February 3 - Exodus 7:14-9:35

Good morning everyone,

You’ll remember yesterday when we left off reading God was telling Moses that He was going to make him seem like God to Pharaoh and Aaron like a prophet. He also told them that Pharaoh would demand a miracle from them and when he did, Aaron was to throw down the staff and watch it turn into a serpent. When he did that, Pharaoh’s magicians used their sorcery to seemingly duplicate the miracle but Aaron’s serpent swallowed up the other’s. Imagine their surprise and Pharaoh’s anger.

Today we will read about seven of the ten plagues that the Lord will unleash upon the land of Egypt. The first was blood. Pharaoh does not believe in God so is heart is stubborn, it’s heavy and when it is announced to him 7:16 “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Pharaoh, I am sure gives a bit of a chuckle when he does not comply; Aaron will then lift the staff turning all the waters of Egypt, rivers, canals, ponds all reservoirs to blood. Now the magicians, not to be out done, will likewise turn what ever remaining water they can find into blood as well.

In 7:23 it says that “Pharaoh returned to the palace and put the whole thing out of his mind.” Oh my! How many times have you tried to, have I tried to, tell someone about the Gospel, about Jesus, and they will be courteous to listen but will just walk away, putting the whole thing out of their mind. Heartbreaking! Can you just see Pharaoh doing that?

The next plague is the frogs. This one grosses me out, not that any of the plagues would be pleasant, mind you, but seriously they were everywhere. We’re told that when Aaron raised the staff that frogs would be all over the land; again, everywhere! In the beds, on the kneading tables, in the ovens, hopping, croaking … how else do you say everywhere? They would be wading through them; but what did the magicians do? They duplicated the miracle with sorcery. Why!? If you are that great of a magician, wouldn’t your first choice be to get rid of the frogs? I know mine would. This time, though, Pharaoh summoned Aaron and Moses to pray to “their” God to get rid of them. 

As we move on to the next plague, the gnats, we’ll read that the magicians will no longer be able to duplicate the miracle and still Pharaoh’s heart remains hard. 

Next is the plague of the flies and now it is only the Egyptians who are going to suffer, God sparing the land of Goshen where His people live. With this Pharaoh tells Moses they can offer sacrifices to God but they must stay in the land of Egypt. Moses say “No, that wouldn’t be right, the Egyptian’s detest the sacrifices they offer.” Pharaoh, and please try to get a visual on this, there are easily hundreds of flies  swarming his body and those of everyone around him. He has got to be very bothered by this, I would be! How about you? He’s swatting away at them and in his frustration, probably raising his voice, finally says “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me”, and of course Moses does and of course Pharaoh hardens his heart yet again.

As we read over the coming plagues we’ll see that Pharaoh will try to make a compromise, he’ll tell Moses that they can do their sacrifice but only on Pharaoh’s terms which wouldn’t be a true sacrifice at all. Isn’t that just like what the enemy will try to get us to do in our lives? He is such a liar, in fact, Satan is THE father of lies and he is so stinkin’ subtle that he will get you to compromise without you even realizing it until you wake up one morning and wonder, “how is it you have slipped so far away from God?” I have seen it happen to others, I have been there myself. It is frightening, at best, how quickly if you let him, the enemy can make you blind to the truths of God. Beware! There is no compromise with God. There is no bending His Word to make it suit your lifestyle, there is no picking and choosing what you want to obey. God’s Word is God’s Word! You are either for Him or against Him. Don’t let the enemy woo you into compromise and away from your joy, away from your peace, away from the truth, away from the God who loves you. 

I pray you have a great day. To God be the glory.

God bless you all …