Study Desk

Pharaoh called in his wise men and sorcerers. The magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their incantations: each man threw down his staff and they all turned into snakes. But then Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their incantations. Still Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn't listen to them as God had said. He turned on his heel and went home, never giving it a second thought. But all the Egyptians had to dig inland from the river for water because they couldn't drink the Nile water. Seven days went by after God had struck the Nile.

But again the magicians did the same thing using their incantations—they also produced frogs in Egypt.

But when Pharaoh saw that he had some breathing room, he got stubborn again and wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron. Just as God had said.

The magicians tried to produce gnats with their incantations but this time they couldn't do it. There were gnats everywhere, all over people and animals.

The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is God's doing." But Pharaoh was stubborn and wouldn't listen. Just as God had said.

God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes down to the water. Tell him, ‘ God 's Message: Release my people so they can worship me. If you don't release my people, I'll release swarms of flies on you, your servants, your people, and your homes. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground under their feet will be thick with flies. But when it happens, I'll set Goshen where my people live aside as a sanctuary—no flies in Goshen. That will show you that I am God in this land. I'll make a sharp distinction between your people and mine. This sign will occur tomorrow.'"

Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, "Go ahead. Sacrifice to your God—but do it here in this country."

Moses said, "As soon as I leave here, I will pray to God that tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. But don't play games with us and change your mind about releasing us to sacrifice to God ."

Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to God . God did what Moses asked. He got rid of the flies from Pharaoh and his servants and his people. There wasn't a fly left. But Pharaoh became stubborn once again and wouldn't release the people.

And the next day God did it. All the livestock of Egypt died, but not one animal of the Israelites died. Pharaoh sent men to find out what had happened and there it was: none of the livestock of the Israelites had died—not one death. But Pharaoh stayed stubborn. He wouldn't release the people.

God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘ God , the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me. This time I am going to strike you and your servants and your people with the full force of my power so you'll get it into your head that there's no one like me anywhere in all the Earth. You know that by now I could have struck you and your people with deadly disease and there would be nothing left of you, not a trace. But for one reason only I've kept you on your feet: To make you recognize my power so that my reputation spreads in all the Earth. You are still building yourself up at my people's expense. You are not letting them go. So here's what's going to happen: At this time tomorrow I'm sending a terrific hailstorm—there's never been a storm like this in Egypt from the day of its founding until now. So get your livestock under roof—everything exposed in the open fields, people and animals, will die when the hail comes down.'"

All of Pharaoh's servants who had respect for God 's word got their workers and animals under cover as fast as they could, but those who didn't take God 's word seriously left their workers and animals out in the field.

(The flax and the barley were ruined, for they were just ripening, but the wheat and spelt weren't hurt—they ripen later.)

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he kept right on sinning, stubborn as ever, both he and his servants. Pharaoh's heart turned rock-hard. He refused to release the Israelites, as God had ordered through Moses.

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. He said to them, "Go ahead then. Go worship your God . But just who exactly is going with you?"

The locusts covered the country of Egypt, settling over every square inch of Egypt; the place was thick with locusts. There never was an invasion of locusts like it in the past, and never will be again. The ground was completely covered, black with locusts. They ate everything, every blade of grass, every piece of fruit, anything that the hail didn't get. Nothing left but bare trees and bare fields—not a sign of green in the whole land of Egypt.

But God made Pharaoh stubborn as ever. He still didn't release the Israelites.

Pharaoh called in Moses: "Go and worship God . Leave your flocks and herds behind. But go ahead and take your children."

But Moses said, "You have to let us take our sacrificial animals and offerings with us so we can sacrifice them in worship to our God . Our livestock has to go with us with not a hoof left behind; they are part of the worship of our God . And we don't know just what will be needed until we get there."