LET MY PEOPLE GO!

So, the world of Pharaoh is full of hail, and storms, and thunder, and lightening. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt...ever!  The only place it did not storm was the land of Goshen, where the Jewish shepherds and their  animals lived.  So Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron to him once again to try to stop the dreadful storm that had stripped every tree and flattened every field.


"The Lord is in the right, and I have sinned," Pharaoh said to them. "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." But, Moses still did not believe him, and when he left the city he spread out his hands to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down.  But, Pharaoh, although the rain had stopped, sinned again:  He and his officials hardened their hearts once more.  And he would not let the people go.


Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go again to Pharaoh.  It is I who have hardened his heart. He and his officials will see more of my miraculous signs.  You may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt with the Egyptians, so that all may know that I am the Lord."


So Moses went, once again, to Pharaoh.  This time he said, "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before God?  The Lord said, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me.  If you  refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow.  They will devour what little you have left after the hail.  They will fill your houses, you Egyptians, something neither you or your fathers have seen until now."  Then, Moses turned and left Pharaoh.


Pharaoh's officials said to Pharaoh with heartfelt fear and concern,  "How long will this man be a snare to us?  Let the people go!  Let them worship their Lord!  Do you not yet realize that Egypt is in ruins?"   Pharaoh did not answer them, but,  instead asked another question of Moses, "Who will be going to worship your Lord?"  "We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord."


"Clearly you are bent on evil!" Pharaoh shouted. "No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord!"  Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence. And as they left, the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields; that is, everything growing left by the hail."  And so they did, and nothing green remained on tree or plant in all of Egypt.


Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. With a tear-filled voice he said, '"I have sinned once again against the Lord and you.  Now forgive my sin once more, please, and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away!"  Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.  And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up all the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea.


Once again,  the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so darkness will spread over Egypt."  So he did, and darkness covered Egypt for three days.  Yet all the Israelites had light.  Once again Pharaoh claimed he would agree to let the people go, all of the people, but he must leave their flocks behind. But Moses refused, as he needed the livestock to be the sacrifices given  to the Lord. So, Pharaoh, frustrated to not be able to get the better of them, refused and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart once again.  Pharaoh, once again indignant, yelled, "Get out of my sight!  Make sure you do not appear before me again!  The day you see my face you will die."  And Moses replied, "Just as you say, I will never appear before you again."


But again the Lord reminded Moses and Aaron, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you, but be pleased.  My wonders will be multiplied  in Egypt because of his refusals to let my people go." (End)


What does the Lord have in his mind? Something's up. Don't you wish that you could always know what God is going to do?  What he's going to do to lead you and me in our endeavors? how everything is going to end? We humans can't stop our curiosity from popping up over and over in our heads.  Are we staying?  Are we going?  Which is the right thing to do?


I'm convinced God does have a plan, not just for Moses and Aaron and the stubborn old Pharaoh!  He's got a plan for each of us!  And we will know what that is when God's timing is right!


I believe it!  Yes, I do!


Jo INMN