Day 032 (Exodus 7-9) - Year 8

Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Today we open our reading with God telling Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh is not going to listen to them. God says he's going to harden Pharaoh's heart against the request they're bringing. That's a pretty tough order. He also mentioned this yesterday in 421. One thing this reveals to us is that God is sovereign over hearts. If you're new to this idea or it's troublesome for you, resist the urge to read into God's motives or draw conclusions about him based on this, for now let's just notice that he can change hearts. God also mentions several times that he's doing all of this so that Israel will know that he is the Lord. The meaning of the word no doesn't just refer to some cognizant ascent to this reality. It has more to do with the person's posture in response to that truth. God wants them to believe it in their bones, not just acknowledge it as a fact, and he wants their lives to reflect it. The plagues will serve this same purpose for the Egyptians, for them to know that he is the Lord. But unfortunately it's possible to know that God is the Lord of all and still not yield to him. Remember the sins of God we've encountered a few times, including the one called Satan, the accuser? This fallen angels would have lived in heaven with God before their fall, serving him. Who would know the truth more than they would? But they didn't yield to God as Lord. They insisted on their own way. So Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh and they warn him that there will be displays of God's power if he continues to rebel, and that these displays of power will also serve to demonstrate God's judgment on Egypt. They perform the signs God gave them, but Pharaoh is not impressed because his magicians can do similar things. The enemy loves to counterfeit God's work, but the enemy can't stop God's work. Their snakestaffs were swallowed up by Aaron's and we see God's power over Pharaoh and his magicians, but we see for the first time that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, as the Lord had said. After the snake sign, we see the first plague turning the local water to blood. One thing I learned recently about the 10 plagues is that they weren't just about inducing pain. Each plague was a direct attack on one or more of the false gods worshiped by the Egyptians, which was a polytheistic culture. We don't have time to go into details about all these false gods plague by plague, so we'll link to an article in the show notes in case you want more info on that. The plagues also serve to reveal that Yahweh is greater than Pharaoh, who was revered as a God in Egypt. This whole series of events shows how all of Egypt's false gods failed them. The first plague was an attack on the gods of the Nile, which they worshipped. But the local magicians could do the same thing, so again, Pharaoh was unmoved. His heart remained hard, as the Lord had said. Then the frogs came and the magicians were able to replicate this one too. But one thing you'll notice is that they can't ever solve the problem, they can only make things worse. Oh, God sent a bunch of frogs to overwhelm the land. No, we can't magically make them disappear, but we can add more. Nobody needs that, you guys. In the midst of all of this, Pharaoh makes a promise to yield, but the minute the frogs vanish, so do his promises. Pharaoh hardened his heart. It's the same story with the gnats. Pharaoh's heart was hardened, as the Lord had said. Then God does a plague with a twist. He makes a distinction in his words to Pharaoh, calling the Egyptians your people and the Israelites my people. He makes it clear that the Israelites are the only people he's in a covenant relationship with. Don't miss that. God said he will send flies, but they won't attack Goshen, where his people live. Remember Goshen? It's the fertile pasture land Joseph managed to get for his family when he worked for the old Pharaoh back in the day. His descendants, the Israelites, still live there centuries later, and God kept the flies off them. But despite this evidence of God's power in being location specific with this plague, Pharaoh hardens his heart. Then we have livestock and boils and hail. Well as the first plague where human lives are threatened, God explicitly tells Pharaoh how to avoid it, but he hardened his heart. Things are going exactly the way God said they would. Pharaoh responds differently to various plagues, but his heart is always hard. He even asks Moses to pray to God on his behalf. Sometimes people who don't know or love God still ask him for help when they're in dire straits. But despite all that, he never repents. What was your God shot today? I saw his patience. In 915-16, he said to Pharaoh, by now I could have put up my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose, I have raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. God has patience towards sinners. And step by step, he's working out his plan. His patience with Pharaoh was probably really frustrating to Moses in the Israelites. And probably even to the Egyptians as well, they were probably like, let them go already Pharaoh. I'm far less patient with God than he is with everything. I'm always trying to rush his plan. But I want to learn to trust that he's taking the steps necessary to make his name proclaimed in all the earth. And that matters far more than my timeline. Plus, he's with me in the struggle and the waiting, which means there can be joy even in those moments because he's where the joy is. Today is February 1st. It's the start of our second month of reading through the Bible this year. If you're struggling to keep up with the plan or you just want a more convenient way to find the Bible reading and recap options, check out our daily reminder email. We call it the pre-cap. The only content are the essential links for each day delivered straight to your inbox each morning. It includes that day's reading, show notes, and links to both options for recapping, audio and video. To sign up for the pre-cap, check out the homepage of our website, thebibelrecap.com, or click the link in the show notes.