TEXT: Exodus 8:14-9:35, KJV

Youth Focus this week:                                                                                                                                                            Memory Verse of the Month: “If you love Me, Keep my commandments”, John 14:15, KJV                    Family Focus of the Month: Genesis 24 – Exodus 10            Watch Word of Month: Service                Hymn of the Month: Blessed Assurance

Key Verse: “And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.” Exodus 10:3, KJV

Hebrew ‘Leanot’ from root word עָנָה (anah) — meaning to ‘willfully surrender’

Introduction:

Background:

1^st Plague – Overthrow of Nile                                                                                                                                                 2^nd Plague – Overthrow of Hekket

“23 Christian Thoughts about God that even Children Can Understand”

Chapter Eight Verse 14

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.

God give us adequate time to accept Him

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.

3^rd Plague – dust becomes Lice or Mosquitos; this was the first unannounced plague!

The first two plagues (blood and frogs) seemed to dispel idolatry this one seems aimed at uncleanliness.  Egyptian Priests were regarded as Pure but bugs even overcame them.

• God is Holy

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.

• God is Sovereign

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.

Name of God here is Elohim

Remember Moses says I Am means Yahweh: Yahweh is the relational name of God

Elohim is the Creative name of God as in Genesis 1:1 but can mean a god or the God

The magicians state we don’t know him Pharoah but He definitely is stronger than us

• God will not be mocked

Original Word: μυκτηρίζω  Part of Speech: V.   Transliteration: muktérizó
Phonetic Spelling: (mook-tay-rid’-zo)   Definition: ignored, brushed off, factored in)

CR: Gal 6:7, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”

²⁰ 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.

Serve is the Hebrew word ‘Weyaabduni’ — 6 Occurrences in Bible with last at Ex 10:3

Since nowhere else in Scripture describes the type service God wants we research it

^{Deuteronomy 28:1, NIV} “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God”

^{Deuteronomy 30:11 “}Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.” 

^{Deuteronomy 30:16 “}For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”

^{Deuteronomy 30:17 “}But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.”

The Shema seems to be the actual service God wanted Moses to share with Israel

The Shema is one of only two prayers that are specifically commanded in Torah (the other is Birkat Ha-Mazon — grace after meals). It is the oldest fixed daily prayer in Judaism, recited morning and night since ancient times.

Sh’ma Yisra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One

^{Deuteronomy 6:4 “}Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

^{Matthew 22:37} “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

• God is a Jealous God

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.

4^th Plague-Flies

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.

• God distinguishes between good and evil

²³ And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

• God offers every man opportunity to hear and respond to His Word

CR: In Numbers 11:4-15, the “rabble” (non-Israelites, Exodus 12.38), joined by the Israelites’ and their nostalgia for Egyptian food, despise God’s gifts of food (verses 6, 18) and deliverance (verse 20).

²⁴ And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

²⁵ And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

• God will wear us down until He wins

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?

The Egyptians would despise animal sacrifice because they held them in high regard and people who touched animals in low regard

Why does God require animal sacrifice anyway? Precursor to Propitiation

Ex 26 would have been written around 3,000 years before Jesus Birth.  The flood in Noah’s day happened in the year 2370 B.C.E and Jesus was born about October 1, 2 B.C.E. So Jesus was born 2,368 years after the flood in Noah’s day.

• God has given us the only guide we need to live good lives

²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.

Three days meant a long period of time.  Similar to us saying give me 5 minutes today!

God Never even tells Moses to tell Pharoah how many days it would take

• Sticking with what God said will keep us from slipping into sin

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.

²⁹ And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

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.

• God answers prayer CR: Jm 5:16 “the prayers of the righteous”

³² And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Chapter Nine

 ¹ 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.

5^th Plague – Disease on Cattle

⁵ And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.

• God has already released what we need on earth we just haven’t run into it yet

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.

• God wont always spare His Saints from suffering

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.

Grace and only grace opened our hearts to receive the message of the Cross

• Gods Grace is a gift that we should give to others to show our appreciation

⁸ 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.

6^th Plaque- Boils/Sores (the idea is swelling, painful, skin inflammation)

Suggestions are that this plaque was against Imhotep-Father of Medicine

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.

Successive destruction of the entire Egyptian pantheon

• God will tear down everything we build that gets more of us than Him

¹² And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses.

¹³ 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.

Hebrews-abar meaning opposite or people from the other side

• God expects Christians to show the world what serving/service truly is

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.

7^th Plaque – Hail

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.

iow- I have raised you up to show the world who I am

Pharoah thought his resistance was showing his strength but it was doing the opposite

• God may allow a little rain before He appoints a little sunshine

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.

• God has Not yet shown either of us ALL of His Power: Get ready for Greater

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:

This denotes that by Plaque 7 there were many Egyptians who believed in Gods Power though they didn’t know Him Personally

• Gods Power is always greatest among those who pursue Him personally

²¹ And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

²² And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

²³ 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.

Continued Plague- Thunder, Hail and Fire mixed together

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.

• God is going to somedays destroy this earth by fire and only a few will be Saved

²⁷ 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.

• God will always forgive a sinner who repents of sin and turns from his old ways

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.

• Gods enemies cannot be our friends: if one won’t do right by God, they’ll never do right by us.

³¹ And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

³² But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up.

• God has provided a handout for those who need a hand up! CR: Eph 2:8

“Prior to conversion to Christ, most people go through a process of illumination regarding the ugliness of sin and the contrasting beauty of God’s redemptive work in Jesus.  However, for those who cannot go through such a process because of their limited mental faculties, the character of God suggests that He would make provision for them. As a result, while we recognize that most saved people have at least some understanding of sin, repentance, redemption through Christ, and eternal life, we also recognize that those of limited mental capacity—such as infants and individuals who are mentally disabled—may be saved by grace without such understanding.”

³³ And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

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.

³⁵ And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken by Moses.