Wednesday 22 July 2015

King Pharaoh Finally let the children of God go

God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt. Pharaoh seemed a little surprised but he summoned his magicians and they also turned the water into blood. But his magicians couldn't turn the blood back into water either. They really were everywhere! In the stoves where they cooked, in their beds, and they even jumped on the people.

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Exodus 13:17 (CEBA) When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn't lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. The Lord instructed Aaron and Moses to go see Pharaoh once again and He told them, "Tell Pharaoh to let my people go. God reminded Moses of His promises. The first time Moses went to Pharaoh, and asked him to set the Israelites free, Pharaoh said “NO.” Then Pharaoh made the slaves work even harder. Rightly, Moses took his discouragement to the Lord. He told them to put all animals and people under shelter. Things didn’t start well for Moses. They needed their animals to make sacrifices to God.

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were not accustomed to receiving commands from others, particularly from such "lowly" people as Moses (a dusty old shepherd who had just spent 40 years out in the Sinai with Jethro) and Aaron (one the Pharaoh's Israelite slaves). Moses told Pharaoh that ALL of God’s people should be set free. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt."

If you thought all the other plagues were bad, there was one last plague (the tenth plague) that was way worse than any of the others. God sent a plague of locusts. God told Moses that He would free the people and give them the land that He promised Abraham.

By this point, Pharaoh told Moses that he would let the men go, but not the women. Their message came directly from The God Of Creation, but the Pharaoh (see Who Was The Exodus Pharaoh?) was of no mind to listen. The Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed to the ground. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered everything. There were people in Egypt who now feared God, and they obeyed. The people complained against Moses, and he became discouraged. Around midnight I will go throughout Egypt. God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt.

Pharaoh smiled and said, "Go ahead." So Aaron did what the Lord told him and put his staff into the water and it turned to blood. God sent dense swarms of flies to cover the land. The Lord told them, "This will be the last plague on Pharaoh and Egypt, after this they will let you go. After a whole week of this Pharaoh still wouldn't let the people go. (A locust looks a lot like a grasshopper.)

This time, Pharaoh said that all the people could go, but that the cattle and livestock must stay. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, even the son of Pharaoh, and there will be great sadness." Moses and Aaron warned Pharaoh, but he refused to listen.

Exodus 13:17 (CEB) When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn't lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. With that, Pharaoh's heart became hard, and he turned and walked back to his palace.

They did as God asked and Pharaoh once again refused to let the people go. However, there were also people who ignored the warning, and they were killed. They worshiped created things, rather than The Creator - perhaps the primary reason that God targeted a number of Egypt's "gods" directly with The Ten Plagues.

God warned Pharaoh and the people that He was going to send the “full force” of His plague against them. This time Pharaoh told Moses that SOME of God’s people could go, but Moses said that ALL of God’s people needed to be set free to worship God. It was the WORST storm in all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 13:17 (ESV) When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. Pharaoh agreed, but as soon as the flies left, Pharaoh changed his mind.

Today we’re going to learn see all the ways that God worked in Egypt on behalf of His people, the Israelites. Since Pharaoh wouldn’t listen. If he refuses to let them go, I will plague the whole country with frogs."

Do you like when a fly lands on your big, juicy hamburger? Neither did the Egyptians. Moses told Pharaoh that everything and everyone should go. The Pharaohs didn't believe in the True God - their "gods" were various idols, and such natural things as bulls and reptiles and the Nile River.

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