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Stubborn Pharaoh Learns the Hard Way Who God Is - Part 1
By Sophia Prinsloo with Barbara Wilmerton Haas

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Text Version | Afrikaans

Lizzy had many dolls in her room and every one of
them had their own special resting place on the
shelf against the wall.

[picture of dolls lined up against the wall]

When Lizzy was still a baby, she had only two or
three dolls. As she grew up, grandma bought her
many more dolls, because Grandma loved dolls too.
Their names were Annie, Barbie, Chloe, Debbie,
Emma, Franny, Gracie, Hazel, Ivy, Jackie, Kate,
Lily, Maya, Nola, Olivia, Penny, Rosy, Sandi,
Tammie, Una, Violet, Winnie, Xantha, Yvette and
Zoey. Lizzy loved her dolls and she loved to mix
and match their clothes and hold a fashion parade
with them. 

One day, Lizzy's best friend, Veronica, came over.
They had a wonderful time playing with ALL the
dolls. Not one was left up on the shelf, and they
were all scattered across the room. When
Veronica's mom came to pick her up, there was no
time to put the dolls back onto the shelf and the
dolls remained where they were
scattered...EVERYWHERE! 

When Mom entered Lizzy's room, she asked her
nicely to quickly put away all the dolls. Lizzy
was busy with her coloring book and crayons. She
nodded at Mom and went on coloring after Mom left.


An hour later, Mom peeked in the door to see if
Lizzy had done what she had asked. No! Not one of
the dolls was back up on the shelf. Mom was not
happy to see that Lizzy had not even made an
effort to pick up one single doll. 

"Lizzy, I have asked you nicely to put them away.
You are not coming out of your room or getting any
sweet tea until all the dolls are back where they
belong. Give me that coloring book," said Mom. 

"Okay, Mom," she said, but then she decided to
play a video game. That was much more interesting
and exciting than putting away dolls. 

When dinner time came, Mom came to fetch Lizzy,
but Lizzy was still playing games. The dolls were
still just where she and Veronica had left them. 

"Lizzy, no dinner for you until all these dolls
are tidied up! Hand over that video game!" With a
raised voice, Mom continued, "And if the dolls are
not back on the shelf in ten minutes' time, your
video game and all the dolls are going to Aunt
Maggie's garage sale tomorrow!!" 

"No, Mommy, please!" Lizzy begged. "I'll do it
right now!" Do you think Lizzy meant what she said
and obeyed this time?

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The first encounter Moses and Aaron had with
Pharaoh did not go well. God had sent them to
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to ask him to let the
Israelites go and sacrifice in the desert. Pharaoh
refused saying, "I don't know your God, and that
is why I won't let you go!" Then he forced the
Israelites to work so hard that they could no
longer believe that God would ever deliver them
from bondage in Egypt. 

It was very difficult for the Israelites to trust
God and wait patiently on Him because, at that
point, they did not realize how mighty He was. 

Moses kept on trusting the Lord. He felt confident
the Lord would show them know what to do next.
When he reached Aaron's house, Moses climbed the
stairs to the upper room and prayed earnestly with
his whole heart until he heard the voice of the
Lord speaking. 

God said, "I will make Pharaoh's heart so stubborn
that he won't listen to you. I am going to do many
signs and wonders in Egypt so that both Egyptians
and Israelites will know that I am the Lord, the
God Almighty. Then shall I bring Israel out of
Egypt. Go, speak to Pharaoh again and remember to
show him the snake miracle!" 

So Moses and Aaron took the rod, went to Pharaoh
and did exactly what the Lord had told them to do.
Aaron cast his rod in front of Pharaoh's feet and,
miraculously, it changed into a snake. Pharaoh's
face was pale from shock, but he acted calmly and
called his magicians. They also cast their rods on
the floor and their rods became snakes too but, to
the horror of Pharaoh's magicians, Aaron's big
snake devoured all their little snakes. 

In spite of the snake miracle, Pharaoh stubbornly
would not listen and did not want to let the
Israelites leave Egypt. He said, "Moses and Aaron,
you are only playing tricks on me, just like these
magicians in my court. Not for one moment do I
believe that the Lord your God has any power over
me. Nor is He almighty!"

[picture of striped graphics divider]

But the Lord was not finished with Pharaoh yet. He
had a special plan for Egypt and they were about
to learn what a mighty and powerful God He was.

As he was leaving the palace, Moses thought to
himself, "I wonder what the Lord's next miracle
will be!" As soon as he reached home, he found a
place to pray. He stayed on his knees until he
heard from heaven. 

Soon the voice of God spoke. The Lord told Moses,
"I know Pharaoh's heart is hard and stubborn. He
won't let my people go into the wilderness to
sacrifice and pray to Me. But go to Pharaoh again.
Meet him early tomorrow morning at the bank of the
Nile River. Take in your hand the rod which
changed into a snake and give him my message. 

"Tell Pharaoh, 'The God of the Hebrews has sent me
to you, saying: "Let my people go that they may
serve Me in the wilderness, but until now you
would not listen. By this you will know that I am
the Lord: Behold, I will strike the Nile River and
its water shall be turned into blood. Then the
fish shall die, it will stink and the Egyptians
would not be able to drink it."'" 

The Lord also told Moses to tell Aaron to take the
rod, stretch out his hand across all the waters of
Egypt - all the rivers, streams, pools and pond of
water - that they may become blood!"

So, just as the Lord commanded, Moses and Aaron
went down to the Nile River to meet Pharaoh as he
went there to pray to his Egyptian river god and
take his early morning bath. They told him exactly
what the Lord had said. Then Aaron stretched out
his rod across the Nile's waters and they became
blood. 

Pharaoh was a little irritated, because now his
early morning bath was ruined, but he commanded
his magicians to match Moses and Aaron's "trick"
and they turned water into blood too. So Pharaoh
thought the Lord could not be mightier than
himself, his magicians or the gods of Egypt. That
is why he stubbornly refused to let Israel go.

For seven days the water was blood and all the
fish died. It stank so horribly that the Egyptians
could not drink the water, so they dug wells
everywhere to try and find water to drink. Not
even praying and sacrificing to their false river
god could supply them with fresh water to drink.

Water turning into blood was the FIRST plague the
Lord did to prove his power over Pharaoh and the
gods of Egypt. 

Then the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh again and told
him, "The Lord our God said, 'If you refuse to let
my people Israel go, I will smite the whole
country with frogs. They will take over the
rivers, hop right into your houses and bedrooms,
and onto your beds, plus, invade the houses of
your servants and your people, hopping into their
ovens and kneading bowls, and even landing in
their bread dough.'"

Aaron stretched out his hand with the rod over all
the waters of Egypt and swarms of frogs came
hop-hopping and croak-croaking out of the water.
On their way to the palace, the frogs jumped onto
Pharaoh's servants and people, sending them
screaming and shuddering with disgust as these
cold, slimy creatures touched their skin. 

As if that were not bad enough, the frogs jumped
straight into their kneading bowls, landing smack
in the middle of their bread dough, plus invaded
the ovens where the people were trying to prepare
food for themselves and bake bread. Imagine frog
bread! What a sight to behold! The Egyptians were
horrified!

That night, while Pharaoh was sleeping, thousands
of frogs raided his palace. Not even the guards
could stop them. They hop-hopped and croak-croaked
all over the palace and even went into Pharaoh's
bedroom, hopped on his bed and began jumping right
in his face. Mrs. Pharaoh started screaming
hysterically, jumping up and down, trying to get
out of their way. Children were shuddering, trying
to hide under their blankets. Pharaoh could not
sleep. Well, it's no wonder! Could you? 

By this time, Pharaoh had had enough! Or at least
you would think so. In desperation, he called for
Moses and Aaron and demanded that they make the
frogs go away. He had already summoned his
magicians to make the frogs go away and ordered
his priests to pray and sacrifice to the Egyptian
frog goddess to take them away, to but not a
single one of them could make even one frog go
away. 

"I promise Israel can leave. Just take away the
frogs!" Pharaoh pleaded. The next day, Moses
prayed to the Lord and the frogs died, except for
the ones that remained in the river. The Egyptians
gathered the dead frogs in heaps. The whole
country stank because of the dead carcasses of the
frogs. But - wouldn't you know - as soon as the
frogs and their stench were gone, as soon as Mrs.
Pharaoh and the kids were calm again, Pharaoh's
heart got even harder and he did not keep his
promise. Again, he stubbornly refused to let
Israel go.

The frogs was the SECOND plague the Lord sent to
prove his power over Pharaoh and the gods of
Egypt. 

Moses went back to the Lord in prayer until he
heard from heaven once again. The Lord said to
Moses, "Let Aaron stretch out his rod and strike
the ground. Then all Egypt will be covered in
lice." And it happened just like God said! The
small, creepy bugs were in their faces, in their
eyes and ears, in their mouths and nostrils. And
OUCH! They stung and their bite mark itched and
got all swollen! 

This time, the Egyptian magicians could not copy
the Lord's miracle and make lice. Wide-eyed with
fear, they told their king, "Oh, Pharaoh! We
cannot make lice. This is truly God's doing. This
God of the Israelites is more powerful than the
gods of Egypt, because only He can make these
lice!"" 

Furious with his magicians, Pharaoh had tried his
best not to scratch himself in front of his
servants and show weakness, but he could no longer
contain himself. He ran into his private quarters
and began scratching himself. He scratched here,
scratched there, and then scratched all over his
whole body. Then he even called two of his most
trusted servants to come and help scratch him, but
they could barely do that, having to scratch
themselves too. 

Still Pharaoh was so stubborn and hard of heart
that he did not even want to listen to Moses and
Aaron. Can you imagine? He still adamantly refused
to let Israel go.

The lice was the THIRD plague the Lord carried out
to prove his power over Pharaoh and the Egyptian
gods who were supposed to keep them free of pests.


Again Moses earnestly prayed until he heard from
the Lord. God gave him a message for Pharaoh and
sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh early the next
morning. As Pharaoh was on his way to the water,
Moses and Aaron stopped him and gave the message
from the Lord: "Swarms of blood-sucking gadflies
will come on you, your servants and your people,
even buzzing into your houses and landing on the
ground on which you stand if you won't let the
people of Israel go. 

"They must go three days into the desert to bring
sacrifices to Me, the Lord their God. The gadflies
will torment all the people and animals in Egypt,
but watch this: In Goshen, where the Israelites
live, there will be no flies, because I will
protect my people."

And it happened just like the Lord had said! The
flies were everywhere, stinging and crawling
mercilessly, all over the Egyptians. They slapped
here and slapped there, but could do nothing to
even make a dent in the numbers of the flying
pests. In the meantime, in Goshen, where the
Israelites lived, there was not a single gadfly in
the air or on the ground. 

This time, Pharaoh was so irritated by the flies
that he decided the Israelites could go into the
desert to bring sacrifices to their God. But when
Moses prayed that the Lord take away the flies and
they disappeared, Pharaoh again changed his mind
and forbade them to go. 

The flies was the FOURTH plague the Lord carried
out to prove that only He had the power to torment
the Egyptians and protect his own chosen people,
the Israelites. 

After having a fright from the snake miracle,
being unable to drink water because it turned into
blood, having frogs jump all over the place,
scratching like mad because of lice everywhere and
being stung by swarming gadflies, Pharaoh's heart
only grew harder. He still stubbornly refused to
acknowledge the mighty power of the Lord God of
Moses, obey Him and let the Israelites go into the
wilderness. 

How many more plagues will the Lord send to Egypt
to make Pharaoh quit his stubbornness and change
his made-up mind?

(continued in Part 2)
www.childrenschapel.org/biblestories/text/mosestenplagues2.txt

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REMEMBER! 

If you are stubborn and continue to do wrong
against God, you are only hurting yourself. 


THINK! 

1. How many plagues did God send to Egypt?
2. Why did God send plagues to Egypt?
3. Why did Pharaoh refuse to let the Israelites
go?
4. What happened when Aaron cast his rod in front
of Pharaoh's feet?
5. Why couldn't the Egyptians drink their water?
6. What made the whole country of Egypt stink?
7. Which plagues stumped the magicians of
Egypt?
8. What can we learn from today's lesson? 


A VERSE TO LEARN: 

"For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this
very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show
My power in you, and that My name may be declared
in all the earth'" (NKJV Romans 9:17). 


AN ALTERNATIVE VERSE TO LEARN: 

"The curse of the Lord is on the house of the
wicked, but He blesses the home of the just" (NKJV
Proverbs 3:33b). 


PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Have you ever seen a small child stubbornly
throwing a tantrum because he or she wanted to
have his or her own way? Was it a pretty sight?
Was it in front of other people and were you or
the parents embarrassed? How about you? Have you
ever stubbornly refused to do God's will and
disobeyed your parents or teacher? Were you
punished for it?

[After discussion:] Pharaoh was so proud that he
stubbornly refused to obey God. On the other hand,
Moses was so humble that he persisted in doing
what God asked of him. Which person would YOU want
to be? 

God's Word says that He resists the proud but
gives lots of grace to those who humble themselves
before Him. So, if you can honestly admit your
stubbornness, then you can know that God is at
work in your heart. Let's take a moment in
prayer and ask the Lord to give us hearts that
don't stubbornly resist Him but, instead, hearts
that want to obey Him at all cost.


LET'S PRAY: 

[picture of a young boy praying at his bedside
with his dog praying alongside him]

****************************************************
Heavenly Father, when I am stubborn and don't obey
You, please help me realize I am hurting myself.
Correct me and give me a heart that wants to do
your will. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
****************************************************


CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE? 

Exodus 6:28-11:10 


BIBLE STORY ARCHIVE
www.childrenschapel.org/bibstory2.html 

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Copyright (c) 2021 by Barbara Wilmerton Haas.

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