Exodus - Chapters 5-10

The main ideas from this information are: - The Israelites were oppressed by the new king of Egypt who did not know about Joseph. - God heard the cries of the Hebrews and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. - Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. - Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh and asked him to let the Israelites go, but he refused. - God sent nine plagues upon Egypt, showing his power and making a distinction between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. - The Egyptian gods were shown to be powerless compared to the God of the Hebrews. - God had a purpose in his plan to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and show his power. - The Israelites and Pharaoh had different responses to the Lord, with some believing and worshiping, and others refusing to listen. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at theab.bc.pc at gmail.com. So far in Exodus we know there was a new king that did not know about Joseph, so he began to oppress the Israelites since there were so many of them. The cries of the Hebrews were heard by the Lord, and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he looked upon the people with concern. Through various circumstances, which we covered yesterday, the Lord spoke to Moses and called him to lead his people out of Egypt. Moses asked if someone else could do it since he did not speak well, so the Lord allowed Aaron to help Moses. Aaron would be the spokesperson, and Moses would represent God to the people. In chapter 3, verse 18, the Lord told Moses to go to the elders, and when they listened to you, then you will go to the king of Egypt. Chapter 4 ends with Moses and Aaron going to the elders, and after they saw the signs God had given them, verse 31 reads, and they believed, and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them, and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped. Now off to the king of Egypt. The quick overview of chapters 6-10 is as follows, Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh and told them the God of Israel says, let my people go. They showed him signs. He said no. The oppression became worse. The people cry out to Moses, who cried out to God. They approached Pharaoh again. He said no. In the midst of these chapters, we see the family record of Moses and Aaron, which helps give us a future picture of the role that Aaron and his descendants play as the priests with the Jewish religion. Aaron spoke for Moses as the Lord said, and then came the ten plagues. The first was the Nile river turned to blood, the second a plague of frogs, the third a plague of gnats, the fourth a plague of flies, the fifth a plague of livestock, the sixth a plague of boils on people and animals, the seventh a plague of hail, the eighth a plague of locusts, the ninth a plague of darkness, and the tenth is the plague of the first born. Each time except the last, Pharaoh said no. Today we are covering the first nine of the plagues because the tenth plague goes with Passover and we will cover that tomorrow. Now I want to point out a few things within this story line. First we see the Lord claims the Israelites as his people. Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh in chapter 5 verse 1, their God is the God of Israel and he says let my people go. In chapter 5 verse 3, God is known as the God of the Hebrews. In chapter 6 verses 6 through 8 it says, therefore say to the Israelites, I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord. In just this section God is making clear that he is the Lord because he says it three times at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. And he declared his covenant with his people. Then with the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th plague we learn that the Lord dealt differently with the Israelites than with the Egyptians. Chapter 8 verse 22, in the land of Goshen where my people live there were no flies. Chapter 9 verse 4, the Lord made a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt so that no animal of the Israelites died. With the plague of hail, chapter 9 verse 26, the only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen where the Israelites were. And with the 9th plague of darkness, chapter 10 verse 23 says, no one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days, yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. There was one verse that I wrote a question mark in the margin and it is chapter 6 verse 3. But let me read verses 2 through 5. God also said to Moses, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. When we read Genesis, we saw that sometimes the patriarchs referenced God as the Lord. So what is God meaning here? Some scholars believe it is tied to Moses' calling at the fiery bush where the Lord said, I am hath sent you. And in Exodus we are seeing a new side of God that the patriarch did not see. I am wondering if it is not also the difference now of instead of being three individual people and his relationship with each of them, now the Lord is the Lord of a nation, a people group, and now God is fighting for his people, which is why he showed distinctions between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. Second, we see a distinction between the Egyptian gods and the God of the Hebrews. It starts with chapter 5 verse 2 where Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. In last year's lesson on this section, which is called the first nine plagues in Egypt, which was done on January 17th, 2023, I go into more detail about the various gods of the Egyptians and how each of the plagues is also a battle against the Egyptian gods. Before the first plague came, there were signs from God. When the staff became a snake in chapter 7, the Egyptian magicians were able to create the same thing by their secret art. But the key is found in verse 12, Aaron's staff swallowed up their staff. The God of the Hebrews was more powerful than the gods of the Egyptians. The Egyptian magician could turn water to blood, which was plague one, and they could bring forth frogs, as in plague two. With plague three, they could not produce gnats. And then chapter 8, verse 19, the magician said, this is the finger of God. In chapter 9, verse 11, with the plagues of Boyle, it says, the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. Israel's God is stronger than their gods. Third, we see there is a purpose in God's plan. I'd like to jump back to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, when the Lord spoke to Abram. Verses 13 through 16 say, Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your father in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites had not yet reached its full measure. What I like about these verses is it reminds me that God is working in other people's lives, such as the Amorites, and not just mine, and not just the Israelites. And God's timing is perfect as he accomplishes what needs to be done. One thing the family records of Moses and Aaron show us in chapter 6 is four generations. Levi had Kohath, who had Ammon, who had Aaron and Moses, who have children now. We also see in Exodus there were purposes in this process. Chapter 6 verse 7b, Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, he speaketh unto the Israelites. Chapter 7 verse 5, 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. Moses said to Pharaoh in chapter 7 verse 17, This is what the Lord says, by this you will know that I am the Lord. In chapter 8 verse 10, Moses again told Pharaoh, I will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. In chapter 8 verse 22, Moses again spoke to Pharaoh, But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live. No swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I the Lord am in this land. With the plague of hail, Moses confronted Pharaoh, and said in chapter 9 verses 14 and 16, This time I will send the full force of my plagues against you, and against your officials, and your people, so that you may know there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth, but I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Chapter 10 verses 1 and 2, Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them, that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians, and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord. In other words, so that the next generation may hear of the great things the Lord has done, and how he fought for them. Next we see how people responded to the Lord. Throughout this passage we find that sometimes the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and other times the passage declared that Pharaoh hardens his own heart. Life and the Bible is a mixture of God's sovereignty, meaning he is in control, and human responsibility and choice. At the end of chapter 4, the Israelites believed and worshipped, and then when life got harder, in chapter 6 verse 9, the Israelites refused to listen to Moses. In chapter 5 verse 2, Pharaoh said he did not know the Lord. At the end of the first plague, Pharaoh did not listen. At the end of the second, with the frogs, he summoned Moses to pray to the Lord. Chapter 8 verse 8, At the end of the third plague, with the gnats, the magicians declared this is the finger of God. Chapter 8 verse 19, With the fourth, which are the flies, Pharaoh was going to allow the Israelites to worship their God in the land of Egypt, but Moses said that would not be right. So then he said, okay, you can go to the desert, but not too far. After Moses prayed to the Lord, Pharaoh recanted. With the fifth plague of livestock, and the sixth of boils, Pharaoh's heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go. With the plague of hail, number 7, we see there were officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord, and they protected their slaves and livestock by taking them inside. This one was so severe that Pharaoh said in chapter 9 verse 27, This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough. I will let you go. Chapter 10 verse 34, When Pharaoh saw that the land and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts. Chapter 10 verse 7 reads, Pharaoh's officials said to him, How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined? But this Pharaoh was going to allow just the men to go. Chapter 10 verse 11, When the locusts arrived, verse 16 tells us, Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me. With the ninth plague of darkness, Pharaoh allowed all the people, but not the flocks or herds. Moses said that was not good enough, because they needed to offer sacrifices. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Verses 28 and 29 end this section with, Pharaoh said to Moses, Get out of my sight. Make sure you do not appear before me again. The day you see my face, you will die. Just as you say, Moses replied, I will never appear before you again. I have a feeling that Moses had a skip in his step as he left. When COVID hit, some people would ask my husband, who was their pastor, Do you think that God is trying to get our attention? And I loved his response. He said, I think God is always trying to get our attention. The question is, are we listening? In Exodus, God was trying to reveal himself to his own people, the Israelites, to the Egyptian people, including the Egyptians' officials, magicians, and especially Pharaoh. A few listened, but most refused to submit to the authority of the Lord. Sometimes even the Lord's own people refused to listen. So let me ask you, ladies, if you have heard his voice today, will you harden your heart like Pharaoh? Or will you have ears to hear what the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses has to say? Will you hear and obey? Until next time, and thanks so much for listening.