King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Wednesday, February 01. 2023
Chapters: EXODUS 7-9
Study: Until Judgment Comes
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Can you believe that we are into a new month already? January, has been slow days, but really a fast month for me. I was talking with one of my colleagues and I tell you what I am never going to complain about my paycheck or “rank” ever again. We have the opportunity to bid on a different schedule, and they base your winning the schedule you want by rank, I am number forty out of sixty-three. I mean that number really is not that bad since I am not even a year into the company and only been at my new position three months. My colleague and I was talking about anger and how we react to it. I confessed that I may seem calm, but all my anger gets pent up until my last nerve gets struck and then you do not want to be near me. That got me thinking about God, and how slow to anger He is until you strike His last nerve.
[Psalms 103:6-11 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.]
As we continue in the reading of Exodus, we learn just how God’s slow to anger was pent up for eighty some years before His last nerve struck Egypt. It may have seemed like He was not angry that the Egyptians killed all those baby boys by throwing them into the river. And it may have seemed like He was not angry at the cruel and harsh labor that they enslaved His people with, but He was. God, waited for the exact time to show both Egypt and Israel just how powerful JEHOVAH really is. And the strange thing, he was going to do that by bringing them down to their own level. Every god, ever object, every creature they worshiped was going to be used to judge Egypt for what they had done. And now, God, tells Moses His plan.
[Exodus 7:1-5 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.]
[I have made thee a god to Pharaoh:] There are different forms of gods, there is only one living God and He truly is JEHOVAH, and every other god is man made and dead, even the ones made up to mimic God. However, because God is slow to anger and not forceful He actually allows people to worship whatever god they make up or choose, but once you make that choice, the results of what happens are all on you. Since Pharaoh saw himself as a god and also worshiped several other things as gods, God, was going to prove to him, all the Egyptians, and the Israelites that there is only one living God. He was going to do this by making it appear as though Moses had the same powers as his devil filled magicians that they had.
[Exodus 7:9-12 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. 10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.]
[the wise men and the sorcerers:] Do not think for one second that the devil’s hands are not in any of this. And do not think for one second that God just allow any of it without a purpose. Satan, knows that there is only one living God and in fact, is only allowed to go so far. Unfortunately, since man is quite evil themselves, God allows Satan to play these parts in order to separate His people from Satan’s. Anyone who is not on God’s side is on Satan’s, but I tell you what, I much rather be a vessel on the side of the living God rather than Satan, [Romans 9:22-23 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,]
Our faith or disbelief in God all comes down to the heart, and of course, God knows each and every heart. So, why would it be a shock that God would use those led by Satan to lead believers to Christ? I will give you two reasons, to bring the fear of God on the lost so they can find Christ, and to bring judgment upon those who follow Satan. God, was going to send ten plagues to prove to the Egyptians and Israelites that He is JEHOVAH, the first plague was turning water into blood. Not just any water, every body of water in Egypt, beginning with the Nile River, which was idolized by the Egyptians who used and worshiped it under various names and symbols. By the command of God, Moses and Aaron took the rod that God had turned into the snake before Moses and for seven days the water was completely turned blood, and every living thing that was in it died.
[Exodus 7:17-20 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.]
[both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.] God, not only turned the waters in the rivers, lakes, and ponds into blood, He even struck the waters that had been in the barrels, cups, and wells. They frantically searched for water, even went as far as digging for it, but found none. God, was slow to anger, He never forgot that the Egyptians had stained the river with the blood of the Israelites children, and now it was blood, as well as every pond, brook, and every body of water. We may think that God’s judgments are cruel and unfair, but they really are quite subtle compared to man. Yes, we are far more cruel and unfair than God, just look at what they did to Jesus, [But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. – Matthew 23:13]
Now, God’s judgments upon His people are not grievous, they do bring us to light that we need to trust Him at all times, and be repentant when we mess up. As for His judgments upon the world, He never forgets what they have done to His people, and He knows true repentance. Of course, nothing changed after God restored the waters, this time, He would plague the country with frogs.
[Exodus 8:1-2,4-7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.]
[And the magicians did so with their enchantments,] Oh, the Pharaoh was going to play their game, and try and prove that his magicians were just as powerful as God. Why frogs? They worshiped a female god idol that had a frog’s head, and the frog was connected with the most ancient forms of nature-worship in Egypt. Well, enough was enough, Pharaoh was tired of having frogs in his bed, on his throne, and in his food, he called for Moses to get rid of them. Well, God did, sort of, they all died, and well, if dead fish smelled pretty bad, you can imagine how dead frogs must have smelled.
[Exodus 8:8-10,13-15 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat 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 do sacrifice unto the LORD. 9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? 10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. 13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.]
[But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite,] [Respite; Relieved from labor; allowed a temporary suspension of execution.] When the Pharaoh saw all the frogs were removed without the Israelites having to clean them up, he changed his mind and did not let them go. God, also did not stop the plagues from coming, because he would not let them go, the third plague was sent, lice.
[Exodus 8:16-19 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.]
[This is the finger of God:] Why lice? The dust or the soil, is what the Egyptians called the father of the gods, they had a special sacredness attached to it as the black fertile soil that came from the basin of the Nile, called Chemi. Well, finally someone figured out that this was coming from God Himself and by no enchantments. There really is only so much that Satan can do to mimic God, eventually all come to the knowledge that God is the one in control, [James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.]
Turning the water into blood, making the frogs come out of the water, even turning a rod into a snake was something of an illusion that magicians can pull off, but even the magicians started to realize that this was God Himself. This actually hardened the Pharaoh’s heart even more, which brought on the fourth plague, flies.
[Exodus 8:21-23 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.]
[and also the ground whereon they are.] Why flies? The swarms of flies were actually flying insects of all kinds, and included mosquitoes and beetles. The Egyptians worshiped the beetle as a symbol of reproductive or creative power. The sun-god, named Chepera, is represented with the head, of a beetle. So, as you come to understand what these people worshiped you get better understanding as to why God plagued them with the very things they worshiped. Worship what you will, but whatever it is will come back at you, whether it be God or Satan, [2 Timothy 2:11-13 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.]
[And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen,] This is when God decides to step it up a notch, the rest of the plagues, except for the last, would only be sent upon the Egyptians. Well, first, God’s plagues went after the gods they worshiped, this time, He was going straight for their livelihood, beginning with their livestock.
[Exodus 9:1-3,6-7 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. 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.]
[there shall be a very grievous murrain.] [Murrain; deber, “destruction,” a “great mortality”,] Murrain, in an infectious and fatal disease among cattle and that was what killed many of them. This was a great loss of the owner as this was their livelihood, and it was also vengeance on God, since they had made Israel poor, God would make them poor. [and he did not let the people go.] Perhaps the thing that bothered Pharaoh most was that the plagues did not touch the Israelites anymore, but with every plague his heart hardened even more, and now we come to the sixth plague, boils.
[Exodus 9:8-11 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.]
[and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven;] Moses took those ashes from the furnace, sprinkled them up into the sky, and all of a sudden, boils formed upon both man and beast. Blains means inflammatory irruption, meaning that not only were they covered in these bubbles of pus, they would be painstakingly inflamed and all over their bodies. If we thought that the boils that Job had on his body seemed painful, those were nothing. This was now the sixth plague cast upon them, and the Pharaoh still would not let them go, even though with each one he said he would, but on his condition. Yet, God was not done, for the seventh plague, he would send a hail storm. Notice what God says before He sends the hail.
[Exodus 9:13-18 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.]
[And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up,] In other words, God, is telling him that He has kept him alive through all this and allowed him to treat His people the way he treated them in order to preserve him for greater judgments and sorer punishments. Do you see now why God is slow to anger? He gives all the opportunity to repent before He last nerve is struck, and mercy is out. To give the Pharaoh a little idea of what He is capable of, that rain storm did not just send ice falling down, it sent fire as well.
[Exodus 9:23-26 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.]
[And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt] Do you see why the wicked are still here? The wicked have a far greater punishment awaiting them, hell and the lake of fire, [Revelation 20:12-14 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.]
[Only in the land of Goshen,] And do you also see why God judges His people first? Since His people will not face the lake of fire, their judgment takes places while they are still here in the flesh, [1 Peter 4:16-17 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for bringing me up in a home that believed in You, we may have had the wrong doctrine, but by Your grace, You showed us the truth about Your Son, and now we are saved and one of Your people. And thank You for Your hedge of protection around me that keeps me out of the way of Your judgments upon the world. It is only when I trust in You with all my heart that I realize that Your hand has been with me, guiding me the whole time. You truly are slow to anger, but also know when enough is enough and it is time to repent or else. Lord, lead me and guide me, keep my heart tender, repentant, and always on You, and as You never forget Your promise, I will never forget it either. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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