Missions Paul

This is the fourth plague, but with the same demand. Egypt has seen water turned to blood, frogs in every bed, gnats in every mouth. Nothing has changed Pharaoh’s heart. So here come the flies.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ²¹ If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them. ²² “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. ²³ I will make a distinction^[b] between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’” ²⁴ And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies. ²⁵ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.” ²⁶ But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? ²⁷ We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us.” ²⁸ Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.” ²⁹ Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.” ³⁰ Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, ³¹ and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. ³² But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.” (Exodus 8 v 20-32)

“Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”

This sentence is the nutshell of this whole story. In fact, it is the story of the Bible and that of today. Egypt was never just a nation that became a prison for God’s people; it was a rival altar.

The flies swarmed Egypt and stopped at Goshen’s border, for the people were the Lord’s. God draws a line.

Pharaoh immediately starts negotiating through the swarm of flies. His starting point was this: “Sacrifice here.”

Moses says no. Worship on Egypt’s terms is still Egypt’s worship.

So Pharaoh bargains again. “Don’t go far.”

Not “don’t worship.” Just don’t go far. We still hear that voice, don’t we? Worship okay. But do it respectfully; don’t get carried away. But worship that costs nothing was never worship at all.

Relief is not repentance, and when the flies are lifted it doesn’t do anything to change the heart of Pharaoh. Pharaoh wanted the flies gone but not God near.

We too can ask God to remove the pressure from the enemy and at the same time fail to remove false altars that we build against Him.

Today there is a place where you can be safe. Unlike Goshen’s temporary and geographic distinction, the cross of Christ, the altar of God, waits for us, time and again.

You don’t get there by staying close enough to be safe and far enough to be comfortable.

Pharaoh kept the flies at bay and lost his soul.

The cross cannot be traded in any way.

The journey of Pharaoh continues. Close is never close enough.

We all know someone who has an answer for everything. Every challenge gets explained away, and every conviction gets talked around.

This is a passage about what happens when the excuses finally run out, and whether that’s enough to change a heart that has already decided not to change.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” ¹⁷ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. ¹⁸ But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, ¹⁹ the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.” (Exodus 8 v 16-19)

Water to blood? His magicians did it too. Frogs everywhere? They matched that as well. Then came the gnats. This time the magicians couldn’t do it.

“This is the finger of God,” they told him (v.19). The magicians, Pharaoh’s own court, the men whose job was to explain away every sign as something ordinary, ran out of tricks and told the truth instead.

But it changed nothing.

The fact that a man can hear the truth from the very people he trusts to lie skilfully on his behalf and still not change is a truth that helps us today to understand how trapped people really are.

The gnats prove God can do what no one else can counterfeit. But it’s not more information that is needed but hearts that are submitted. That’s the danger for every one of us. We can hear the truth, and still walk away unchanged. The gnats didn’t fail to convince Pharaoh. Pharaoh refused to be convinced. The evidence was never the problem; it was the power of the will. The battle of who owns the heart.

Frogs everywhere.

When a heart hardens, it doesn’t stay hidden in the throne room. It fills every place until there’s no space left it hasn’t touched.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ² If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. ³ The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. ⁴ The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’” ⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. ⁷ But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. ⁸ Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.” ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honour of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.” ¹⁰ “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” ¹² After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³ And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. ¹⁴ They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.” (Exodus 8 v 1 – 15)

Some people want God to be sweet, kind, and gentle, and He is. But being in this story of plagues, we realise there is a flip side to God. The frogs go everywhere imaginable. There was no space left in Egypt which a frog wasn’t hopping around in. Pharaoh’s kingdom was wall-to-wall frogs. Likened to the hardness of a heart which eventually consumes the whole person, this is what was happening in Egypt through Pharaoh.

Can you see what happened? The magicians somehow copied the plague. However, they could not remove it. I guess it takes little power to make matters worse. But the magicians could not remove one tiny frog at all. They could not create mercy. Only the Lord can remove what the Lord has done.

Pharaoh was permitted to name the time of the removal of the frogs. The timing of the relief was the proof that this was God. But the time between v13-14 and v15 was enough for Pharaoh to once again harden his heart. Once the pressure lifted from him and comfort returned, so did his defiance. Every person can bow before God under pressure, and when that is lifted, they rise from a surrendered position. This is more negotiation than repentance.

Notice that Pharaoh asked for prayer. We know the encouragement when this happens to us. “Please pray for me.” Every person wants the plague removed, but few want the altar of worship. This is the heart of God throughout the story: “that they may worship me.”

Pharaoh wanted the frogs gone. He never wanted the altar.

Every one of us has asked someone to pray for us in a hard season. There’s nothing wrong with that. But be careful what you’re really asking for. Are you asking God to remove the pressure, or are you asking Him to change your heart?

Relief without repentance doesn’t last.

God wants altars of worship to be built, not just to lift plagues so we can have it easy. Worship is the centre and the purpose.

There are times that God wants us to confront our fears and our enemies. It means to speak to them and even declare over our situations what the will of God is. We may even have to repeatedly do this. Perhaps daily.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” Exodus‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬ ‭

For this to happen we need to know what God has said to us. Since the days of the garden in Eden the enemy has wanted to hold God’s people in bondage so that they are trapped from worship. The battle has always been worship.

God sends Moses back to say the same thing to the same enemy.

Perhaps this is what God wants you to do today?

He does not walk in with his own words.

This is what the Lord says. He carries a word that is not his own.

Before we can declare, we must first hear.

This is the order every time. 

Revelation comes before confrontation. We need to know what God has said. 

We declare His will over the situation. We say, plainly, without apology: this is what the Lord says.

All the time we remind ourselves of the reason for the fight. It is not merely for freedom as an end in itself, but for freedom that leads into worship. 

Worship was always the goal. Freedom to worship.

Let His people go, so that they may worship Him.

As we get to Exodus 8, we have definitely entered the heart of the battle for freedom.

A battle for worship on the battlefield of a heart, Pharaoh’s heart.

Worship has always been a battle of the heart.

Look closer at this heart as you perhaps read the whole chapter in one go.

It says yes to God and no in the same breath. “Pray to the Lord… I will let the people go” (v.8). “I will let you go” (v.28). Words of surrender. But watch what follows in v. 15: when relief came, he hardened his heart. Verse 19: his heart was hardened; he would not listen. Verse 32: he hardened his heart yet again.

Yes, with the mouth. No, with the life.

That’s not repentance. That’s negotiation.

Look closer still.

This is a heart that will not listen (v.15, 19). A heart not even moved by the miraculous — the magicians themselves said “this is the finger of God,” and still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (v.19, 23). Many have witnessed miracles but don’t move from their position.

This is a heart that wants compromise. “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land” (v.25). Keep one foot in Egypt. This is a heart that wants to stay in control. “I will let you go… only you must not go very far away” (v.28). Freedom on Pharaoh’s terms is never freedom.

Pharaoh’s heart is not only from ancient Egypt. It’s here in 2026.

So what breaks it? Not another plague. Not even another miracle.

Surrender is what breaks it.

The full surrender Pharaoh refused to give, Christ gave completely. He did not negotiate with the Father. He did not ask to stay close to Egypt. He emptied Himself, obedient even to death (Philippians 2:8) — and in that surrender, the way to true worship was opened for us.

Yes, with the mouth is not enough. God is asking for the heart.

Will you surrender?

“Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.” Exodus 7:25

The river Egypt worshipped and depended on was unusable in every way.

We are told it lasted for seven days.

Pharaoh had a week to reconsider. Sometimes God allows circumstances to capture our attention. We all get moments to examine our hearts and realign our lives with His will.

The seven days remind us that God’s timing is perfect. Throughout Scripture, seven often speaks of completeness. Before the next plague came, God allowed time for His warning to accomplish its purpose. But Pharaoh let seven days pass and changed nothing.

Don’t let yours pass the same way.

• God’s patience is an expression of His mercy.
• Never ignore His voice or resist His correction.
• Cultivate a humble heart that responds quickly when He speaks.
• Use every opportunity to draw nearer to Him.
• Trust His perfect timing, even in seasons of waiting.

 The question is not whether God speaks; it is whether we will respond while there is still time.

Every morning Pharaoh followed the same routine in walking by the river Nile. Whether this was an act of worship, as the Nile was a religious place for the Egyptians or maybe it was as mundane as a place for him to bathe, whatever it was, God would meet him in his every day life. He still does.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ ” The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.” Exodus‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬-‭24‬ 

God doesn’t confront Pharaoh in a neutral place. He confronts him at the altar of his own confidence, at the River Nile.

So the Nile turns to blood and the source of life becomes a source of death. 

He doesn’t ask what it means that the Lord can turn a river to blood. He turns and walks back into his palace,  excuse his own magicians are able to replicate a version of the events. 

That’s the real plague underneath the plague. A heart that can watch judgment fall and feel nothing.

Unyielding hearts aren’t unique to Pharaoh’s. God can turn our rivers to blood, disturb our security, and we can still walk back into our palaces unchanged.

The Egyptians dug along the Nile, searching for water anywhere except where God had already spoken. A hard heart works harder to avoid the message than it would take to simply obey it.

Ever shown someone undeniable proof and watched them explain it away anyway? Ever wondered why the clearest evidence in the world still doesn’t change some minds? We like to think seeing is believing but that’s not true.

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭7‬:‭8‬-‭13‬ 

Pharaoh’s magicians could copy the miracle but they couldn’t stop Aaron’s staff swallowing theirs.

Yet Pharaoh watched his best men’s staffs disappear into Aaron’s and his heart stayed hard anyway.

Proof doesn’t guarantee belief. Pharaoh had already decided not to see.

Some people don’t need more evidence. They just need to be willing to look.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Pharaoh watched it happen and felt nothing move in him.

That’s the warning tucked inside this sign. Miracles don’t force belief. Pharaoh had already decided not to see, so no amount of proof could reach him.

Some people aren’t short on evidence. They’re short on willingness. Only grace can soften that hardness.

We know exactly what should rule us out. God, it seems, works from a different pattern altogether.

“Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” “Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” Exodus‬ ‭6‬:‭28‬ – 7: 7

Moses is like a stuck record. He has already reminded God that he cannot speak well in the previous chapter. God repeats Himself and points to Aaron who will be his mouthpiece. Interestingly He doesn’t offer to heal Moses’ stutter. Surely He could have done that but He doesn’t. Yet that doesn’t discount Moses from the mission and this is our encouragement. We know our weaknesses more than anyone and we know what discounts us from the mission of God. But God seems to have another pattern for who He uses. 

God tells Moses it will not be easy because Pharaoh will not listen. 

Even when we obey God, it doesn’t mean we will not experience tough times. 

These men were not in the prime of life. We are told of their age. Sometimes we can feel not ready because we are too old as well as being too young. Moses obeyed, falteringly and aged and someone else has to do the talking. He was not the exception to the rule for this is generally the rule. 

Obedience was never a guarantee of an easy life.

We can feel unready for many reasons; too young, too old, too broken and sinful. Moses obeyed anyway, falteringly, aged, with someone else doing the talking for him. 

So if you’re waiting to feel qualified before you obey, you’ll wait forever. 

You’re too old and maybe too slow but go anyway. 

The story stops and we are reading one of those passages that are quite boring – the genealogies, we find them throughout the Bible and we often skip them. Before Moses and Aaron stand before Pharaoh, before the plagues fall and the sea splits, God gives us a family tree. 

You may feel very ordinary today, if you do, this should encourage you. 

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben. The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei. The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi according to their records. Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri. The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah were: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan. It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.” Exodus‬ ‭6‬:‭13‬-‭27‬ 

Perhaps before God moves Israel out of Egypt, He wants us to see exactly who Moses and Aaron are. 

Their family are far from perfect but they have been held together, even through slavery, for generations. 

Even those who will lead a rebellion are mentioned, like Korah. 

God doesn’t edit out the ones who will later resist Him. 

But it is the last verses that catches my attention. “…It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.”

This Moses, son of Amram, brother of Aaron, descendant of Levi, part of a family God had been shaping since before the Egypt years. He was as real as anyone.

Before God does the extraordinary, He roots it in the ordinary. Before the plagues, before the sea splits, He shows us a family tree, flawed, named, ordinary people whom God has been preparing all along.

Your name is in a story too. His story.

You may not feel special and that is why God is and will use you.

God doesn’t build His story on the extraordinary alone. He builds it on ordinary families, shaped over generations before anyone knew what they were being shaped for and importantly, broken and sinful people.

You don’t have to feel special to be used by God, you just have to be His.