Monday, August 10, Exodus 7
God begins to show His might and glory to Pharaoh.
Vv. 10-12 — How were the Egyptian magicians able to do these miracles? They did them through demonic power.
- 20 — The first plague was especially devastating to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. That’s because the Nile was their main source of water. It was deified by the Egyptians. In the plagues that follow, God will continue to show the Egyptians that their gods in nature are totally powerless before the God of Scripture.
Tuesday, August 11, Exodus 8
Pharaoh hardens his heart in spite of God’s might and glory.
- 2 — The Egyptians worshiped a frog (or toad) who was called Heqt and supposedly helped women in childbirth.
Vv. 13-14 — Which was worse–the plague itself or the aftermath of piled up frogs?
Vv. 15, 19, 32 — Even after the magicians admitted this is the hand of the Lord, Pharaoh still hardened his heart (v.19). His approach was extremely dangerous. Such continued action on anyone’s part can eventually lead to being cut off from God forever. That life finally ends in hell.
- 18 — Beginning with this plague, the magicians no longer were permitted to duplicate what God did. God had placed a limit on Satan’s power.
Wednesday, August 12, Exodus 9
Vv. 8-12 — The plague of boils, sores, which appeared on the bodies of the Egyptians, was the first to strike the people directly.
- 12 — The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. When God hardens the heart, a person’s eternal doom is sealed. (Rom. 9:17, 18) This however, was not the sin against the Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks of in Matt. 12:31-32. This is a sin committed by a member of a Christian congregation who hears the Word and believes it, but then turns away from it and refuses all calls to repentance.
Thursday, August 13, Exodus 10
- 16 — In chapter 9:27, Pharaoh used the words, “This time I have sinned.” Isn’t he implying that the other times he felt he didn’t sin? Tragically, his sorrow over sin is hypocritical because he always changes his mind immediately after God gives him a break. Let’s never make the same mistake as Pharaoh did.
- 21 — The plague of darkness was especially directed at the Egyptian heathen religion. They worshiped the sun and even built a city called Heliopolis, which was dedicated to the sun god, Re. What a crushing, humiliating blow this plague must have been to their worship of that false god!
Friday, August 14, Exodus 11
Vv. 4-5 — The terrible judgment upon Egypt in the last plague very likely was spoken by Moses to Pharaoh previous to chapter 10:29. Chapter 11 is what is called a “flashback.” As God brought this horrible plague down upon the Egyptians, so He’ll carry out His final judgment against all unbelievers on Judgment Day and send them to hell. The reason for this we can see in the case of the Egyptians. They refused again and again God’s call to repentance.
- 8 — Moses’ anger was not one of hate toward Pharaoh. He was angry at the sinful attitude of Pharaoh toward God. His anger was what we would call “righteous anger.”
Saturday, August 15, Exodus 12
Vv. 13-14 — The Day of Atonement and the Passover were two important religious festivals God commanded the Jews to observe every year. They both pointed to Christ’s great sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. Once Christ came, those festivals were no longer necessary. That’s because Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. Read John 1:29 and I John 1:7 and 2:2.
- 37 — What a mass of people this was! Including women and children, they probably totaled 2 million. They came into Egypt 430 years earlier with how many people? Read Gen. 46:27.