Sunday, July 22, 2012

Moses and the king

In chapter 4 of Exodus, starting with verse 18, Moses returned to Egypt.

He spoke to his people, telling them all that the Lord had said to him.  He then went to the king of Egypt and told the king to let the Israelites go, so they can go out into the desert and worship the Lord.  The king refused, and ultimately punished the Israelite slaves even more.  The Israelite slave foremen told Moses that the king was pushing them to work harder and harder.

Moses then complained to God--haven't we all done that at one time or another?

The Lord responded by telling Moses that He will do something to the king to force him to let His people go.  God tells Moses repeatedly that He wants him to tell both the Israelites and the Egyptian king that they are to leave the land.  Moses complained again that he was not a good speaker and that no one will listen to him.

In chapter 7, verse 1, God told Moses to go before the king and that God will give Moses and Aaron the skills to speak well to the king.  However, God also told them that He will make the king stubborn and will not listen to them.

Aaron also threw down his walking stick in front of the king, turning it into a snake, and still the king refused, telling him it was all just magic.

Then, they told the king that the Lord will punish the land until His people are freed.

Hence, disaster soon struck Egypt.

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