Exodus 5-8; 9:1-12.
THE next day Moses and Aaron, and some of the children of Israel with them, went in to speak to King Pharaoh. He was a proud and wicked man, and he worshipped idols.
It was Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh. He said, “The Lord God desires you to let the children of Israel go.”
Do you think Pharaoh did let them go? No, he spoke proudly, and said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” This was his proud answer.
He was now more unkind than before to the children of Israel, and ordered the task-masters to make them work harder; so that the children of Israel cried still more bitterly.
As Moses and Aaron came’ out from King Pharaoh, they saw some of the children of Israel waiting for them. These men said to Moses and Aaron, “You have only done us harm by asking Pharaoh to let us go. He makes us work harder than ever.”
It was ungrateful of the children of Israel to speak in this manner to Moses, who had tried to help them. Moses was very meek and gentle, and he did not answer angrily, but he went and prayed to God, and asked what he must do now.
God told him to go in to King Pharaoh, and to show him the wonder of the serpent. So Moses and Aaron went an. Moses said to Aaron, “Take this rod, and throw it on the ground”; and Aaron threw it down, and it became a live serpent; then afterward it was turned into a rod again.
Would Pharaoh now say he would let Israel go? No, he would not; his heart was very hard, and he cared for nothing.
So God told Moses to do another wonderful, thing, and I will tell you what it was.
Moses and Aaron went early in the morning down to the side of the great river, and waited there till Pharaoh came; for he came there very often to bathe. Then they said to him, “Because you would not do as God desired, and let Israel go, now you shall see what God can do.”
Then Aaron took the rod, and lifted it up over the water; and, in a moment, the water was turned into blood.
When Pharaoh saw this wonder, did he say that he would let the people go? No, his heart was very hard, and he would not obey God. Pharaoh turned back, and went into his house, and would not obey God.
The people of Egypt had nothing to drink, for all the water in the ponds was turned into blood, and all the water in jugs, and basins, and cups was turned into blood. The fishes in the river died, and a very bad smell came from the river. The people dug holes in the ground to get water. The water was blood for a whole week.
As Pharaoh would not mind, God sent him another plague.
Aaron stretched out the rod, and frogs came running out of the river, and out of the ponds, hundreds and hundreds of frogs. They ran into the streets, and into the houses, and went into the bedrooms, and into the beds; they went into the kitchens and got among the food; they went even into Pharaoh’s house, and into his bed.
Then Pharaoh called for Muses and Aaron, and said aid to them, “Pray to God to take away the frogs. I will let the children of Israel go.”
Moses went and prayed to God, and God made all the frogs die, so that the people swept the dead frogs into heaps, and these heaps had a very bad smell.
But still Pharaoh said, “I will not let the people go.” So God sent another plague.
Aaron stretched out the rod, and turned all the dust into nasty little insects, that crawled over the men and over the beasts; but Pharaoh would not mind this plague.
Then God sent swarms of flies, that came in at the windows, and spoiled everything indoors and out of doors. But no flies came near the children of Israel.
Then Pharaoh said, “I will let the children of Israel go, if God will take away the flies.” Then Moses prayed to God, and God took all the flies away, and did not even leave one. Then Pharaoh said, “I will not let the people go.”
So another plague was sent.
The beasts fell very sick—the horses, and asses, the camels, the cows, and the sheep—and a great many of them died. Yet Pharaoh would not let the people go.
Afterward God made a great many boils come upon all the men and women and children, but not upon the children of Israel, only upon Pharaoh’s people. They were so sick that they could not stand: yet Pharaoh would not mind, for his heart grew harder and harder.
I have now told you of six plagues. Try to remember what they were.
Water turned into blood.
Frogs.
Small insects.
Flies.
Death of the beasts.
Boils.
I will soon tell you of some more plagues that God sent to Pharaoh.
God was much stronger than Pharaoh, and was able to make him do what He commanded him to do. Was it not very wicked of Pharaoh not to mind God? And was it not very foolish of Pharaoh not to mind so great a God?
God will punish everybody who does not obey His commands.
My dear children, God has given you many commands. He has told you not to tell lies, not to fall into passions, not to be unkind. I hope you will try to obey God’s commands. For if you think in your heart, as Pharaoh did, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?”—will not God be very angry with you?