Day 24: Exodus 7-8

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh. The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood. The Second Plague: Frogs. The Third Plague: Gnats. The Fourth Plague: Flies.

Pharaoh's magicians creating plagues, not remedies


I think the role of Pharaoh's magicians was to reassure Pharaoh that Moses and Aaron were simply playing tricks on Pharaoh, and that God was not actually standing behind the people of Israel. I just thought that it was slightly absurd or comical that in the second plague of frogs, the magicians conjured frogs of their own instead of trying to do something about the plague at hand. Perhaps the magicians knew that any effort would be futile.

To pray for your enemy


One observation that struck me as noteworthy is how Moses actually needed to pray for Pharaoh in order to remove the plagues.

So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. (Exodus 8:30-31 ESV)

I think the significance of Moses's prayer and God's response is that Moses (and people in general) are not simply puppets on a stage. People's actions matter, free will matters, and praying for (and loving) your enemies matter. 

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