Set Apart
Notes
Transcript
Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord.
I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’
I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens.
Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.
I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.
I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”
Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses,
“Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.”
But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?”
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.
You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land.
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.”
So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’ ”
So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.
But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.
Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.
However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.
Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But so far you have not listened.
This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood.
The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.”
So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.
The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t take even this to heart.
All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river.
Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs.
The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.
The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.”
The Lord then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.”
When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.”
And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.
The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals.
“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live.
But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land.
I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.
Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.