20250201 Reading Plan
Hey Bible Readers! We are on Day 32 of our Chronological Reading Plan through the Bible. Today we are reading through Exodus 7-9. Here are few highlights from today’s reading…
Exodus 7 – God provides His plans to Moses and Aaron. They are to go to Pharaoh and speak all that God has commanded them. But, God tells them, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you”. (vv.3-4) When Moses appeared before Pharaoh, his heart was hardened and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. (v.13). God them tells Moses to go to the Nile before Pharaoh and touch the water and it will turn to blood. Pharaoh was unimpressed and returned to the palace. Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Exodus 8 – Moses comes again to Pharaoh and repeats God’s message and command. This time if Pharaoh refuses, frogs will cover the land. Pharaoh refused to comply, and the frogs came. The Egyptian magicians could do this like they did the blood. What they couldn’t do was make the frogs disappear. To show that God is sovereign and all powerful, Moses cries out to God and the frogs died and the land stand. When Pharaoh saw this, he hardened his heart again and would not listen to them. As a result of this, God also visited the land with gnats and flies. Pharaoh weakens for a moment and tells Moses the people can go and sacrifice. God removes the flies and, once again, Pharaoh hardens his heart and did not let the people go.
Exodus 9 – God’s next plague was to strike all of Pharaoh’s livestock. God would make a distinction between Pharaoh’s livestock and the Hebrews. Once again, the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go. The sixth plague was boils. The plagues have moved from the earth to the people now. The boils were horrible and no one could stand before Moses because of the boils. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to Moses. The Lord then strikes the land with hail. Once again, Israel was not affected in Goshen but there was nothing that survived outdoors anywhere in Egypt. Once again, the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
Here’s my God thot – Pharaoh saw the overwhelming power of God and yet he chose to not believe or ignore and disobey. He thought he was on the same level as God since the Egyptians considered him to be a god. Sometimes, he hardened his heart and other times God hardened his heart. The bottom line – when God speaks, we need to listen. If not God may harden our hearts as well.