The Israelites were forced to find a way to make the same number of bricks without straw provided for them. When they couldn't get the job done they were beaten by their taskmasters. The Israelite foremen complained to Pharaoh, who called them lazy. So then they complained to Moses. Moses gave it to God and God told him that he would make Pharaoh let the people go. God said he heard the Israellites and would deliver them. When Moses told the Israelites what God had said they didn't listen to him because they were discouraged.
Next is a record of the family of Moses and Aaron. I notice that Moses' mother was named Jochebed (in the movie her name is Yoshebel) and was his aunt. The Israelites are literally the children of Israel (Jacob). That's a big family!
Moses began to fear that he couldn't be a convincing speaker - even with the power of God inside of him. (Even Moses had doubts about his own abilities.) God heard him and reminded him that He would be with him and he would also have Aaron his brother to be his prophet. They did just what God said. Moses was 80 and Aaron was 83.
God told them that He would harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply the miraculous signs so the people of Egypt would know that He is God Almighty. (You know how the Egyptians worshiped all sorts of Gods. I must admit that I wondered why God would harden Pharaoh's heart to make it necessary to have to do more miracles. It seems like the Egtptian magicians knew how to do many of the signs at first. Then I realized that God wanted all of Egypt to understand that, as Yul Brenner said, He is God.) So they went before Pharaoh and demanded, again, that he release the people. Aaron threw down his staff and it turned into a snake, then the court magicians and sorcerers did the same trick. But then Aaron's snake ate all the other snakes. Pharaoh's heart hardened just as God said it would. Then God said to go out to where the Pharaoh would be at the Nile in the morning and touch the water with the staff. The water turned into blood. The Egyptians had to dig in the ground to find water to drink. The next week God told Moses to go before Pharaoh again and demand freedom for the Israelites. Of course Pharaoh said "No" and this time frogs came up out of the Nile and covered EVERYTHING - even the bread dough in the bowls - eeeeeewwww! The Egyptian magicians could make frogs appear too.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to pray to God tomorrow and make the frogs go away. So Moses prayed, God did what he asked, the frogs died, they piled them up in heaps which stank. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened again.
Find out what happens next! Read Exodus 8:16-11:10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment