Let My People Go!

The people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years when God spoke to Moses and Aaron. God said He had seen the suffering of His people and he wanted Moses to return to Egypt and tell the Pharoah to let the Israelites have a 3-day holiday so they could go into the desert and make sacrifices and worship God.
Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharoah and told the Egyptian king what God wanted. Pharoah not only didn't listen, but he said the Israelites were lazy and made the work harder for them! Moses and Aaron told God they were not up to convincing Pharoah of anything, but God insisted that they would be His spokesmen and that they should have faith that God would make Pharoah set the Israelites free.
They went back to Pharoah, and to show God's power, Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it became a snake. Pharoah called in his magicians and they did they same thing. Even when Aaron's snake consumed all the magician's snakes, Pharoah was not impressed, and he would not let the Israelites go.
God told the men to return to Pharoah. Aaron raised his staff over the Nile River, and the water turned to blood! The fish died, and no one could drink the water from the Nile. But the magicians showed they could do the same thing, so again Pharoah refused God's will.
Now God told Aaron to raise his hand over the waters in Egypt and make frogs overrun the land, and he did so. But again, the magicians were able to do the same thing. Still, Pharoah said that if God made the frogs go away he would set the Israelites free. And so the frogs were removed from the land, but Pharoah changed his mind.
God then directed to go before Pharoah once again and strike his staff to the ground. All of the dust in Egypt became gnats (or lice) and they infested both people and animals throughout the land. The magicians could not duplicate this feat, but still Pharoah would not free the Israelites.
God told Moses and Aaron to tell the Pharoah that if he did not let the Israelites go, swarms of flies would infest the homes of the Egyptians throughout the land, and this happened. Pharoah asked Moses to go into the wilderness (but not too far) and make a sacrifice to God, both for the Israelites and for Pharoah. Moses did this, but once again when this was done and the flies removed, Pharoah refused to set the Israelites free.
God told Moses to tell the Pharoah that He would send a sickness that would afflict all the Egyptians' livestock, but it would not harm the Israelites cattle, donkeys, and other animals. This happened, but still Pharoah wouldn't let the Israelites go!
Under God's instruction, Moses and Aaron again went before Pharoah. Moses took a handful of soot from a kiln and tossed it into the sky. When it came down, it created boils on people and animals throughout the land of Egypt. Still, Pharoah would not let the Israelites go!
Moses then told the Pharoah that God was going to send a terrifying hailstorm and any person or animal caught outside would be killed. The flax and the barley will be ruined. It came to pass, and again Pharoah promised the let the Israelites go if Moses would make the terrible storm stop. Moses did so, but Pharoah again changed his mind and would not let the Israelites go!
Next, God sent grasshoppers (locusts) that covered the land in Egypt. Whatever had survived the hailstorm was eaten and destroyed by the grasshoppers. Again, Pharoah begged for God's forgiveness, God blew all the grasshoppers into the Red Sea, and Pharoah changed his mind. He would not let the Israelites go!
Next God made the sun disappear so there was darkness throughout Egypt for 3 days, but there remained light in the homes of the Israelites. Pharoah agreed to let all of the Israelites, their possessions, and their livestock leave. Once light was restored, Pharoah again changed his mind.
God sent one final plague to the Egyptians. He told Moses to have the people prepare a feast for midnight, because it would be their last meal as slaves in Egypt. The doorpost of each Israelite's home was to be painted with the blood of a lamb. At midnight, God sent an Angel to visit all the houses without the lamb's blood on their doorposts and take the life of the firstborn son. The Angel even visited the Pharoah's great palace and took the life of the prince!

As God had told them, the great midnight feast was the last meal the Israelites ate as slaves. The Jews still celebrated this feast as Passover. The next day, with Moses as their leader, the Israelites began their long and arduous journey to their "Promised Land" of Israel.

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August 2013

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