Exodus 9:1-12 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage: Exodus 9:1-12. Let’s go!
Exodus 9:1-12 (NIV)
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back,
3 the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field–on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats.
4 But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.'”
5 The LORD set a time and said, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.”
6 And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.
7 Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh.
9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land.”
10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals.
11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.
12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
On verses 1-12: The plagues seem to be getting worse in their severity. Plagues 2 through 4 consisting of the frogs, the gnats, and the flies were probably minor irritations compared plague 5 where God starts hitting the Egyptians’ bank accounts by killing off their livestock as well as plague 6 with the boils. At this point you need to wonder what Pharaoh was thinking: the people he is leading are suffering greatly, so why does he not surrender to the Lord to save his own people? It seems that Pharaoh would rather let his people suffer than swallow his own pride. Beware of pride, for if we’re not careful, pride can cause us to make very foolish decisions that unnecessarily harm those we are called to protect.
Also, another lesson we learn here is that the longer we delay in obeying God and the longer we keep playing games with Him, the more painful it gets for us and those closest to us. We’re always better off obeying God earlier than later.
Finally, can we really blame Pharaoh since it says in verse 12 that “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”? Keep in mind that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was not something God did independently of Pharaoh. Before this, in Exodus 8:15 and Exodus 8:32 it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. We ourselves must choose whether our heart will be hard or humble toward God.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I would not let pride get in the way of doing what is right. Thank You for showing me that I am always better off obeying You early than late. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
