LESSON 4 *July 19–25

The Plagues

The Plagues

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Exod. 7:8–10:29; Num. 33:4; Rom. 1:24–32; Ps. 104:27, 28; Isa. 28:2, 12–17; Isa. 44:9, 10, 12–17.

Memory Text: “So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses” (Exodus 9:35, NKJV).

A farmer was trying to get his donkey to move; the beast wouldn’t budge. So, the farmer took a thick branch and walloped it. He again spoke to the donkey, who then started moving.

When someone asked the farmer why that worked, he replied, “Well, first you have to get its attention.”

Putting aside whatever issue one might raise about cruelty to animals, there is a point to be made here, especially in the context of the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Moses has been given his marching orders and goes to Pharaoh with God’s famous words, shalach et ami, which is, “Let My people go!”

Pharaoh, however, does not want to let God’s people go. The Scriptures never explicitly explain why Pharaoh was so reluctant, despite the military threat that the Egyptians feared the Hebrews could pose (see Exod. 1:10). Most likely, as is often the case with slavery, it was pure economics. They were cheap labor, and so he didn’t want to lose whatever economic advantages these slaves gave him. Thus, he was going to need some persuasion not only to get his attention but also to change his mind.

* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 26.


Sabbath Afternoon, July 19

Lesson 4 - The Plagues

The Lord directed Moses to go again to the people and repeat the promise of deliverance, with a fresh assurance of divine favor. He went as he was commanded; but they would not listen. Says the Scripture, “They hearkened not. . . for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.” Again the divine message came to Moses, “Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.” In discouragement he replied, “Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me?” He was told to take Aaron with him and go before Pharaoh, and again demand “that he send the children of Israel out of his land.”

He was informed that the monarch would not yield until God should visit judgments upon Egypt and bring out Israel by the signal manifestation of His power. Before the infliction of each plague, Moses was to describe its nature and effects, that the king might save himself from it if he chose. Every punishment rejected would be followed by one more severe, until his proud heart would be humbled, and he would acknowledge the Maker of heaven and earth as the true and living God. The Lord would give the Egyptians an opportunity to see how vain was the wisdom of their mighty men, how feeble the power of their gods, when opposed to the commands of Jehovah. He would punish the people of Egypt for their idolatry and silence their boasting of the blessings received from their senseless deities. God would glorify His own name, that other nations might hear of His power and tremble at His mighty acts, and that His people might be led to turn from their idolatry and render Him pure worship.—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 260, 263.
 

I was directed to the power of God manifested through Moses, when the Lord sent him in before Pharaoh. Satan understood his business, and was upon the ground. He well knew that Moses was chosen of God to break the yoke of bondage upon the children of Israel; and that he in his work prefigured Christ’s first advent to break Satan’s power over the human family, and deliver those who were made captives by his power. Satan knew that when Christ should appear, mighty works and miracles would be wrought by him, that the world might know that the Father had sent him. He trembled for his power. He consults with his angels to accomplish a work which shall answer a two-fold purpose: 1. To destroy the influence of the work wrought by God through his servant Moses, by working through his agents, and thus counterfeiting the true work of God. 2. The influence of his work through the magicians would reach down through all ages, and would destroy in the minds of many, true faith in the mighty miracles and works of Christ, which would be performed by him when he should come to this world. He knew that his kingdom would suffer, for the power which he held over mankind would be subject to Christ. It was no human influence or power Moses possessed, which wrought on the minds, that produced those miracles before Pharaoh. It was the power of God. These signs and wonders were wrought through Moses, to convince Pharaoh that the great “I am” sent him to command Pharaoh to let Israel go, that they might serve him.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, p. 81.

SUNDAY July 20

God vs. gods

Read Exodus 7:8–15. What lessons are here in this first confrontation between the God of the Hebrews and the gods of Egypt?

* Your notes will not be saved!

The upcoming battles were going to be between the living God and the Egyptian “gods.” What made things worse was that Pharaoh considered himself to be one of those gods. The Lord did not fight against the Egyptians, or even Egypt per se, but against their deities (the Egyptians venerated more than 1,500 gods and goddesses). The biblical text is explicit: “On all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord” (Exod. 12:12, ESV). Later, it is once again emphasized, this time when Israel’s journey from Egypt was recounted: “The Lord had brought judgment on their gods” (Num. 33:4, NIV).

An example of this judgment on their gods was well demonstrated by the miracle of the rod turning into a serpent (Exod. 7:9–12). In Egypt, the Uraeus goddess Wadjet was personified by a cobra and represented sovereign power over lower Egypt. The symbol of a cobra appeared in Pharaoh’s crown, a sign of his power, deity, royalty, and divine authority, because this goddess would spit venom at Pharaoh’s enemies. The Egyptians also believed that the sacred serpent would guide the Pharaoh to his afterlife.

When Aaron’s staff became a snake and ate all the other serpents before the king, the supremacy of the living God over Egyptian magic and sorcery was manifested. Not only was the emblem of Pharaoh’s might conquered, but Aaron and Moses clutched it in their hands (Exod. 7:12, 15). The initial confrontation demonstrated God’s power and lordship over Egypt. Moses, as God’s representative, had greater authority and power than did the “god” Pharaoh himself.

It is also significant that the ancient Egyptians considered a snake god, Nehebkau (“he who harnesses the spirits”), to be sacred, adored, and worshiped. According to their mythology, this serpent god had great power because he swallowed seven cobras. Thus, God communicated to the Egyptians that He, not the serpent god, has sovereign power and authority. After such a powerful confrontation, they were able to understand this message immediately and distinctly.

How can we allow the Lord to have sovereignty over any of the “gods” seeking supremacy in our lives?


Sunday, July 20

God vs. gods

The magicians seemed to perform several things with their enchantments similar to those things which God wrought by the hand of Moses and Aaron. They did not really cause their rods to become serpents, but by magic, aided by the great deceiver, made them to appear like serpents, to counterfeit the work of God. Satan assisted his servants to resist the work of the Most High, in order to deceive the people, and encourage them in their rebellion. Pharaoh would grasp at the least evidence he could obtain to justify himself in resisting the work of God, performed by Moses and Aaron. He told these servants of God that his magicians could do all these wonders. The difference between the work of God and that of the magicians was, one was of God, the other of Satan. One was true, the other false.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 205, 206.
 

The elders of Israel endeavored to sustain the sinking faith of their brethren by repeating the promises made to their fathers, and the prophetic words of Joseph before his death, foretelling their deliverance from Egypt. Some would listen and believe. Others, looking at the circumstances that surrounded them, refused to hope. The Egyptians, being informed of what was reported among their bondmen, derided their expectations and scornfully denied the power of their God. They pointed to their situation as a nation of slaves, and tauntingly said, “If your God is just and merciful, and possesses power above that of the Egyptian gods, why does He not make you a free people?” They called attention to their own condition. They worshiped deities termed by the Israelites false gods, yet they were a rich and powerful nation. They declared that their gods had blessed them with prosperity, and had given them the Israelites as servants, and they gloried in their power to oppress and destroy the worshipers of Jehovah. Pharaoh himself boasted that the God of the Hebrews could not deliver them from his hand.

Words like these destroyed the hopes of many of the Israelites. The case appeared to them very much as the Egyptians had represented. It was true that they were slaves, and must endure whatever their cruel taskmasters might choose to inflict. Their children had been hunted and slain, and their own lives were a burden. Yet they were worshiping the God of heaven. If Jehovah were indeed above all gods, surely He would not thus leave them in bondage to idolaters. But those who were true to God understood that it was because of Israel’s departure from Him—because of their disposition to marry with heathen nations, thus being led into idolatry—that the Lord had permitted them to become bondmen; and they confidently assured their brethren that He would soon break the yoke of the oppressor.—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 259, 260.

MONDAY July 21

Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?

Read Exodus 7:3, 13, 14, 22. How do we understand these texts?

Nine times in Exodus the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is ascribed to God (Exod. 4:21; Exod. 7:3; Exod. 9:12; Exod. 10:1, 20, 27; Exod. 11:10; Exod. 14:4, 8; see also Rom. 9:17, 18). Another nine times Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart (Exod. 7:13, 14, 22; Exod. 8:15, 19, 32; Exod. 9:7, 34, 35).

Who hardened the king’s heart—God, or Pharaoh himself?

It is significant that in the Exodus story of the ten plagues, in each of the first five plagues, Pharaoh alone was the agent of his heart hardening. Thus, he initiated the hardening of his own heart. From the sixth plague on, however, the biblical text states that it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod. 9:12). What all this means is that God strengthened or deepened Pharaoh’s own choice, his willful action, as God had told Moses He would do (Exod. 4:21).

In other words, God sent plagues to help Pharaoh repent and to free him from the darkness and error of his mind. God did not create fresh evil in Pharaoh’s heart; instead, He simply gave Pharaoh over to his own malign impulses. He left him without God’s restraining grace and thus abandoned him to his own wickedness (see Rom. 1:24–32).

Pharaoh had his free will—he could choose for or against God—and he decided against.

The lessons are obvious. We have been given the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, obedience or disobedience. From Lucifer in heaven, to Adam and Eve in Eden, to Pharaoh in Egypt, and to us today—wherever we abide, we choose either life or death (Deut. 30:19).

An analogy: imagine sunshine that beats on butter and clay. Butter melts but clay hardens. The heat of the sun is the same in both cases, but there are two different reactions to the heat, and two different results. The effect depends on the material. In the case of Pharaoh, one may say that it depended upon the attitudes of his heart toward God and His people.

What freewill choice(s) are you going to make in the next day or so? If you know what the right choice is, how can you prepare yourself to make it?


Monday, July 21

Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?

Pharaoh declared that Moses and Aaron were impostors, and could accomplish no more than his magicians. Said Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, That Jehovah whom thou pretendest not to know, will convince thee that he is more powerful than all gods. They informed him that God would yet perform greater wonders, which would leave him without excuse, and which would be perpetual monuments of his providence and power in behalf of Israel.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuseth to let the people go. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river.”

Pharaoh would not listen to Moses and Aaron, but despised their words; yet he had no power to harm them. “And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.” For seven days the plague upon the waters continued. Yet the king humbled not himself, but hardened his heart. Moses and Aaron were commanded, first, before bringing the plagues, to faithfully relate to Pharaoh the nature of each plague which was to come, and the effect of the plague, that he might have the privilege of saving himself from it if he chose, by letting the children of Israel go to sacrifice unto God. But if the king should refuse to obey the command of God, then would he still visit him with judgments.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 206, 207.
 

We are told that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The repeated refusals of the king to hear the word of the Lord, called forth more direct, more urgent and forcible messages. At each rejection of light, the Lord manifested a more marked display of his power; but the king’s obstinacy increased with every new evidence of the power and majesty of the God of heaven, until the last arrow of mercy was exhausted from the divine quiver. Then the man was utterly hardened by his own persistent resistance. Pharaoh sowed obstinacy, and he reaped a harvest of the same in his character. The Lord could do nothing more to convince him, for he was barricaded in obstinacy and prejudice, where the Holy Spirit could not find access to his heart. Pharaoh was given up to his own unbelief and hardness of heart. Infidelity produced infidelity. When Pharaoh hardened his heart on the first exhibition of God’s power, he made himself more capable of a second rejection of God’s power. Pride and stubbornness held him in bondage, and hindered him from acknowledging the warnings of God. It was contrary to the nature of Pharaoh to change after once having given expression to his purpose not to believe.—“The Measure of Light Given Measures Our Responsibility,” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, February 17, 1891, par. 1.

TUESDAY July 22

The First Three Plagues

The ten plagues in Egypt were aimed not at the Egyptian people but at their gods. Each plague hit at least one of them.

Read Exodus 7:14–8:19. What happened in these plagues?

God instructed Moses that the dialogue with Pharaoh would be difficult and almost impossible (Exod. 7:14). However, God wanted to reveal Himself to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians. Thus, He decided to communicate with them in a way that they could understand. Also, the Hebrews would benefit from this confrontation because they would learn more about their God.

The first plague was aimed against Hapi, the god of the Nile (Exod. 7:17–25). Life in Egypt was totally dependent on water from the Nile. Where there was water, there was life. Water was the source of life, so they invented their god Hapi and worshiped him as the provider of life.

Of course, only the living God is the Source of life, the Creator of everything, including water and food (Gen. 1:1, 2, 20–22; Ps. 104:27, 28; Ps. 136:25; John 11:25; John 14:6). Changing water into blood symbolizes transforming life into death. Hapi was not able to provide and protect life. These are possible only through the power of the Lord.

God then gives Pharaoh another chance. This time the frog goddess, Heqet, is directly confronted (Exod. 8:1–15). Instead of life, the Nile produces frogs, which the Egyptians fear, detest, and abhor. They want to get rid of them. The precise time when this plague was taken away demonstrated that God’s power was also behind this plague.

The third plague has the shortest description (Exod. 8:16–19). The type of insect here (Heb. kinnim) is not clear (gnats, mosquitoes, ticks, lice?). It was directed against the god Geb, the Egyptian god of the earth. Out of the dust of the earth (echoes of the biblical Creation story) God brought forth gnats, which spread throughout the land. Unable to duplicate this miracle (only God can create life), the magicians declared, “This is the finger of God” (Exod. 8:19). Pharaoh, however, still refused to budge.

Think how hard Pharaoh’s heart was. Repeated rejection of God’s prompting only made it worse. What lessons are here for each of us about the constant rejection of the Lord’s prompting?


Tuesday, July 22

The First Three Plagues

Although the magicians appeared to produce frogs like Moses and Aaron, they could not remove them. When Pharaoh saw that the magicians could not stay the plague, or remove the frogs, he was somewhat humbled, and would have Moses and Aaron entreat the Lord for him, to remove the plague of the frogs. He was beginning to know something about that God whom he professed to be wholly ignorant of. Moses and Aaron had told Pharaoh that they did not produce the frogs by magic, or by any power they possessed; that God, the living God, had caused them to come by his power, and that he alone could remove them. Previous to this, Pharaoh had exulted over Moses and Aaron, because the magicians could cause the same things to appear with their enchantments. And when he asked Moses to entreat the Lord for him, he reminded him of his former haughty boasting and glorying because of the works performed by his magicians; and he asked Pharaoh where was now his glorying over him, and where was the power of those magicians to remove the plague.

The Lord listened to the entreaties of Moses, and stayed the plague of the frogs. When the king was relieved of his immediate distress, he again stubbornly refused to let Israel go. Moses and Aaron, at the commandment of the Lord, caused the dust of the land to become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh called the magicians to stand before him to do the same with their enchantments, but they could not. Moses and Aaron, the servants of God, at his command, produced the plague of the lice. The magicians, the servants of Satan, at his command tried to produce the same with their enchantments, but could not. The work of God was shown superior to the power of Satan; for the magicians with their enchantments could perform but a few things. When the magicians saw that they could not produce the lice, they said unto Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God. And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said.”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 208, 209.
 

Pharaoh called for the magicians to work with their enchantments. They also showed signs and wonders, for Satan came to their aid, to work through them. Yet even here, the work of God was shown superior to the power of Satan, for the magicians could not perform all those miracles God wrought through Moses. Only a few of them could they do. The magicians’ rods did become serpents, but Aaron’s rod swallowed up theirs. After the magicians sought to produce the lice, and could not, then they were compelled by the power of God to acknowledge even to Pharaoh, saying, “This is the finger of God.” Satan wrought through the magicians in a manner calculated to harden the heart of the tyrant Pharaoh against the miraculous manifestations of God’s power. Satan thought to stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron in the divine origin of their mission, and then his instruments, the magicians, would prevail. Satan was unwilling to have the people of Israel released from Egyptian servitude, that they might serve God.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, p. 82.

WEDNESDAY July 23

Flies, Livestock, and Boils

Read Exodus 8:20–9:12. What does this account teach about however great may be the manifestations of God’s power and glory, humanity still has freedom to reject Him?

The Egyptian god Uatchit was the fly god and of swamps and marshes. The god Khepri (of the rising sun, creation, and rebirth) was depicted with the head of a scarab beetle. These “gods” were defeated by the Lord. In this account (Exod. 8:20–24), while the Egyptians were suffering, the Hebrews were protected. In fact, no further plagues affected them.

Again, all this was an attempt by God to let Pharaoh know that “ ‘I am the Lord in the midst of the land’ ” (Exod. 8:22, NKJV).

Thus, Pharaoh began to bargain. No doubt the pressure was mounting. He was willing for Israel to worship their God and to sacrifice to Him, but only in the land of Egypt (Exod. 8:25). His conditions could not be met because some of the animals were considered sacred in Egypt, and sacrificing them would have caused violence against the Hebrews. Also, this was not God’s plan for Israel.

Meanwhile, the next plague (Exod. 9:1–7) falls on the livestock. Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love and protection, was depicted with the head of a cow. A bull god Apis was also very popular and highly regarded in ancient Egypt. Thus, in this fifth plague, additional principal deities were defeated when the Egyptians’ livestock died.

In the sixth plague (Exod. 9:8–12), the total defeat of Isis, the goddess of medicine, magic, and wisdom, is made manifest. We also see the defeat of such deities as Sekhmet (goddess of war and epidemics) and Imhotep (god of medicine and healing). They are unable to protect their own worshipers. Ironically, now even the magicians and sorcerers are so afflicted that they cannot appear in court, which shows that they are helpless against the Creator of heaven and earth.

For the first time in the story about the ten plagues, a text says that “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exod. 9:12, NIV). However confusing this phrase might be, when understood in the full context, it reveals again that the Lord will let us reap the consequences of our own continual rejection of Him.

Pharaoh’s problem wasn’t intellectual; he had enough rational evidence to make the right choice. Instead, it was a problem of his heart. What should this tell us about why we must guard our hearts?


Wednesday, July 23

Flies, Livestock, and Boils

The Egyptians worshiped certain beasts, and they regarded it an unpardonable offense to have one of these beasts slain. And if one of their objects of worship were slain, even accidentally, the person’s life alone could answer for the offense. Moses shows Pharaoh the impossibility of their sacrificing to God in the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Egyptians, for they might select for their offering some one of the beasts which they considered sacred.

Moses again proposed to go three days’ journey into the wilderness. The king consented while under the chastening hand of God. “And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away. Entreat for me. And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. And Moses went from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.”

And the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to go again before Pharaoh and tell him, “Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.” And if he should refuse to let them go, and should hold them still, the plague should be upon their cattle. “And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and there shall nothing die of all that is the children of Israel’s.” And all the cattle died that were visited with the plague, but not one of the cattle of the Hebrews died. And Pharaoh sent messengers to inquire if any of the cattle of the Israelites were dead. The messenger returned to the king with the word that not one of them had died, neither were they afflicted at all with the plague. Yet his heart was hardened, and he refused to let Israel go.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 211.
 

The magicians with all their magic, and supposed power, could not, by any of their enchantments, shield themselves from the grievous plague of the boils. They could no longer stand before Moses and Aaron, because of this grievous affliction. The Egyptians were thus permitted to see how useless it would be for them to put their trust in the boasted power of the magicians, when they could not save even their own bodies from the plagues.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 212.

THURSDAY July 24

Hail, Locusts, and Darkness

Read Exodus 9:13–10:29. How successful are these plagues in getting Pharaoh to change his mind?

Nut was the Egyptian goddess of the sky and heavens and was often depicted as controlling what happened under the sky and on the earth. Osiris was the god of crops and fertility. In the Bible, hail is often associated with God’s judgment (Isa. 28:2, 17; Ezek. 13:11–13). During this plague, those who hide their property in a safe shelter will be protected (Exod. 9:20, 21). Everyone is now tested: will they, or will they not, believe God’s Word and act accordingly?

God announces that His purpose in letting Pharaoh live is for the whole earth to know Him (Exod. 9:16). The king of Egypt now confesses that he has sinned, but later he changes his mind.

The Egyptian god of storm, war, and disorder was called Seth. Together with Isis, they were considered agriculture deities. Shu was a god of the atmosphere. Serapis personified divine majesty, fertility, healing, and afterlife. Not one of the Egyptian gods could stop God’s judgments (Exod. 10:4–20) because idols are nothing (Isa. 44:9, 10, 12–17).

Pharaoh’s servants urged him to let Israel go, but he refused again. He offered a compromise, which Moses rightly rejected because women and children are a vital and inseparable part of worship and the faith community.

Finally, Ra was the principal Egyptian god, the sun god. Thoth was a moon god. Neither was able to give light. Pharaoh again tries to bargain, but in vain. A three-day period of darkness struck Egypt, but there was light where the Israelites lived. The separation could not be more spectacular.

Yet, no matter the battering that his nation took, Pharaoh was determined to fight back and not to relent. Though we don’t know his deeper motives, at some point it could have become purely a pride thing. No matter how powerful the evidence, no matter how obvious it was what was happening (even his own servants declared, “ ‘How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?’ ” [Exod. 10:7, NKJV]), and no matter that the correct choice was right there before him—after a bit of waffling, Pharaoh still refused to surrender to God’s will and let the people go.

What a dramatic example of the words “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18, NKJV).


Thursday, July 24

Hail, Locusts, and Darkness

Those who regarded the word of the Lord gathered their cattle into barns and houses, while those whose hearts were hardened, like Pharaoh’s, left their cattle in the field. Here was an opportunity to test the exalted pride of the Egyptians, and to show the number whose hearts were really affected by the wonderful dealings of God with his people, whom they had despised and cruelly entreated. “So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast. And the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail, and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord, and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail, that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord’s. But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God. And the flax and the barley was smitten, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up.”

After the plague was stayed, the king refused to let Israel go. Rebellion produces rebellion. The king had become so hardened with his continual opposition to the will of God, that his whole being rose in rebellion to the awful exhibitions of his divine power.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 214, 215.
 

Fear at last wrung from Pharaoh a further concession. At the end of the third day of darkness he summoned Moses, and consented to the departure of the people, provided the flocks and herds were permitted to remain. “There shall not an hoof be left behind,” replied the resolute Hebrew. “We know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither.” The king’s anger burst forth beyond control. “Get thee from me,” he cried, “take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.”

The answer was, “Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.”

“The man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.” Moses was regarded with awe by the Egyptians. The king dared not harm him, for the people looked upon him as alone possessing power to remove the plagues. They desired that the Israelites might be permitted to leave Egypt. It was the king and the priests that opposed to the last the demands of Moses.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 272.

FRIDAY July 25

Further Thought:Read Ellen G. White, “The Plagues of Egypt,” pp. 265–272, in Patriarchs and Prophets.
 

“His [God’s] people were permitted to experience the grinding cruelty of the Egyptians, that they might not be deceived concerning the debasing influence of idolatry. In His dealing with Pharaoh, the Lord manifested His hatred of idolatry and His determination to punish cruelty and oppression. . . . There was no exercise of supernatural power to harden the heart of the king. God gave to Pharaoh the most striking evidence of divine power, but the monarch stubbornly refused to heed the light. Every display of infinite power rejected by him, rendered him the more determined in his rebellion. The seeds of rebellion that he sowed when he rejected the first miracle, produced their harvest.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 268.

“The sun and moon were objects of worship to the Egyptians; in this mysterious darkness the people and their gods alike were smitten by the power that had undertaken the cause of the bondmen. Yet fearful as it was, this judgment is an evidence of God’s compassion and His unwillingness to destroy. He would give the people time for reflection and repentance before bringing upon them the last and most terrible of the plagues.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 272.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Dwell more on the question of why Pharaoh allowed himself to be so hardened that, in the face of what must have been the obvious and correct choice—Let the people go!—he still refused. How could someone become so self-deceived? What kind of warnings should we take from this for ourselves about how we can truly get so hardened in sin that we make utterly disastrous decisions when the correct decision and the right path have been right before us the whole time? What other Bible characters have made the same kind of error? Think, for example, of Judas.

  2. At one point, amid the devastation that Pharaoh had brought upon his own land and people, he declared, “ ‘I have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones’ ” (Exod. 9:27, NASB). Though a wonderful confession of sin at the time, how do we know that it wasn’t a genuine one?


Friday, July 25

For Further Reading

“Hardening of the Heart,” Conflict and Courage, March 24, p. 89;

“Pharaoh Hardens His Heart,” in From Eternity Past, pp. 182–184.

INSIDE STORY

Strange and Silent World

By Andrew McChesney

No one in town had ever converted to Christianity, and townspeople burned with anger when Kokila’s father and four other families decided to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Kokila was nine, and her life changed forever.

Kokila’s mother had died when she was a baby, and she lived with her father, four older sisters, and an older brother in southern Asia.

Father, an impoverished farmer, was barred from working in the field after he started to keep the Sabbath. He and the other Sabbath keepers also were forbidden from buying food in shops.

In addition, town leaders announced that anyone who spoke to the Sabbath keepers would have to pay a large fine.

As a result, neighbors refused to talk to Kokila and her family. Kokila also didn’t talk to her neighbors. Nobody wanted to pay the fine. Kokila had had many friends, and she lost them all. It was a strange and silent world for the girl.

When Father refused to give up his faith, the neighbors turned violent. They angrily swooped down on Kokila’s home, scooping up furniture, clothing, and dishes, and dumping them on the street. They also beat her father and brother.

One neighbor, however, proved to be a bright light during that dark time. He also wasn’t a Christian, but he didn’t belong to the same major world religion that the townspeople did. He helped Kokila’s family to buy rice. He talked to Kokila, and he willingly paid the fine for violating town rules.

For seven years, Kokila lived in horrible circumstances. Three of the families who had accepted the Sabbath at the same time as Kokila’s father changed their minds and left the church. Only two of the five families, including Kokila’s family, remained faithful to God.

Kokila never complained, but she cried a lot. Father saw her tears, and he decided to send her to an Adventist boarding school. It was like a piece of heaven on earth for the girl.

“The teachers were very kind and loving,” recalled Kokila, who today is 39 and works as a secretary at the boarding school, E. D. Thomas Memorial Higher Secondary School in Thanjavur, India. “The teachers spoke to me! The children spoke to me! It was so nice to have friends again.”

Strange and Silent World

Thank you for your mission offerings, which support Seventhday Adventist schools around the world. E. D. Thomas Memorial Higher Secondary School received part of a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2020.

Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org.