PM January 24th Exodus 9

January 24^th Exodus 9

Plague 5 Animals die

1: Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2: For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3: Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4: And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. 5: And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 6: And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7: And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Plague 6 Boils

8: And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9: And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10: And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11: And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12: And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

Plague 7 Hail

13: And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14: For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15: For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. 16: And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 17: As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 18: Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. 19: Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. 20: He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21: And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field. 22: And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. 23: And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24: So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25: And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 26: Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. 27: And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28: Intreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29: And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD's. 30: But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God. 31: And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 32: But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up. 33: And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. 34: And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35: And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

Exodus 10 Plague 8 Locusts

1: And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: 2: And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD. 3: And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. 4: Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: 5: And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: 6: And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. 7: And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? 8: And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? 9: And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. 10: And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11: Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. 12: And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 13: And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14: And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 15: For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16: Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17: Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only. 18: And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 19: And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. 20: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

Plague 9 Darkness

21: And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22: And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24: And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 25: And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 26: Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. 27: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. 28: And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29: And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.

In today’s Bible reading we have five more Plagues that the Lord sent onto Egypt. Again Moses asks Pharaoh to let the people go. The Lord warned that all the cattle of Egypt would die yet the Lord would divide the cattle of Egypt from the cattle of Israel. Pharaoh was amazed by this sign yet he refused to let the people go. So the Lord brought a sixth plague on Egypt. This would touch the flesh of the Egyptians. Moses took some ashes from the furnace and sprinkled it towards heaven in front of Pharaoh. This became a plague of boils in both men and beasts. It’s interesting that the Magicians could not come before Pharaoh because they had the boils too. Yet this did not soften the heart of Pharaoh. So the LORD sent another plague. This was a very great rain of hailstones. And Moses gave them a way of escape so that all the Egyptians that feared the Lord took their cattle and brought them inside the houses and they survived. The Lord sent hail and fire ran along the ground. (This was probably a meteor storm of huge proportions.) Every bush and tree was smashed and any man or beast caught in the open was killed. Pharaoh pleaded for the hail to cease and Moses went out of the city and called upon the Lord and it cease immediately. However as soon as the hail ceased Pharaoh changed his mind and hardened his heart against the Lord. Next Moses went in to say that the Lord will bring locusts into the land to destroy all vegetation. Now Pharaoh’s servants were beginning to ask him why he was so stubborn. So Pharaoh called on Moses and said you can go – your old and young. This was unacceptable to Moses. Then Moses stretched out his rod and an east wing blew all day and the next day locusts invaded the whole land of Egypt. There was not left one blade of green in the whole of Egypt. At this Pharaoh asked that Moses might forgive him of his sin and that he might ask the Lord to take them away. Then the Lord sent a strong West wind and blew them all away and they died in the red sea (The gulf of Aqabar). Again Pharaoh hardened his heart. Moses appeared before Pharaoh and told him that the land of Egypt would be in thick darkness for three days. The Darkness was so great that nobody could move in Egypt for three days, but the children of Israel had light in their houses. Pharaoh called Moses to ask that he might go but that he must leave his flocks and herds. But Moses refused this compromise. So Pharaoh hardened his heart and said l do not want to see your face again. Moses said that is true you will not see my face again. This showdown was the greatest contest between the God of Heaven the LORD of Israel that this world has ever seen. Whenever the children of Israel wanted to speak of the power of the Lord they always spoke of these days. Yet greater signs were yet to come.

• What were these plagues?
• Notice the difference in this narrative between the hardening of Pharoahs heart sometimes God hardens him and other times he hardenes his own heart.
• How do you feel that the people of Egypt thought about the things that came on them?