Speaker 1: Life Audio The Bible Study Podcast, Episode nine hundred and seventy. Today,
Speaker 1: The Bible Study Podcast continues the study of the Book
Speaker 1: of Exodus, starting with chapter nine. Welcome to the Bible
Speaker 1: Study Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Kristensen. We're going to
Speaker 1: continue on with chapter nine and likely chapter ten. We're
Speaker 1: going to be taking these plagues that are mentioned here
Speaker 1: in this section of Exodus with some speed. But first
Speaker 1: a word from this sponsor, the plague on livestock. Then
Speaker 1: the Lord said to Moses, go to Pharaoh and say
Speaker 1: to him, this is what the Lord, the God of
Speaker 1: the Hebrews, says. Let my people go so that they
Speaker 1: may worship me. If you refuse to let them go
Speaker 1: and continue to hold them back, the hand of the
Speaker 1: Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in
Speaker 1: the field, on your horses, donkeys, and camels, and on
Speaker 1: your cattle, sheep and goats. But the Lord will make
Speaker 1: a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt,
Speaker 1: so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.
Speaker 1: The Lord set a time and said tomorrow the Lord
Speaker 1: will do this in the land. And the next day
Speaker 1: the Lord did it all the livestock of the Egyptians died,
Speaker 1: but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh
Speaker 1: investigated and found that not even one of the animals
Speaker 1: of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding
Speaker 1: and he would not let the people go. So at
Speaker 1: this point Pharaoh is just getting stubborn. His magicians have
Speaker 1: given up. They're not doing anything anymore. They're not going
Speaker 1: to be mentioned in terms of can they do these
Speaker 1: sort of things that that's behind us, and it's really
Speaker 1: just this contest of wills, and right now Pharaoh isn't
Speaker 1: giving In the plague of boils, then the Lord said
Speaker 1: to Moses and Aaron, take a handful of soot from
Speaker 1: a furnace, and have Moses toss it into the air
Speaker 1: in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust
Speaker 1: over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will
Speaker 1: break out on people and animals throughout the land. So
Speaker 1: they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh.
Speaker 1: Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke
Speaker 1: out on people and animals. The magicians could not stand
Speaker 1: before Moses, because the boils that were on them and
Speaker 1: on all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
Speaker 1: and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just
Speaker 1: as the Lord had said to Moses. So a lot
Speaker 1: of commentators make something of this that some sections say
Speaker 1: that Pharaoh hardened his heart, in some sections say that
Speaker 1: the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And I don't know that
Speaker 1: there's really as much significance to that difference as we
Speaker 1: want there to be. My understanding is that Pharaoh had
Speaker 1: free will, that Pharaoh could decide what he wanted to do,
Speaker 1: that he is not some meat puppet of God here,
Speaker 1: and that that's not what it meant that the Lord
Speaker 1: hardened Pharaoh's heart. But Pharaoh is not giving in. And
Speaker 1: despite the fact that they now have boils, and that's
Speaker 1: probably where I would have given up. I think the
Speaker 1: flies and the gnats and the frogs and things like
Speaker 1: that all sound terrible. All the livestock dying is a
Speaker 1: real blow, But boils, that's probably where I would have
Speaker 1: given In the plague of hail, then the Lord said
Speaker 1: to Moses, get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh
Speaker 1: and say to him This is what the Lord, the
Speaker 1: God of the Hebrews says. Let my people go so
Speaker 1: that they may worship me, or this time I will
Speaker 1: send the full force of my plagues against you and
Speaker 1: your officials and your people, so that you may know
Speaker 1: there is no one like me in all the earth.
Speaker 1: For by now I could have stretched out my hand
Speaker 1: and struck you and your people with a plague that
Speaker 1: would have wiped you off the earth. But I have
Speaker 1: raised you up for this very purpose, that I might
Speaker 1: show you my power and that my name might be
Speaker 1: proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against
Speaker 1: my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at
Speaker 1: this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that
Speaker 1: has ever fallen on Egypt from the day it was
Speaker 1: founded until now. Give an order now to bring your
Speaker 1: livestock in, everything you have in the field to a
Speaker 1: place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every
Speaker 1: person an animal that has not been brought in and
Speaker 1: is still out in the field, and they will die. Okay, Now,
Speaker 1: one issue here I have with the plague of hail
Speaker 1: is not that God's going to send hail, but He's
Speaker 1: telling them bring their livestock in and we just heard
Speaker 1: that all the livestock died. So I don't know if
Speaker 1: they bought the Israelites livestock, if all the livestock was
Speaker 1: an exaggeration, or if they bought livestock from someplace else,
Speaker 1: But just a moment ago, they didn't have any livestock,
Speaker 1: and now they have to bring it in. So there's
Speaker 1: something going on here that we're not going to be
Speaker 1: able to get clarity until we stand before the Throne
Speaker 1: of Grace. But in any case, this is going to
Speaker 1: be bad, and they get this extra special warning. I
Speaker 1: could have wiped you out, but I don't want to.
Speaker 1: I've raised you up for this purpose. I want to
Speaker 1: show that these are my people and that I am
Speaker 1: their God, and I'm going to use you to show that,
Speaker 1: which is why God has been God is saying he
Speaker 1: has been merciful, but is getting less merciful as we
Speaker 1: go forward. Here, those officials of Pharaoh who feared the
Speaker 1: word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and
Speaker 1: their livestock inside, but those who ignored the word of
Speaker 1: the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.
Speaker 1: That is a real interesting verse. So the people have
Speaker 1: had frogs and flies and gnats and dark and blood.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I haven't at the dark yet. I got
Speaker 1: ahead of myself and livestock dying, and now have this hail.
Speaker 1: But some people still haven't got the message that the
Speaker 1: God of the Hebrews is someone you should listen to,
Speaker 1: and so they're not taking heed. But some people have.
Speaker 1: Some people say, if the God of the Hebrews says
Speaker 1: he's going to send hail, I'm going to take precautions
Speaker 1: because I believe him. Then the Lord said to Moses,
Speaker 1: stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that hale
Speaker 1: will fall all over Egypt, on people and animals, on
Speaker 1: everything growing in the fields of Egypt. When Moses stretched
Speaker 1: out his staff toward the sky, the Lord said, thunder
Speaker 1: and hail, and lightning flashing down to the ground. So
Speaker 1: the Lord reigned hail on the land of Egypt. Hale
Speaker 1: fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the
Speaker 1: worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it
Speaker 1: had become a nation. Throughout Egypt, Hale struck everything in
Speaker 1: the fields, both people and animals. It beat down everything
Speaker 1: growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only
Speaker 1: place that it did not hail was the land of Goshen,
Speaker 1: where the Israelites were. Now I find a little bit
Speaker 1: of irony here, because after hail destroys your crops, you're
Speaker 1: going to have some problems feeding your people. Well, it's
Speaker 1: interesting because what ends up bringing the Hebrews, the Sons
Speaker 1: of Israel into Egypt in the first place, is a
Speaker 1: shortage of food. It is that time of famine. And
Speaker 1: of course the person who bailed out Egypt at that
Speaker 1: time was Joseph, and so it seems kind of ironic
Speaker 1: at this point that for Joseph's people to leave, we
Speaker 1: have to go through that again. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses
Speaker 1: and Aaron. This time I have sinned. He said to them,
Speaker 1: the Lord is in the right, and I and my
Speaker 1: people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for
Speaker 1: we have had enough thunder and ale. I will let
Speaker 1: you go. You don't have to stay any longer. Moses replied.
Speaker 1: When I have gone out of the city, I will
Speaker 1: spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The
Speaker 1: thunder will stop and there will be no more hail,
Speaker 1: so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's.
Speaker 1: But I know that you and your officials still do
Speaker 1: not fear the Lord God. The flax and barley were destroyed,
Speaker 1: since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom.
Speaker 1: The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed because they
Speaker 1: ripen later. Love that little detail there, little farmer's detail there.
Speaker 1: Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city.
Speaker 1: He spread out of his hands towards the Lord. The
Speaker 1: thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured
Speaker 1: down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain
Speaker 1: and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He
Speaker 1: and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh's heart was hard,
Speaker 1: and he would not let the Israelites go, just as
Speaker 1: the Lord had said through Moses. Now we can pick
Speaker 1: on Pharaoh, because Pharaoh is being very stubborn here, But
Speaker 1: we sometimes also let the things that we have get
Speaker 1: in the way of our relationship with God. We sometimes
Speaker 1: think that the things are more important than people, for instance,
Speaker 1: and that's what Pharah was doing. He doesn't want to
Speaker 1: let these Israelites go because they are his possessions, they
Speaker 1: are his slaves, They are part of his power, and
Speaker 1: it is hard to give up power. It is hard
Speaker 1: to give up the things that make us strong, and
Speaker 1: so he doesn't. I thought I was going to go
Speaker 1: on to chapter ten, but I think I'm going to
Speaker 1: stop there instead. That's good enough length for a particular episode,
Speaker 1: and I see that chapter ten is quite long with
Speaker 1: guess what more plagues, including one that I gave a
Speaker 1: little subtle foreshadowing to. So with that, we're going to
Speaker 1: end this episode of the Bible Study Podcast. If you
Speaker 1: have any questions, send an email to Chris two xat
Speaker 1: gmail dot com, or, better yet, leave a comment on
Speaker 1: this episode at the Bible Study podcast dot com. And
Speaker 1: as always, thanks so much for listening. I want to
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