Let us pray, for I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. Exodus 9:14. Dear heavenly Father, as I look back on Exodus 7:8 and 9:35, I thank you, God, that you provide miracles for me to walk in that validate your hand and calling on my life. When others doubt me, I will continue on my course and remain confident in the truth that you are with me, and you are with me everywhere I go. I will praise you in advance. And thank you because like the children of Israel, you won't stop until my freedom has been won. Thank you, Lord, for your divine protection around my life. Even when others seem to be experiencing setbacks and devastation. Because I rely on you, and I will be unscathed by the threats and plans of the enemy. I confess that my life is in your hands, and as long as I live in obedience to your instructions, you will cause me to flourish in areas others say I will experience lack. I give you all the glory and honor for keeping me safe and for showing off in my life, family, business, and different endeavors.

I will no longer doubt that your hand is upon me because my life is living proof. I decree and declare that the best is yet to come. In Jesus' name. Amen. Listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to today's Bible In A Year. Brought to you by BibleInAyear. Com. Every year, Lent helps us remove distractions and focus on the Lord. This year for Lent, give up tossing and turning in your sleep by listening to sleep psalms with Bishop TD T. Jakes.

He is going to lay you down in green pastures and restore your soul. Join me and let the Lord be your shepherd tonight. Listen to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes. He is going to lay you down in green pastures and restore your soul. Join me and let the Lord be your shepherd tonight. Listen to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TV Jakes on the iHeardRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

Plague by plague. In our last story, we learned about Moses and Aaron entering the courts of Pharaoh. They asked Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go so they could worship God. But Pharaoh refused and made life more miserable for the Hebrews. The people hated Pharaoh but resented Moses for making things worse. Yet God was not finished yet. In this story, we discover the resolve of God to free his people. Pharaoh His hard heart would be crushed under the mighty hand of God.

Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible in a Year podcast. In our previous episode, we heard what happened when Moses and Aaron first delivered God's message to Pharaoh to let the Israelis go. We saw that it brought only more hurt and horrible trouble to the people of God, and that Moses, in his frustration, went to God and openly told him what was in his heart. God's response was one of patience and comfort for Moses and hope for the people. Today, we join Moses and Aaron as they return to Pharaoh to give him God's message again. He must let the people go or or else. God's resolve to rescue his people would not be denied. Let's listen now to today's reading.

Darkness hovered over the heart of Pharaoh. His eyes portrayed a soul hardened by God himself. God knew he would ask for signs to prove his deity. So he gave Aaron and Moses miracles. They entered again into the courts of Pharaoh. His countenance was dark and his voice was deep. They did not speak. Instead, Aaron cast down his staff at the feet of Pharaoh. The staff bounced on the ground and slowly the wood began to morph into scales and the staff motioned back and forth until it became a serpent The serpent slithered and hist towards Pharaoh. However, he did not look at the serpent and marvel. Instead, he saw it as a challenge. Pharaoh called over his wise men and sorcerers, the magicians of Egypt. With their trickery and secret arts of deception, they performed the same sign. Each sorcerer cast down their own serpents, and they surrounded Aaron's. Aaron's serpent staff gazed upon the other snakes and launched itself towards them. In almost an instant, Aaron's serpent swallowed up the other serpents and came back to Aaron as a staff. Pharaoh's heart did not budge. Early The next morning, Pharaoh was lounging near the Nile.

The birds were chirping in the coolness of the morning, and Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh with their staffs. Pharaoh, they shouted, God has said again, let my people go. Pharaoh did not respond. They spoke again saying, By this, you will know the power of God. Aaron took his staff and drove it into the Nile River. A sweeping force came upon the waters, and Pharaoh watched as the entire river turned crimson. Blood had replaced the water, and the fish of the water turned belly up. Their rivers, canals, ponds, and pools became blood. Even the water in their cups leaked a deep red. The Nile was once red with the blood of Hebrew children, and now it ran red by the justice of God. Pharaoh once again turned to his magicians. By their secret arts, they were able to turn water red. Pharaoh was comforted that he could match the signs of God. He was deceived into thinking he was God's equal. Little did he know what true power the Lord possessed. His heart remained hardened. For seven days, the Egyptians could not drink from the Nile. Again, Moses went to Pharaoh and said, God has said, Let my people go.

But if you do not, another plague will fall upon your land. Again, Pharaoh refused. The Nile swarmed with frogs and they covered the entire land. The streets, homes, and cups of Egyptians were inundated with frogs leaping about. The magicians of Egypt once again explained the signs away with their secret arts, but the frogs did not cease. Pharaoh could no longer take it, and he pleaded with Moses and Aaron, Please, please with the Lord to take the frogs away, ' Pharaoh said, I will let your people go tomorrow. ' So God caused the frogs to cease coming from the ground, and the streets stunk with the carcasses of dead frogs. When Pharaoh saw that there was a respite from the frogs, he recanted his offer to free the Israelites. His heart grew harder, and he continued his ongoing battle with God. God stretched out his hand once again. As Aaron rose his staff to strike the dust of the earth, the sand became swarms of knats. Like a hurricane, the knats surged the land of Egypt. People and animals were covered with the tiny insects, and it became maddening. Pharaoh, growing more panicked, turned to his magicians once again, but they could not do what God had just done.

This is surely the finger of God, they said. But Pharaoh's heart was still like stone. As tyrants have done for generations, he continued his war against the creator. One morning, Pharaoh was enjoying himself by the water. Again, Moses and Aaron rose and went to him. They spoke to Pharaoh saying, God has commanded that you let his people go, or else there will be sworms of flies coming upon the land. Predictably, Pharaoh refused. Sworms of flies surrounded the land of Egypt. However, Goshin, where the Israelitesites dwelled, was left unharmed. The sworms of flies ruined everything, and the Egyptians spiraled into insanity. Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to plea with them. Why don't you go and sacrifice to your God within the land? He asked. Moses replied, Because it would not be right to do so. Your people would see as an abomination. Pharaoh conceded and said, 'Enough of this. Go out into the land and worship your God, but do not go far. Just bleed to the Lord to make the flies stop. ' So the sworms of flies were ceased. Unsurprising to God, Pharaoh once again went back on his word and did not allow the Israelites to leave.

His hardened heart grew colder and he challenged God once again. God did not relant. His people were suffering and he would not deal lightly with tyrant kings. His heavy hand would come upon Pharaoh again. Moses warned him and said, Let my people go. If you refuse, your livestock will fall. The next day, all the Egyptian livestock fell to a severe plague. Horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep became ill and died. The stench of death was carried by the warm wind. The livestock of Israel was left alive, and Pharaoh's spite only grew. Moses and Aaron came back to Pharaoh. This time they took handfuls of soot from the furnace and threw it in the air before Pharaoh. In an instant, the soot became boils, breaking out in sores on every human and beast in Egypt. Pharaoh's magicians could not even stand in front of Moses because of the pain from the boils. Pharaoh refused still, and God pressed in even further. Moses came to Pharaoh again early in the morning. God spoke through Moses, saying, Let my people go so they can serve me. I could have eradicated you and your people from the earth, but I have not.

I have raised you up and shown you my power so that the entire earth may know that I am the one true God. Yet still you exalt yourself like a God. I will show you true power. Hide yourself and your servants for a great and mighty hailstorm shall pass through Egypt. A storm like no man has ever seen. Hide your people, for whoever does not seek shelter will die. And so it was. Whoever feared the voice of God was protected under the safety of their homes. Whoever paid no attention, perished under the ice. Soon would come fire. Pharaoh begged Moses and Aaron to have the storm cease. I have sinned, Pharaoh cried. The Lord is in the right and I am in the wrong. Leave and I will not pursue you. Moses replied to Pharaoh, now confident in God's power, and said, 'The thunder and hell will cease, but I know you have yet to learn the real fear of God. So they began to leave the city, Pharaoh saw that the storm had stopped. He looked up to the sky feeling a sense of accomplishment that he could manipulate God into ceasing the storm.

He did not let the people go. God knew this would happen. Pharaoh had yet to truly learn how far God would go to rescue his children.

When Moses and Aaron first appeared before Pharaoh, they came in the name of their God and told him to release the people to worship him in the wilderness. Pharaoh wasn't impressed by this because he didn't know God. He was irritated. When they came back, he was beyond angry. His heart was hardened. Of course, God knew that Pharaoh worshiped many false gods. Those false gods represented themselves, so-called with signs and wonders. God is about to attack every God of Egypt. He would show Pharaoh and the whole world that he was not just a God, but the God, one and only. God turned Aaron Staff into a snake, but Pharaoh's sorcerers responded in kind, and Pharaoh was unimpressed and unyielding. Moses and Aaron approached him again by the Nile and repeated God's command, Let my people go. Once again, Pharaoh refused, and the river's waters turned to blood, killing all of its fish. But Pharaoh's magicians, again, made him believe somehow that they had power that could match the Hebrew God. Pharaoh believed the lion would not relent. He didn't even care that the water in this river, which brought life and livelihood to his people, could not be consumed.

He turned a deaf ear even to his own people who were in danger and distress. Next came the frogs. Then a plague of rats, insects everywhere. Every time before God would release plague, Moses and Aaron would make the demand of Pharaoh, Let my people go. He was given an opportunity to obey, but he would not. His heart was as hard as stone. With each plague, the severity and judgment increased. Flies, sick livestock, boils, covering the people. Every time it seemed that Pharaoh had had enough and he would let God's people go, he would then harden his heart again and go back on his word. Finally, God sent Moses to deliver a message. If Pharaoh doesn't let Israel go, God will send a terrible plague that will show everyone that he is truly God. God tells Pharaoh he's alive only because he's allowed it. But Pharaoh remained unrelenting. He was at war with God. And in all of history, no one man has gone to war with God and won. It would not be different for Pharaoh. God sent a terrible hailstone, raining ice on the city, killing those who did not heed God's warning and seek shelter.

Fire filled the skies, and lightning and thunder lit up the heavens. So then, Pharaoh admits his sin and guilt, promising to release his people. But his heart was so hard that once again, he went back on his word. He lied to God, and he lied to Moses. It was all happening just as God had said. But even in all of this, we see how God is merciful and slow to anger, that he is patient even when people reject him. But his patience with Pharaoh is running out. It's a reminder that God is patient, but he's not a pushover. God is holy, and he does judge sin. When we harden our hearts against his grace, there is a price to pay. The next time, we'll hear about the final plagues and the ultimate price that would be paid for doing battle with God. Almighty God, thank for your relentless pursuit of us, just as you tirelessly pursued the children of Egypt. Thank you also for what today's lesson is teaching us about your forbearance and your patience and your grace toward us. Lord, give us soft hearts, not hard hearts. May we give our hearts to you, unconditionally, to know and to do your will.

In Jesus name, Amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the pray. Com app and make prayer a priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you know. By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in their lives. If you want more resources as to how to discover God's perfect plan and power for your life, be sure to visit jackgraham. Org.

Every year, Lent helps us remove distractions and focus on the Lord. This year for Lent, give up tossing and turning in your sleep by listening to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes.

He is going to lay you down in green pastures and restore your soul. Join me and let the Lord be your shepherd tonight. Listen to Sleep Psalms with Bishop TD Jakes on the iHeardRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.