Exodus 6-7: “The Lord Answers Moses’ Prayers Declaring How He Plans To Deliver Israel / Outpouring Of First Plague”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1.                  INTRO:

 

 

1.1.            In our last study, we looked at chapters 4 & 5 of Exodus.

 

1.1.1.      Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh and told him that the Lord has said that he is to let Israel go for a three journey into the wilderness to worship the Lord.  However, Pharaoh denied their request and then made the burden harder upon the Israelites by requiring that they also provide the straw for their bricks, while simultaneously keeping up their quota of bricks.

 

1.1.2.      We saw that the Lord gave Moses and Aaron three miracles that they could use to show the Israelites as well as the Egyptians that the Lord had indeed called them.  They could throw down their staff and it would become a serpent, and then they could pick it back up and it would turn back into a rod.  They could put their hand into their breast and it would alternately turn leprous and then be normal.  Finally, they could turn the water from the Nile into blood using their staff.  We also looked at the various symbolisms for those three signs.

 

1.2.            In our study today, we are going to look at chapters 6 and 7 of Exodus.

 

1.2.1.      When we finished our last study, we saw that after Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh and told them that the Lord said that he was to allow the children of Israel to go a three day journey into the wilderness to worship the Lord, and then Pharaoh denied their request, that Pharaoh had come down hard upon the Israelites requiring them now to gather their own straw to make bricks, and also to keep up the same quota.  The Egyptian taskmasters were also beating the Hebrew foremen because they had not been able to keep up.  The Hebrew taskmasters and elders then angrily denounced Moses for causing all of this harm to come upon them.  They blamed Moses for all of these things when it was really the Lord who was responsible for these things.  Moses was then last seen coming before the Lord and whining and complaining about ever sending him to deliver the Israelites in the first place, and then for sending him but not delivering the children of Israel as He had said that He would.

 

1.2.2.      In this study, we will see the Lord’s response to Moses’ whining and complaining to Him.  The Lord will not apologize for what has happened but rather will begin to make further positive statements about what He will accomplish in order to compel Pharaoh to send out the Israelites from the land of Egypt.

 

1.2.3.      Moses and Aaron now will perform their first miracles for Pharaoh in hopes of getting him to release the Israelites to go and to be able to sacrifice to their God.

 

1.2.4.      Before we begin to look into these chapters, it would be a good thing to discuss the nature of the plagues that the Lord brings upon the Egyptians through Moses and Aaron for the purpose of compelling Pharaoh and the Egyptians to let the Israelites go free out of Egypt.  Why does the Lord bring about these plagues?  Arthur Pink gives the following reasons for what was the purpose for these plagues:

 

1.2.4.1.They gave a public manifestation of the mighty power of the Lord God.

 

1.2.4.1.1.Exodus 9:16:  “But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.”

 

1.2.4.2.They were a Divine visitation of wrath, a punishment of Pharaoh and Egyptians for their cruel treatment of the Hebrews.

 

1.2.4.2.1.Exodus 10:16:  “Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.”

 

1.2.4.3.They were a judgment from God upon the gods (demons) of Egypt:  Numbers 33:4:  “while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. The Lord had also executed judgments on their gods.”

 

1.2.4.3.1.The serpent was an object of worship in Egypt and when the serpent from Aaron’s rod eats Pharaoh’s magician’s rods, this showed the superiority of Jehovah over all other gods.

 

1.2.4.3.2.The Nile River was regarded with the highest veneration by the Egyptians, and the first plague turned it into blood. 

 

1.2.4.3.3.The second plague brought frogs out of the Nile and onto the land symbolizing a corrupt worship of the Nile.

 

1.2.4.3.4.With the third plague of lice Gleig has written, “no one could approach the altars of Egypt upon which so impure an insect harbored;  and, that the priests to guard against the slightest risk of contamination , wore only linen garments, and shaved their heads and bodies every third day.”

 

1.2.4.3.5.The people worshipped the fly god Beelzebub and thus the fourth plague of the flies denigrated that god before the people’s eyes.

 

1.2.4.3.6.The fifth plague of killing the cattle came against the sacred bull, ram, heifer, and goat of the Egyptian worship.

 

1.2.4.4.They demonstrated that Jehovah was high above all gods.

 

1.2.4.4.1.Exodus 18:10-11:  “So Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people.””

 

1.2.4.5.The furnished a complete testing of human responsibility.

 

1.2.4.5.1.Their number being 10 signifies this just as there are 10 commandments.

 

1.2.4.6.There was a time interval in between each of these signs which was allowed by the Lord in order to give Pharaoh and the Egyptians time to repent.

 

1.2.4.7.They were a solemn warning to other nations, that God would curse those who curse the Israelites.

 

1.2.4.7.1.Gen. 12:3:  “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

 

1.2.4.7.2.The Philistines attested to this in Joshua 2:8-9: “Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.”

 

1.2.4.8.These miraculous plagues were evidently designed as a series of testings for Israel.

 

1.2.4.8.1.Deut. 4:33:  “Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?”

 

1.2.5.      The plagues come in three sets of three judgments.  With the first and second judgment of each set Pharaoh is warned, but with the third of each set there is no warning at all.

 

1.2.6.      Note also that each of the plagues are successively more serious and with greater severity in their consequences:

 

1.2.6.1.Initially, the first three plagues simply make the Egyptians uncomfortable as they affect their source of water, frogs invading their homes, and lice attacking them.

 

1.2.6.2.The next three plagues affect their possessions as flies corrupt their land, their cattle are destroyed, and then boils appear on them.

 

1.2.6.3.The final three plagues bring death and devastation as hall destroys cattle and vegetation, locusts consume what is left of their vegetation, and then darkness comes and with it the death of the firstborn.

 

1.2.7.      The ability of the magicians of Pharaoh to effect signs and wonders should not be explained away as simply being slight of hand types of deception. It should be obvious from the accounts found in Exodus that they truly did perform the miraculous and imitate many of the signs that Moses and Aaron could perform, however it should be noted that they did this by the power of Satan.

 

1.2.8.      Notice as we go through the rest of the book of Exodus how that the Lord is very specific about what He will do as well as how that Pharaoh and the Egyptians will react.  This should boost our faith as we see everything become fulfilled just as the Lord says that it will.

 

1.2.9.      The Lord will answer Moses’ prayer by declaring how He plans to deliver Israel.  Then, the Lord will tell Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and begin to perform the signs He gave them to perform to coheres them into letting Israel leave.  Finally, the Lord will lead Moses and Aaron to perform the first plague upon Egypt, and they turn the Nile into blood. 

 

2.                  VS 6:1-8  - “1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. 4 “I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. 5 “Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 ‘I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’ ”” -  The Lord tells Moses what He is going to do in order to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery

 

2.1.            The Lord’s response to Moses reminds me of how the Lord responded to Job’s complaints and crying out to the Lord.  The Lord doesn’t directly answer Job’s complaints or arguments He just started asking Job if he was there when the Lord did such things as lay the foundation of the earth, etc.  After a series of these sorts of questions Job’s complaints were gone and he simply trusted the Lord.  Here the Lord doesn’t answer Moses’ complaints either. 

 

2.2.            The Lord’s response to Moses’ whining and complaining to Him about Pharaoh denying his request for the people to leave and then the children of Israel becoming bitter towards him because they were being mistreated results in the Lord simply making several positive declarations of what He is going to do to deliver Israel, including:

 

2.2.1.      Moses will see what the Lord will do to Pharaoh for under compulsion he will let Israel go, in fact in the end Pharaoh will drive them out (we know that this does in fact happen).

 

2.2.2.      The Lord testifies that He established His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and thus He will fulfill His covenant to them and give them (through their descendants) the land of Canaan.

 

2.2.3.      The Lord tells him He has heard the ‘groaning of the sons of Israel’ and that He will remember His covenant, and bring them ‘out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.’

 

2.2.4.      The Lord tells him He will deliver Israel ‘from their bondage.’

 

2.2.5.      The Lord tells him that He will ‘redeem’ Israel with ‘an outstretched arm and with great judgments.’

 

2.2.6.      The Lord tells him that He will take Israel for His people ‘and be your God.’

 

2.2.7.      The Lord tells him that Israel will know that He is their God and that He has brought them out from ‘under the burdens of the Egyptians.’

 

2.2.8.      The Lord tells him that He will bring Israel to the land which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as their possession.

 

2.3.            Again, as was mentioned in our last study, these declarations are not wishful or hopeful statements.  The Lord declares what He is going to do, and when the Lord declares He will do something, He is going to do it.

 

3.                  VS 6:9-13  - “9 So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage. 10 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?” 13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.” -  The sons of Israel don’t receive Moses’ admonishment from the Lord and the Lord tells Moses to go and to speak to Pharaoh, but Moses again reminds the Lord of how he is unskilled in speech, but the Lord gives a charge to Moses and Aaron to bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt

 

3.1.            Moses went and told the Israelites about all of the positive declarative statements that the Lord had made to him about His plans to deliver the Israelites, however they did not believe Moses (‘listen to’ him) because of their ‘despondency and cruel bondage.’

 

3.2.            After Moses talked with the children of Israel, and they did not receive his words, the Lord appeared to Moses and told him to go and tell Pharaoh to ‘let the sons of Israel go out of his land.’ 

 

3.3.            Moses again rebuffs the Lord’s commanding him to go to Pharaoh and tell him these things saying that if Israel has not listened to him, then ‘how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

 

3.4.            The Lord spoke to and charged Moses and Aaron regarding the sons of Israel and Pharaoh, telling them to ‘bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.’

 

4.                  VS 6:14-27  - “14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. 26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.” -  The author lists for us the heads of the father’s households for the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi to the third and fourth generation

 

4.1.            It appears to me that this genealogy is listed perhaps in the same way that a novelist first introduces characters in his novel before he begins to have them interact in the novel.  The list here tells us where some of these ones that we will read later about came from in the genealogical tree.

 

4.2.            The sons of Reuben are listed:

 

Sons of Reuben

Hanoch

Pallu

Hezron

Carmi

 

 

4.3.            The sons of Simeon are listed:

 

Sons of Simeon

Jemuel

Jamin

 Ohad

Jachin

Zohar

Shaul

 

4.4.         The sons of Levi are listed:

 

Sons of Levi

Gershon

Kohath

Merari

Libni

Shimei

Amram

 

Izhar

 

Hebron

 

Uzziel

 

Mahli

Mushi

Aaron

 

Moses

Korah

 

Nepheg

Zichri

Mishael Elzaphan Sithri

Nadab

Abihu

Ithamar

 

Eleazar

Assir  Elkanah Abiasaph

Phinehas

 

 

5.                  VS 6:28-7:2  - “28 Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?” 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 “You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” -  It is recounted for us how that the Lord told Moses to speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt but that because Moses tried to dodge that responsibility and thus Lord made it such that Moses would speak to Aaron all that the Lord had told him to say and that Aaron would speak to Pharaoh

 

5.1.            I wonder if these verses are telling us of an additional incident or the one that was reported earlier when the Lord first called and commissioned Moses.  Moses had already waffled at being God’s spokesman and the Lord had already told him to use Aaron speak for him and that the Lord would speak to Moses and then he was to tell Aaron exactly what to say to Pharaoh.

 

6.                  VS 7:3-5  - “3 “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 “When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 “The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”” -  The Lord tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and this will be so that He may multiply signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and by this the Egyptians will know that He is the Lord

 

6.1.            The Lord says here that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart.  He has already told Moses that He would do this, so this is a restatement of that fact.

 

6.2.            It is very sobering to read of the Lord hardening someone’s heart and thus they are no longer able to see the truth or believe.

 

6.3.            There has been much debate amongst theologians about these statements in Exodus regarding God hardening Pharaoh’s heart causing him to refuse to listen to Moses and repent.

 

6.3.1.      Some have taken the statement literally and have believed that because the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart that Pharaoh thus refused to repent and listen to Moses’ counsel.  However, the problem with this view of the Lord hardening sinners hearts thus causing them to be hard places the responsibility for evil on the Lord.  I believe that this is not the correct way to view God.  Wickedness is not God’s fault it is the fault of wicked men.

 

6.3.2.      Others take the view that the Lord merely allows Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened.

 

6.3.3.      A third view is the one that I take and that is that the Lord hardens the heart of those who refuse to repent.  A person first hardens his heart against the Lord and then the Lord confirms him in his decision.  This view is supported by a few incidents which we will read about here in these plagues sent by the Lord.  Pharaoh first is said to harden his heart against the Lord, and then it will say that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

 

6.4.            The Lord tells Moses that He will ‘multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt,’ and that it will be by these ‘great judgments’ that He will bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.

 

6.5.            Notice here what the Lord says that He will be doing through these plagues that He will send upon the Egyptians:  ‘The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.’ 

 

7.                  VS 7:6-7  - “6 So Moses and Aaron did it; as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh.” -  Moses’ and Aaron’s ages at this time are given, 80 and 83, respectively

 

8.                  VS 7:8-13  - “8 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. 12 For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” -  The Lord tells Moses and Aaron that when they go to Pharaoh and he asks them to show him a miracle that they are to throw down their staff before Pharaoh so that it becomes a serpent, and when they do this Pharaoh finds his wise men, sorcerers, and magicians, and they thrown down their staffs and they likewise become serpents, but Aaron’s staff swallows up their staffs, yet, Pharaoh hardens his heart and does not listen to them

 

8.1.            With the performing of miracles and the calling down of plagues, we have now begin the next section of the book of Exodus.

 

8.2.            The Lord tells Moses and Aaron that when Pharaoh asks them to ‘work a miracle,’ that he is to tell Aaron to thrown down his staff before Pharaoh so that ‘it may become a serpent.’

 

8.3.            Aaron throws down the rod and it turns into a serpent just as the Lord said that it would do.

 

8.4.            Pharaoh’s reaction to seeing the miracle of Aaron’s staff turning into a serpent is very interesting.  Seeing the miraculous working of God right before his face he hardened his heart toward the Lord and ‘called for the wise men and the sorcerers’ to see if they could do the same things.

 

8.5.            When Pharaoh’s magicians threw down their staffs and they became serpents, but then Aaron’s rod devoured the other serpents, this should have settled the case as to who is God over all.  But, instead we read that ‘Pharaoh’s heart was hardened’ towards the Lord.  This occurred just as the Lord had told Moses all along it would.

 

8.6.            We saw in our last study that the rod was symbolized for a shepherd his authority and protection over the sheep and that when Moses’ rod was thrown down by him and became a serpent that this symbolized the fact that the Lord has allowed evil and Satan to exist however He also has the power to constrain Satan and will one day bind him for all eternity.  We saw also that the rod becoming a serpent symbolized that time in the Old Testament when in the wilderness the children of Israel were being bitten by vipers and were dying but the Lord led Moses to make a bronze serpent and hang it up upon a pole, and then when the people looked at the serpent they were healed of their disease.  The fact that Aaron’s rod ate the rods of Pharaoh’s magicians, which had also become serpents, reveals that Jehovah is over all gods.  Of course we know that in the New Testament we are told that the gods of this world are demons. 

 

9.                  VS 7:14-21  - “14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. 15 “Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. 16 “You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” 17 ‘Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. 18 “The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” 19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ” 20 So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.” -  The Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water and meet him on the bank of the Nile, then tell him to let God’s people go that they may serve Him in the wilderness, but because you have not listened, then I will strike the Nile with the staff and it shall be turned into blood and then all of the fish in it will die, and when Moses and Aaron had met Pharaoh and said these things, Aaron took his staff and stretched it over the waters of Egypt and all of the bodies of water in the land turned into blood, and the fish all died at this time and the Egyptians did not have water to drink for blood was through all the land of Egypt

 

9.1.            Notice that the Lord does not tell Moses and Aaron to perform the sign of putting their hand into their bosom and having it alternately turn leprous.  This may have something to do with the fact that unbelievers do not know anything about sinful thoughts and actions originating from the heart.  The “natural man” knows nothing of a sinful nature because that is the only world that he understands and experiences.

 

9.2.            This is now the first of the plagues that the Lord will send upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians.  The Lord tells Moses that because Pharaoh has not heeded their word from God that he and Aaron are supposed to meet Pharaoh in the morning on the banks of the Nile.  Then, they are supposed to tell him that because he has not listened to the word from the Lord that they will raise their staff over the Nile and strike it telling Pharaoh that all of the water in the Nile shall turn into blood and the fish will all die.

 

9.3.            So, Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord told them to do and as a result all of the water that was in the Nile turned into blood, and the fish in the Nile died.  This caused the Nile to become foul such that the people of Egypt ‘could not drink water from the Nile.’

 

9.4.            The blood symbolized death, and we saw in our last study that this plague typifies the third bowl judgment of the 7 year Tribulation of the book of Revelation in which all of the oceans rivers and waters on the earth will be turned to blood, and the fish will die.

 

9.5.            As was mentioned, the Egyptians venerated the Nile River because the people were completely dependent upon the Nile to provide for them water to drink, water to irrigate their crops, and fish for them to eat.  With the Lord turning all of the water in the Nile into blood this was the Lord’s way of judging the gods of the Egyptians and revealing to the Egyptians the folly of having any other God than the Lord.

 

9.6.            All of the fish dying in the land of Egypt caused the entire country to smell like dead fish.  The first year my wife and I were married we lived in Phoenix and that first summer we went on vacation, but before we did, we had gone fishing and had a freezer full of fish.  But, soon after we left on vacation the power to the house we rented had been turned off.  When we returned our entire house smelled like the nation of Egypt did at this time, dead fish.  With the venerated Nile River making the entire nation smell like dead fish, this symbolizes the fact that people the religions of men stink and to the Lord are like the smell of dead fish.  People’s lives who are living in sin also smell like Egypt did at this time.  Their sin is like the smell of dead fish.

 

10.              VS 7:22-25  - “22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.” -  The magicians did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them and went about his life as normal, meanwhile the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, and seven days passed before the Lord again used Moses and Aaron to deal with Pharaoh and the Egyptians

 

10.1.        Evidently, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to turn water into blood also. 

 

10.2.        Because his magicians were also able to turn water into blood he didn’t even give the miracles performed by Moses and Aaron any thought, and he ‘went into his house with no concern even for this.’ 

 

10.3.        With their normal source of drinking water polluted, the Egyptians had to begin to dig for water.

 

10.4.        Note here that the Lord gave the Egyptians ‘seven days’ to repent before the next plague began.

 

11.              CONCLUSIONS:

 

11.1.        Trust in that which the Lord has declared that He will do, just as Moses did on this occasion.  Oh Christian, God can and will use you greatly as you keep His promises before you.

 

11.2.        The attesting miracles in the scriptures, such as those in the book of Exodus, we need to allow to encourage our faith in the Lord.  With an “outstretched arm” the Lord has performed “mighty judgments.”  He has done each one of them just as He said that He would do.

       

 

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