Go Down Moses A Passover Story (Part 4)
Cast Down Your Rod Once again, Moses and Aaron went to meet Pharaoh to show him a miracle from God. What miracle was that? It was the one where the rod turned into a serpent. Well, Pharaoh’s sorcerers also turned their rods into serpents. Guess what happened next? Aaron’s serpent swallowed up the serpents of the magicians. But this sign did not matter to Pharaoh. He refused to let the people go. At this time, Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83.
Plague #1 The very next morning Moses & Aaron went to Pharaoh & said, “The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.� So for punishment, God turned all of the waters of Egypt into blood for 7 whole days. All of the fishes in the water died. Yuk! That means the water was very smelly, yet Pharaoh did not let the Israel go.
Plague #2 Once again, Moses & Aaron met Pharaoh saying, “Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.” Did he say frogs!? Yep, there were frogs on the people, in their homes and in their food. However, Pharaoh’s magicians felt they were just as powerful as God and decided to bring more frogs upon the land with their own enchantments.
Plague #2 As the frogs continued to plague the land of Egypt, Pharaoh became tired and grieved because of those slimy creatures. He called for Moses & Aaron and said he would let Israel go if they would intreat (or ask) the Lord to remove the froggies. So as Pharaoh requested, the frogs all died and were gathered in heaps throughout the land of Egypt. Can you imagine how awful it smelled!
Plague #3 Pharaoh saw that those pesty little frogs were dead, so he went back on his word and did not let Israel go. Shame on him! So what did the Lord do? He told Moses to say unto Aaron to stretch out his rod and turn the dust of the land into lice. Do you know what lice are? They are very tiny, wingless insects that thrive on the skin of mammals & birds. And oh did the lice plague the people and animals of Egypt. I feel itchy thinking about it!!!!
Plague #3 Those silly magicians of Pharaoh even tried to conjure (to make something appear) up lice of their own but they could not. In amazement, they told Pharaoh that this was the “finger of God.� But the King of Egypt would not listen and hardened his heart. Israel remained in bondage.
Plague #4 The Lord told Moses to go straight to Pharaoh the very next morning and say, “Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 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. 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. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.� (Exodus 8: 20-23)
Plague #4 And the Lord did just that. There was a swarm of flies throughout the entire land of Egypt but absolutely none in the land of Goshen, where his people did dwell. Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Plague #4 Once more, Pharaoh called for Moses & Aaron and asked if they would intreat the Lord to remove the flies. They were so grievous and difficult to deal with. In exchange, Pharaoh said that Israel could sacrifice to their God in the land of Egypt. But that was not the will of God. Moses said they could not do this for they were going to sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians. If they did this in front of them, they could be stoned by the Egyptians. God wanted Israel to go to the wilderness and sacrifice. Pharaoh agreed to those terms so that the flies could be taken away. But did Pharaoh keep his end of the bargain?
Plague #5 As expected, Pharaoh did not keep his end of the bargain. Instead, he hardened his heart again and refused to let the children of Israel go. So the Lord responded with this, “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 (or an infectious disease). 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. And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 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.” (Exodus 9: 3-6) But Pharaoh still would not let the people go.
Plague #6 “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. 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. 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. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.� (Exodus 9: 8-11) Despite the suffering of his people, Pharaoh would not let the people go.
Plague #7 The Lord commanded Moses to rise up the next morning and say to the Pharaoh these words, “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. 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. He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.� (Exodus 9: 18 -21)
Plague #7 After this horrible plague, Pharaoh called for Moses and said that he had sinned before God. He again promised to let the people go if Moses would ask the Lord to stop the thundering, hail & fire. Can you imagine all the damage that this storm caused. Many of the crops of Egypt were destroyed. Yet, the land of Goshen remained intact as the Lord promised. When the storm had ended, Pharaoh sinned again and refused to let the people of Israel go.
Plague #8 “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. Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:� And the locust covered every inch of the land, so much so, you could not see it. There were locusts all over the animals and the people of Egypt. And every remaining plant or crop that remained from the hail storm, was devoured by the greedy, greedy locusts.
Plague #8 With the locust destroying everything in site, Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron, saying that he had sinned against the Lord. He asked for Moses to speak to God on his behalf so that the locusts could be removed from the land. As Moses requested, God took away the locusts and once more, the King of Egypt hardened his heart and would not let the people of Israel go to serve the Lord.
Plague #9 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.� (Exodus 10: 21-23)
Plague #9 The thick darkness must have frightened Pharaoh for he called for Moses and Aaron and told them that Israel and their little ones could go but the cattle he requested to stay behind. But that was not good enough. After all, what would Israel use to make burnt sacrifices unto their God. This made the King of Egypt angry and his heart was hardened by the Lord. Pharaoh told Moses, “Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.� So Moses left the presence of Pharaoh and indeed, he would see him no more. So what happened next.....
See What Happens in Part 5
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