Exodus 8:20-30 Exodus 9:1-11
The Lord again told Moses’ to get up early the next morning to meet Pharaoh as he went to bathe in the river. Moses must tell him again to let the people go. If he still refused to let them go, the Lord would send swarms of flies all over Egypt.
Moses did as the Lord commanded, but again Pharaoh said no, he wouldn’t let the people go. So the Lord sent flies and they covered the whole country. The houses of the Egyptians were swarming with them, and the ground was covered with them.
But in the land of Goshen where the Israelis lived, there were no flies at all, because the Lord did not send them there.
Pharaoh was very much upset about the flies, as he had been about the frogs. He called Moses and Aaron and told them, “All right, the people of Israel can sacrifice to their God, but they must stay in Egypt to do it. They mustn’t go out in the desert.”
Moses told Pharaoh they must leave Egypt and go three days’ journey into the desert to sacrifice to the Lord, for that is what God had told them to do.
Then Pharaoh said all right, they could go but not that far.
“Please,” He begged Moses, “Pray to your God to get rid of the flies.” Moses said he would, but he warned Pharaoh not to lie to him again by not letting the people go. Moses went away and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord took away the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his people. Suddenly there wasn’t one left in all the land! But when Pharaoh saw that the flies where gone, he changed his mind again and wouldn’t let the people go.
Next the Lord commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh that a great sickness would destroy the cows and sheep of Egypt, but the cows and sheep of the Israelis would not be hurt at all.
But Pharaoh still said no, the people could not go.
So the Lord sent the sickness. The Egyptian cows and horses and donkeys and camels and sheep began to die. Pharaoh sent to see if any of the Israelis’ cattle were dead, but not one of them was even sick! When Pharaoh found that the animals belonging to the people of Israel were all right, is heart grew even harder and more wicked than before, and he would not let the people go!
Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron to stand where Pharaoh could see them and to toss handfuls of ashes into the air. Those ashes, the Lord said, would cause terrible sores to break out all over the bodies of the Egyptians and their animals. So Moses stood before Pharaoh and tossed the ashes into the air; and the sores broke out on the Egyptians and on their animals throughout al Egypt, except where the Israelis lived. This time the Magicians didn’t even try to do the same thing, for the terrible boils were on them too.
But Pharaohs heart was still wicked, and he wouldn’t let the people go!
Then the Lord told Moses to get up early the next morning and tell Pharaoh that God would send a great hailstorm, a storm such as there has never been before. Moses told Pharaoh to quickly get all his cattle in from the fields, for everything out in the storm would die. Some of the Egyptians feared the Lord, and when they heard what was going to happen, they brought in their slaves and cattle from the fields and put them in barns where the hail wouldn’t hurt them. But most of the Egyptians didn’t believe what Moses said and left their animals out in the fields anyway.
Then the Lord told Moses to point his hand toward heaven, and suddenly a terrible hailstorm began, and lighting ran along the ground. Never before had there been such a storm in Egypt. The hail crashed down onto the fields, killing men and animals alike. It broke down the bushes and trees, and all the grain was broken and spoiled, except for what hadn’t yet grown up above the ground.
But in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived, no hail fell at all!
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned; the Lord is good, and I and my people are wicked. Beg the Lord to stop the terrible thunder and hail, and I will let you go right away.
Moses said that as soon as he was out of the city he would ask the Lord to stop the thunder and hail. But he knew Pharaoh still wouldn’t obey the Lord. Moses went out into the terrible storm, but God kept the hail and fire from harming him. When he was out of the city he prayed, and the thunder and hail stopped.
And when Pharaoh saw that it had stopped, he changed his mind and wouldn’t let the people go!
Questions:
What three plagues are told about in this story?
What happened to the Israelis cows?
Why didn’t Pharaoh let the Israelis go?
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