Chapter 9

v22-v24 a simple stick in his hand = worst storm ever. Epic day to remember.  Every prediction of God is fulfilled. 

V25 economically devastating, demoralizing storm.  Awe struck is how they should feel. Jesus was struck, beat, stripped, almost a foreshadow of the wrath Jesus will endure for our sin. 

V26 untouchable ones.   God protects.  They should never doubt again.  Remember that storm that didn’t hit us, but hit our neighbors? Safe in the storm following His word.  

 v27 I have sinned, not like any other confession. Not summoning his magicians or false priest.  Guilty as charged. Paying lip service, he doesn’t follow up on his words.  Easier to say sorry than to show sorry. Confession without repentance is meaningless.  Trying to avoid consequences without repentance. Confession for manipulation, like a snake, full of lies.  Many admit fault in the Bible and don’t change.

V28 prayer request again, also 3x he said you can go as if this is the only sin he has committed? Arrogant still. Why not pray himself? 

V29 know it, experience it.  The earth belongs to God. 

V30 I know you are a fake. This confession is counterfeit. 

Many who get baptized in church, say the right things, and before long they are gone, not serving, not faithful in church.  It is all for show. God wants a lasting relationship from all who confess. 

V31 Plague is in February. Flax was used to make linen for priest garments.  There will be no new linens for them this year.  Wheat and spelt is a mercy to allow them to survive. 

V33-35  Sinning again when relief comes. Familiar path. His hard heart has passed onto others, his influence of evil spreads.  One breath admit wrong and the next act like nothing ever happened. Despite what they saw they rejected God again. 

At the end of the day what mattered most to Pharaoh was his fake world.  My hope is you have not embraced a fake world for yourself and found it worth pursuing over what God has to offer. Get your right life with Christ today. Don’t wait for more rope or more tomorrows, your rope may break and tomorrow might not come. 

Why does God want people to worship and sacrifice, so they learn atonement is not without cost.  We will sacrifice to either fake gods or the real deal.  One provides atonement, the false ones don’t. 

Chapter 10

V1 God is now hardening the hard. How? His very existence does it.  Also, God has undeniably revealed himself to be true and more powerful than any pretend gods of Egypt.  Each judgement is a chance for repentance.  Some would rather get mad at God.  Who does God think He is, God?  Tragedy turns hearts either toward God or further away.  Seldom does it cause a neutral reaction.  Pray that your hearts turn to the Lord when tested. Hard heart is for the purpose of God’s power being revealed. More signs.

V2 Tell the next generation what was done.  This is ageless information.  It will remain forever. God is going to get credit for all signs and people will know Him for it. Dealing harshly is something we don’t want God to do to us.  Yet we are ok if others get what is coming to them.  This should make us sad that people reject God.  There is no pleasure in a parent who is harsh to child because they won’t learn the lesson.  This harsh action is a mercy in light of the fact that God could wipe them out at any time.  (see Ex 9:15, if I wanted you dead, it would have been so)  Also translates as a mockery, made to look foolish, shaming. Unbelief is foolish. To see devastation and do nothing is foolish.

V3 Humble yourself, that is what it takes to walk with God.  Leave the old fake universe behind and upgrade to His reality.  How long must we delay, there is an implied invitation to no longer wait.  Pride gets in the way of following. How long will you bear the weight of your sin? What will it take for you to submit to Christ? How long is a very important question, how many tomorrows do we get? Only God knows (he asks the most powerful man how long)

V4 If you refuse… repeated phrase, must have bothered Pharaoh to hear these words of warning every time, and every time they came true.  Locusts are evil in the eye of Egypt, like sending Satan against a Christian. Not a revered false god.  The threat of locust is very serious to Egypt culture.

V5-6 Complete devastation of what is left.  Devour, presence everywhere, worse than frogs.  Like nothing ever seen before. Epic. 

V7 some officials have decided enough is enough.  Pharaoh’s friends are turning on him now.  Just as Pharaoh turn Hebrews against Moses, he now endures the mistrust of his own people. Not nice to be mistrusted by those you are trying to lead.   They argue that Egypt is ruined because of Him, accused of blindness, do you not see? Truthfully he sees with his eyes, but refuses in his heart. WE will sacrifice everything to keep what is false in his world.

V8 Who are you taking? Bargaining with God? This has already been answered, Pharaoh want to exert some kind of power, anything to show he is not meaningless.  He will take a small compromise as victory.  This is how the devil plays with us.  A small compromise will lead to bigger problems when we let them start.  Our heart starts to bend in to wrong direction with avoiding God’s word. Pharaoh wants to ensure they will come back by leaving something behind.  God calls us to leave nothing behind in our worship of Him.

V9 All are included in worship to the Lord.  God makes no distinctions on gender or age, all are eligible for worship.  Thank you Lord.

V10 "The Lord be with you" is a curse on Moses.  God is asking too much from me and I will curse anyone who demands too much.  Some will curse a preacher for saying, “God wants all of us and not just a portion”. 

Pharaoh has a distorted view of evil.  Satan convinces those that belong to him that sin is a virtue and following God’s word is evil.   Many today would falsely claim the morals that Christianity teaches is evil because it conflicts with how they want to live.  

V11 No, unimaginable to take everything, his memory must not work either, Moses never said men only, another lie and misrepresentation of truth. Conveniently forget the word of the Lord? Drive out those who bring the word of the lord. He needs hostages to remain.

V12-13 commands turn into action.  By morning judgement was upon Egypt.

V14-15 invaded, this is invasive, it can’t be ignored. Covered the ground. Overwhelmed.  Producing a feeling of helplessness.  All the food is going away.  Egyptians should devour the food not locusts. What little was there is now gone.  No green, surrounded by death everywhere they look.  Desperate feelings.

V16 Quickly now. Desperate for change. More false confession without true remorse.  Confession, forgiveness, but no submission here. Demanding

V17 Sin against Lord and Moses, making more prayer requests. Demanding and not confessing what his real sins are.  If this persists everyone will die.

V18 Moses always leaves and then prays, never in his presence.  Holiness not mingled with the unholy.  Pharaoh is not worthy to be in Moses presence when He prays.

V19 change in wind direction, God can change things anytime He wants. The land was full and now it is empty.  He drives locust to their death into the sea, foreshadow, he will drive Egypt's soldiers to their death into the sea.

V20 Relief brings more resentment and hard heartedness.

V21-23 darkness you can feel? There is some mystery here.  3 days is the constant reminder of what God requires.  Believe and trust in the 3 days or reject it at your own risk. Unknown how the Hebrews had light when everywhere else was dark.  Are you light to those living in the dark?  Light reveals and make us functional, the darkness hides and makes us less mobile. Darkness is symbol of evil and chaos.  Egypt’s high god was the sun god Ra. God shutdown their biggest pretend god, unannounced.  After all they have been thru this was attacking their mind and moral even more. Depressing the people. Darkness felt like a substance. Like fog. Horrifying. Frozen. Candles had little to no effect. Very abnormal. Powerless gods and people.

V24 Another compromise offered. Putting conditions on God’s word is bad.

V25-26 Another rejection of compromise made.

V27 Another bad reaction and rejection of the word of the Lord.

V28 You will die before I see you again. Was he too scared to kill them now?

V29 As you wish, Moses appears not afraid of death or not afraid because He knows what God is capable of, anything and everything.  Moses vows not to return.