Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Plague by Plague - The Book of Exodus

Transcript

Plague by Plague - The Book of Exodus · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: For I will at this time send all my plagues
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: upon thine heart and upon thy servants and upon thy people,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: that thou mayest know that there is none like me
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: in all the earth. Exodus 9.14 Dear Heavenly Father, as
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I look back on Exodus 7.8 and 9.35, I thank you, God,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: that you provide miracles for me to walk in, that
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: validate your hand and calling on my life. When others
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: doubt me, I will continue on my course and remain
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: confident in the truth that you are with me, and
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: you are with me everywhere I go. I will praise
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: you in advance, and thank you because, like the children
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of Israel, you won't stop until my freedom has been won.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord, for your divine protection around my life.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Even when others seem to be experiencing setbacks and devastation,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: because I rely on you, and I will be unscathed
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: by the threats and plans of the enemy. I confess
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that my life is in your hands, and as long
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: as I live in obedience to your instructions, you will
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: cause me to flourish in areas others say I will
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: experience lack. I give you all the glory and honor
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: for keeping me safe, and for showing off in my life, family, business,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: and different endeavors. I will no longer doubt that your
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: hand is upon me, because my life is living proof.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I decree and declare that the best is yet to come.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Amen. Plague by Plague In our last story, we learned
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: about Moses and Aaron entering the courts of Pharaoh. They
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: asked Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go so
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: they could worship God. But Pharaoh refused and made life
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: more miserable for the Hebrews. The people hated Pharaoh but
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: resented Moses for making things worse. Yet God was not
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: finished yet. In this story, we discover the resolve of
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: God to free his people. Pharaoh's hard heart would be
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: crushed under the mighty hand of God.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. In our previous episode, we heard
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: what happened when Moses and Aaron first delivered God's message
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. We saw that
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: it brought only more hurt and horrible trouble to the
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: people of God and that Moses, in his frustration, went
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: to God and openly told him what was in his heart.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: God's response was one of patience and comfort for Moses
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: and hope for the people. Today, we join Moses and
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Aaron as they return to Pharaoh to give him God's
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: message again. He must let the people go or else.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: God's resolve to rescue his people would not be denied.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Let's listen now to today's reading.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Darkness hovered over the heart of Pharaoh. His eyes portrayed
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: a soul hardened by God himself. God knew he would
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: ask for signs to prove his deity. So he gave
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Aaron and Moses miracles. They entered again into the courts
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: of Pharaoh. His countenance was dark and his voice was deep.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: They did not speak. Instead, Aaron cast down his staff
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: at the feet of Pharaoh. The staff bounced on the ground,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: and slowly the wood began to morph into scales, and
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: the staff motioned back and forth until it became a serpent.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: The serpent slithered and hissed towards Pharaoh. However, he did
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: not look at the serpent and marvel. Instead, he saw
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: it as a challenge. Pharaoh called over his wise men
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and sorcerers, the magicians of Egypt. With their trickery and
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: secret arts of deception, they performed the same sign. Each
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: sorcerer cast down their own serpents, and they surrounded Aaron's.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Aaron's serpent staff gazed upon the other snakes and launched
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: itself towards them. In almost an instant, Aaron's serpent swallowed
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: up the other serpents and came back to Aaron as
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: a staff. Pharaoh's heart did not budge. Early the next morning,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Pharaoh was lounging near the Nile. The birds were chirping
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: in the coolness of the morning, and Moses and Aaron
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: approached Pharaoh with their staffs. Pharaoh, they shouted, God has
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: said again, let my people go. Pharaoh did not respond.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: They spoke again, saying, By this you will know the
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: power of God. Aaron took his staff and drove it
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: into the Nile River. A sweeping force came upon the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: waters and Pharaoh watched as the entire river turned crimson.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Blood had replaced the water and the fish of the
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: water turned belly up. Their rivers, canals, ponds and pools
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: became blood. Even the water in their cups leaked a
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: deep red. The Nile was once red with the blood
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: of Hebrew children. and now it ran red by the
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: justice of God. Pharaoh once again turned to his magicians.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: By their secret arts, they were able to turn water red.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Pharaoh was comforted that he could match the signs of God.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: He was deceived into thinking he was God's equal. Little
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: did he know what true power the Lord possessed. His
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: heart remained hardened. For seven days the Egyptians could not
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: drink from the Nile. Again Moses went to Pharaoh and said,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: God has said, let my people go. But if you
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: do not, another plague will fall upon your land. Again
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Pharaoh refused. The Nile swarmed with frogs and they covered
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: the entire land. The streets, homes and cups of Egyptians
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: were inundated with frogs leaping about. The magicians of Egypt
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: once again explained the signs away with their secret arts.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: but the frogs did not cease. Pharaoh could no longer
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: take it, and he pleaded with Moses and Aaron, Please,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: plead with the Lord to take the frogs away, Pharaoh said.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: I will let your people go tomorrow. So God caused
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: the frogs to cease coming from the ground, and the
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: streets stunk with the carcasses of dead frogs. When Pharaoh
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: saw that there was a respite from the frogs, he
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: recanted his offer to free the Israelites. His heart grew harder,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: and he continued his ongoing battle with God. God stretched
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: out his hand once again. As Aaron rose his staff
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: to strike the dust of the earth, the sand became
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: swarms of gnats. Like a hurricane, the gnats surged the
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: land of Egypt. People and animals were covered with the
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: tiny insects, and it became maddening. Pharaoh, growing more panicked,
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: turned to his magicians once again. but they could not
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: do what God had just done. This is surely the
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: finger of God, they said, but Pharaoh's heart was still
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: like stone. As tyrants have done for generations, he continued
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: his war against the Creator. One morning, Pharaoh was enjoying
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: himself by the water. Again, Moses and Aaron rose and
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: went to him. They spoke to Pharaoh, saying, God has
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: commanded that you let his people go, or else... There
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: will be swarms of flies coming upon the land. Predictably,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Pharaoh refused. Swarms of flies surrounded the land of Egypt. However, Goshen,
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: where the Israelites dwelled, was left unharmed. The swarms of
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: flies ruined everything, and the Egyptians spiraled into insanity. Pharaoh
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: called Moses and Aaron to plead with them. Why don't
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: you go and sacrifice to your God within the land?
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: He asked.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Moses replied, Because it would not be right to do so.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Your people would see it as an abomination. Pharaoh conceded
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: and said, Enough of this. Go out into the land
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: and worship your God, but do not go far. Just
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: plead to the Lord to make the flies stop. So
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: the swarms of flies were ceased. Unsurprising to God, Pharaoh
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: once again went back on his word and did not
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: allow the Israelites to leave. His hardened heart grew colder,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: and he challenged God once again. God did not relent.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: His people were suffering, and he would not deal lightly
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: with tyrant kings. His heavy hand would come upon Pharaoh again.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Moses warned him and said, Let my people go. If
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: you refuse, your livestock will fall. The next day, all
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: the Egyptian livestock.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Fell to a.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Camels, cattle, and sheep became ill and died. The stench
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: of death was carried by the warm wind. The livestock
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: of Israel was left alive, and Pharaoh's spite only grew.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Moses and Aaron came back to Pharaoh. This time they
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: took handfuls of soot from the furnace and threw it
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: in the air before Pharaoh. In an instant the soot
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: became boils breaking out in sores on every human and
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: beast in Egypt. Pharaoh's magicians could not even stand in
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: front of Moses because of the pain from the boils.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Pharaoh refused still, and God pressed in even further. Moses
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: came to Pharaoh again early in the morning. God spoke
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: through Moses, saying, Let my people go so they can
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: serve me. I could have eradicated you and your people
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: from the earth, but I have not. I have raised
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: you up and shown you my power, so that the
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: entire earth may know that I am the one true God.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Yet still you exalt yourself like a god. I will
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: show you true power. Hide yourself and your servants, for
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: a great and mighty hailstorm shall pass through Egypt, a
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: storm like no man has ever seen. Hide your people,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: for whoever does not seek shelter will die. And so
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: it was. Whoever feared the voice of God was protected
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: under the safety of their homes. Whoever paid no attention
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: perished under the ice. Soon would come fire. Pharaoh begged
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Moses and Aaron to have the storm cease. I have sinned,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Pharaoh cried. The Lord is in the right and I
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: am in the wrong. Leave and I will not pursue you.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Moses replied to Pharaoh, now confident in God's power, and said,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: The thunder and hail will cease, but I know you
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: have yet to learn the real fear of God. So
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: they began to leave the city. Pharaoh saw that the
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: storm had stopped. He looked up to the sky, feeling
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: a sense of accomplishment. that he could manipulate God into
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: ceasing the storm. He did not let the people go.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: God knew this would happen. Pharaoh had yet to truly
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: learn how far God would go to rescue his children.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: When Moses and Aaron first appeared before Pharaoh, they came
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: in the name of their God and told him to
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: release the people to worship him in the wilderness. Pharaoh
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: wasn't impressed by this because he didn't know God. He
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: was irritated. And when they came back, he was beyond angry.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: His heart was hardened. Of course, God knew that Pharaoh
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: worshiped many false gods. Those false gods represented themselves, so-called,
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: with signs and wonders. So God is about to attack
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: every god of Egypt. He would show Pharaoh and the
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: whole world that he was not just a god, but
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: the god, one and only. God turned Aaron's staff into
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: a snake, but Pharaoh's sorcerers responded in kind, and Pharaoh
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: was unimpressed and unyielding. Moses and Aaron approached him again
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: by the Nile and repeated God's command, Let my people go.
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: Once again, Pharaoh refused, and the river's waters turned to blood,
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: killing all of its fish. But Pharaoh's magicians again made
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: him believe somehow that they had power that could match
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: the Hebrew gods. Pharaoh believed the lie and would not relent.
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: He didn't even care that the water in this river,
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: which brought life and livelihood to his people, could not
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: be consumed. He turned a deaf ear even to his
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: own people who were in danger and distress. Next came
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: the frogs. Then a plague of gnats, insects everywhere. Every
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: time before God would release a plague, Moses and Aaron
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: would make the demand of Pharaoh, let my people go.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: He was given an opportunity to obey. but he would not.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: His heart was as hard as stone. With each plague,
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: the severity and judgment increased. Flies, sick livestock, boils covering
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: the people. And every time it seemed that Pharaoh had
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: had enough and he would let God's people go, he
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: would then harden his heart again and go back on
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: his word. Finally, God sent Moses to deliver a message.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: If Pharaoh doesn't let Israel go, God will send a
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: terrible plague that will show everyone that he is truly God.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: God tells Pharaoh he's alive only because he's allowed it.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: But Pharaoh remained unrelenting. He was at war with God.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: And in all of history, no one man has gone
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: to war with God and won. It would not be
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: different for Pharaoh. God sent a terrible hailstone raining ice
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: on the city, killing those who did not heed God's
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: warning and seek shelter. Fire filled the skies and Lightning
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: and thunder lit up the heavens. So then Pharaoh admits
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: his sin and guilt, promising to release his people. But
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: his heart was so hard that once again he went
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: back on his word. He lied to God and he
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: lied to Moses. It was all happening just as God
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: had said. But even in all of this, we see
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: how God is merciful and slow to anger. That he
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: is patient even when people reject him. but his patience
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: with Pharaoh is running out. And it's a reminder that
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: God is patient, but he's not a pushover. God is
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: holy and he does judge sin. And when we harden
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: our hearts against his grace, there is a price to pay.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: The next time we'll hear about the final plagues and
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: the ultimate price that would be paid for doing battle
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: with God. Almighty God, thank you for your relentless pursuit
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: of us, just as you tirelessly pursued the children of Egypt.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Thank you also for what today's lesson is teaching us
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: about your forbearance and your patience and your grace toward us. Lord,
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: give us soft hearts, not hard hearts. May we give
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: our hearts to you unconditionally to know and to do
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: your will. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com app and make
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: prayer a priority in your life. And if you enjoyed
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: this podcast, share it with someone you know. By sharing
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: this podcast, you can make a difference in their lives.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: And if you want more resources as to how to
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: discover God's perfect plan and power for your life, be
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: sure to visit jackgram.org.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative healthcare solution
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: for Christians.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: To save money without sacrificing quality.