Exodus Chapters 8-9
The Lord empowered Moses and his brother Aaron to confront the Egyptian Pharaoh in order to obtain the release by Egypt of the Israelites, who were being held in enslavement. When the Pharaoh refused, the Lord gave miracle powers to Moses and Aaron. Early attempts to convince the Pharaoh of the Lord’s power failed. Pharaoh had a hardened heart.
The 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th chapters of Exodus describe various plagues the Lord enabled Moses to place on Egypt. There were first nine disasters on Egypt, coming in three cycles of three each. A final 10th disaster was devastating to Pharaoh.
The first three plagues involved changing all water and rivers in Egypt into blood, a plague of frogs, and a plague of lice. The first plague came following an early morning warning to the Pharaoh as he rose to go to the river. The second came with a simple warning to Pharaoh; the third without warning. The second round of three plagues came in similar fashion.
Plague 4: Flies: Following the pattern, the first of the three-plague cycle came following a warning to Pharaoh at the river’s edge. The Lord instructed Moses to "rise early" and stand before Pharaoh at the river’s edge and demand that he "Let my people go, that they may serve me." Ex 8:20.
Pharaoh was warned that swarms of flies would descend upon Egypt unless the warning was heeded. However, the Land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, would be spared from the disaster. There followed a "grievous swarm of flies" into the house of Pharaoh, his servants’ homes, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was destroyed by the flies. Ex. 8:24.
Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron back to him and stated he would release the m to sacrifice to their God if Moses would intercede and call off the flies. Moses said he and Aaron would go into the wilderness and sacrifice to God and asked intercession with the Lord. However, Moses warned Pharaoh not to deceive them regarding his promise to release the Israelites. Ex. 8:29.
Moses interceded with the Lord as requested by Pharaoh, and the Lord did as Moses requested to remove the flies. However, the Pharaoh again changed his mind and refused to let the people go.
Plague 5: Animal murrain: Chapter 9 of Exodus begins with the Lord empowering Moses and Aaron to invoke the fifth plague on Egypt. The Lord instructed Moses to warn Pharaoh to "Let my people go" or a "grievous murrain" would befall the livestock of Egypt. However, the Land of Goshen where the Israelites lived, would be spared.
Moses set a specific time (the next morning) when the plague would strike.
By the next morning, the severe pestilence struck the animals and all the cattle of Egypt died, but the cattle of the Israelites lived. The Pharaoh surveyed the damage and the fact that the Israelite cattle survived, but still refused to release the Israelites from bondage. Ex. 9:7
Plague 6: Boils: The sixth plague on Egypt came without warning It was severe.
The Lord told Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of ashes from the furnaces and stand in the sight of Pharaoh as the ash is sprinkled into the air. The ash would become small dust settling over all Egypt and leaving boils where it landed on both man and beast.
Moses did as the Lord commanded, and in front of Pharaoh he released the ashes into the air. Sever boils struck all the people and animals in Egypt. The Pharaoh’s magicians tried to respond, but the boils were so severe on them that they could not stand. Ex. 9:11.
The Pharaoh, however, remained hard, refusing to release the Israelites.
Next: The Plagues of hail, locusts and darkness