Then HaShem 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 HaShem 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. (7:8-13)
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and showed the first miracle, that of his staff becoming a serpent. How surprised they must have been when Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers did the same by their secret arts (7:11). True, Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as HaShem had said. (7:13)
God had told them in advance that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. I imagine that made it easier than if they hadn’t been prepared, but still – talking about “taking the wind out of their sails,” when all the sorcerers’ staffs turned to serpents.
But God had only just begun.
The next sign was the Nile River turning to blood. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as HaShem had said (7:22-23)
This wasn’t going so well, but it was just as God had said. And it was Moses’ and Aaron’s job to keep on obeying. And they did. The next plague was a horrible infestation of frogs.
But Pharaoh’s magicians were also able to make frogs come up on the land of Egypt! Still, for some reason Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to “plead with HaShem to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to HaShem” (8:8). Moses has Pharaoh name the time that this should happen, and Pharaoh said “tomorrow.” God caused the frogs to die the next day, but Pharaoh, hardened his heart and refuses to let them go.
This was not fun. Following God doesn’t mean that everything will always go well for us. In fact, Yeshua/Jesus promises his followers that they will have trouble. But when walking closely with God, we can have peace and joy even in the midst of trouble. When I am dealing with serious problems, I can focus on the problems and get mired down by what is going on, or I can look to God, pray, read His Word, and get a helpful perspective – His perspective, and that makes all the difference.
Prayer: God help me to walk closely with You. Help me to trust You even when my circumstances are challenging. (Do you have some challenging circumstances at the moment? Talk to God about them.)
