Friday, February 28th

In our series, "The Plagues of Egypt", the first three perils have not caused Pharaoh to rethink his position.  In fact, instead of letting the children of Israel go, he became harder and more determined to have his way.  

Let's recap the plagues we've covered so far and then get right into the fourth plague.

1.) The water turned into blood
2.) Frogs brought up from the river
3.) Dust turned into lice

I can't imagine still standing in defiance to God after seeing these three plagues, but Pharaoh did.  In fact, during the 3rd plague, the magicians advised Pharaoh that they were in over their heads and that God was the One authoring the catastrophes.  Still, Pharaoh remained steadfast in his desire to have his own way.

Once again, Moses and Aaron met him by the water and gave him an ultimatum: let the Hebrews go or face the next plague.  Pharaoh chose the latter, so swarms of flies were sent into the land.  These flies bit and caused swelling and disfiguration.  And, wherever they landed, they laid their eggs which caused maggots.  So, throughout the land there are these biting flies and maggots...except it wasn't throughout ALL the land.  God did something in this plague that He hadn't done before.  He put a dividing line between the land of Goshen, where the Hebrews lived and the rest of Egypt.  The Israelis didn't face this plague.  There were no swarms of flies in Goshen---not even one fly.  This was significant because it was evident that God's hand was in this division.  

 Even with Pharaoh's hardened heart, he was used mightily of God.  Used of God??  As rebellious and prideful as he was, he was still used by God.  And, you are being used, too, in one of two ways: with a yielded heart like Moses' or with a stubborn heart like Pharaoh.  The choice is yours.

Scripture Reading for the Day:
Proverbs 28
Revelation 7