Hey Pharaoh, Let my people go! (Exodus 5-14)
Moses & God vs Pharoah, Advantage Moses.
Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to EGYPT w. Exodus cartoons Exodus 4:18
So Moses, after cleaning off his feet... is obedient and goes to Egypt, tells the leaders of Israel God's plan to deliver them from slavery, and then goes off to see Pharaoh.
Pharaoh is neither amused nor impressed by Moses' demands to release his Jewish slave workforce. So Moses shows signs from God that are genuinely supernatural, as opposed to the low-budget sorcery of Pharaoh's magicians, who should have stuck to pulling rabbits out of hats.
In response to Moses' initial attempts to free his people, Pharaoh ups the demands on his Jewish slaves. They must now make more bricks without straying off course.
In response God sends plagues
The Nile and all the water in Egypt turn to blood. Exodus 5:14-24
There are infestations of frogs Exodus 8:1-15
The Plague of Gnats Exodus 8:16-19
The Plague of Flies Exodus 8:20-32,
sickness in the livestock Exodus 9:1-7,
The Plague of Boils Exodus 9:8-12,
The Plague of Hail Exodus 9:13-35,
The Plague of Locusts Exodus 10:1-20,
The Plague of Darkness Exodus 10:21-29, and finally...
The Death of the Firstborn Exodus 11:1-12:30
Yes, No, Yes, No
After each plague, Pharaoh would agree to release the Jewish people, but then would change his mind as God hardened his heart, so in the end, there was no question this was the very Hand of God.
The Final Plague was the death of all the firstborn children in Egypt.
BUT... this death curse was 'passed over' all the Jews who were obedient to God's command through Moses to put blood on the doorframes of their homes.
The result of this night of death in Egypt was Pharaoh now insisting Moses and the whole blessed (ironically truly blessed) people of Israel to leave as he uttered the words...
Get Out Now!
"Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you!" Exodus 12:31
Of course, Pharaoh's hard heart hardens again, and he sends 600 chariots in HOT PURSUIT of the recently freed nation of Israel... all the way to (insert drum roll here)
THE RED SEA. Exodus 14:5-9
Caught between the Red Sea and a Hard-hearted Pharaoh,
The Red Sea Showdown
The nation of Israel was on the run with nowhere to go. So, the people cry out collectively to Moses.
"HELP!" Exodus 14:10-12
In response, Moses prayed to God to deliver His people. God parts the Red Sea using Moses and his shepherd’s staff, a conduit that displays the very power of God. Exodus 14:21
Note: The same God who parted the Red Sea answers our prayers today.
and finally… a few PARTING shots/ PARTING toons of Moses and possible ‘what ifs’
Deliverance from Egypt Exodus 1-15
Moses early life & calling. The Plagues. The Passover & Red Sea Crossing
Exodus begins with Israel in slavery, and Egypt wary of the growing number of Jews. So worried was Pharaoh that he commanded that every baby boy born to the Jewish slaves be put to death. Exodus 1
Baby Moses...
Now enters stage left. Baby Moses was the son of a Jewish slave, and so to avoid Pharaoh's 'kill all baby boys’ edict, he placed him in a basket in the reeds of the Nile.
He is then discovered by Pharaoh's daughter, who takes Moses as her own. He raises him as a prince of Egypt and uses Moses' real mother as his. Super Nanny. Exodus 2: 1-8
Murder in the Desert
Next, we are told of Moses as a man observing the abusive treatment of a Jewish enslaved person, and in response, Moses murders the Egyptian responsible for this abuse and buries him in the sand.
Once this murder is discovered, Moses must flee for his life, eventually ending up in the land of Midian. Exodus 2:11-15 In Midian, Moses is appointed as a sheep tender for a man named Reuel and marries Reuel's daughter, Zipporah.
In the years to follow, the mistreatment of the Jews in Egypt is heard by God, and God is faithful and loving in his response to these children of faithful Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is God's chosen people, and they will be set free. Exodus 2: 16-25
But God shows Moses signs of his power, turning his shepherd’s staff into a serpent and back again into a staff. Then God turns Moses' hand leprous and then heals it instantly. God assures Moses that it will be through him that He will free His people.
Still, Moses is hesitant to obey God's directive to the point where God decides to kill him!
I do not understand how the following sequence unfolded. It must have been a cultural thing. But to save Moses, his wife Zippy cuts off the foreskin of one of their sons and throws it on Moses' feet to save his life. Nuff said about that. Exodus 4:21-26
The Burning Bush