God offers encouragement
- Exodus 6:1-6
- God reiterates all He has promised
- Appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- Gave no Name until now
- He remembers His covenant
- Tell Israel, “I WILL deliver you …”
- You will be Mine
- Moses tells the people, they don’t listen
- God repeats His mandate – let my people go
Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
- Exodus 6:14-30
- Genealogy shows Levite lineage of both
- God’s mandate repeated (Exodus 6:26-29)
- Moses’ objection restated (Exodus 6:30)
Back before Pharaoh
- Exodus 7:1-14
- “I will make you as God to Pharaoh”
- Will harden Pharaoh’s heart – why?
- Multiply signs
- Great judgments
- Egypt will know
- They did what God commanded
Staffs to snakes
- Exodus 7:7-13
- Moses was eighty, Aaron eighty-three
- Staff thrown down, Pharaoh’s snakes eaten
- Pharaoh’s heart hardened
- Who hardened it?
- As God had said
First plague – Nile to blood
- Exodus 7:14-25
- God let Pharaoh sleep on his own stubbornness
- Next day
- Nile struck with staff
- Water to blood
- Everything in the Nile dies
- River stank of death
- Not only the Nile, bu tall standing, flowing, and stored water
- Magicians replicated (but could not end the plague)
- Pharaoh unimpressed
- Went on for seven days
- Nile struck with staff
Second plague – frogs
- Exodus 8:1-15
- Same request, new threat
- Smite the land with frogs
- From out of the Nile to everywhere
- No respecter of people
- Moses struck, magicians replicated
- Pharaoh asks Moses to relent
- Moses – choose a date
- God performs, but plague not over!
- Land stank of frogs
- Pharaoh unmoved
Gnats – stretching magicians’ limits
- Exodus 8:16-19
- Third plague
- First one the magicians could not mimic
- Magicians’ confession
- Pharaoh still not impressed
Flies, flies, flies, flies, flies
- Exodus 8:20-32
- Fourth plague – starts early in the morning
- Met Pharaoh as he came to the water
- Plague to be one of flies
- Goshen will be unaffected
- Negotiation begins
- Go sacrifice, but inside Goshen
- Nope, three days’ journey
- Exodus 8:26 – The animals they would be sacrificing were an abomination to the Egyptians. The ox, bull, and cow were all considered holy by the Egyptians.
- Go, but not far away, and pray for me also
- Flies withdrawn
- Pharaoh hardens own heart
Number five – livestock die
- Exodus 9:1-7
- All livestock in the field to die
- If you don’t let the people go
- Includes horses, donkeys, camels, herds, flocks
- Again, Goshen is exempt
- “Tomorrow” was the day
- Happened as described
- He knew it happened, but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened
Boils from soot
- Exodus 9:8-12
- Toss handfuls of soot toward the sky
- Became boils on man and beast throughout Egypt
- Magicians effected also
- God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
Killer hail – seventh plague
- Exodus 9:13-26
- God’s message to Pharaoh
- Has been lenient to this point
- Wanted to show His power, proclaim His Name
- You exalt yourself by your defiance
- Plague to start next day, this time
- Heavy, unprecedented hail
- Fire flashing continually within it
- Killed everything in the field – people, animals, plants
- But not in Goshen
Hail’s effect
- Exodus 9:27-30
- Death and damage overwhelming
- Pharaoh “repents” of sin against the Lord
- Declares self and nation as wicked
- Moses knows better (Exodus 9:30)
God’s foresight
- Exodus 9:31-32
- Still wheat and spelt
- Both good for bread
- Also good for locusts
Back to start
- Exodus 9:33-35
- Moses performed as promised – again
- Pharaoh’s heart was hardened – again
- Just as God had promised
Eight – inundation of locusts
- Exodus 10:1-6
- Not much left
- Many animals, plants, people destroyed by previous plagues
- Still enough to get by
- Gives punch to the coming ultimatum
- Worst ever locust infestation coming
- Will eat what’s left
- Will cover the ground
- Will even infest the houses
Frustration and defiance
- Exodus 10:7-11
- Pharaoh’s servants at tipping point
- Pharaoh decides to make a point himself
- Moses and Aaron called back
- Told to go and serve the Lord
- Asks who would be going – everyone and everything
- Pharaoh – “That’ll be the day!”
God releases the locusts
- Pharaoh loses this round also
- Moses immediately instructed to act
- Largest inundation ever, everything left was eaten
- Pharaoh “repents” again
- God hardens Pharaoh’s heart