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: Saturday, February 01, 2025
Chapters: Exodus 7-9
Message: Exodus: God Sends Plagues to Egypt
Hello My Friend,
As we continue in the reading of Exodus we learn that God can harden the hearts of those who refuse to repent, plagues do come as God’s judgments of the world, and while He does send judgment, He separates His people from the world’s judgments, [Romans 14:8-11 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.]
Those whom receive Christ as their Saviour will stand before Him and give an account for the things they did after they are saved. I always say that since they will not face the ultimate judgment their judgment happens while they are here, which has been proven time and time again. Think about it, how often do we ask God for something only to get it and not do what we say we were going to do? He certainly has a lot of mercy on His people not to mention He is slow to anger, [Psalms 103:8-9 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.]
I am sure that God did not want the Israelites to spend four hundred years in Egypt and become slaves to them. And I am sure that He did not keep them in the lurch while they had been there the entire time, but they chose to remain there, content to remain enslaved to them, that was until they were face with harsher oppression. Yesterday we learned that God sent Moses to Egypt and he stood before the Pharaoh and asked him to let them leave so they can worship God and he not only rejected the request, he forced the Israelites to work harder. This caused so much anguish for the Israelites that they did not even want to listen to Moses anymore. Well, God had a plan and reveals it to Moses and Aaron.
[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.]
God, was about to send judgment to Egypt to avenge His people and to prove to them that there is only one living God, and each of the judgments will harden the Pharaoh’s heart to the point that the judgments will become harsher until the final one in which he will literally command that they be taken out of Egypt. So, in order to fulfill His plan, God enables Moses to appear as a god before them and Aaron a prophet. The very first thing that God has Aaron do is cast his staff on the ground.
[Exodus 7:8-12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9 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.]
What was the purpose of this? These were scientists and magicians so they were good at creating illusions, ans while their snakes were illusions, to their surprise the snake from Aaron’s rod was real. In a sense, God was telling them that He was about to take everything that they believe in and worship away from them. The true Rod is Jesus Christ Himself, and while the world will always attempt to play God with their illusions in the end He will devour them with His Rod, [Revelation 2:26-27 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.]
Each of the judgments that God was about to send had a specific reason behind it, the Egyptians were greatly into idol worship and believed that there were several gods, and He was about to swallow up their gods. The Nile River, was idolized by the Egyptians who used and worshiped it under various names and symbols. Just like every judgment a warning to repent comes first. God, sends Moses and Aaron to the river the next morning and warns them if they did not let them go then their water will be turned into blood.
[Exodus 7:14-17 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. 15 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. 16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. 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.]
This was not the hand of Moses, Aaron, or his rod, it was the hand of God, and His rod. While God’s mercies are great, He will use His rod upon all who refuse to repent. The Pharaoh did not let them go and therefore, Aaron stretched his rod over the Nile and it immediately turned into blood.
[Exodus 7:20-23 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. 21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 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.]
Why was it possible that the magicians were able to do this? A dye can be thrown into water to appear as though it were blood. The truth from the illusion was the fact that the fish that were in the lakes, ponds, and river died. Every body of water, even the water that was in buckets and pitchers turned to blood and remained like this for seven days. They frantically searched for water, even went as far as digging for it, but found none. Think about it, God never forgot what the Egyptians did when they stained the river with the blood of Israelite children when they threw their babies into it. Oh yes, God avenges His people, []
God, did have a purpose for Moses and Aaron doing things that in the beginning would appear that the magicians were able to trick people into believing were true. This time God sent Moses and Aaron to warn them that frogs will plague them if they did not let them go, and he refused and here came the frogs.
[Exodus 8:1-4,6-7 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: 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. 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.]
Why frogs? They worshiped a female idol that had a frog’s head and the frog was connected with the most ancient forms of nature-worship in Egypt. How were the magicians able to pull this off? They used some kind of device that attracted the frogs. Well, at this point, the magicians were good at convincing the people that they were just as powerful as God, however, they may have been able to attract the frogs, they were not so good at getting rid of them and that was when the Pharaoh called for Moses to get rid of them.
[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.]
[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, the third plague He sent was gnats (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.]
Why lice? The dust (soil) is what the Egyptians called the father of the gods and worshiped it. they had a special sacredness attached to the black fertile soil that came from the basin of the Nile, called Chemi. Now, the magicians had to admit that this was something their tricks and illusion cannot do, and that it came from God. This is a reminder that all enchantments, whether they be used for cloning animals, creating diseases, or killing babies in the womb are evil and the hand of Satan who does attempt to play God, [2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.]
Well, the last thing that the Pharaoh wanted to hear was that his magicians acknowledged that all this was from God, but that only hardened his heart even more, which brought a fourth plague, this time it was 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.]
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. They also worshiped an idol named Chepera, which had 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. Of course, he would not let them go and sent the flies. Once again, the Pharaoh calls for Moses, but this time he gives them some hope.
[Exodus 8:25-28 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? 27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command 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.]
[Entreat: To ask earnestly; to beseech; to petition or pray with urgency;] This time the Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and tells them that they can go worship God and even wants Moses to pray for them. However, he wanted them to worship Him on his terms and even though he promised to let them go, he changed his mind once the flies were gone, [Exodus 8:30-32 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. 32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.]
I am sure than many Egyptians were repenting at this point, but if all this did not then perhaps the next plagues would. Now this was getting serious, God was done toying with their gods, if plaguing the land with things that nature itself could produce could not get them to let them go then perhaps the separation of the people would. This time God goes after their livelihood, beginning with their livestock.
[Exodus 9:1-4 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.]
[Murrain; Destruction; Great mortality] Murrain is an infectious and fatal disease among cattle and that was what would kill many of them if he did not let them go, [Exodus 9:5-7 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.]
Notice that God gives an appointed time for this as He really does this for everything. He does this for two reasons, to prepare His people for what is to come and to bring others to Him. I read something that said, “Be careful of your thoughts for they become words. Be careful of your words for they become actions. Be careful of your actions for they become your destiny.] Boy, is that not the truth! Jesus, said it this way, [Matthew 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.]
I can see the anger in the Pharaoh’s face at the news that none of the cattle were touched in Goshen. The thing that bothered Pharaoh him 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, this time it was 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.]
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 are inflamed bubbles of blood and pus and they were covered all over their body. If your ever had a boil on your skin then you know how painful it is, and if we thought that the boils that Job had on his body seemed painful, those were nothing compared to these. Notice, that these fools still tried to overthrow God, but none of their enchantments worked. So, the very next day He gives them the warning of the seventh plague, this time He was sending hail.
[Exodus 9:13-16 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.]
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.]
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.]
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. Now, after the 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.]
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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