Monday Night Bible Study

God had softened Pharaoh’s heart after the final plague and the Israelites were let go. They plundered the Egyptians and walked to freedom, guided by the Lord day and night. Recall the reasoning for the cycle of the plagues and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart…it was so that God could show His power and omnipotence to the nation of Israel, the nation of Egypt, and the surrounding nations by proxy. Well, despite all He had done, God was planning one final blow to the pride of the Egyptians.

In chapter 13, God directed the Israelites to travel not by the way of the Philistines, but He sent them by the way of the wilderness. Purposely He did this so that they would not be discouraged by the warring nations along the more popular route. But God had another plan in mind. Early in this chapter, we see how God directed the nation so that they would be in view of Pharaoh. God then hardens Pharaoh’s heart again, so that Pharaoh laments letting them go, and he gives chase: ““Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” … And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness.” God, the master orchestrator, has given the Israelites what they need to find their way, and He has prepared the stage for one more miracle that will amaze and leave no doubt over whose god holds true power.

But the Israelites would not remain bold for long. Upon seeing Pharaoh and all his amassed army with horses and chariots, they cry out to Moses, jumping to the conclusion that they will all be captured and killed. They say, “For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” With the benefit of hindsight, we might look at a comment like this and wonder why they would not expect to be saved from Pharaoh – after all, God had brought them this far; would He really bring them out of Egypt only to so soon be captured? Whatever they should have thought, or however strong their faith should have been, fear overwhelms the Israelites as they see Pharaoh’s great warring resources brought to bear on them.

But Moses believes. Moses, much closer to God, many times being spoken to by God, believes the promise that he will never see Pharaoh again. Moses does not yet know how they will be saved, but he tells them, “Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.” God is well ahead of Moses and tells Him to direct the people forward and Moses is to lift up his rod, stretch out his hand, and divide the sea. God describes His purpose: He will direct Israel over the dry ground where the sea had been, then the army of Pharaoh will follow. When they follow and see how He has made this path, a chain of events will be set into motion that will allow for the Egyptians to be finally and totally convinced of the power of the one true God. Before this great event, God separates the Israelites from the Egyptians using the pillars of cloud and fire. This is for their safety.

Verse 21 describes how Moses stretched out his hand and a strong east wind made the sea into dry land. As an aside, a little-discussed fact in the text says that the strong east wind blew all that night to separate the waters, so any notions we might have of an instantaneous separation can more than likely be set aside.

After the Israelites go onto the dry land, the Egyptian army follows. Through the course of their journey, the Israelites ultimately reach the other side of the sea boundary without incident. But as the Egyptian army crosses, the Lord hinders their progress with inept chariot wheels. The army loses heart and they plan to flee because it is obvious that God is fighting for the Israelites and against them. But it is too late for the Egyptian army to flee and escape the fate waiting for them.

As God directs Moses to stretch out his hand again, the next morning revealed the sea that had “returned to its full depth.” This is how the Lord obliterated the army of the Egyptians once and for all, and Israel saw the proof – Egyptians dead on the seashore.

The result of it all was that Israel saw this great miracle and they feared and believed the Lord, as well as Moses. The 29^th verse of this chapter is pointed at us, the readers, to drive the point home of what really happened here. As fantastic or unbelievable as it sounds, “…the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.”

Don’t you wish you could have been there?! Of course the most useful lesson here is that of the sovereignty of God. Make no mistake, with powers such as this, He lives and He reigns. In these Old Testament times, He favors whom He chooses and woe to the unbeliever. When we see how God essentially force-fed His power to a nation of unwilling pagans, we can really come to appreciate the manner in which He chooses to approach us in the modern age: with love, mercy, grace, and the sacrifice of His Son. What a God we have and what a blessing it is to be a child of God in the present age!

In the aftermath of the plagues, the children of Israel flee the land of Egypt. They are in a position now where they are subservient to God and under His direct leadership. He is caring for them, taking special precautions for their present and their future.

In verses 17 and 18 of this chapter, God leads the Israelites out of Egypt on a path that will encourage their independence and will not cause them to be afraid: “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.” God was ensuring their success and building their confidence in Him as a people. Also, we have the introduction of the pillars of cloud and fire, to specifically lead them by night and day.

By leading His children out of Egypt on the path of least resistance and showing them the literal path via the pillars, God is caring for His precious nation. God’s motivation for caring for them is His love for them, that much is obvious. It is His love for His creation. Keep that in mind as we reflect on another aspect of God’s personality: His desire to have all of the nations of the earth know of His divinity and power. God devastated Egypt and its resources for this reason. With these two insights of God’s character, we can reasonably conclude three facts:

1. God sincerely loves His creation and will perform miraculous acts on their behalf
   • The plagues and pillars are examples of those that mattered to Israelites
   • The birth, death and resurrection of Christ are chief of these that affect us today
2. God desires that all mankind have knowledge of His greatness and power
3. God’s “personality” is expansive enough to encapsulate these extremes of love and death, each of which is directed towards communicating truth to His creation

The other two main items in this chapter to recognize are the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the Law of the Firstborn. This chapter lists the laws about eating the unleavened bread and killing the firstborn of animals, but there is one very powerful theme that unites these two traditions handed down from God: remembrance.

God willingly and easily completed the plagues, but He also expects a degree of reciprocity; He expects them to remember. The point of these two traditions is so that the story of God saving Israel will not be forgotten as the years stretch out in the centuries ahead. And this will not be the last instance of God commanding an act or tradition to make sure that the Israelites remember what He has done for them.

Similarly today we have the Biblical example of taking the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week to remember Jesus Christ. God’s ways are, by and large, unknown to us. However, we gather inklings here and there of His aspects that are undeniable: He is all-powerful and all-knowing and He wants us to know it, fear Him, and obey. He is loving and caring and has sacrificed that which is dear to Him so that we can be redeemed.

Is there anything more profound in life that our great Creator would consider each of us (billions upon billions) and care for and save us in such a personal and momentous way? If there is anything at all in our known experience, physical or spiritual, that deserves our love, adulation, and worship, it is HIM.

So much happens in these 50 verses. You will recall that last week we had the harbinger to the final plague, where God described through Moses that “all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.”

The chapter begins with a sense of drama fitting to the events about to unfold. God tells Moses and Aaron that their calendar will begin with the present month, setting the stage for the Jewish calendar to begin in accordance with their departure from the land of Egypt (not dissimilar to how our calendar today begins with the birth of Christ). Then, directions are given to the household of Israel that will prevent them from having their firstborn killed.

Directions for the Passover were very specific. Here is a list of some of the requirements:

• Male lamb without blemish of the first year, taken from sheep or goat
• Whole assembly of Israel to kill their lamb at twilight on the fourteenth day of the current month
• Blood of the lamb applied to the doorposts and lintel of their dwelling
• Whole lamb roasted in fire, eaten with herbs and unleavened bread, remainder to be burned by the morning
• Participants to eat the lamb with their belts and sandals on, signifying that the act of Passover is the final act that will allow them to depart the land of Egypt

By following these directions explicitly, the children of Israel will exempt themselves from the tenth plague. The text here says that the firstborn of both man and beast will be struck and that God will also be executing judgment on the gods of Israel.

After the instructions for the Passover to save their firstborn, God then gives the children of Israel instructions on maintaining the Passover on a yearly basis as a memorial for how God saved them. This memorial, like others in the Bible, are in place to remind the people of the providence and greatness of God Almighty. After these specific instructions and ordinances are outlined, Moses contacts the elders and instructs them on how to protect against the death of the firstborn.

Verses 29 and 30 paint a truly horrific scene:

“And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”

Directly after this unspeakable horror, God tells Moses and Aaron to get a move on. They wasted no time in heeding God in leaving. You will recall that the people also were to take riches from the Egyptians in the form of gold and silver and clothing. The children of Israel will successfully leave Egypt and escape the bonds of slavery. They, as well as the Egyptians, are convinced of the power of God, based on the cumulative effects of the plagues. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was leading to the events of Exodus 13 and 14.

The importance of the death of the firstborn in the divine plan for man’s redemption cannot be understated. There are some amazing similarities between the Passover lamb and Jesus Christ:

• Both Christ and the Passover lamb were without blemish (physical for lamb, spiritual for Jesus)
• The blood saves in both cases – the Passover lamb’s blood on the posts and lintel as compared with the blood of Christ and how it saves us:
  • I John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”
  • Ephesians 2:13: “But now in ChristJesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
  • Hebrews 9:14: “how much more shall the bloodof Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
• Both the Jews and modern-day Christians are required to act in order to be saved; Jews in Egypt had to follow the Passover rules while today Christians must believe, repent, and be baptized
  • I Peter 3:21: “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”

Why did God make so many similarities between the saving of His people under the old covenant with the saving of His people under the new (current) covenant? I think much of the answer can be found in the idea that the new law is an evolution, or perfection, of the old law. Under the old law, faith was not as large of a component as it is today within the salvation paradigm of Jesus Christ. But what God did through the old law was teach man that He has absolute authority and that there are consequences when we sin, when we stray from his design of living. Created as a being with free will, yet in the image of God, mankind had to in a sense be trained to love, honor, and obey God. Consider this passage from Galatians 3:21-25:

“Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

Another dimension to the maturation of God’s design is that salvation is now available for ALL, not just the children of Israel. Continuing on in Galatians 3:26-29:

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

God was preparing us, His greatest creation, for a way to find our way to Him. Sin separated us, but God brought us back together through the sacrifice of His only Son. Nothing can keep any man or woman from Christ except their own unwillingness to approach Him as He has determined. Such is the authority of our Creator. It cannot be negotiated or changed. This is fantastic news. God’s love for us is great, His blessings are bountiful, and His mercy is far-reaching.

Can you think of other similarities between the Passover and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

This chapter begins with God reiterating how He will orchestrate events. Notice how God’s words to Moses are said with a sense of finality and assurance: “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” Not only will the Israelites escape, they will escape with plunder.

As Moses describes the last plague to the Egyptians, it sounds almost too horrible to bear. Not only will the firstborn of the Egyptians die, but the deaths will occur across against all of the social strata and even among the animals. We must also mention that the Israelites will be saved from this final plague.

As the events of the plagues near an end, God has seen it all play out according to His orchestration and He knows that the desired outcome of the release of the Israelites will come true. The theme of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart will come full circle soon. With this difference, God will make it absolutely clear upon which faction His favor lies: “But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.”

God’s Word to us in the New Testament is the same today. His words to Moses as he spoke them were as true as the promises of the New Covenant that He gives us today under Jesus Christ.

As the plague of locusts burgeons, we have Pharaoh’s servants entreating him to let the people go. All around him, people are seeing that it is senseless to keep denying the Israelites in the midst of so much suffering. But, as we know, Pharaoh’s resistance is God’s doing. The Lord is still doing this to propel the greatness of His name across the generations: “…that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” Genesis 10: 1-2

Each of the previous plagues has been an irritating threat to health. Other than the diseased livestock, there have been no recorded deaths as the result of the plague; certainly no human deaths have yet been recorded as having occurred until this time. The locusts tend to fall in the bothersome and disgusting category of insects and creatures, such as flies, lice and frogs. Pestilences in this category of plague could drive a person mad with their constant presence and irrepressible numbers. The locusts in this chapter have the added burden of eating everything in their path.

Another category of plague seems more sinister than these creepy-crawlies. While the first category of living pests is alive, the disease of the livestock, the boils and the hail – all of these are not alive but they seek to bring to death that which is alive. The livestock die from disease, the boils decrease health and the hail can strike and kill. Both of these categories are examples of natural things going wrong.

Seven of the ten plagues are represented in the first two categories above, but there are two more categories yet for us to address. The final, and most terrifying is the tenth plague – death of the firstborn. We will study that next week. The other category of plague encapsulates the water turning to blood and the darkness.

It is true that the death of the firstborn is the saddest and represents the greatest loss. But as we continue tonight’s study, I posit to you that the two plagues that are left – water turning to blood and darkness – these are the most frightening. For while some of the other plagues represent what happens when here is too much of one thing in nature (frogs, flies, lice), the water to blood and the darkness are just nature going wrong.

Genesis 10:21-23 says that there was thick darkness in the land for three days and that the Egyptians did not leave their place for this duration. Imagine it being so dark that you did not leave your house, did not even leave your room. Imagine the darkness stretching out for hours and hours on end. Time has no meaning as the first day melts into the next. How could you tell time under such conditions? Egyptian families huddled together frightened as Israelites had light in their dwellings. How terrible it must have been to live without light, sight or vision of any kind for three days.

The story of the ninth plague that was darkness ends predictably. Pharaoh tells Moses that he can go, but that his flocks and herds must stay back although the children could go with them. Making the livestock stay back was probably Pharaoh’s way of making sure that the Israelites came back eventually. Moses, understandably sick of Pharaoh’s behavior by now, refuses and says that they will go but they will take their livestock. Pharaoh, having his heart hardened by God, tells Moses to get away from him and that Moses would see his face no more. This would turn out to be true.

As the plagues progress, so does the surety that they are from the Lord. We should remember from chapter 8 that the plague of the flies was kept from the Israelites. We see the same thing with the disease plague that begins chapter 8. Also recall how God has been identifying when the plagues would come and when they would depart. Being able to accurately predict the plague timings as well as preventing one group or geographic area from experiencing it are both proofs that a divine hand is at work.

The sequence of events for each plague has established a familiar pattern. Not every step listed below is represented in every plague, but each plague follows this general outline:

1. God tells Moses/Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go
2. Pharaoh is warned that if he refuses, a plague will commence
3. A plague comes and decimates the region, sometimes sparing the Israelites
4. Pharaoh indicates that he will let the people go if the plague subsides
5. The plague ends
6. Pharaoh’s heart hardens against the people and he does not let them go

In chapter 9, a disease that kills livestock comes and follows the pattern. Like the plague of the flies, not one of the Israelites’ livestock is killed. Then the sixth plague of boils comes. The Egyptian magicians could not even attempt to replicate the plague of the boils, such was the severity of this plague: “And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.”

Then the plague of Hail comes. With the hail plague comes exposition from God on why He is orchestrating these plagues. Through Moses, God tells Pharaoh that He has increased Egypt and made them prosperous so that they could be in the position they are in now – to be greatly affected by the work of the Lord and be on display as those affected when they do not follow the word of the Lord. God is doing this “that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.” To this end, God is also hardening Pharaoh’s heart.

The hail was devastating to the Egyptians that neglected to stay indoors or to keep their livestock indoors (those that had not perished from the disease plague). The land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was once again spared from plague as the hail did not fall in Goshen.

Pharaoh’s attitude after the hail was the most repentant we have yet seen: “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. Entreat the Lord, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

Yet, we see that by the end of this chapter, Pharaoh changes his mind again, and by this time, we are beginning to expect it. For the application tonight, I encourage you to think about how God specified that Egypt was made great right for this moment – to glorify God and spread knowledge of His might and power over all of the earth. If God did this then, let us have faith when we are troubled in the midst of alarming current events. God is in control and we need to have faith that the outcome will be right regardless of how difficult that can be to visualize. Practicing this belief will help to increase our faith.

God, Moses and Pharaoh continue the phases of petition, resistance, and plague in this chapter. Since Pharaoh would not let the people go after the blood plague, God sent frogs. The frogs appeared abundantly. Think about your own home. Think about your kitchen, your garage, your sidewalk, your bedrooms and bathrooms. Frogs in everything. This is where they appeared:

• House
• Bedroom
• Bed
• Servant’s houses
• On people
• Ovens
• Kneading bowls

After the frogs appeared in this manner, Pharaoh relents in speech only, saying, “Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

It is good to remember that Pharaoh is still talking in terms of letting the people go so that they may sacrifice to the Lord in the wilderness. Moses, however, at the beginning of this chapter, mentions to let the Israelites go so that they may serve the Lord. God is beginning to make good on the promise to bring His people to the promised land as He confirmed in Exodus 6:8: “And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’”

It was only in Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh in chapter 5 that he mentioned the purpose of their leaving was to sacrifice to God in the wilderness. Now, the entreaties are not just for a release to the wilderness, but they are for a permanent release of all Israelites from Egypt. This of course was God’s plan from the beginning.

Despite the intents of his hardened heart, Pharaoh is concerned enough over the great number of frogs that he agrees to let the people go. Moses, in a display of power, and to confirm that it is through him and God that the frogs will depart, offers Pharaoh to tell him the time that the frogs should leave. This will let Pharaoh know that God is controlling events. When Pharaoh says “Tomorrow,” and the frogs die out the next day, Pharaoh’s true hard heart is shown and he does not do as he said he would.

Do we see a little of ourselves in Pharaoh here? When conditions are very bad, for example failing health, the threat of loss, or trouble with a relationship, we tend to seek relief. Pharaoh is seeking relief for his people and himself when he agrees to let the people go if the frogs go away. But when God makes good on His word to remove the frogs, Pharaoh returns to his former state of mind, retaining his power over the Israelites and keeping them captive as slaves. We do this exact thing sometimes, do we not? We turn to God and relinquish our “control” over a situation, leaning on Him in prayer to help us with a situation or problem. But how quick we can be to take back control of a situation when the threat disappears. God remains the same whether or not we trust in Him. Like Pharaoh, we usually only subject ourselves to more heartbreak and suffering when we resist following God and going to Him during bad and good times.

After the frogs came the lice. Not as much is mentioned regarding the lice, but these must also have been unbearable. They originated from the dust after Aaron struck the ground. Unlike the blood and the frogs, the Egyptian magicians were unable to reproduce this plague. When they realized that they could not bring forth lice, they had to admit that it was the work of God. However, Pharaoh’s heart remained against releasing the Israelites.

With the third plague of this chapter come the horrible flies. The flies were also mentioned for their ubiquity. They would be found on the people, their servants, the houses and upon the ground. Exodus 8:24 says, “…Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.”

But God made a distinction with this plague – no flies were to be found in Goshen, the place where the Israelites lived. We are not told that the Israelites avoided the previous three plagues of the blood, the frogs, and the lice, but we do know that they did not have to bear the flies. What a relief! To avoid even one of these plagues would have been a great blessing. This is not the only plague that they would avoid.

God’s leaving the Israelites out of the effects of a plague is His way of both showing them favor and showing the Egyptians and Pharaoh that He was purposefully punishing the Egyptians for holding His people in slavery.

Finally, in verse 25, it seems that there is a reprieve as Pharaoh tells Moses to go and sacrifice to God. But keep in mind, Pharaoh is not allowing the people to go free, nor is he allowing them to go and sacrifice in the wilderness, but he is only allowing them to sacrifice in the land. Moses says no to Pharaoh because he suspects that if the Israelites perform their sacrifices in the land where the Egyptians can view it, they will invite the condemnation and punishment from the Egyptians because the Egyptians detested sacrificing sheep. Moses explained this to Pharaoh and Pharaoh then let them go to the wilderness to sacrifice in verse 28.

The chapter ends predictably. Moses tells Pharaoh that the flies will depart and they do, but Pharaoh remains steadfast in his stance against the Israelites. He does not intend to let them go. But as has been the theme for this chapter and life in general, God is in control.

Chapter 6 ended with Moses asking God how he could possibly speak to Pharaoh. Moses had next to no confidence in his ability to speak on behalf of God.

In the beginning of this chapter, God tells Moses that he and his brother Aaron will tell Pharaoh to send the Israelites away, but God will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that Pharaoh will not listen. God will do this so that He may make an example of Pharaoh, so that Pharaoh and all of the Egyptians will witness God’s power to control events in the world. Through this, the Egyptians will know the power of the one true God and the Israelites will go free. Moses and Aaron, evidently heartened by this, go to speak to Pharaoh.

When Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh, God has prepared a miracle. God knew that Pharaoh would ask for proof that they were speaking on behalf of deity, so God has instructed Moses to throw his rod on the ground, and it becomes a snake. But Pharaoh called his wise men and sorcerers and they also threw their rods down and their rods became snakes too. Then Moses’ snake swallowed up all the other snakes, proving at once whose power was ultimate. This was an instance where God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, in order that he would not yet let the Israelites go, so that God could display his power through the coming ten plagues.

When God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh to enact turning the water to blood, He does not tell Moses that this is the first of ten great miracles that will come to torture the Egyptian people. Neither Moses, Aaron or Pharaoh knows the sequence of plagues to come.

All of the plagues are terrifying and horrible, but the first is perhaps one of the most striking and frightening. The Egyptian people lived in an arid region, a desert with valuable sources of water nearby. To remove the water from the region would have been alarming enough in such an environment, but to replace it with something as repugnant as blood is another level of agitation. God’s design for this plan in verses 17-18: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.”

Think about how much of an invasion to their lives this was. Not only were their sources of water changed to blood, but also the water that was stored in their pitchers and buckets was turned to blood. The fish died and the blood stank. The “magicians” of Egypt then “duplicated” the effect, by coloring or on a smaller scale. Their efforts were meager at best and Pharaoh was left unmoved by the entire ordeal, his heart remaining hard so that God could carry out the might of His miracles.

After seven days, the water returned. If you were an Egyptian, lacking hydration for a week, how would you feel when you heard that the blood turned back to water? Surely you would rush out to see and drink, but in the back of your mind, rank blood and bloated floating fish would linger in your memory as you drank.

Meditate on the absolute power God exerts over the world and how He can do whatever He wants, using whatever methods He wants. Moses and Aaron were to deliver the message, and they did. All of the water was to be turned to blood, and it was. Pharaoh was to be left unimpressed, and he was. God’s control over this entire series of events is divine power, and it all goes to uplift and uphold His great name. Every single player on this stage receives justice and they are all educated. Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the Israelites are all made better for their education on God’s power.

We may not see God’s intervention as blatantly as this today, but prayers still matter, and they still change things. And the greatest miracle of all, the miracle of our salvation, is yet to be realized as we study Exodus 7 tonight.

In Exodus 5, we saw Pharaoh increase the labor of the Israelites after they asked permission to go to the wilderness to make offerings to God. Moses had just come off from meeting with God, and had convinced the Israelites that God would deliver them from their Egyptian masters. After making this initial request to Pharaoh, Pharaoh then increased their labor by forcing them to gather straw for their bricks, rather than using straw from the Egyptians’ supply.

After this turn of events, Moses and the people were discouraged. Indeed, Moses’ words in chapter 5 were discouraging to the faithful Bible reader: ““Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

Chapter 6 starts with God speaking to Moses, allaying his fears. In the big picture, Pharaoh’s initial and continual rejection of God is part of the plan. God’s plan to save Israel from the slavery of Egypt will be revealed in many phases and 10 plagues. Moses’ and the peoples’ faith were being tested. God reminds Moses of Hs faithful heritage:

“Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land…I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.”

God then asks Moses to tell the Israelites again to reiterate to the people that He will save them. God has heard their prayers and wishes to bring them out of Egyptian bondage. God tells Moses to go in again to Pharaoh to tell him to let the Israelites go. Moses remains dubious, but God commands him and Aaron again to continue to pursue the release of the Israelites through Pharaoh.

Verses 14-27 provide a genealogy of the families of Moses and Aaron. We will notice in some of the ages provided, the age range of humanity continues to decrease.

The end of the chapter reminds us once again of Moses’ lack of confidence as a speaker. We know that Moses’ faith in God was strong, but we also know that Moses needed to increase his faith in himself. This, of course, is an extension of his faith in God when it comes down to it. Because if God has set the goal to remove the Israelites from Egypt and has determined that Moses will be the one to lead the exodus, then it follows that God will bestow Moses the gifts needed to facilitate the effort.

But at the outset, Moses needs help in being convinced that he can do it. And in the end, Moses’ faith will be deepened as he sees that God’s plan was to work through him all along.

A good lesson for us in this chapter is to realize that faith in God has many different facets. It can be easy to believe that God created the heavens and the earth. It can be easy to believe that God can heal the sick and that God can bring the rain and the heat and can provide for all the animals of the earth. But is our faith deep enough to believe that God can remove our fear or apprehension about something we know we need to do? Maybe it is complicated by a character defect or insecurity we have. Moses’ faith was not deep enough in the beginning to believe confidently that God could remove the Israelites from Egypt through him exclusively. But through the providence of God and in the outcome of His plan, Moses’ faith increased.

Let us attempt to learn something from Moses tonight. Even if the right thing to do seems impossible, we should exercise our faith to bridge the gap and act in righteousness. Even if it requires a skill that we know we do not have, we need to believe that we can if God is with us. Sometimes we need help to boost our faith. With prayer and biblical examples like Moses, we can see how God is acting in our lives.

Once Moses and Aaron had the support of the Israelite people, their next stop was Pharaoh, where they would try to convince him to let the Israelite people go – but just for three days. This request was not to be set free – not yet –  this request was just for the Israelites to go to the mountains so that they could sacrifice to “their” God.

This initial exchange with Pharaoh has many indications that the confrontation is really only getting started:

• The request was only to go hold a feast in the wilderness, and not for total freedom
• Once Pharaoh says no, Moses and Aaron, instead of bringing up the wrath of God upon Pharaoh, show fear that the Israelites will incur the wrath of God if they do not go
• No indication as of yet of the Egyptians’ gods’ power vs. the Israelites’ God’s power

Like many bad leaders that wish to retain their power, Pharaoh takes this opportunity to tighten his hold on the Israelites. Pharaoh surmises that they are asking for this “holiday” because they are idle, with not enough to do. So Pharaoh adds to their burden: instead of providing them with the straw they need to make bricks, they are told to gather it themselves, and they still have to meet the same quota. When they are unable to reach this tough demand, they are chastised.

In the midst of this activity, the Israelite people blame Moses and Aaron for these difficulties, asking – what was it all for? Now we just have more work to do!

And Moses displays the typical novice aspects of impatience and worry when it comes to spiritual things. Like even so many of us, things do not happen quickly enough, and they do not happen as smoothly as we would like them to. Moses does not yet have an inkling of all of the events that are to come. At this early stage, he is asking, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

Moses, like Pharaoh, will learn much as events unfold.