Pharaoh in the Bible Study

Pharaoh in the Bible Study

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Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt. God's people, the Hebrews, were Pharaoh's slaves. God sent Moses to talk to Pharaoh and tell him that God wanted him to let His people go. God hardened Pharaoh's heart (made him stubborn) through 10 plagues before he let God's people go free. Even after Pharaoh finally agreed to set the Hebrews free, he changed his mind and with all his horsemen and chariots, they chased Moses and the Hebrews into the Red Sea that God had parted for the Hebrew's to cross. But Moses stretched his hand out over the Red Sea after the Hebrews were safely across, and God closed the waters over Pharaoh and his army so that not one of them lived.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 5

Daily Bread is happy to see you here to study with us further in the book of Exodus. Moses and Aaron have arrived in Egypt and have spoken to the elders of the children of Israel telling them of God's plan to deliver them from the bondage of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. The people believed and worshipped God for having compassion on them.

Moses and Aaron, then went to Pharaoh and told him that the God of Israel said, Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness. Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I don't know the Lord, and I won't let Israel go. They repeated God's command and the king of Egypt refused again, then asked them, Why do you take the people away from their work?

The same day, Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters to stop giving the people straw to make brick and make them get the straw themselves, but the quota of bricks remained the same. Pharaoh said, If the people don't have anything better to do than cry, Let us go and sacrifice to our God, then make them do more work to keep them busy and they won't have time for empty promises.

The people were scattered throughout Egypt to find grass instead of straw and the taskmasters drove them to produce as much as they had before when there was straw. So their daily workload was much harder.

The Israelite officers, that the taskmasters put in charge over the people, were beaten and asked, Why haven't you done your job in making brick yesterday and today like before? The officers of the children of Israel went to Pharaoh and pleaded, Why are you treating us this way? There is no straw given to us and the taskmasters demand brick, then they beat us, but it is the fault of your own people.

But Pharaoh insisted that the people didn't have enough to do if they had time to ask to go sacrifice to their Lord. He sent them back to work and didn't give them straw, but required the same amount of bricks.

The officers of the children of Israel knew that there was trouble coming because their task was impossible now. They met Moses and Aaron as they left talking to Pharaoh and they said, May the Lord look on you and judge because you have made us to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants to put a sword in their hand to kill us.

Moses felt bad for them and he said to the Lord, Why have you done this to these people? Why have you sent me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has treated them badly and you haven't saved your people at all.

So, just as God had warned Moses, Pharaoh didn't listen and his heart was hardened. Moses had to expect Pharaoh's resistance but making bricks without straw was something Moses knew simply couldn't be done and he didn't understand why God would let such evil befall them when it was His plan to deliver them.

Find out how God replies to Moses and the next part of God's plan to make Pharaoh let His people go. That's our next story in Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 6

Good day to all of you visiting Daily Bread on this fine day. When we left off, Moses had gone to Pharaoh and told him the message that God sent, to let His people go. Pharaoh, saying that the if the Israelites were thinking such things, they must have too much time on their hands, ordered that no more straw be given to the Israelites, but demanded the same amount of bricks be made each day.

The officers of the children of Israel that Pharaoh's taskmasters had put in charge of them were beaten when the bricks weren't made to the specific count that was demanded.

They told Moses what happened and Moses returned to the Lord and asked, Why have you treated these people like this? Why did you send me? And God said to Moses, Now you'll see what I'll do to Pharaoh. With my power, he'll let my people go and with my power, he'll drive them out of his land.

God said to Moses, I am the Lord and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH, they didn't know me. I began my Covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their journeying where they were strangers. I've heard their crying because the Egyptians keep them in bondage and I remember my promise.

So, say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I'll free you with great justice. And I will take you to be my people, and I will be to you a God and you'll know that I am the Lord your God who saved you. I will bring you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and I'll give it to you to own forever, I am the Lord.

That, friends, was God's answer to the question ... "Why did you send me?"

Moses told the children of Israel what the Lord said, but they wouldn't listen because their spirits were so anguished from the cruelty they were facing. God told Moses to go and tell Pharaoh again to let His people go.

Moses said, The children of Israel didn't listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to someone like me who isn't even considered an Israelite?

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again and told them it was their responsibility to the children of Israel and to command Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

If you would like, you can read through all the names of the heads of the tribes of Israel that were in Egypt that Moses was to help deliver. They are listed in Exodus 6:14-25. We won't list them all here, but keep in mind that the bloodline is an important thing and it's particularly interesting when you do specific studies of a certain tribe or person.

In any case, at the end of this chapter, Moses repeated that the Lord told him to speak to Pharaoh and tell him everything that He said. And he also repeated that he didn't think that Pharaoh would listen to him.

There have been times in all of our lives when we've done something that we just can't believe we did, because we thought we couldn't. The truth is, there are many things we can't and didn't do on our own. Without the words of God, without the hand of God, without the will of God.

Well, just ask Moses if he could have gone in to speak to Pharaoh without God. Sometimes it takes some nudging by the Lord to get us to finally give Him our attention, surrender our pride and let Him work through us. Just because your umbrella doesn't turn into a serpent doesn't mean that God doesn't work through you in other ways.

Let's keep an eye on how God used Moses through this study of Exodus and try to recognize in our own lives when the Lord is using us to help someone He loves in one way or another.

In our next story, we'll find out Pharaoh's reaction as Moses and Aaron show him the signs that the Lord showed them. What will it take to soften Pharaoh's hardened heart and let God's people go? Come on back and find out as we look for the answer in our next stories in Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 7

Thanks for being here with us at Daily Bread. Glad to have you join us for another story from the book of Exodus. When we left off last time, God told Moses to go back to Pharaoh a second time and tell him to let His people go. Moses, still not convinced that he was the man for the job asked God, Why should Pharaoh listen to me, of all people?

God answered, You see, I have made you a god to Pharaoh and Aaron will be your prophet. You'll tell Aaron everything that I say and Aaron will tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and show many signs in the land of Egypt, but Pharaoh won't listen to you. I will lay my hand upon Egypt (when God says something is done by His hand, it means by His power) and bring out my armies, and my people out of Egypt with great justice. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

So Moses and Aaron did what the Lord told them to do. Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when they went to speak to Pharaoh. Forty years has passed since Moses killed the Egyptian.

Now you may be wondering, because it's been mentioned a few times now, why did God harden Pharaoh's heart. Well, these were God's people and He not only wanted to free them from slavery in Egypt but He also wanted to show the Egyptians that He is God. You can bet that the Egyptians wouldn't believe it if Pharaoh let over 600,000 slaves go free just because an 80 year old man suddenly showed up on Pharaoh's doorstep one day out of nowhere with his big brother and said, okey dokey, you're gonna free all the Israelites that have slaved for the last 430 years making Egypt a rich nation.

You can see that it just couldn't happen that way. No, ladies and gentlemen, God would have to show them a thing or ten. Don't forget about what God told Abraham about blessing those who blessed him and cursing those who cursed him, Genesis 12:3. If you remember, when Joseph was alive in Egypt, the Pharaoh at that time was kind to Israel, Genesis 47:5-6, and Egypt prospered better than any other nation through the great famine. Egypt wasn't going to get away with the imprisoning of God's people without some consequences. Just a little Daily Bread Crumb for ya.

Getting back to our story, God told Moses, Pharaoh will want you to show him a miracle. You will tell Aaron, Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh and it'll become a serpent. So they went in to Pharaoh and did what the Lord told them in front of Pharaoh and his servants and the staff became a serpent.

Pharaoh called on his wise men and wizards and the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their witchery. They all threw down their staffs and they became serpents, but Aaron's staff swallowed up all of theirs.

And God hardened Pharaoh's heart and told Moses, Pharaoh is stubborn, he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning. He will be going to the river. You will wait at the river's edge until he gets there. Take the staff with you that was turned into a serpent. You will say to him, The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to you saying, Let my people go so they may serve me in the wilderness, and you wouldn't listen. Now the Lord says, By this you will know that I am the Lord, watch, I will take the staff in my hand and strike the water in the river and it will turn to blood. The fish in the river will die, the water will stink and the Egyptians will hate to drink the water.

The Lord told Moses, Tell Aaron to take your staff and stretch out your hand on the waters of Egypt, on their streams, on their rivers, on their ponds and on all their pools of water so they all may turn to blood and there will be blood through all the land of Egypt, both in containers of wood and of stone.

So Moses and Aaron did so, and all the waters of Egypt turned to blood. The fish died, the river stank and the Egyptians couldn't drink the water. There was blood throughout all of Egypt.

The magicians of Egypt did the same with their witchery and Pharaoh's heart was hardened. He didn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. (We'll be learning a bit more about these magicians in a later chapter.)

Pharaoh went home and didn't let the matter bother him at all. Pride is a very stubborn thing to overcome. The Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink because the water in the river was undrinkable.

This was the first plague that God inflicted upon Egypt. The trust Moses has in God seems to be strengthening as he sees the Lord working through him. A heartless Pharaoh makes things much worse however as time goes on, so be sure to come back and see what happens next as we continue our study of the Book of Exodus here at Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 8

Greetings to you, Daily Bread readers! In our last story, God sent a plague into Egypt that turned all the water of the land into blood because Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel free.

God sent Moses back to talk to Pharaoh again. This time the message was that if Pharaoh didn't let God's people go, He would send frogs into Egypt. He said, They will come up out of the river and go into your house, into your bedroom, and on your bed, into your servants houses, and among all your people. They will be in your ovens, and where your food is, and everywhere.

God told Moses to tell Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and rivers and ponds and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. And Aaron did what Moses said. Imagine if you will, frogs in your own house, all over your kitchen, in the oven, even in your bed. How disgusting.

Well, those crafty magicians of Pharaoh's did the same thing and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt. It didn't take long for this to annoy Pharaoh a bit, and he called for Moses and Aaron and said, Ask the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people and I'll let the people go so they can do sacrifice to Him.

Moses was very happy about this and to make sure that credit was given to God, he asked Pharaoh, When do you want this to happen? Pharaoh answered, Tomorrow. Moses said, It will be as you say so that you will know there is none like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you and your servants and your people, and remain in the river only.

Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh and Moses prayed to the Lord with Pharaoh's request. The Lord answered Moses' prayer, and the frogs died. They gathered them together in piles and the land stank terribly. When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart again and didn't keep his promise to let God's people go.

So the Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the land so that it becomes lice throughout the land of Egypt. Aaron did what Moses said and the dust of Egypt became lice on man and beast. You know, it makes a person itch just thinking about it. It seems silly to want more lice, but Pharaoh's magicians tried to do the same thing with magic, but they couldn't. They told Pharaoh, This is the finger of God, meaning only God could do this. But Pharaoh's heart was still hardened and he would not listen.

Next, the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and go to Pharaoh at the river again, and say to him, God says, Let my people go, so they may serve me, and if you don't, watch tomorrow, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses and all over the land. But I will protect Goshen, where my people live, and no flies will be there.

The next day the Lord sent the flies and the land of Egypt was filthy with them. Now a few dozen flies can ruin just about anything, but swarms of them must have been horrendous. They irritated Pharaoh enough to call for Moses and Aaron again and he said, Go and sacrifice to your God here in this land.

Moses said, We will go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he will command us. Pharaoh relented, I'll let you go, only ask for me, that you don't go very far away. Moses answered, I'll ask the Lord to take the flies away tomorrow, but don't lie again and not let the people go. He left Pharaoh's presence and entreated the Lord, and the Lord removed the swarms of flies so that not a single one remained. And you guessed it, Pharaoh hardened his heart this time too, and would not let God's people go.

Four plagues have been brought upon Pharaoh now and he acts like it's a game between him and God, but we all know that trying to deceive God will only end in disaster. Come along with us next time as Daily Bread continues to follow Moses through his mission for God to deliver His people from the bondage of Egypt.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 9

Daily Bread is so happy you're back for our study of the book of Exodus. Our last couple of stories have been about the plagues that God has brought on Pharaoh and Egypt because Pharaoh would not free the children of Israel from slavery.

Moses, although his confidence was a little shaky at first, has gained faith with God's hand helping him. Egypt has had their water turned to blood, frogs, lice and swarms of flies to deal with, and Pharaoh still refused to let the people go.

The Lord told Moses, Go talk to Pharaoh and tell him, The Lord God of the Hebrews says, Let my people go so they can serve me. If you don't let them go, tomorrow I will strike your cattle, your horses, your mules, camels, oxen and sheep. There will be a very terrible disease that kills them, but the cattle of my people will not suffer. Not a one of their animals will die. Notice that God set appointed times for the plagues so there was no doubt as to who was causing them.

The next day, all the cattle of Egypt died, but of the cattle of the children of Israel, not a single one died. Pharaoh still wouldn't let them go.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Take handfuls of ashes from the furnace and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven so that Pharaoh can see you. It will become small dust in all the land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out with blisters on man and beast in all the land of Egypt.

When Moses did this, Pharaoh's magicians couldn't even try their magic in front of Moses because they were covered with boils. The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he didn't listen, just as He had said to Moses.

Let's talk about these magicians, shall we? These weren't magicians like the ones at a child's birthday party, in fact, Paul likens them to men with reprobate minds:

When trying to apply how this story could possibly have anything to do with us, as Christians today, the End Times immediately comes to mind, when the false prophet deceives those who are still on earth.

So don't be deceived by diviners or necromancers or fortune tellers or anything of the sort!

Then the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and go to Pharaoh and tell him, The Lord God of the Hebrews says, Let my people go so that they may serve me. This time I will send all my plagues on your heart and on your servants and on your people so you will know that there is none like me in all the earth. This time I will strike you and your people with plagues and you will be cut off from the earth. This is the reason you are here, so that I can show my power and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. And you still think you're better than my people and won't let them go? Tomorrow at about this time I will make it rain a terrible hail, like Egypt has never seen from the beginning until now.

Pharaoh's people who feared the Word of the Lord became very afraid and even brought their servants into their houses and whoever didn't regard the Lord's warning, left their servants out in the fields in defiance.

The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand toward Heaven as to bring hail to all the land of Egypt. Moses stretched out his staff toward Heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran along on the ground in the land of Egypt unlike Egypt had ever seen since it became a nation. The hail was so heavy that the plants and trees were all broken and the only thing that remained was the wheat and the rye that had not grown up yet. Only in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel were, there was no hail or fire.

This gave Pharaoh a little bit of a scare and he called for Moses and Aaron and said, I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked. Pray to the Lord that there be no more thunder and hail and I'll let you go. Well, Moses had heard that song before and he said to Pharaoh, As soon as I'm outside the city, I'll open my hands to the Lord and the thunder and hail will stop so that you'll know that the earth belongs to God. But as for you and your servants, I know you don't fear the Lord yet. You can well imagine that Moses wasn't slow of speech when he said that!

When Pharaoh saw that the thunder and hail and fire had stopped, he sinned even more and he and his people still wouldn't let God's people go, just as the Lord had told Moses.

Pharaoh certainly is obstinate. Moses has has his number though and is even bold enough to call him a liar to his face. The plagues are getting worse with each one, and so far there have been seven plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt. In our next story, we'll find out about more and we'll see if Pharaoh changes his tune at all. Come back and join us again for more Daily Bread as we learn more about Moses in the book of Exodus.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 10

Thank you for joining us again for our ongoing study of the Bible. We're about half way through the book of Exodus now and we're learning about the plagues that God brought upon Pharaoh and Egypt because he wouldn't let the children of Israel out of bondage. Moses and his brother Aaron are our key figures in the story as they do God's will and take His messages to Pharaoh.

The Lord told Moses, Go back to Pharaoh and know that I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants so I can show my signs to them. You'll be able to tell your son and your grandson the things I've done in Egypt, to show that I am the Lord.

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, The Lord God of the Hebrews says, How long will you refuse to bow down to me. Let my people go so they may serve me. If you don't, tomorrow I'll bring locusts into your land and they'll cover the face of the earth, so many that you can't see the ground and they'll eat whatever survived the hail. Your fathers and your grandfathers have never seen so many locusts to tell about from the time they lived until today.

When Moses and Aaron had finished telling Pharaoh about the plague of the locusts, they left and Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long will this man disrupt us? Let the people go and serve the Lord their God. Haven't you learned yet that Egypt is destroyed?

Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh and he said to them, Go, serve the Lord your God, but who exactly will go? And Moses answered, We'll go with our young and with our old, our sons and daughters, our flocks and our herds. All of us will go, because we must hold a feast to the Lord.

But, Pharaoh started playing games. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. Then he said, Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. Pharaoh was suggesting that only the men go and not the children. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

Of course this was not acceptable as it was not God's will ... The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand over the land of Egypt so the locusts would come to the land and eat everything growing in the land that the hail had left. So Moses stretched out his staff over the Land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind that lasted all day and all night and when the morning dawned, the east wind brought the locusts.

The locusts covered the land from border to border. There have never been so many locusts anywhere and there never will be again. There were so many that the land was darkened and they ate every single thing that remained from the hail.

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in a hurry and said, I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Forgive me I beg you, just this once and ask the Lord your God to take away this grief only.

Moses left Pharaoh and prayed. The Lord sent a strong west wind that took away the locusts into the Red sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he wouldn't let the children of Israel go.

The Lord told Moses, Stretch out your hand toward Heaven, so that darkness falls over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. Now that doesn't sound like your usual darkness. This was darkness that was darker than dark. And Moses stretched out his hand toward Heaven and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They couldn't see one another or move for three days, but all the children of Israel had light in their homes.

Pharaoh called for Moses and said, Go, serve the Lord, only your flocks and your herds will stay. Let your little ones go with you too. Moses said, You must give us sacrifices and burnt offerings too so we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God. Our cattle will go with us, and not a single hoof will be left behind. We must take everything to serve the Lord because we don't know what we'll need to serve Him with, until we get there.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart still, and he wouldn't let them go. And Pharaoh said to Moses, Go away, mind your own business, and don't let me see your face again, because the day you see my face, you will die. And Moses answered to Pharaoh, You said it well, I will never see your face again.

That's nine plagues for Pharaoh now. From what Moses just said, it looks like things will be coming to a conclusion very soon for Pharaoh. You won't want to miss what happens next, so be sure to join us to find out what the last plague on Pharaoh and Egypt is in your next serving of Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 11

There you are! Glad you're back so soon to find out what happens next in our story about Moses in Egypt and the plagues that God has brought upon Pharaoh.

It's time in God's plan to bring everything to a memorable conclusion for Pharaoh. The Lord said to Moses, I'm going to bring just one more plague to Pharaoh and Egypt and after that, he'll let you go. When he lets you go, he will throw you out altogether.

Go and tell the people to ask their neighbors for jewels of silver and gold. And God gave his people approval in the Egyptians eyes and Moses was very respected by Pharaoh's servants and people.

Moses told the people, both the Egyptians and the children of Israel, This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go out amidst Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on the throne to the firstborn of the maidservant that works behind the mill and all the firstborn of the beasts.

There will be a dreadful cry throughout all the land of Egypt like there has never been before or will ever be again. But of the children of Israel, none will be harmed so that you'll know how the Lord feels differently about the Egyptians and Israel. And all of Pharaoh's servants shall bow themselves to me and say, Get out and all the people that follow you, and after that I will go out. Moses was very angered when he left Pharaoh.

Then the Lord told Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you so that my wonders may grow in the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron did all these wonders in front of Pharaoh and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he wouldn't let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Let's talk about Moses' character for a moment. It bears mentioning that Moses believes strongly in justice. Don't forget that forty years earlier, he killed an Egyptian that was beating a Hebrew slave, and Moses, even though he was by blood a Hebrew, was raised as an Egyptian. However, in the name of justice, he felt it necessary to defend righteousness. It's no wonder that by the time he delivered the announcements of 10 plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt, that he would become a little angry with Pharaoh. And it's no wonder that God chose Moses for the job of delivering His people out of bondage in Egypt.

When we come back next time, we'll find out more about this last plague on Pharaoh, and how the children of Israel were protected from it. It's called the Passover. Be sure to join us again for another exciting story at Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 12:1-20

We're happy to have you with us for today's Daily Bread. We're studying the book of Exodus and when we left off, Moses had just given Pharaoh the message from God that every firstborn of both man and beast of the Egyptians will die if he doesn't let the children of Israel go. Pharaoh, although he has seen nine plagues from God, one by one destroying his kingdom, still has a heart of stone and will not let God's people go.

The Lord talked to Moses and Aaron in Egypt saying, This month will be the beginning of the year to you. Tell all the children of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man will take a lamb for his house, and if one lamb is too much for your family to eat, you will share with your neighbor. The lamb should be without spot, a male of the first year and you will separate it from the sheep and the goats and keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole congregation of Israel will kill it in the evening.

Take the blood of the lamb and put it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses where you will eat it. Eat it that same night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. Don't eat it raw or boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire, with his head and his legs and organs included.

Don't leave any for the morning, and whatever is left over in the morning, burn it with fire. Eat it fully dressed, with shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and you will eat it quickly, it is the Lord's Passover. I will pass through the land of Egypt that night and will kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt, I will perform justice, I am the Lord.

The blood will be a sign on the houses where you are and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague will not destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day will be a memorial for you and you will keep it a holy day to the Lord throughout all your generations for ever.

For seven days you will eat unleavened bread. The first day you will take all leaven out of your houses and whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person will be cut off from Israel.

On the first day and on the seventh day you will hold a holy ceremony. No manner of work will be done on those days except for cooking what you will eat. That is the only work that may be done.

And you will celebrate the feast of unleavened bread because on that day I have brought your crowds of people out of the land of Egypt, so you will keep this day holy in your generations by a law for ever.

In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the twenty first day of the month at evening. For seven days, no leaven will be in your houses because whoever eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or born in the land. You will eat nothing leavened, in all your homes you will eat unleavened bread.

Did you ever notice that the children of Israel were saved by the blood of the lamb, and we as Christians are saved by the blood of the Lamb of God? It is not a coincidence that Jesus died for us at Passover, and that He, like the sheep in the Passover was unblemished. The Lord's Passover was a shadow of things to come and to show you how important that is, God even told them that it was a law to observe this holy day and whoever didn't, that soul would be cut off from the children of Israel. That's a pretty serious consequence.

When we return with our next segment, we'll find out more about the Passover as Moses guides the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Join us again as we study the book of Exodus at Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 12:21-51

It's great to have you back with us again as we study the book of Exodus. Today our Daily Bread joins Moses as he tells the children of Israel God's plan for the Exodus from Egypt.

Moses gathered all the elders of Israel together and told them, Everyone take a lamb for your family and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, (a plant used by the Hebrews for sprinkling blood when purifying things) dip it in the blood of the lamb and strike the side posts and the upper door post of your houses. Don't go out of your house until morning. The Lord will pass through to kill the Egyptians and when He sees the blood on your doorposts, He'll pass over the door and won't let the destroyer come in to your houses to kill you.

You must remember this thing and observe this holy day. You must pass it on to the generations after you for ever. When you get to the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, you must celebrate this holy day and when your children ask you what it means you will tell them, It is to remember the Lord's Passover, when He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he killed the Egyptians and saved our families.

The people bowed their heads and thanked God and they went to their homes and did what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

That night at midnight the Lord killed all the firstborn of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the cattle. And Pharaoh woke in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry in Egypt. There wasn't one single house where there wasn't one dead.

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron immediately and said, Get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. Go serve the Lord as you asked. Take your flocks and your herds and go, and bless me also.

The Egyptians insisted to send God's people away in a hurry because they feared for their lives. So the children of Israel took their bowls of unleavened dough and wrapped them up in clothes on their shoulders and they borrowed jewels of gold and silver and clothing from the Egyptians just as Moses told them to do.

The Egyptians were supportive of God's people and they lent them everything they asked for and the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians. They traveled from Rameses in the land of Goshen to Succoth, about 30 miles. There were about 600,000 on foot that were men, beside children. Their flocks and their herds and all their cattle were with them too.

Now here's a little unleavened Daily Bread crumb for you. The Lord knew that His people would be hurried out of Egypt and that is why He said that they should have unleavened bread in their houses. They baked their unleavened cakes of dough and they didn't have any other food prepared.

The very day that the children of Israel were in Egypt for 430 years, all the hosts (multitudes) of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt. It is a night of watching, and for the children of Israel to honor the Lord for ever, for bringing them out of bondage in Egypt.

God gave Moses and Aaron the laws of the Passover celebration. No stranger should eat the Passover. For an owned servant to eat it, he must first follow the Hebrew customs. Foreigners and hired servants may not eat it. It will be eaten in one house, not carried out of the house or any bones of it broken. (Not one of Jesus bones were broken either.) All the congregation of Israel will honor the holy day. When a stranger stays with you and wants to celebrate the Passover, all the males of his house must follow the Hebrew customs and become as one that is born in the land. The same one law applies to both the home born and the stranger that stays with you.

All the children of Israel followed what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And the very same day, the Lord brought His children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. They were called armies because army means a great multitude and each of the twelve tribes stayed together in groups. God referred to them as His armies.

When we come back next time, we'll talk more about Israel's exodus from Egypt and Pharaoh's reaction after they left. Remember first he refused to let them go, then he said you can sacrifice to God here in Egypt. Then he said, go, but not far. Then, only the men can go. Then, you and your little ones can go, but your flocks and herds stay. Each time, Pharaoh changed his mind and wouldn't let them go at all. Is the death of his firstborn enough to make him honest this time and soften his heart? Come back and see next time at Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 13

It's so good to have you back again to find out what happens next as the children of Israel begin their exodus from Egypt. We learned about the unleavened bread and a little bit about the Passover celebration that God told the Hebrews to observe each year, and now it's time for another Daily Bread Stick!

When God told Moses how He wanted Passover to be celebrated each year by the Hebrews, He said, This month will be the first month of the year to you (Exodus 12:2). Now that wasn't in January. In Hebrew, it's called Abib. The Hebrew calendar has 360 days in the year. Over the centuries mankind (not God) has found it necessary to create a calendar for their own convenience and have disregarded the plan that the creator of time had in mind. The "new and improved" calendar has even been changed a number of times and it seems that because nobody knows the exact calculations of when one calendar was retired and another implemented, it makes it very difficult to figure some things out concerning dates.

This much, we do know ... The current calendar that we use has 365 days in a year. Over a period of 6000 years, which is an approximation of how long it's been since the creation of man, you can understand why adding 5 days per year to God's time clock of 360 days/year would cause the seasons to be out of place.

Now many say that it was necessary to "adjust" God's calendar because of the moon or some such reason. Do you think "Father Time" didn't consider those things when He created the world? Does He not know everything? He does. This is just an example of how man can never, no matter how smart he thinks he is, improve what God has done (1 Corinthians 1:25).

Now, back to our story. The Lord said to Moses, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. What does that mean ... Sanctify? Sanctify means to set apart for a sacred purpose. It also means to free from sin or to purify. Moses will explain this better in just a moment.

Moses spoke to the people and told them again about keeping the service of the Passover and the unleavened bread. He told them to pass this on to their children and when their children ask why, to tell them it's because of the greatness of the Lord when He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses' way of relating to the Hebrews, what God said, was just so awesome. Here is an example of that, concerning Passover. "And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in His season from year to year."

Moses then explained in detail about sanctifying the firstborn. God saved the firstborn of the Israelites during the Passover, so every firstborn belongs to Him. Of every firstborn that comes from a beast, the males are the Lord's. They must be sacrificed to God. Every firstborn mule should be substituted with a lamb to sacrifice, and if they didn't, the mule's neck must be broken. Of course, God didn't want them to kill the children as a sacrifice to him, as the lambs are but for every firstborn child a sacrifice must be made. Leviticus 12:6-8 explains that a firstling lamb and a young pigeon or turtledove was redeemed for the child and offered to God, but if a lamb couldn't be given, then two turtledoves or two pigeons would be offered.

Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God didn't lead them through the land of the Philistines even though it was the shortest route. God thought that if the Hebrews saw war there they would regret and return to Egypt. Instead, God led the people through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea and they went out of the land of Egypt armed.

Listen to this. This shows the integrity that the man of Moses possessed. When he left Egypt, Moses took the bones of Joseph (Jacob's son) with him because before Joseph died, he made an oath with his children saying that God would surely come to visit (help) them and "ye shall carry up my bones from hence." (Genesis 50:25) You may remember that, and think, "That is so considerate of him," but when you think of the responsibility that Moses had on his shoulders and to do all that it involved to exhume and transport a man's bones who died over 400 years past, is truly admirable.

They left Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. The Lord led the way in front of them in a pillar of a cloud and by night in a pillar of fire so they could travel day and night.

Just imagine it. You are with 600,000 of your relatives and people. You've just been freed from slavery that your family and people have endured for 430 years. You have taken the Egyptians riches with you and you're on your way to the Promised Land with the Lord leading the way in front of you in a cloud by day and fire by night. You have no food except unleavened bread. You're about to follow an 80 year old man who is going to take you (on foot) about 600 miles. It's quite a scenario.

If you hadn't seen the wonders that God performed in Egypt with your own eyes, you might be thinking about finding a new travel agent, but with bricks and no straw on the one hand, and a land flowing with milk and honey on the other, traveling with God looks like the definite choice to make.

Let's continue following Moses and the children of Israel as they travel through the wilderness in our next Daily Bread.

The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus

Chapter 14

Couldn't wait for you to join us today at the wilderness of Egypt! Daily Bread is following Moses and the children of Israel as they make their exodus from Egypt. We have the Lord leading in a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

The Lord told Moses to take the children of Israel to camp by the sea and Pharaoh will think that they're trapped and the wilderness has shut them in. Pharaoh's heart and all of his servants was turned against God's people again and they said, Why did we do this? Why did we let Israel go free from serving us? You didn't really think Pharaoh's heart would ever soften, did you? Neither did God. 😉

Pharaoh got his chariot and took his people with him with all the chariots of Egypt and captains over each one and they followed the children of Israel. They caught up with them camped by the sea and when God's people saw that the Egyptians chased them, they were very afraid and they cried out to the Lord.

They said to Moses, Did you bring us to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you done this to us? Didn't we tell you in Egypt to leave us be and let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Surely they were afraid that Egypt would capture them and they would be put through worse turmoil than being beaten for not making enough bricks without straw.

Moses however had seen the Lord work His wonders against Pharaoh and Egypt ten times now and his faith was firm. He answered the people, Don't be afraid, stand still and watch the salvation of the Lord that He will show you today. The Egyptians that you've seen today, you'll never see again for ever. The Lord will fight for you and you'll keep your freedom.

The Lord said to Moses, Talk to my people, tell them to go forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and my people will walk on dry ground through the middle of the sea. I'll harden the hearts of the Egyptians and they'll follow them and I'll get my revenge on Pharaoh and all his people, his chariots and his horsemen, and after that, they'll know that I am the Lord.

The Angel of God that was in front of the camp of Israel in the pillar of the cloud, went and stood behind them between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. It was a cloud of darkness to the Egyptians but it gave light to Israel so that the Egyptians couldn't reach God's people all the night long.

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back with a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land. The waters were divided and God's people went into the middle of the sea on dry ground. The waters were like walls to their right and to their left.

Pharaoh and the Egyptians, his horses and his chariots and his horsemen all pursed after them into the middle of the sea. At dawn, the Lord looked at the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud and troubled them by taking off their chariot wheels. The Egyptians said, We'd better run from Israel, the Lord is fighting for them.

When the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord told Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea so the water will close on the Egyptians, their chariots and their horsemen. So Moses did, and the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not a single one of them lived. God's people saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore and Israel feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.

It must have been so amazing. There is no strength like God's strength. There is no one as clever. His humor is incomparable and His grace is the most astounding of all. His people doubted Him so many times, as you've seen several times and will see still more, and yet He stretched out His hands to them over and over again.

Now that the fear of Egypt is behind them, what's next for God's people? Join us again to sojourn with Daily Bread and God's people as they follow God to the Promised Land.

There is a force out there that is attempting to overtake us all; it is Satan. There is another force that is protecting us from him; it is the Holy Spirit. It is a battle for souls. This battle is called Spiritual Warfare, and like it or not, you are right in the middle of it.

How to Prepare for Spiritual Warfare