Okay, okay, I am going to be a day behind. At least until I catch up with myself. :)
Okay, Exodus 9-10
The Plagues continue...
Next on the list: Disease on farm animals. The Egyptians farm animals fell over dead from disease. The Israelite's animals...clean as a whistle. Don't you think the king of Egypt should be seeing a pattern here? I guess he probably did but his heart was hardened. So the plagues continue.
Next: Boils. Moses threw ashes into the air in front of the king, and the people of the land had boils all over their bodies. Even the magicians couldn't even come before the king because of the boils. I am such a baby. One little blister does me in. Can you imagine having boils all over your body? I think I would be calling for the head of the king at this point. Don't you know the people are wanting to say, "King, leave us out of your power games!"
Up to bat: Hail. Moses warned them. He told the people, "Get your people and your animals inside...a storm is a coming." Okay, he didn't say it exactly like that, but that is basically what he said. And some people listened. (You would think after all of this, all of the people would listen...) Some people didn't. Guess what? Moses knew what he was talking about. The next day, the storms started. BIG storms. Lots of hail. All over Egypt. Not at all in Goshen. And anything left outside was destroyed. You know, a hailstorm about does our roof in. We have had a couple of those storms where new roofs went on afterward all over town. And that is in a modern house. Can you imagine what it did to the houses back then? To the crops? To the animals? Pharaoh admitted defeat (or looked like he did...), asking Moses to make it stop. But as soon as the thunder and hail ended, guess what? Pharaoh changed his mind. Again. So the plagues continue.
Next on the list: Locusts. Moses tells the king that locusts are coming. Even the king's officers are feeling weary at this point. They urge the king to listen because anytime Moses comes around, trouble begins. So Pharaoh asks Moses who exactly will be going on this worship excursion. Moses tells him that they ALL would be going. Pharaoh says, "No, just the men." Then forces Moses and Aaron out. So guess what happens next? Swarms of locusts come in with a big gust of wind from the east. So many locusts that the land looked black? Can you fathom? Locusts are noisy. Just hearing a few of them sends shivers down my side. Finding their little skeletons (skins) hanging on the tree is a bit eerie. Can you fathom having a land covered by locusts? And of course, they eat anything green. And they did. Again, the king calls Moses back, feigning remorse. At least until the locusts blew away into the Red Sea. Then the king changed his mind yet again.
In the dark: Total darkness. Just last week we visited a cavern. When we were way back in the cave, the guide turned all of the lights off at one point so we could experience total darkness. I am glad it was only for a minute. I am claustrophobic anyway. I felt like I was suffocating. It was terrifying to me. Can you imagine three days of complete darkness? Not even a little moonlight coming through. Yet the people of Israel had light.
So the king calls Moses back. He tells Moses that he and his people can go worship the Lord but their flocks must remain. Moses calmly tells him that the animals are needed for sacrifices. The king again changes his mind and throws Moses and Aaron out, telling them the next time he sees them, they will die. Moses says, "Fine with me..." (paraphrase)
The saga continues.
Tomorrow's passage: Exodus 11-12
Reba
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