Speaker 1: Life Audio The Bible Study Podcast, Episode nine sixty nine. Today,
Speaker 1: The Bible Study Podcast continues the study of the book
Speaker 1: of Exodus as we start chapter seven. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Bible Study Podcast. I'm your host, Kristensen. We're going to
Speaker 1: continue on with chapter seven and we start to get
Speaker 1: into some plagues. But first a word from this sponsor
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Speaker 1: but some do anyway. Chapter seven Exodus. Then the Lord
Speaker 1: said to Moses, see, I have made you like God
Speaker 1: to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
Speaker 1: You are to say everything I command you, and your
Speaker 1: brother Arin is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites
Speaker 1: go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart,
Speaker 1: and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt,
Speaker 1: he will not listen to you. Then I will lay
Speaker 1: my hand on Egypt, and with mighty acts of judgment,
Speaker 1: I will bring out my divisions. My people, the Israelites
Speaker 1: and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord
Speaker 1: when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring
Speaker 1: the Israelites out of it. Moses and Aaron did just
Speaker 1: as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old
Speaker 1: and erin eighty three when they spoke to Pharaoh. This
Speaker 1: is the place I said that they were going to
Speaker 1: mention that Moses was an old man. Remember he left
Speaker 1: Egypt as a young man, and yet he spent something
Speaker 1: like sixty years in the wilderness as a shepherd. So
Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron are sent to Pharaoh to tell this
Speaker 1: message to let the people go, and God knows that
Speaker 1: Pharaoh's not going to listen, and yet they're doing it anyway.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine if your boss came to you and said,
Speaker 1: we're going to do a pr campaign. No one's going
Speaker 1: to pay any attention, but I'd like you to do
Speaker 1: it anyway. It can be a little frustrating or even
Speaker 1: scary in this case, because you're talking to someone who
Speaker 1: has power, one of the most powerful men in the
Speaker 1: world at the time. But to their credit, they do
Speaker 1: what God asks them to do. The Lord said to
Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron, when Pharaoh says to you perform a miracle,
Speaker 1: then say to Erin, take your staff and throw it
Speaker 1: down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake. So
Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as
Speaker 1: the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front
Speaker 1: of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.
Speaker 1: Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian
Speaker 1: magicians also did the same things by their secret arts.
Speaker 1: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake.
Speaker 1: But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart
Speaker 1: became hard and he would not listen to them, just
Speaker 1: as the Lord had said, that's a cool trick to
Speaker 1: be able to throw down your staff and have a
Speaker 1: turn into a snake. And the magicians and the sorcerers,
Speaker 1: not yet impressed by this, they can do the same thing.
Speaker 1: Although it's interesting their staffs get eaten. That their snakes
Speaker 1: get consumed. That's a sign of what is to come,
Speaker 1: the plague of blood. Then the Lord said to Moses,
Speaker 1: Pharaoh's heart is unyielding. He refuses to let the people go.
Speaker 1: Go to Pharaoh in the morning. As he goes out
Speaker 1: into the river, confront him on the bank of the Nile,
Speaker 1: and take in your hand the staff that was changed
Speaker 1: into a snake. Then say to him, the Lord, the
Speaker 1: God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you,
Speaker 1: let my people go, so that they may worship me
Speaker 1: in the wilderness. But until now you have not left.
Speaker 1: This is what the Lord says. By this, you will
Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord. With the staff that
Speaker 1: is in my hand, I will strike the water of
Speaker 1: the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The
Speaker 1: fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink.
Speaker 1: The Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.
Speaker 1: Then the Lord said to Moses, tell Arin, take your
Speaker 1: staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt,
Speaker 1: over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all
Speaker 1: the reservoirs, and they will turn to blood. Blood will
Speaker 1: be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood. And stone.
Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.
Speaker 1: He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and
Speaker 1: his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and
Speaker 1: all the water was changed into blood. The fish in
Speaker 1: the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that
Speaker 1: the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere
Speaker 1: in Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing
Speaker 1: by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart became hard. He
Speaker 1: would not lie listen to Moses and Aaron, just as
Speaker 1: the Lord had said. Instead, he turned and went into
Speaker 1: his palace and did not take even this to heart.
Speaker 1: And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get
Speaker 1: drinking water because they could not drink the water of
Speaker 1: the river. So again the magicians are able to do
Speaker 1: the same trick. And so because of that, probably Pharaoh
Speaker 1: is not impressed, because this is just a trick as
Speaker 1: far as he's concerned. And so we'll continue on here.
Speaker 1: We're starting the plague of frogs. It starts in chapter
Speaker 1: seven and continues on into chapter eight The Plague of frogs.
Speaker 1: Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile. Then
Speaker 1: the Lord said to Moses, go to Pharaoh and say
Speaker 1: to him, this is what the Lord says. Let my
Speaker 1: people go so that they may worship me. If you
Speaker 1: refuse to let them go, I will send a plague
Speaker 1: of frogs on your whole country. The Nile will team
Speaker 1: with frogs. They will come up into your palace and
Speaker 1: your bedroom, and onto your bed, into the houses of
Speaker 1: your officials, on your people, and into your ovens and
Speaker 1: kneading troughs. The frogs will come up on you and
Speaker 1: your people and all your officials. Then the Lord said
Speaker 1: to Moses, tell Aaron, stretch out your hand with your
Speaker 1: staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make
Speaker 1: frogs come up on the land of Egypt. And so
Speaker 1: Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt,
Speaker 1: and the frogs came up and covered the land. But
Speaker 1: the magicians did the same thing. By the secret arts,
Speaker 1: they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
Speaker 1: Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, pray to the
Speaker 1: Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people,
Speaker 1: and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices
Speaker 1: to the Lord. Moses said to Pharaoh I leave to
Speaker 1: you the honor of setting the time for me to
Speaker 1: pray for you and your officials and your people, that
Speaker 1: you and your houses may be rid of frogs, except
Speaker 1: for those that remain in the Nile tomorrow, Pharaoh said.
Speaker 1: Moses replied, it will be as you say, so that
Speaker 1: you may know there is no one like the Lord,
Speaker 1: our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses,
Speaker 1: your officials, and your people. They will remain only in
Speaker 1: the Nile. After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried
Speaker 1: out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought
Speaker 1: on Pharaoh, and the Lord did what Moses asks. The
Speaker 1: frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards, and in
Speaker 1: the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land
Speaker 1: reeked of them. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,
Speaker 1: he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses
Speaker 1: and Aaron. Just as the Lord had said, so we
Speaker 1: had the river turning to blood, and now we have
Speaker 1: lots and lots of frogs. The magicians still able to
Speaker 1: keep up with Moses and Aaron. Hey, we can do
Speaker 1: that trick too, But Pharaoh starts to listen a bit.
Speaker 1: This is getting to be a little bit of a
Speaker 1: thing where he will listen, he will repent, he'll say,
Speaker 1: I'll let you go. Then the plague will be taken away,
Speaker 1: and he'll change his mind. And we're going to see
Speaker 1: that happen over and over again, the plague of gnats.
Speaker 1: Then the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron, stretch out
Speaker 1: your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and
Speaker 1: throughout the land of Egypt the dusk will become gnats.
Speaker 1: They did this, and when Erin stretched out his hand
Speaker 1: with the staff and struck the dust of the ground,
Speaker 1: gnats came up on people and animals. All the dust
Speaker 1: throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. And when the
Speaker 1: magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they
Speaker 1: could not, since the gnats were on the people and
Speaker 1: animals everywhere. The magicians said to Pharaoh, this is the
Speaker 1: finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he
Speaker 1: would not listen, just as the Lord had said. So
Speaker 1: this is an interesting one here with the plague of gnats.
Speaker 1: We finally get to the point where the magicians say, yeah,
Speaker 1: we can't do this. This is not a trick. This
Speaker 1: is the hand of God. You should listen. So they
Speaker 1: are now promoting that Pharaoh listened, but he does not.
Speaker 1: Why do we not listen when God is speaking? Because
Speaker 1: we still have some trouble with that today, and hopefully
Speaker 1: we're not seeing large plagues that God is using to
Speaker 1: try and get our attention, and hope we're not that
Speaker 1: deaf to him that he needs to. But there are
Speaker 1: a lot of different reasons why we don't listen. So
Speaker 1: we might be saying, like the magicians the first few,
Speaker 1: that this is just a trick, or this is just
Speaker 1: a coincidence, or this is not God speaking, or we
Speaker 1: may just not want to do what God wants us
Speaker 1: to do. Right. Sometimes God needs to get our attention
Speaker 1: because he needs us to change our behavior and change
Speaker 1: our directions. And that is hard, and that is hard. Indeed,
Speaker 1: the plague of flies, then the Lord said to Moses,
Speaker 1: get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as
Speaker 1: he goes into the river, and say to him, this
Speaker 1: is what the Lord says, let my people go so
Speaker 1: that they may worship me. If you do not let
Speaker 1: my people go, I will send swarms of flies on
Speaker 1: you and your official and on your people, and into
Speaker 1: your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full
Speaker 1: of flies. Even the ground will be covered with them.
Speaker 1: But on that day I will deal differently with the
Speaker 1: land of Goshen, where my people live. No swarms of
Speaker 1: flies will be there, so that you will know that I,
Speaker 1: the Lord, am in this land, and I will make
Speaker 1: a distinction between my people and your people. This sign
Speaker 1: will occur tomorrow, and the Lord did this. Dense swarms
Speaker 1: of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses
Speaker 1: of his officials. Throughout Egypt. The land was ruined by
Speaker 1: the flies. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said,
Speaker 1: go sacrifice to your God here in the land. But
Speaker 1: Moses said that would not be right. The sacrifices we
Speaker 1: offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.
Speaker 1: And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes,
Speaker 1: will they not stone us. We must take a three
Speaker 1: day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the
Speaker 1: Lord our God, as he commands us. Pharaoh said, I
Speaker 1: will let you go to offer the sacrifices to the
Speaker 1: Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not
Speaker 1: go very far. Now, pray for me Moses answered, as
Speaker 1: soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord,
Speaker 1: and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh in his officials
Speaker 1: and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he
Speaker 1: does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people
Speaker 1: go to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Then Moses left
Speaker 1: Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did
Speaker 1: what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials
Speaker 1: and his people. Not a fly remained. But this time
Speaker 1: also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the
Speaker 1: people go. So flies everywhere, Ah, it's just disgusting, but
Speaker 1: not in the land of Goshen. So God has stepped
Speaker 1: this up a bit to say, I want you to
Speaker 1: know that this is me, that this isn't some magic trick,
Speaker 1: that this is God. And so I'm going to show
Speaker 1: you that I can make things bad here and yet
Speaker 1: my people will be okay. And so Pharaoh says, yes,
Speaker 1: you can sacrifice, but do it here. He's now bargaining, well,
Speaker 1: you can't do it here. Be detestable to Egyptians. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll let you go in the wilderness, but you can't
Speaker 1: go far. But then again, when the plague ends, he
Speaker 1: backs out. It is easy for us to decide to
Speaker 1: make that deal with God when things are bad, and
Speaker 1: then to renig on it later on, and that's what
Speaker 1: Pharaoh does. It is something many of us have done
Speaker 1: before and some of us will do again. But with that,
Speaker 1: we're going to end this episode of the Bible Study Podcast.
Speaker 1: If you have any questions, send an email to Chris
Speaker 1: two x at gmail dot com, or better yet, leave
Speaker 1: a comment on this episode at the Bible Study podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. And as always, thanks so much for listening.
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