magicians – Praying Pint

41.x. “Let My People Go” – 6. Boils

Exodus 9:8 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

Deuteronomy 28:27  The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed.

Isaiah 47:12-14   Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror.  You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you.  Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!

Psalms 81:11-12    “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.

Revelation 16:10-11   The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

Previously, God announced that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21 and 7:3), and this was the fulfillment of it. Yet it is said at least six times before this that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7). We see that God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was the strengthening of what he already had set himself towards. (Guzik)

“This is the first occasion on which this form of words is used after an actual plague. Previously, the position has always been put from the other side: pharaoh has hardened his own heart. The moral would be that God hardens those who harden themselves.” (Cole)

“‘Harden’ is the expression, not of the divine purpose but of the result of disobedience to the divine appeals. As a matter of fact, all the plagues were intended and calculated to soften, if Pharaoh had been willing to yield.” (Thomas)

Hardness of heart is a figurative expression, denoting that insensibility of mind upon which neither judgments nor mercies make any abiding impressions; but the conscience being stupefied, the stubborn rebel persists in determined disobedience. (Unknown)

Every heart from birth has a root seed of defiance and stubbornness, (sinfulness) that results in a divide between all mankind and God. In this separation, man will come up with millions of ways to accomplish the same thing – deny and disobey God allowing this unholy root to take firm hold of the heart and mind. This is the curse on all man and it will justly be judged by God. The judgment is eternal hell and torment. There is no escape through any of man’s attempts to be made right (should they choose this on their own accord). Separation from God is separation from eternal heaven. Families, cultures, and societies with people with the responsibilities of teaching and governance who are rooted firmly with the seeds of defiance and disobedience will lead whole families, cultures, and societies straight to Hell. This is a fact and not a fairytale. Mankind is separated from God in such a deep and endless way that all are without chance or hope of bridging the gap – forever separated, forever doomed, forever without hope!!

But wait, John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

There is HOPE. Jesus Christ died for the sins of every single person and those that repent of their rooted sinfulness, believe, trust, follow, obey, and rely on Jesus Christ will be saved from eternal hell to inherit eternal life – Heaven.

There is no reason to deny or disobey God other than to promote self-reliance, self-wisdom, and self-assurance.

There is hope in Jesus Christ – yield to His redemption, salvation, and forgiveness and believe/trust/rely on Him alone. There is no need to harden your heart more and more to the point of no return. Hell is no place you want to be. No matter what you may think, Hell is real. Hell is for eternity. Hell is torment. Hell is total separation from God and without any hope of redemption – FOREVER!

41.u. “Let My People Go” 3. Gnats/Lice

Exodus 8:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

This plague came unannounced. This time God did not show Pharaoh the mercy of a warning and an invitation to repentance. These magicians could use occult powers to change a rod into a snake, to turn water into blood, and to summon frogs – yet they could no bring forth lice. This is the finger of God: When the magicians said this to Pharaoh, it showed they knew there was a power greater than their own, yet it was a power that they did not honor and serve. The hardness of Pharaoh’s heart is shown when he would not even listen to the analysis of his own advisers. There was no rational reason why he insisted on resisting and rejecting the LORD God. (Guzik)

It is to be noticed that the third plague, whatever it was, came without warning. It was God’s judgment on Pharaoh for hardening his heart and breaking his promise (Exodus 8:15); and he was not given the option of avoiding it by submission to God’s will. (Ellicott)

Any study of this passage will fall on a discussion on whether the plague was gnats, lice, or mosquitoes. I don’t really think this matters and needs much if any discussion. The point(s) that are important:

God did not warn Pharaoh
The power of God was displayed
The impact of this plague affected all of Egypt, man, and beast
Secret arts of the magicians could not produce the same
The magicians recognized the finger of God in this plague
The magicians advised Pharaoh of this
Pharaoh’s heart was hardened
Pharaoh would not listen

What causes a heart to become so hard that it cannot reason or see logic and cause and effect? Heart blindness to God, the Word of God, and things of God harden the heart. While on a walk this morning I was thinking about pride and what it can cause us to think, say, and do. Jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, arrogance, boastfulness, and self-reliance all have root in pride. It is a terrible seed to allow to find root in our hearts and minds. Being able to recognize this in ourselves is not as easy as one would think. It has so many avenues by which it can infect our thinking, words, and actions that most of the time we would blindly think, walk, or talk pridefully. I do know this, left on our own we would continually become more and more prideful without God’s Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit’s discernment. Pride will tell us that we are good enough or doing enough and allow us to become neglectful and complacent towards God’s Word and things of God. Pride will convince us that we have grown and matured to a level where little time in God’s Word is required anymore. Pride in our hearts will rob honor and glory due to Jesus Christ. How many families, friendships, marriages, jobs, neighbors, church membership, etc…. have been fractured due to pride?

How is a person to examine their heart and mind for pride? Ask God to expose it and hunger for and willingly read His Word with an expectation of being shown. David said it like this; “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

This is the heart and mind of what it would be like to seek and desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all that is thought, said, and done at all times.

41.t. “Let My People Go” 2. Frogs

Exodus 8:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the LORD did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

God threatened a plague of frogs for a specific reason. The Egyptian goddess Heqet (or, Heket) was always pictured with the head of a frog. Among the ancient Egyptians, frogs were considered sacred and could not be killed. Egyptians worshipped the frog as a female goddess because frogs were common around the Nile, because they reproduced rapidly, and because being amphibians they are part of two worlds, creatures of both land and water. The ability of the magicians to do the same with their enchantments points to a supernatural power present; this wasn’t the work of a skilled illusionist, this was occult power at work. For all their occult powers, all the magicians could do was make more frogs! They could only make the problem worse; yet their work gave Pharaoh an excuse to further harden his heart. Pharaoh increased his guilt, and hardness of heart until he was utterly beyond hope of remedy. (Guzik)

Pharaoh is plagued with frogs; their vast numbers made them sore plagues to the Egyptians. God could have plagued Egypt with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with birds of prey, but he chose to do it by these despicable creatures. God, when he pleases, can arm the smallest parts of the creation against us. He thereby humbled Pharaoh. They should neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep in quiet; but wherever they were, they should be troubled by the frogs. God’s curse upon a man will pursue him wherever he goes, and lie heavy upon him whatever he does. Pharaoh gave way under this plague. He promises that he will let the people go. Those who bid defiance to God and prayer, first or last, will be made to see their need of both. But when Pharaoh saw there was respite, he hardened his heart. Till the heart is renewed by the grace of God, the thoughts made by affliction do not abide; the convictions wear off, and the promises that were given are forgotten. Till the state of the air is changed, what thaws in the sun will freeze again in the shade. (Henry)

After an interval which there are no means of estimating, the second plague followed the first. Again, while the main purpose of the plague was to punish the nation by which Israel had been so long oppressed, the secondary object of throwing contempt upon their religion. Frogs were among the Egyptian sacred animals. One of their deities, Heka, was a frog-headed goddess; and they seem to have regarded the frog as a sacred emblem of creative power. (Unknown)

The verse that shouts the most to me is; “But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.” How often do we promise God we will change something, stop doing, or start doing more to gain respite from a trial or trouble that is a heaven burden on us or our loved ones? We promise to read scripture more, and stop affairs, pornography, cursing, hating, gossiping, lying, and free running with our sinful nature leading the way. What causes us to think this way? – “Hardened Heart”. What blinds us to things of God? – “Hardened Heart”. What closes our ears to the quiet whispers of God into our lives? – “Hardened Heart”. What makes us think God cannot see our sins? – “Hardened Heart”. What makes us follow after things of this world? – “Hardened Heart”. What causes us to become neglectful and complacent to things of God? – “Hardened Heart”. What keeps us from growing and maturing in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding? – “Hardened Heart”. What keeps us from honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do? – “Hardened Heart”.

How hard is your Heart?

41.s. “Let My People Go” – 1. Nile into Blood

Exodus 7:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. It was a dreadful plague. The sight of such vast rolling streams of blood could not but strike horror. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life, should be cheap and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for thirst. Egypt was a pleasant land, but the dead fish and blood now rendered it very unpleasant. It was a righteous plague, and justly sent upon the Egyptians; for Nile, the river of Egypt, was their idol. That creature which we idolize, God justly takes from us, or makes bitter to us. They had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews’ children, and now God made that river all blood. Never any thirsted after blood, but sooner or later they had enough of it. It was a significant plague; Egypt had great dependence upon their river, Zec 14:18; so that in smiting the river, they were warned of the destruction of all the produce of their country. The love of Christ to his disciples changes all their common mercies into spiritual blessings; the anger of God towards his enemies, renders their most valued advantages a curse and a misery to them. Aaron is to summon the plague by smiting the river with his rod. It was done in the sight of Pharaoh and his attendants, for God’s true miracles were not performed as Satan’s lying wonders; truth seeks no corners. See the almighty power of God. Every creature is that to us which he makes it to be water or blood. See what changes we may meet with in the things of this world; what is always vain, may soon become vexatious. See what mischievous work sin makes. If the things that have been our comforts prove our crosses, we must thank ourselves. It is sin that turns our waters into blood. The plague continued seven days; and in all that time Pharaoh’s proud heart would not let him desire Moses to pray for the removal of it. Thus the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath. No wonder that God’s anger is not turned away, but that his hand is stretched out still. (Henry)

And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened,…. Or “heavy” (c), dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, and cannot lift up his heart or find in his heart to obey the will of God. (Gill)

These plagues were selected by God as miraculous signs, because He intended to prove thereby to the king and his servants, that He, Jehovah, was the Lord in the land, and ruled over the powers of nature with unrestricted freedom and omnipotence. For this reason God not only caused them to burst suddenly upon the land according to His word, and then as suddenly to disappear according to His omnipotent will, but caused them to be produced by Moses and Aaron and disappear again at their word and prayer, that Pharaoh might learn that these men were appointed by Him as His messengers, and were endowed by Him with divine power for the accomplishment of His will. (Keil)

Do you ever wonder if there are degrees of hardness that can affect the heart of a person who willingly denies and rejects God’s call on or into their lives? I know of people who have said God pursued them for years. They knew it and they kept turning away from it and blocking it. Yet, at some point and after many years of rejecting God’s call they repented and followed after God. Their life changed forever. They spoke of the ache in their heart for how long they rejected the peace, joy, hope, love, courage, and power they now have. They spoke of the falseness of what they filled their lives with thinking it was truly better than what God offered. They spoke of the forgiven shame, but more importantly the peace and power they had now by the grace and mercy of God’s love.

I look at Pharaoh and obviously his advisors and how their hearts were hardened much harder, more firm, and unyielding. There does appear to be some degrees of hardness of the heart, mind, and soul from which no man can recover. Pity the person who rejects and denies God’s call of redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.

41.r. “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded”

Exodus 7:8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

The first time Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh everything seemed to go wrong. It took courage for them to go to Pharaoh again, but Moses simply obeyed God. In the midst of an unmistakable miracle, Satan provided Pharaoh with a reason to doubt – and Pharaoh seized on the doubt and hardened his heart. Miracles – or at least apparent miracles – are part of Satan’s arsenal. Paul later wrote on this theme: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). These Egyptian magicians were intelligent, learned men; but they lacked the wisdom of God, as Paul observed concerning them in 2 Timothy 3:7-9: Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. (Guzik)

Unless they were misdoubted, it was not for them to produce their credentials. Hence they worked no miracle at their former interview. Now, however, the time was come when their credentials would be demanded, and an express command was given them to exhibit the first “sign.” What men dislike, because it opposes their pride and lusts, they will not be convinced of; but it is easy to cause them to believe things they wish to be true. God always sends with his word full proofs of its Divine authority; but when men are bent to disobey, and willing to object, he often permits a snare to be laid wherein they are entangled. The magicians were cheats, trying to copy the real miracles of Moses by secret sleights or jugglings, which to a small extent they succeeded in doing, so as to deceive the bystanders, but they were at length obliged to confess they could not any longer imitate the effects of Divine power. None assist more in the destruction of sinners, than such as resist the truth by amusing men with a counterfeit resemblance of it. (Henry)

Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, &c.—His object in calling them was to ascertain whether this doing of Aaron’s was really a work of divine power or merely a feat of magical art

2 Timothy 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

Paul calls out the names of those who were called by Pharaoh to perform miracles in comparison to Moses and Aaron. I wonder what these men would say to us today. They have spent over 3,000 years in hell and torment. Would they say Believe in God, Satan is a liar, or Hell and torments for eternity is real? Would they say Keep your heart and mind pure, your eyes focused, and listen to things of God with a deep desire to honor and glorify Him? As much as I want to think this is what they would come to say, it is more probable that they would forever be cussing at God and things of God.

Things of this world, Satan, and our natural sinful desires will always try to distract us away from God, serving God, following God, obeying God, trusting God, relying on God, the Word of God, and things of God. Anyone one of the things of this world, Satan, and our natural sinful desires can water down the truth and impact of God’s Word in our lives. They can lead us toward apathy, stagnation, deadness, neglect, complacency, and indifference, and will leave us void, empty, and unsatisfied, unholy, ungodly, and convince us that we have the appearance of righteousness, but in reality – Deceived.