Patience & Plagues (Exodus 8:20-9:12)

As we turn to Exodus 8:20-9:12 if you can imagine for a moment that you are one of the Hebrew people living through the plagues in Egypt.  The Nile River has been turned to blood, the land of Egypt has been overrun by frogs that came up from the Nile and they all died the next day, and then suddenly gnats appeared everywhere from the dust of the earth.  But you are still having to scrounge around for straw to make bricks that you will bake in a kiln for Pharaoh’s building projects.  And the plagues continue but Pharaoh does not appear to be any closer to letting you go.  God makes flies from the air, and then sends a plague on the livestock and then causes boils on the skin of the Egyptians from the dust in the kilns.  We now see some justice for what Pharaoh has done in enslaving the people of Israel to bake bricks in a kiln since the dust that caused the boils came from the kilns.  But you are thinking that God has not really answered your prayers — He did not immediately remove you from this horrible situation.  And as you see plagues 4-6 it seems like the end will never come.  Indeed, the ten plagues are designed for the church to accept it as normal if in our minds God does not immediately answer our prayers and relieve our distresses.  In other words, they are to teach us patience during plagues.  And there are also things in these three plagues designed to encourage us when we are waiting for the plagues to pass.

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