As the Lord had said, Pharaoh hardens his heart. God then shows His power as the plagues in Egypt begin.
Exodus 7: Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh
1 And the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them."
6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them.
7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
9 "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'"
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent.
16 And you shall say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far, you have not obeyed."
17 Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile."'"
19 And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"
20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
25 Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.
Exodus 8: The Second Plague: Frogs
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs.
3 The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.
4 The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants."'"
5 And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!'"
6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile."
10 And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.
11 The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile."
12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.
13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.
14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
The Third Plague: Gnats
16 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.'"
17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.
18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
The Fourth Plague: Flies
20 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
21 Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen."'"
24 And the LORD did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.
25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land."
26 But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?
27 We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us."
28 So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me."
29 Then Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.
31 And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained.
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
Things to think about…
Moses was the intercessor, but Aaron was the mouthpiece – the prophet, Ex 7:1. May we all be like Aaron and speak on behalf of our intercessor Jesus.
The magicians turn their staffs into snakes and also perform the same miracle of turning water into blood and even produce frogs, Ex 7:22; 8:7. God’s power and authority needs to trump Satan in order for the world to believe. The fact that the magicians were able to do these things allowed Pharaoh’s heart to grow hard towards Moses’ message. The magicians power was about to be silenced. How do we silence our critics through our witness of Christ? When the gnats were unable to be produced by the magicians, even they concluded that Moses and Aaron were giving a message from God, Ex 8:19.
God makes a distinction. Flies in all of Egypt, but no flies in Goshen where the Israelites are, Ex 8:22, 23. Christ is the distinction for us. God’s plague against sin is against all those that reject the Saviour. Pray that we will see many turn and find forgiveness through the cross.
When the heat is off – there is no need for God. Pharaoh hardens his heart even more when the plagues go, Ex 8:29-32. This is why it is so hard to witness for Christ in the west. We have so much, there is little desire or concern to repent of anything. Pray that the Lord creates a spiritual desire in our city that only He can only be satisfied in Christ.
VisionPoint! For cell groups from Sunday morning’s message.
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Cell group’s on break for 2 weeks.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for our “Beirut Blessing” fund. Will be sent off this week. $1200 raised.
2. Continue to pray for Victoria and clusters around Ipswich, numbers of infections are going down, but the increased lockdown will see many businesses go under and depression and mental health to be a problem in the state.
4. Continue to pray for our government for wisdom and economic management.
6. Sunday’s messages. The message this week – “Whose that you say?” Exod 3– Pr Jay.
7. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
8. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. Luke’s preaching from Matt 22. Thanks Luke!
2. Wonderful worship led by Dan, Suzanne, Jean, Rod, Zac. Thanks guys!
3. Finances continue to be maintained.
4. Wonderful spirit of joy in our church. Thankyou Jesus.
5. Donations to Café roof ($5,175) and Blessing Beirut ($1200). Thankyou!
6. Unity, peace and grace at CBC.
7. Praise God for all those who serve at CBC.
Announcements
1. Prayer meetings on break for 2 weeks. Please continue to pray for CBC however.
2. One service at 9:30am Every Sunday morning. This service will also be live streamed on Youtube. No kisses, hand-shakes or hugs are allowed. Hand sanitizer is to be used, tables will be wiped and chairs arranged for appropriate distancing. Families can of course sit together. CBC is allowed up to 50 people inside, then we have an overflow in the cafe.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Kids Church will be run in the house when the message starts.
