Question

---

1. Now, what did the LORD say to Moses? (6:28-7:5) What is the specific message here? What is Moses’ and Aaron’s attitude toward God’s command? (7:6) What is written about the human condition of Moses and Aaron? (7:7) 2. What miracle did Moses and Aaron do before Pharaoh? (7:8-10) What did the Egyptian magicians do? (7:11-12a) What happened to Aaron’s staff and the magicians’ staff that became snakes? (7:12b) What does this signify? How did Pharaoh respond to this? (7:13) 3. What message was Moses to deliver to Pharaoh? (7:14-18) What did Moses and Aaron do in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials? (7:19-21) What is the meaning of this first plague? What did the Egyptian magicians do and how did Pharaoh respond? (7:22-24) 4. Seven days after the LORD struck the Nile, what did the LORD say to Moses? (8:1-5) What did Moses and Aaron do? (8:5-6) What did the magicians do and what was pharaoh’s response to it? (8:7-8) What did Moses do and what was the result? (8:9-15) 5. What did Aaron do with his staff this time and what happened? (8:16-17) How did the magicians respond this time? (18-20) What can we learn in this study?

---

Attachment

Message

---

In the previous lesson we thought of who Pharaoh was and who the LORD is. Pharaoh was an oppressor, whose rule consisted of hard work, oppression, and lies. The LORD is the liberator, deliverer and redeemer. Regardless of adverse human circumstances and the weakness of men, the LORD carries out his purpose with his mighty hand. In today’s passage, we see the LORD raise Moses to be like God to Pharaoh and begins to show his miraculous signs and mighty acts of judgment upon Egypt though Moses and Aaron. His consistent message is “Let my people go so that they may worship me”, and his ultimate purpose is that even the Egyptians might know him as the LORD. In this study we will think of God’s power through the first three plagues and Moses’ change of attitude from one with faltering lips to one with absolute obedience to God’s command. First, the prologue to the ten plagues, acts of judgment (6:28-7:13). This passage starts with the words in 6:28-29, “Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, he said to him, ‘I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.’” As we studied, Moses was defeated when he confront Pharaoh and spoke God’s message, “Let my people go so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert” and “The God of Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God…” (5:1, 3). Pharaoh’s response was to press the Israelites to work even harder, so they became bitter toward Moses. Moses doubted God’s reason for sending him to Egypt and wondered why God did not rescue his people in their time of need. He even said that God had brought evil on his people. So, here, when God said, “Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you”, it was scary for Moses to hear. He said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” Moses remained full of despair and fatalistism. How does God respond? The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother will be your prophet.” Wow! Who was Moses? When God called him from within the burning bush and told him to go to Pharaoh, he said, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” At that time, Pharaoh looked like a god to Moses. Even hearing of Pharaoh made him shake and tremble. Now the LORD said, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh.” Truly, the LORD is awesome and great. He makes his servant great and formidable. And Aaron would be Moses’ prophet, his spokesman. The LORD said to Moses continually, “You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you.” God does not harden anyone from the beginning. As for Pharaoh, he already defied God saying, “Who is the LORD that I should obey him and let Israel go?” when he heard the LORD’s message through Moses, “Let my people go…” That is why God said, “I will harden his heart.” It is like what Paul said in Romans 1:21-28, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him….they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and animals and reptiles…They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity…gave them over to shameful lust…he gave them over to a depraved mind.” God’s hardening of one’ heart is a dreadful thing. God said continually in verses 4b-5: “Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” Here God said, “I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.” Now God regarded his people as his divisions, his army hosts, or regiments who would conquer the promised land. As we have studied, the LORD revealed himself to Moses as the self-existent eternal God related to “I AM”, and as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” and “the deliverer and redeemer.” God also wanted the Israelites to know the LORD, the God of Israel (5:1), the God of Hebrews (5:3). God’s further purpose is that even the Egyptians would come to know the LORD through his mighty acts of judgment. At this point we remember Jesus’ high priestly prayer that the whole world may know him who sent his Son Jesus and who loved them even as he loved the Son (Jn 17:25). Apostle Paul also said of God’s intent that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:10-11). God’s message in verses 2-5 is the summary of the mission to Egypt. At this time the response of Moses and Aaron is “they did just as the LORD commanded them”. Now the attitude of Moses changed from faltering to absolute obedience to the LORD’s command. We will see this changed attitude of Moses continually. The author commented, “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” Their human condition did not seem favourable. However, their spirit of obedience was commendable. Now in verses 8-9, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, “Perform a miracle,” then say to Aaron, “Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,” and it will become a snake.’” This miraculous sign was the very one which God showed Moses and told Moses to display before the elders of Israel so that they might listen to Moses. As we studied, the snake represented Egyptian royal authority. The miracle was performed before Moses and then before the elders of Israel (4:30). Now it was to be done before Pharaoh, a big challenge to Moses and Aaron. How did they respond? Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. This was Moses’ great leap of faith. Then, what does God show him? It is written in verses 11 and 12: “Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” According to 2 Timothy 3:8, two of the Egyptian magicians were named Jannes and Jambres. We do not know how many staffs Aaron’s staff swallowed up. Anyway, what a fascinating sight! The LORD’s power was different from magic arts. It shows that the power of the LORD is above all demonic powers, including magic arts. In truth, the LORD is above all and the only true God. He says in Isaiah 45:5, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.” This God would later make Pharaoh’s army drown in the Red Sea. After that event Moses confessed, “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them” (15:11-12). The power of the LORD raised Christ from the death. So, Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, quoting the words of the Old Testament (Isa 25:8; Hos 13:14), “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (15:54-55). In short, Christ’s resurrection swallowed up death. In Christ, we will also swallow up death, which means we have victory over death. Praise the LORD for his power. At the power of the LORD, which was shown at the staff of Aaron’s swallowing up the staffs of the Egyptian magicians, Moses and Aaron must have been greatly encouraged and convinced of ultimate victory over Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. Pharaoh would be a difficult one to handle. However, the phrase “just as the LORD had said” implies that the LORD is in control over him. The battle would not be an easy and short one, but a tough and prolonged one with ten rounds. However, the LORD gave Moses and Aaron a sense of victory in this prelude to the following plagues. In this part, we see that God sees and controls the whole picture and he disciplines his servants step by step. Through obedience to him, each servant can grow in faith, being assured of the Lord’s mighty power over anyone and any circumstances. He can make his servant be like God over those who oppose God. Second, the first three plagues (7:14-8:19). The fist is the plague of blood. In 7: 14-15. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water.” Most probably, Pharaoh went out to the water in the morning. So, God said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh in the morning.” And Moses was to wait on the bank of the Nile, taking in his hand with the staff that was changed into a snake. God told Moses to say to him, “The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened.” Again, God’s unceasing message is “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert.” We see how eagerly God wants his people to be freed and worship him! Since Pharaoh did not listen, Moses is to say continually, “This is what the LORD says: By this time you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.”’” This is the plague of blood in which the Nile turned into blood. The Nile was the origin of Egyptian civilization, and it was the life-source for the Egyptians. Egypt’s greatness as a civilization was wholly dependent on the waters of the Nile. The Nile was personified and worshipped as a god in Egypt. The water of the Nile being changed into blood could be the symbol of deathly destruction of the Nile. The waters of the Nile would no longer bring security and prosperity to Egypt; it would rather be the cause of Egypt’s destruction for the fish in the Nile would die and the river would stink; the Egyptians would not be able to drink its water. In verses 19-20, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs’—and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars.”’” Here the expression, “blood will be everywhere in Egypt even in the wooden buckets and stone jars”, indicates the destruction of the Nile would so badly affect the Egyptians’ practical life. The LORD is not far away from people, whether in blessing or in curse. In verses 20-21, “Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water of the Nile was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.” What God had said and warned came true through the obedience of Moses and Aaron. But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts. They seemed to show that their power was not inferior to Moses’ and Aaron’s. Yet, their magic power certainly aggravated the nation’s condition. If they wanted to show their power, they should have undone what Moses and Aaron had done. That was unthinkable to them. Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. Pharaoh seemed to be strong, but he was inviting destruction upon himself and his nation more and more because of his hardened heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river. This could be God’s mercy amid the destruction. Next is the plague of frogs. Seven days passed after the LORD struck the Nile. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the house of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading trough. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.” In Egypt, frogs were considered sacred animals. It was forbidden to intentionally kill frogs. The frog was the representation, the image, of the goddess Heqt, the Egyptian goddess of fertility. However, too many frogs would be indeed a plague to them. The LORD clearly said, “I will plague your whole country with frogs.” The presence of frogs in such abundance, everywhere, outside and inside houses, would bring only frustration, dismay, and much discomfort, rather than the blessing for cultivating and much detail including, “into your ovens and kneading trough.” This act seems mean, but the LORD would do this, indicating that the LORD’s punishment is real and indeed affects people’s practical life. He is close to the people. According to Jesus, the LORD God cares for his people so much that the very hairs of each one’s head are all numbered” (Lk 12:7). We can say that he is the micro God as well as the macro God. He is the God of universe and the God of each individual. In verses 5-6, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, “Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.”’ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.” Again, the magicians seemed to show their power, but in fact only made the nation’s condition worse with more frogs. They should have shown their power by getting rid of the frogs. Pharaoh knew that his magicians were not helpful to him at all. He summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.” Now the situation of Pharaoh and that of Moses were reversed. Pharaoh began to be in the need of Moses, for he knew that only the LORD could take away the frogs from him and his people. From this point Moses takes initiative over Pharaoh, whom Moses thought was invincible. Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honour of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.” Now, how confident Moses is in speaking to Pharaoh! It is because he had faith in the power of the LORD with full trust in him. His confidence is different from self-confidence. It is confidence in the LORD God. “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. One day would be enough with the plague of frogs. Pharaoh urgently needed Moses’ help. Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” This was an opportunity for Moses to testify to the LORD to Pharaoh that Pharaoh might know that there is no one like the LORD, the God of Israel. Because of his faith in the LORD, Moses was more than sure that the frogs would leave the Egyptians completely. After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. It is clearly written that Moses cried out to the LORD for the frogs to be removed and the LORD did what Moses asked. This is a beautiful relationship between the LORD and his servant Moses. It is notable that God did not let the frogs go back to the waters of Egypt, but let them die and be piled into heaps and the land reeked of them. It implies the LORD, Yahweh’s complete victory over the gods of Egypt, as he turned the water of the Nile to blood. The Nile stunk with blood, and the land reeked of the dead frogs. Stinking and reeking are what false gods can give in the end. In verse 15, “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.” What a pitiful Pharaoh! This well shows sinners’ character. When there is relief in a favourable situation, it is not easy for them to repent. Now there is the plague of gnats. In verses 16-18, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,” and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.’ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals.” We remember that the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground (Ge. 2:7). This is a part of God’s creation. Here the word “produce” was used in the description, “when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.” In the miraculous sign, a staff was changed into a snake (7:15). In the first plague, the water of the Nile turned to or changed into blood (7:20). In the second plague, the Nile teemed with frogs and frogs came up on the land of Egypt out of the waters of Egypt (8:6). Here, the magicians could not produce gnats by their secret arts. Producing gnats out of the dust of the ground was impossible to the magicians. This was the impossibility and limitation of their magic power. We see a clear distinction between magic and the power of God. The magicians recognized this and said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” In the gospel story when some people said that Jesus was driving out demons by the prince of demons, Jesus clearly said that Satan is not that stupid. He stated in Luke 11:20, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” The finger of God indicates the power of God. Actually, until now the LORD had shown his power through miraculous signs and the continuous plagues. Aaron’s staff being changed into a snake and swallowing up all other staffs that were also changed into snakes – only God could do that. The water of the Nile being changed into blood and restored is none other than the power of God. Making the frogs come out of the waters of Egypt and getting rid of them was uniquely the power of God. Now, when the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats that came upon men and animals, the magicians realized the uniqueness of God’s power and said, “This is the finger of God.” Their realization was slow, but anyhow the Egyptians were taking a step closer to knowing the LORD, the God of Israel, different from Egyptian gods. They could see the LORD is above their gods, “Hapi” (related to the Nile), “Heqt (to frogs), and “Hathor, Nut” (to gants or lice). But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said. A hardened heart brings spiritual blindness and deafness. In this passage we see that the finger of God, that is, the power of God, displayed. His power is unique and above all powers and all gods. He is the LORD. He is faithful to his people with the constant message, “Let my people go so that they may worship me.” God’s ultimate purpose is that even the Egyptians may know the LORD. Moses’ faith in the LORD grew through his obedience, standing firm as a servant of God. Indeed, God has made him like God to Pharaoh. May we live as God’s servants with absolute faith in his power and obedience to his word and serve his purpose of making him known to the people of our time.

---

Attachment