Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. ² Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country. ³ But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. ⁵ When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! ¹¹ Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. ¹² They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake. ¹⁶ Then announce to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him. ¹⁷ So this is what the Lord says: “I will show you that I am the Lord.” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood. ¹⁸ The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’”

¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! ²¹ The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. ²² But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted. ²³ Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind. ²⁴ Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile.

²⁵ Seven days passed from the time the Lord struck the Nile.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. ³ The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. ⁴ Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.’” ⁶ So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land! ⁷ But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

⁹ “You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

¹⁰ “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

“All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

¹² So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died. ¹⁴ The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise your staff and strike the ground. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats. ¹⁸ Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike.

¹⁹ “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

²⁰ Then the Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh’s way as he goes down to the river. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. ²¹ If you refuse, then I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and all the houses. The Egyptian homes will be filled with flies, and the ground will be covered with them. ²² But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I am present even in the heart of your land. ²³ I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’”

²⁴ And the Lord did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies.

²⁵ Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. “All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God,” he said. “But do it here in this land.”

²⁶ But Moses replied, “That wouldn’t be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where the Egyptians can see us, they will stone us. ²⁷ We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he has commanded us.”

²⁸ “All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God. But don’t go too far away. Now hurry and pray for me.”

²⁹ Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will disappear from you and your officials and all your people. But I am warning you, Pharaoh, don’t lie to us again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

³⁰ So Moses left Pharaoh’s palace and pleaded with the Lord to remove all the flies. ³¹ And the Lord did as Moses asked and caused the swarms of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly remained. ³² But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection: God was going to make Moses like a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron would be his spokesman. Because of his stubborn heart, Pharaoh wouldn’t do what they said. This would allow God to demonstrate His mighty power over the Egyptian gods by miraculous signs and wondrous actions which became known as the ten plagues. God was about to rescue His people, the Israelites, by mighty acts of judgment against the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh demanded a miracle, Aaron threw down his staff and it became a snake. To counter this, or prove it was just some kind of trick, the Egyptian magicians did the same thing, but Aaron’s snake (staff) swallowed up theirs. Next, God told Moses to use his staff to turn the water of the Nile river into blood. When he did so, and the Egyptian magicians then did the same, Pharaoh refused to believe. After a week, Moses, at God’s direction, brought up frogs that were everywhere–even in Pharaoh’s bed and on his head. Again, the magicians were able to do that same thing, this only making matters worse. After a time, Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to take the frogs away. To this Moses answered, “You set the time.” When he replied, “Tomorrow,” Moses cried out to God, and the frogs returned to where they should be, the Nile. Still Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. After this refusal, the LORD told Moses to use his staff to turn dust into gnats. Like the frogs, gnats were everywhere. This time the magicians were not able to do what Moses had done. They had to admit, “This is the finger of God.” Still Pharaoh was hard-hearted and refused to listen. Next, Moses told Pharaoh there would be swarms of flies all over Egypt except in Goshen where God’s people lived. This meant that God made a clear distinction between His people and Pharaoh’s people. When the LORD did just as He had said, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron in to bargain with them to take the flies away. Moses explained why the Hebrews needed to go at least three days away from Egypt. Pharaoh reluctantly agreed, so God through Moses removed all the flies, but Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.

[I checked but was unable to find where Moses (or God) turned the blood in the Nile back into safe drinking water.] 

Prayer: Dear Sovereign LORD, thank You that You are greater than any “made-up” gods that people have worshiped for many millennia. You not only proved it in Moses’ time with Pharaoh and the Egyptian people, but You are also proving it every day if people will just open their eyes and hearts to You. You did (and do) these things to prove who You are so that Your people (anyone who puts their trust in You) can be set free from slavery (of any kind) to worship You. You want everyone to know that I AM is LORD and is to be worshiped above all else. Jesus, like the Nile river, You are life-giving (eternal life) water. In this situation with Moses, blood in the Nile brought death, but faith in Your blood brings life (eternal life). LORD, I ask that leaders, especially governmental leaders like Pharaoh, would not harden their hearts against You or Your people. I ask that they listen to sound advice from men (and women) of God, like Moses and Aaron. I pray that Your people will cry out to You with all of our problems, however large or small. I realize that there are many problems that afflict all of humanity, but in certain cases, You make a distinction and specifically protect Your people. Help us to trust You in either case. In Jesus’s name and for His glory. AMEN

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

• I will examine my own heart to see how I have hardened my heart and mind against God and what He wants to show me.
• I will check my thinking and behavior to see what I rely on instead of the LORD God.
• I will stop trying to bargain with God to get Him to do what I want. Instead, I will willingly do what He wants.
• I will keep my word to God and/or other people.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.