February 12 - Nº 43 Exodus 7:14 – 10:29
Pharaoh was angry! He wanted to know what made Moses think that his “god” could tell the ruler of Egypt what to do! So, God took the opportunity to introduce himself. He performed ten miracles through Moses and Aaron that were designed to show how much greater He was than any of the gods the Egyptians worshipped. The two brothers met up with Pharaoh while he was on his morning walk to the Nile River—his sacred place of worship. Moses said, “Because you refuse to free our people, the waters of Egypt will turn into blood. The fish will die, and nobody will be able to drink it.” At that point, Aaron hit the water with his staff, and it turned into blood. Once again, the court magicians were able to duplicate Moses’ and Aaron’s miracle, so Pharaoh refused to listen to God’s representatives. Seven days later Moses told Pharaoh, “Because you are so stubborn, frogs will now infest your land.” Aaron stretched out his staff, and frogs soon covered everything. They were in people’s houses, food, and beds. Although the court magicians could make frogs appear too, they could not make them go away. Pharaoh quickly grew tired of the frogs, so he changed his mind, “You can go to the wilderness and worship your God,” he said. “Just ask Him to get rid of the frogs.” The next day all the frogs died. (Now there were huge stinking piles of dead frogs everywhere.) But since the frogs were no longer hopping around, Pharaoh changed his mind again and refused to let the people go. At that point, Aaron struck the ground with his staff and the dust turned into clouds of gnats. They infested everything. Pharaoh’s magicians could not duplicate this miracle. They had to admit, “This must be from the finger of God.” But Pharaoh still wouldn’t let the Israelites go. Next, God sent swarms of flies to cover the land. (Miraculously, no flies entered the part of Egypt where the Hebrews lived.) Then God sent a plague that killed all the Egyptians’ animals—but Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. God told Moses to toss ashes into the air, and the dust spread all over Egypt causing boils on every living thing.The magicians couldn’t even stand up because their boils were so bad. However, instead of recognizing God’s power, Pharaoh grew angry and refused to listen to Moses. The next day fierce hail mixed with fire came down and destroyed all the Egyptians’ crops. It killed their livestock and even some of their slaves. However, it did not touch the Hebrews. Pharaoh finally called for Moses and Aaron and said, “I know I’ve sinned. Please pray to God and ask Him to stop this storm and I will let your people go.” But as soon as the hail stopped, he turned against God and the people of Israel. So, God sent locusts to devour any plants that had survived the storm. Then God caused darkness to cover the land for three days. It was so dark that no one could see to move around. But Pharaoh’s heart was as dark as the sky. God wasn’t finished. He was about to send one more plague; one last warning; one last opportunity for Pharaoh to acknowledge Him.
Have you ever refused to do something you knew God wanted you to do? Or have you done something you knew He did not want you to do? Stubbornness has huge consequences—as Pharaoh found out. It not only affects our own lives, but also the lives of others around us.
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