Exo 7:8
And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to
Aharon, saying,
כי ידבר ‘’when(because) he will speak’’ – the focus is on
Pharoah’s words because he thinks he is in control. This same arrogance will be
revealed again in the last days amongst false so-called anointed leaders and
their followers. Many think they have much to say but speak worthless words.
Exo 7:9 “When Pharaoh speaks to
you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aharon,
‘Take your rod and throw it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’
”
Exo 7:10 So Mosheh and Aharon went
in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as יהוה
commanded. And Aharon threw his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and
it became a serpent.
Exo 7:11 But Pharaoh also called
the wise men and the practisers of witchcraft. And they, the magicians of
Mitsrayim, also did so with their magic.
Exo 7:12 And they, each one, threw
down his rod, and they became serpents (Heb ‘’tannim’’ large reptiles, maybe
crocodiles). But the rod of Aharon swallowed up their rods.
Exo 7:13 And Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened, and he did not listen to them, as יהוה had said.
Because of his arrogance Pharoah’s heart was hardened. Pharoah thought he was in control, he thought he was more powerful than YHVH and despised His servants and nothing would persuade him to release YHVH’s people from bondage.
Rom 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this same purpose I have raised you up, to show My power in you, and that My Name be declared in all the earth.” Exo_9:16.
For
present day believers the captivity and desperate state of YHVH’s people is
hard for us to imagine. However, if we look at the way current events in the
world are unfolding its should not be difficult to imagine the future desperate
circumstances, we will find ourselves in, in the last days.
For the most part present day believers
are unprepared for such harsh realities.
Once again, the Mighty Hand of YHVH will be revealed as He dismantles the strongholds that false religion as well as the anti-messiah will impose on YHVH’s people.
The First Plague: Water Turned to
Blood
Exo 7:14 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “The heart of Pharaoh is hard, he refuses to
let the people go.
Exo 7:15 “Go to Pharaoh in the
morning, as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank
to meet him. And take in your hand the rod which was turned into a
serpent.
Exo 7:16 “And you shall say to
him, ‘יהוה the Elohim of the Hebrews
has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they serve Me in the
wilderness,” but see, until now you have not listened!
Exo 7:17 ‘Thus said יהוה, “By this you know that I am יהוה. See, I am striking the waters which are
in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to
blood,
Exo 7:18 and the fish in the river
shall die. And the river shall stink, and the Mitsrites shall find it
impossible to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”
Exo 7:19 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, “Say to Aharon, ‘Take your rod and stretch out
your hand over the waters of Mitsrayim, over their streams, over their rivers,
over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they become blood.
And there shall be blood in all the land of Mitsrayim, both in wooden and in
stone containers.’ ”
Exo 7:20 And Mosheh and Aharon did
so, as יהוה commanded. And he lifted
up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the eyes of Pharaoh
and in the eyes of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were
turned to blood.
Exo 7:21 And the fish that were in
the river died, and the river stank, and the Mitsrites were unable to drink the
water of the river. And the blood was in all the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 7:22 And the magicians of
Mitsrayim did the same with their magic. And the heart of Pharaoh was
strengthened, and he did not listen to them, as יהוה had
said.
Exo 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and
went into his house, and his heart was not moved by this either.
Exo 7:24 And all the Mitsrites dug
all around the river for water to drink, for they were unable to drink the
water of the river.
Exo 7:25 And seven days were
completed after יהוה had struck the
river.
The Second Plague: Frogs
Exo 8:1
And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, “Go to Pharaoh and say to
him, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Let My people go, so that they serve
Me.
Exo 8:2 “But if you refuse to let
them go, see, I am smiting all your border with frogs.
Exo 8:3 “And the river shall swarm
with frogs, which shall go up and shall come into your house, and into your
bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your
people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls,
Exo 8:4 and the frogs shall come
up on you and on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ”
Exo 8:5 And יהוה said
to Mosheh, “Say to Aharon, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the
streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the
land of Mitsrayim.’
Exo 8:6 So Aharon stretched out
his hand over the waters of Mitsrayim, and the frogs came up, and covered the
land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 8:7 And the magicians did so
with their magic, and brought up frogs on the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 8:8 Pharaoh then called for
Mosheh and Aharon, and said, “Pray to יהוה to take away the frogs
from me and from my people, and I shall let the people go to slaughter to יהוה.”
Exo 8:9 And Mosheh said to
Pharaoh, “Explain yourself to me: When am I to pray for you, and for your
servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses,
and remain only in the river?”
Exo 8:10 So he said, “Tomorrow.”
And he said, “Let it be according to your word, so that you know that there is
no one like יהוה our Elohim.
Exo 8:11 “And the frogs shall turn
aside from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your
people – they shall remain in the river only.”
Exo 8:12 And Mosheh and Aharon
went out from Pharaoh. And Mosheh cried out to יהוה concerning the frogs
which He had brought against Pharaoh.
Exo 8:13 And יהוה did
according to the word of Mosheh. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of
the courtyards, and out of the fields.
Exo 8:14 And they gathered them
together in heaps, and the land stank.
Exo 8:15 And when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as יהוה had said.
Midrash:
If we
observe the pattern of these plagues, we see that the first plague is by the
river the second at Pharoah’s palace and the third plague is unannounced. It is
also interesting to note that the magicians could copy the first two plagues.
It almost appears that Pharoah is in control.
This
pattern will repeat itself in the last days. We see in Revelation 6 – four
horses of the apocalypse- that the anti-messiah
will appear on a white horse - Rev 6:2 And I looked and saw a white horse, and he who sat on it
holding a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to
overcome. The anti-messiah
will bring a false peace by sword.
It will
appear that he and his followers are in control. This is the beginning of the
end - Mat 24:5 “For many shall come in My Name,
saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they shall lead many astray.
Mat 24:6 “And you shall begin to
hear of fightings and reports of fightings. See that you are not troubled, for
these have to take place, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 “For nation shall rise
against nation, and reign against reign. And there shall be scarcities of food,
and deadly diseases, and earthquakes in places.
Mat 24:8 “And all these are the beginning of birth pains.
Rev
6:3 And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living
creature saying, “Come and see.”
Rev 6:4 And another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was given to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another. And a great sword was given to him.
We see here once again the anti-messiah like Pharoah believes he is in control. The great sword means he wields great power. Many in the world will mistakenly think this is the final great war.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A measure of wheat for a denarius,[e] and three measures of barley for a denarius.[e] And do not harm the oil and the wine.” Footnote: eRoman monetary unit - a day’s wage.
Once again the citizens of the world will become more and more dependent on the anti messiah for food – ‘’ And do not harm the oil and the wine.” Possibly the wealthy and the connected will not be as affected as the masses.
Rev
6:7 And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature saying, “Come and see.”
Rev
6:8 And I looked and saw a green horse.[f] And he who sat on it had the name Death,g and She’olg followed with
him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with
sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.h
Footnotes: fTraditionally rendered as pale; Gk. Chloros. Zec_6:3. g Hos_13:14.
h Eze_5:12, Eze_5:17, Eze_14:13-19.
Once
again we see the anti-messiah still has some authority to cause much hardship
and many people will loose their lives (about 2 billion) In fact before
believers are called to escape into the wilderness of the nations the anti-messiah
will declare war against the set apart ones and overcome them - Eze 20:35 “And I shall bring
you into the wilderness of the peoples, and shall enter into judgment with you
face to face there.
Eze
20:36 “As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of
the land of Mitsrayim, so I shall enter into judgment with you,” declares the
Master יהוה.
Eze
20:37 “And I shall make you pass under the rod, and shall bring you into
the bond of the covenant,
Eze 20:38 and purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me. From the land where they sojourn I bring them out, but they shall not come into the land of Yisra’ěl. And you shall know that I am יהוה.
Rev 13:7
And it was given to him to fight with the set-apart ones and to overcome them.
And authority was given to him over every tribe and tongue and nation.
Rev 13:8 And all those dwelling on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the slain Lamb, from the foundation of the world shall worship him.
It is comforting to see that from the fourth plague onwards in Egypt- Israel was protected in Goshen
In the book
of Revelation we see that there will also be two witnesses in the last days
that will bring all kinds of disasters and judgments upon the earth.
The Two Witnesses
Rev 11:1 And a reed like a
measuring rod was given to me, and the messenger stood, saying, “Rise and measure
the Dwelling Place of Elohim, and the slaughter-place, and those worshipping in
it.
Rev 11:2 “But cast out the court
which is outside the Dwelling Place, and do not measure it, for it has been
given to the nations, and they shall trample the set-apart city under foot for
forty-two months.
Rev 11:3 “And I shall give unto my
two witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days,
clad in sackcloth.”
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive
trees Eze_4:3 and the two lampstands that are standing before the Elohim
of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if anyone wishes to
harm them, fire comes out from their mouth and consumes their enemies. And if
anyone wishes to harm them, he has to be killed in that way.
Rev 11:6 These possess authority
to shut the heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. And
they possess authority over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the
earth with all plagues, as often as they wish.
Rev 11:7 And when they have ended
their witness, the beast coming up out of the pit of the deep shall fight
against them, and overcome them, and kill them,
Rev 11:8 and their dead bodies lie
in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Seḏom and
Mitsrayim, where also our Master was impaled,
Rev 11:9 and some of the peoples
and tribes and tongues and nations see their dead bodies for three and a half
days, and not allow their dead bodies to be placed into tombs,
Rev 11:10 and those dwelling on
the earth rejoice over them and exult. And they shall send gifts to each other,
because these two prophets tortured those dwelling on the earth.
Rev 11:11 And after the three and
a half days a spirit of life from Elohim entered into them, and they stood upon
their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
Rev 11:12 And they heard a loud
voice from the heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up into the
heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
Rev 11:13 And in that hour there
came to be a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. And in the
earthquake seven thousand men were killed, and the rest became afraid and gave
esteem to the Elohim of the heaven.
Rev 11:14 The second woe is past,
and see, the third woe is coming speedily.
The Seventh Trumpet
Rev 11:15 And the seventh messenger sounded, and there came to be loud voices in the heaven, saying, “The reign of this world has become the reign of our Master, and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
When
will these events be? -Dan
9:27 “And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. And in the
middle of the week he shall put an end to slaughtering and meal offering. And
on the wing of abominations he shall lay waste, even until the complete end and
that which is decreed is poured out on the one who lays waste.”[a] Footnote: a Mat_24:15. ‘’
This is the time to run, not before or after because then He will provide protection and provision.
Blessed are you YHVH,
our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and
have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of
the Torah – Amein.