Tag: Exodus

Morning Musing: Exodus 8:16-19

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’ And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals. ‘This is the finger of God,’ the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The town where I live has gnats. I know what you might be thinking: everywhere has gnats. That’s just life in a broken world. But you don’t understand. We have lots of gnats. And everyone who lives in the other little towns around us knows it. One of the things we are known for is how bad our gnats are. And trust me: they’re really bad. There are some days when you can hardly go outside without being completely engulfed by them. So, when I read about this third plague of gnats, I can’t help but think about how irritating trying to go to our local park is in the summer and how bad this must have been for the Egyptians. Let’s talk through some of the details here and the theme that is emerging as we go.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 8:5-7, 15

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“The Lord then said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’ When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt. . . .But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I love getting into early summer when it’s warm enough to sit outside in the evenings and you start hearing the frogs for the first time. Their cacophonous chorus is a welcome note of the changing of the seasons. Their music is a gift from God and speaks to the wonderful variety of creatures He has created to fill the earth to His glory. But frogs belong in the ponds and puddles around my neighborhood. If they started to encroach on my living space and in greater numbers than the one or two you occasionally find hopping around the yard, they would not be quite so endearing. In fact, I suspect I would come to hate frogs with the same passion I bring to my hatred of gnats. Today we talk about the second plague God sent on Egypt: frogs. Let’s explore what was going on and its outcome.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 7:14-17

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But so far you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

At last we come to the place the action really gets going. Moses and Aaron finally go to confront Pharaoh directly about his refusal to let the people of Israel go. This begins a series of actions God uses to convince him to do it. Exactly how these played out is something that has puzzled scholars and interpreters for centuries, but especially in the modern world. We’ll take some time working through each of these, starting here where all the waters in Egypt…except for some of them…were turned to blood. How did this work? Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 7:8-13

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“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers — the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How do you convince someone that God is real? How do you convince them that He is worth their lives and obedience? That’s a tough question to answer and one that depends on both the person and the circumstances. Sometimes, though, the only way to get through to someone is by putting on a bit of a show. How big a show again depends, but sometimes God puts on a pretty big one. When God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, He knew it was going to take a really big show in order to convince him. Let’s look here at how that show begins and why God was always the ringmaster.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 7:6-7

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“So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things I learned when I was growing up is that when there’s work to be done, you keep at it until the job is finished. It drives me crazy when someone starts but doesn’t finish a project. Now, yes, this can be taken too far, and we need to have the wisdom to recognize when we need to pause for a break, but in most cases it is pretty sound advice. As much as this idea applies to individual tasks we take on, though, it also applies to our lives as a whole. Let’s talk about Moses and Aaron’s lives and this interesting little note we get as they get started on the biggest task of their lives.

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