King James Bible Study – [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. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, February 01, 2024
Chapters: Exodus Chapters 7-9
Message: These Are The Beginning of Sorrows
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today it occurred to me that the plagues that God sent upon Egypt were a foreshadow of what will take place upon the entire earth during the tribulation. It reminds me of what Jesus said in regards to the tribulation, or I should say, pretribulation, [Matthew 24:6-8 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.]
It is quite disheartening to think of the state of our nations right now and realize that we are in the beginning of sorrows. Any day now Jesus, could be calling His people to safety from the actual tribulation. You see, one way or another the world is going to know who God is, and unfortunately most of them will be too hardhearted to accept that they need Jesus before it is too late. We may not realize it, but the famines, diseases, and natural disasters of the past were warnings of repentance to the world and while they may have brought people to God in the past, the future is not looking so bright as we are encountering these very things today. If Jesus saw this before His passion, just imagine what He is seeing today, [Matthew 24:12-14 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.]
As we continue in the reading of Exodus, God, is about to form a series of unfortunate events to not only prove to Egypt that their false gods and idols are nothing, but evil, but to also show the Israelites that He protects His people. In order to prove to them that there is only One Almighty God, He first needed to bring them down to their level. God, tells Moses that He was going to make him look like a god to the people and Aaron a prophet.
[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.]
[and bring forth mine armies…out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.] God, is referring to the children of Israel consisting of six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, divided into twelve tribes. When Jesus comes for His people there will be mass hysteria as His army is literally taken out of the world while Jesus sends His great judgments upon those who are left behind, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]
Remember when God gave Moses a sign by turning his rod into a snake? Well, He did that to so Pharaoh that Moses had the same abilities as his magicians did. This was the very first thing that God did in front of Pharaoh with Aaron’s rod, but watch what happens when the magicians did the same thing with their rods.
[Exodus 7:10-13 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. 13 And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.]
[but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.] What was the miracle in this? Aaron’s rod became a real snake, but the rods of the magicians were only illusions. Therefore, they were devoured by His serpent called His rod, who is actually Jesus, [Isaiah 11:1-3 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:]
[And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart,] This was first sign to show Pharaoh that there is someone more powerful than his magicians who were only doing parlor tricks. Now, come the judgments, God, actually hardened his heart in order to prove who He is to them and to the Israelites as well. Each of the judgments that God was about to send had a purpose and reason behind it, and it all began with the very river that they worshiped. The Nile River, was idolized by the Egyptians who used and worshiped it under various names and symbols. Since God is no respecter of persons, just like every judgment there comes a warning first to repent. God, sends Moses and Aaron to the river the next morning, where Pharaoh was and warned him to let His people go.
[Exodus 7:15,17,19-20 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. 17 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. 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.]
[I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand] This was not the hand of Moses, Aaron, or his rod, this was the hand of God, and His rod. While His mercies are great, He will use His rod if He needs to upon all who refuse to repent. And just like that, Aaron, stretched the rod over the water, and it immediately turned into blood. Oh, and the magicians conveniently were able to do that too, [Exodus 7:22-25 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. 24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.]
[Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this] You see, by seeing his magicians doing what appeared to be similar to what Aaron had done, he concluded that it was not by the hand of God. This is why Christians are not to blend in with the world, we are to literally stick out like sore thumbs to show them why they need Jesus, [2 Corinthians 6:16-18 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.]
The sons and daughters of the Almighty God, this phrase is only written once in the entire Bible, but that is because God does not look at us in regards to a gender, we are all souls of whom Jesus gave His life for so that we could not only escape hell, but the destruction of the earth as well. While all magic is black, evil, and most of it just illusions, in this case, God, did have a purpose for Moses and Aaron mimicking the magicians, He was about to show them the difference between illusions and the truth. This time God sent Moses and Aaron to warn him that if he did not let His people go then He is going to send frogs.
[Exodus 8:1-4 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: 3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.]
[And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly,] 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 8:6-10 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. 8 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.]
[and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.] 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. At this point, the magicians were going to play their game and fool Pharaoh into believing that they were just as powerful as God, but it was getting tough. So, imagine frogs all over your bed, at the table when you are eating, stuck to walls, even in the bathroom and you can get a picture of how bad it was. Now, had the magicians been as wise as they appeared, then they would have be able to remove the frogs themselves, proving what fools they really are, [Proverbs 24:7 Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.]
[Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee,] Moses, was being a little bit sarcastic here, did the Pharaoh expect to glorify himself in asking him to pray for God to remove the frogs? Oh yes he did. Moses, knew this and well, if he were sincere then the prayer would be genuine and granted, but if not, then they are going to have to deal with the frogs on their own. Well, Moses did pray to God, and He did get rid of them, sort of, they all died, and well, if the dead fish smelled pretty bad, you can imagine how bad the dead frogs must have smelled.
[Exodus 8:13-16,18-19 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. 16 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. 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.]
[But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite,] [Respite; Relieved from labor; allowed a temporary suspension of execution.] When 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. [smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice] 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. There really is only so much that Satan can do to mimic God, eventually all will 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.]
Since the frogs stench was throughout the land it was no surprise that the land would be full of lice or gnats. However, at this point, even the magicians finally figured out that this was coming from God. If turning water into blood, making frogs come out of the water, and even turning a rod into a snake was something of an illusion that magicians can pull off, even they started to admit that they are powerless against Jehovah Himself. Well, this actually hardened the Pharaoh’s heart even more, which brought on the fourth plague, flies.
[Exodus 8:20-23 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 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.]
[I will send swarms of flies upon thee,] 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. [And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen] This is where God separates His people from the world. If plaguing the land with things that nature itself would produce did not show that God’s hands was in this, perhaps the separation of the people would. Since they did not let them go, God did send the flies, but this time Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and tells them that they can go worship God.
[Exodus 8:25-26,28,30-31 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.]
[Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.] Pharaoh, wanted them to build an altar and give sacrifices to God on their land, not where God had wanted them to go. Of course, this did not fly with God and therefore the next plague was sent, this time, God, 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.]
[And Pharaoh sent, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead.] I can see the anger in his face, and maybe even beet red at the news that none of the cattle were touched in Goshen. 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. The thing that bothered Pharaoh most was that the plagues did not touch the Israelites anymore, yet 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 shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man,] 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. 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. [And the magicians could not stand before Moses] Notice, that these fools still tried to overthrow God, but this time none of their enchantments worked. 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 9:13-14,18-20 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. 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:]
[For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart,] When the plagues of the earth cannot convince people that they need to repent, the only option left is to afflict the heart, [Luke 6:44-45 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.]
[He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh] You better believe it that there were some Egyptians fearing God at this point. God, gives all the opportunity to repent before His mercy runs out, regardless of who they are, but in order to give 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 9:23-25 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.]
[thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground;] Does this sound familiar? We are warned of this happening to the entire earth, [Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.]
Did you ever see it raining on one side of a street and clear on the other? Well, this is what it looked like. You know, God never forgets, He will save and protect anyone from the plague of death, but they must come to Him personally and sincerely. After Pharaoh saw that the Egyptians who did not heed the warning lost much of their crops, and it was still raining he called for Moses and Aaron.
[Exodus 9:27-30,34 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. 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.]
[I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God.] You see, most faithful, saved, born again Christians are wise enough to discern whether or not someone is sincere in their repentance. That does not mean that the elect cannot be deceived, in fact, many will in the last days, but this does mean that we ought to be able to tell them by their fruit, [Matthew 24:22-24,46 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. :46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Exodus 7:17 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.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for bringing me up in a home that believed in You, while we may have had the wrong doctrine, 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 us that keeps us 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 and of merciful, 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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