Month: November 2025

Exodus 10:9 Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.”

I am a planner, an organizer. Give me a job to do, let me know if you have a specific way you want it done or if I get to figure out the fine points, and It. Will. Get. Done! When my children were small and life needed to run smoothly, these traits were incredibly helpful.

Exodus 10:10 Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. 

But now that my children are finding their feet in the adult world, I find that I have to reign those tendencies back when it comes to them and their lives. The “this is the way that needs to get done, here’s how you need to go about it” gene is strong, and I have to actively work through what’s mine to control and what’s theirs to figure out. At times it’s more difficult than I’d like to admit.

Exodus 10:11 No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.

Precious Savior, Thank You for allowing me to see that when the planner/organizer gene goes unchecked, things can get out of control. Help me to see what’s mine to do and to do those things to the best of my ability. Help me to love and support others as they do what You have given them to do. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 10:12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 9:32 The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

I know I am guilty, more than once in my life, of saying something to the effect of “Lord, If You will only _________ (start this thing, stop this thing, show up in this situation), I will ________ (do this thing, etc), only to completely forget what I promised to do when He shows up in my situation.

Exodus 9:33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 

I am not proud of that fact, and I’d like to think I’ve gotten better about not forgetting the things I promise when He shows up in my situations. I’ve also learned that God doesn’t always “calm the storm,” if you will. Sometimes He just walks beside me, holding me, as I suffer through the storm.

Exodus 9:34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I make promises that I forget or neglect once You show up and show out in my circumstances. Help me to do better. Thank You for Your grace, mercy, and compassion. Always. Help me to draw closer to You with my whole heart. Amen.

Exodus 9:35 So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 9:29a Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. 

Moses knows that Pharaoh is not being sincere (see v 30), yet he promises to pray to the Lord for him anyway. I wonder why? In hopes Pharaoh will change his mind after all? Because this is what God wants of him? Something else altogether?

Exodus 9:29b The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 

I find a person’s motivations incredibly interesting, but ultimately, it’s the state of their heart that God is concerned with. And God knows Pharaoh’s heart is still not willing to accept Him and His authority yet. This reconning is not over.

Exodus 9:30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”

Precious Savior, Thank You for the compassion You showed Pharaoh during this time. Thank You for the mercy, grace, and compassion that You show us as well. Forgive me for my stubbornness. Help me to draw closer to You. Amen.

Exodus 9:31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 9:25 Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. 

If you aren’t familiar with the story of Exodus, you’d think that with Pharaoh’s words here, this ordeal was about to be over. He recognized his error and repented, right? Nope. This is only plague number seven. There are three more plagues to go. Whatever is happening here, it is not Pharaoh turning fully to God.

Exodus 9:26 The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

If you search the web for “God knows our hearts,” you turn up at least a dozen verses that center on that idea. Pharaoh is saying the right thing in today’s verses, but God knows his heart. He knows ours, too. He knows when we are serious and when we are just giving lip service.

Exodus 9:27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

Precious Savior, Thank You that You know me intimately, that You know my heart and not just my words. Thank You that You want me to live a life that is pleasing to You, that brings You praise and glory. Forgive me when my lips say the right thing but my heart isn’t in the right place. Help me to align myself fully with You. Amen.

Exodus 9:28 Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.”

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 9:20 Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. 

Commentary says of this plague that rain is so scarce and violent storms even scarcer, so Egyptians would have reacted to this prediction “with much skepticism.” These words remind me of Noah and the admonition to build an ark. Essentially, God says, “Do this ridiculous-sounding thing for this improbable-sounding reason,” and most folks scoff.

Exodus 9:21 But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.

And I am reminded of the billboard I saw years ago, with the message “Just love everyone. I’ll sort them out later. ~God” Ridiculous-sounding thing: love everyone. Improbable-sounding reason: God will sort them out. Do you see where I’m going with this?

Exodus 9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 

Precious Savior, We live in such divisive times. Who you love, who you vote for, what you believe…all those things are used to judge and restrict and persecute. But You tell us to love You and love others. You tell us that it is Your job to judge, not ours. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 9:23-24 When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

Have a blessed day.

Exodus 9:10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. 

Commentary talks about the fact that every appeal before each plague had been designed by God to soften Pharaoh’s heart, yet each time–prior to today’s verses–Pharaoh hardened his heart. This time, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, commentary posits, because that has been Pharaoh’s natural inclination.

Exodus 9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. 

What strikes me as I read this scripture is the constant back and forth. I am struck with the image of a saw blade on a tree trunk, back and forth, back and forth. One cut does little, but the continual sawing will eventually cut through the entire trunk. I think that’s what God’s doing here, wearing Pharaoh down in spite of himself.

Exodus 9:12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the insight You give as I earnestly try to make sense of Your word. Help me to seek, to ask, to know, to listen and to draw closer to You. Always. Amen.

Exodus 9:13-14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

Have a blessed day.