Study Desk

As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. The foremen said to them, "May God see what you've done and judge you—you've made us stink before Pharaoh and his servants! You've put a weapon in his hand that's going to kill us!"

God continued speaking to Moses, reassuring him, "I am God . I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as The Strong God, but by my name God (I-Am-Present) I was not known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the country in which they lived as sojourners. But now I've heard the groanings of the Israelites whom the Egyptians continue to enslave and I've remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the Israelites: "I am God . I will bring you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I will rescue you from slavery. I will redeem you, intervening with great acts of judgment. I'll take you as my own people and I'll be God to you. You'll know that I am God , your God who brings you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I'll bring you into the land that I promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and give it to you as your own country. I AM God ." But when Moses delivered this message to the Israelites, they didn't even hear him—they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions. Then God said to Moses, "Go and speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he will release the Israelites from his land." Moses answered God , "Look—the Israelites won't even listen to me. How do you expect Pharaoh to? And besides, I stutter." But God again laid out the facts to Moses and Aaron regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he again commanded them to lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of the tribes: The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi—these are the families of Reuben. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Saul, the son of a Canaanite woman—these are the families of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of Levi in the order of their birth: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. The sons of Gershon by family: Libni and Shimei. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived to be 133. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the sons of Levi in the order of their birth. Amram married his aunt Jochebed and she had Aaron and Moses. Amram lived to be 137. The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she had Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel and she had Phinehas. These are the heads of the Levite families, family by family. This is the Aaron and Moses whom God ordered: "Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt clan by clan." These are the men, Moses and Aaron, who told Pharaoh king of Egypt to release the Israelites from Egypt. And that's how things stood when God next spoke to Moses in Egypt. God addressed Moses, saying, "I am God . Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you." And Moses answered, "Look at me. I stutter. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

God said to Moses, "Now you'll see what I'll do to Pharaoh: With a strong hand he'll send them out free; with a strong hand he'll drive them out of his land." God continued speaking to Moses, reassuring him, "I am God . I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as The Strong God, but by my name God (I-Am-Present) I was not known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the country in which they lived as sojourners. But now I've heard the groanings of the Israelites whom the Egyptians continue to enslave and I've remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the Israelites: "I am God . I will bring you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I will rescue you from slavery. I will redeem you, intervening with great acts of judgment. I'll take you as my own people and I'll be God to you. You'll know that I am God , your God who brings you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I'll bring you into the land that I promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and give it to you as your own country. I AM God ." But when Moses delivered this message to the Israelites, they didn't even hear him—they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions. Then God said to Moses, "Go and speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he will release the Israelites from his land." Moses answered God , "Look—the Israelites won't even listen to me. How do you expect Pharaoh to? And besides, I stutter." But God again laid out the facts to Moses and Aaron regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he again commanded them to lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of the tribes: The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi—these are the families of Reuben. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Saul, the son of a Canaanite woman—these are the families of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of Levi in the order of their birth: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. The sons of Gershon by family: Libni and Shimei. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived to be 133. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the sons of Levi in the order of their birth. Amram married his aunt Jochebed and she had Aaron and Moses. Amram lived to be 137. The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she had Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel and she had Phinehas. These are the heads of the Levite families, family by family. This is the Aaron and Moses whom God ordered: "Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt clan by clan." These are the men, Moses and Aaron, who told Pharaoh king of Egypt to release the Israelites from Egypt. And that's how things stood when God next spoke to Moses in Egypt. God addressed Moses, saying, "I am God . Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you." And Moses answered, "Look at me. I stutter. Why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

God said to Moses, "Now you'll see what I'll do to Pharaoh: With a strong hand he'll send them out free; with a strong hand he'll drive them out of his land." God continued speaking to Moses, reassuring him, "I am God . I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as The Strong God, but by my name God (I-Am-Present) I was not known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the country in which they lived as sojourners. But now I've heard the groanings of the Israelites whom the Egyptians continue to enslave and I've remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the Israelites: "I am God . I will bring you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I will rescue you from slavery. I will redeem you, intervening with great acts of judgment. I'll take you as my own people and I'll be God to you. You'll know that I am God , your God who brings you out from under the cruel hard labor of Egypt. I'll bring you into the land that I promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and give it to you as your own country. I AM God ."

Moses and Aaron did exactly what God commanded. Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh called in his wise men and sorcerers. The magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their incantations: each man threw down his staff and they all turned into snakes. But then Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.

God said to Moses: "Pharaoh is a stubborn man. He refuses to release the people. First thing in the morning, go and meet Pharaoh as he goes down to the river. At the shore of the Nile take the staff that turned into a snake and say to him, ‘ God , the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you with this message, "Release my people so that they can worship me in the wilderness." So far you haven't listened. This is how you'll know that I am God . I am going to take this staff that I'm holding and strike this Nile River water: The water will turn to blood; the fish in the Nile will die; the Nile will stink; and the Egyptians won't be able to drink the Nile water.'"

God said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and wave it over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—so that they turn to blood.' There'll be blood everywhere in Egypt—even in the pots and pans."

But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their incantations. Still Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn't listen to them as God had said. He turned on his heel and went home, never giving it a second thought. But all the Egyptians had to dig inland from the river for water because they couldn't drink the Nile water. Seven days went by after God had struck the Nile.

God said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘ God 's Message: Release my people so they can worship me. If you refuse to release them, I'm warning you, I'll hit the whole country with frogs. The Nile will swarm with frogs—they'll come up into your houses, into your bedrooms and into your beds, into your servants' quarters, among the people, into your ovens and pots and pans. They'll be all over you, all over everyone—frogs everywhere, on and in everything!'"

Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to God to rid us of these frogs. I'll release the people so that they can make their sacrifices and worship God ."

Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses prayed to God about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. God responded to Moses' prayer: The frogs died off—houses, courtyards, fields, all free of frogs. They piled the frogs in heaps. The country reeked of dead frogs.

The magicians tried to produce gnats with their incantations but this time they couldn't do it. There were gnats everywhere, all over people and animals.

God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes down to the water. Tell him, ‘ God 's Message: Release my people so they can worship me. If you don't release my people, I'll release swarms of flies on you, your servants, your people, and your homes. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground under their feet will be thick with flies. But when it happens, I'll set Goshen where my people live aside as a sanctuary—no flies in Goshen. That will show you that I am God in this land. I'll make a sharp distinction between your people and mine. This sign will occur tomorrow.'"

God said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘ God , the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me. If you refuse to release them and continue to hold on to them, I'm giving you fair warning: God will come down hard on your livestock out in the fields—horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep—striking them with a severe disease. God will draw a sharp line between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. Not one animal that belongs to the Israelites will die.'"

God said to Moses and Aaron, "Take fistfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses throw it into the air right before Pharaoh's eyes; it will become a film of fine dust all over Egypt and cause sores, an eruption of boils on people and animals throughout Egypt." So they took soot from a furnace, stood in front of Pharaoh, and threw it up into the air. It caused boils to erupt on people and animals. The magicians weren't able to compete with Moses this time because of the boils—they were covered with boils just like everyone else in Egypt.

God said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘ God , the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me. This time I am going to strike you and your servants and your people with the full force of my power so you'll get it into your head that there's no one like me anywhere in all the Earth. You know that by now I could have struck you and your people with deadly disease and there would be nothing left of you, not a trace. But for one reason only I've kept you on your feet: To make you recognize my power so that my reputation spreads in all the Earth. You are still building yourself up at my people's expense. You are not letting them go. So here's what's going to happen: At this time tomorrow I'm sending a terrific hailstorm—there's never been a storm like this in Egypt from the day of its founding until now. So get your livestock under roof—everything exposed in the open fields, people and animals, will die when the hail comes down.'"

All of Pharaoh's servants who had respect for God 's word got their workers and animals under cover as fast as they could, but those who didn't take God 's word seriously left their workers and animals out in the field.

(The flax and the barley were ruined, for they were just ripening, but the wheat and spelt weren't hurt—they ripen later.)

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, " God , the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long are you going to refuse to knuckle under? Release my people so that they can worship me. If you refuse to release my people, watch out; tomorrow I'm bringing locusts into your country. They'll cover every square inch of ground; no one will be able to see the ground. They'll devour everything left over from the hailstorm, even the saplings out in the fields—they'll clear-cut the trees. And they'll invade your houses, filling the houses of your servants, filling every house in Egypt. Nobody will have ever seen anything like this, from the time your ancestors first set foot on this soil until today.'" Then he turned on his heel and left Pharaoh.