no swarms of flies in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and told them they could sacrifice to their God in the land of Egypt. But Moses said the Egyptians would stone them because their sacrifices would be detestable to Egyptians. They must be allowed to go into the desert. Pharaoh agreed they could go, but not too far. Moses prayed and the next day the flies were gone. Once again Pharaoh would not let the people go.
Plague 5
9:1-7 The next plague was on the livestock-- the horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The loss of these animals affected the transportation, clothing and food supply of the whole land of Egypt. Once again the Lord made a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. All the livestock of the Egyptians died but not one of the animals in Goshen. Even after this, Pharaoh would not let them leave.
Plague 6
v. 8-12 The Lord told Moses and Aaron to stand before Pharaoh and take handfuls of soot from a furnace, throw it into the air and it caused painful boils to break out on people and animals. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron. In class we talked about how sometimes it says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and other times it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. We discussed how we felt about reading that the Lord, the same God we worship today, hardened Pharaoh's heart and brought great suffering upon people and animals. We talked about whether the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament.
Plague 7
v. 13-35 The Lord again told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites go in the desert to worship Him. He made it clear that He is powerful and could have wiped them off the face of the earth by now if He wanted to do that. But He raised Pharaoh up so He could show His power and proclaim His name in all the earth. Pharaoh was warned to bring all the people and livestock in from the fields because a terrible storm was about to come. The officials who feared the Lord brought in their servants and animals but others ignored the warning left them in the fields. The next day the Lord sent the worst hailstorm that the Egyptians had ever seen. The hail stripped the trees and killed men and animals. But it did not hail in Goshen. Pharaoh finally admitted that the Lord was right and he was wrong. He asked Moses to pray for the hail and thunder to stop. Moses did pray for him but he knew that Pharaoh and his officials still didn't fear the Lord. The hail stopped but not before it ruined the flax and barley. However the wheat and spelt were not ripe yet and were not destroyed. Even though the Lord was pouring out plagues on Egypt He showed mercy by leaving them wheat and spelt for food. Pharaoh's heart was still hard and he would not let the Israelites leave-- just as the Lord had said.
Much more next time.
--Sandy Blank
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