Month: August 2025

Exodus 12

Exodus 12:1 While they were still in the land of Egypt, Yahveh told Moses and Aaron

Exodus 12:2 “This month will be the beginning of months for you. It will be the first month of the year for you.

Exodus 12:3 Tell all the congregation[1] of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man will take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a house.

Exodus 12:4 And if the house is too small to eat an entire lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor will share according to the number of throats; according to what each can eat you will make your count for the lamb.

Exodus 12:5 Your lamb will be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,

Exodus 12:6 and you will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will kill their lambs at twilight.

Exodus 12:7 “Then they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Exodus 12:8 They will eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they will eat it.

Exodus 12:9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.

Exodus 12:10 And you will let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you will burn.

Exodus 12:11 In this manner you will eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you will eat it in haste. It is Yahveh’s Passover.

Exodus 12:12 Because I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will condemn all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahveh.

Exodus 12:13 The blood will be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:14 “This day will be for you a memorial day, and you will keep it as a feast to Yahveh; throughout your generations, as a permanent prescription,[2] you will keep it as a feast.

Exodus 12:15 Seven days you will eat unleavened bread. On the first day you will remove leaven out of your houses, because if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that throat will be cut off from Israel.

Exodus 12:16 On the first day you will hold a sacred assembly, and on the seventh day a sacred assembly. No work will be done on those days. But what every throat needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.

Exodus 12:17 And you will observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Because of this, you will observe this day, throughout your generations, as a permanent prescription.

Exodus 12:18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

Exodus 12:19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that throat will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a foreign guest or a native of the land.

Exodus 12:20 You will eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you will eat unleavened bread.”

Exodus 12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Draw out and take lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.

Exodus 12:22 Take a cluster of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you should go out of the door of his house until the morning.

Exodus 12:23 Because Yahveh will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, Yahveh will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike.

Exodus 12:24 You are to observe this ritual as a permanent prescribed task for you and for your sons forever.

Exodus 12:25 So when you come to the land that Yahveh will give you, as he has promised, you will keep this practice.

Exodus 12:26 And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this practice?’

Exodus 12:27 you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahveh’s Passover, because he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but stripped our houses.’ “And the people bowed down low.

Exodus 12:28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; just as Yahveh had commanded Moses and Aaron, this is what they did.

Exodus 12:29 At midnight Yahveh struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the house of the pit, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

Exodus 12:30 And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his slaves and all the Egyptians. And there was a great outcry in Egypt, because there was not a house where someone was not dead.

Exodus 12:31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go away from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve Yahveh, as you have said.

Exodus 12:32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also!”

Exodus 12:33 The Egyptians made the people strong so they could go away from the land quickly. Because they said, “We are all dead.”

Exodus 12:34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.

Exodus 12:35 The sons of Israel had also done as Moses told them, because they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.

Exodus 12:36 And Yahveh had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked for. This is how they stripped the Egyptians.

Exodus 12:37 And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, with about six hundred platoons of foot soldiers, separated from their children.

Exodus 12:38 An ethnically mixed company also went out with them, and very many flocks and herds of livestock.

Exodus 12:39 And they had baked unleavened loaves of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, because it had not been leavened, since they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provision for themselves.

Exodus 12:40 The time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.

Exodus 12:41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the armies of Yahveh went out from the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:42 It was a night of watching by Yahveh, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night when the sons of Israel keep watch for Yahveh throughout their generations.

Exodus 12:43 And Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the permanent prescription of the Passover: no outsider is to eat of it,

Exodus 12:44 but after you have circumcised him, any slave that a man has purchased with silver may eat of it.

Exodus 12:45 A temporary resident or hired servant is not to eat of it.

Exodus 12:46 It will be eaten in one house; you will not take any of the meat outside the house, and you will not break any of its bones.

Exodus 12:47 All the congregation of Israel will keep it.

Exodus 12:48 If a foreigner is your guest and wants to keep the Passover to Yahveh, make sure all his males are circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he will be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person is allowed to eat it.

Exodus 12:49 There will be one instruction[3] for the native and for the foreigner who is a guest among you.”

Exodus 12:50 All the people of Israel did just as Yahveh commanded Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 12:51 And on that very day Yahveh brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

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[1] עֵדָה = congregation. Exodus 12:3, 6, 19, 47; 16:1, 2, 9, 10, 22; 17:1; 34:31; 35:1, 4, 20; 38:25.+

[2] חֻקָּה = prescription. Exodus 12:14, 17, 43; 13:10; 27:21; 28:43; 29:9.

[3]תּוֹרָה = instruction. Exodus 12:49; 13:9; 16:4, 28; 18:16, 20; 24:12.

Exodus 12 quotes:

“The narrative of the first Passover is a pivotal story in the Old Testament from which the Jews have derived great inspiration over the centuries, and in which Christians have found ways to better understand the death of Jesus Christ.”

Newsome, James D. Exodus. First edition, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998. p. 37.

“God directed His plagues against the idolatry in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and against Satan. It was a battle of the gods. Exodus 12:12 confirms it: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” God exposed the gods of Egypt as false, and He revealed to Israel His ability to deliver them. These Israelites had been born in the brickyards in the midst of idolatry, and God had to show them that He was superior.”

McGee, J. Vernon. Exodus Chapters 1-18. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991.
p. 48.

“The yearly timing of the Passover gives us further insight into its symbolism and significance for God’s people. The way nations and cultures mark their months and years often reveals something about their religion. The events described in Exodus 12 mark a very important time in Israel’s history when the children of Israel began to divide the year into months. From the standpoint of a religious calendar, the Passover and the exodus would begin the first month. So the new year for Israel is now grounded not in nature-renewal but in a redemptive-historical event —the Passover and exodus. The Egyptian new year began with the onset of the flood of the Nile. In structuring their calendars all the ancient cultures followed nature or lunar movement, but not Israel: “Such a revolutionary phenomenon is without analogy in the ancient world.”’ God’s redemptive act would commence the Israelite new year. At the center of Israel’s life as a nation would stand the remembrance of God’s redemption.”

White, John H. Slavery to Servanthood. Great Commission Publications, 1987. p. 85.

Exodus 12 links:

a consecrated community
all about a Promise (part 1)
brush with death
deployed for a mission
Exodus- remember
rescue by grace
sendoff
signs for the believers
WHAT DOES THIS CEREMONY MEAN?

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, July 17, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, July 16, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, July 20, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, March 14, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, March 16, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, July 19, 2017

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 11

Exodus 11:1 Yahveh had told Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will send you away from here. When he sends you away, he will expel you, and it will be complete.

Exodus 11:2 Now tell this in the hearing of the people, so that they ask, every man from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.”

Exodus 11:3 And Yahveh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. In addition to this, the man Moses was influential in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s slaves and in the sight of the people.

Exodus 11:4 So Moses said, “Thus says Yahveh: Around midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,

Exodus 11:5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

Exodus 11:6 There will be a great outcry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

Exodus 11:7 But not a dog will stick out its tongue against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, so that you may know that Yahveh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

Exodus 11:8 And all these your slaves will come down to me and bow down to me, and this is what they will say, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh with a burning nose.

Exodus 11:9 And Yahveh had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my miracles may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 11:10 Moses and Aaron did all these miracles before Pharaoh, and Yahveh made Pharaoh’s heart strong, and he did not send the people of Israel away from his land.

Exodus 11 quotes:

“Now our fanciful flight of imagination connects us with the culture of today that says, image supercedes substance. Consider what part perception plays in the name of politics and market place advertising. Much is based on illusion, being deceived by a false perception or belief, rather than fact and reality. But now we read Exodus 11:4 and see that Moses is convinced of power, not based on illusion, but on God.”

Younger, Tom. Tom’s Thought Provokers : Gems from a Pastor’s Heart. 1stBooks, 2004. p. 246.

“Exodus 11:5, “from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill,” suggests that Egyptians were also slaves in this house of bondage.”

Dykstra, Laurel. Set Them Free : The Other Side of Exodus. Orbis Books, 2002. p. 191.

“Exodus 11 is a transitional chapter in several ways. Moses’ final conversation with Pharaoh continues from Exodus 10. Having been warned by Pharaoh never to appear before him again, Moses delivers the warning of the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn (vv. 4-8). Verses 1-3, however, contain God’s instructions for asking for silver and gold articles from the Egyptians. The chapter as a whole marks the ending of the first nine plagues (chs. 7-10), provides the announcement of the final plague to Pharaoh, and introduces the beginning of the exit from Egypt (chs. 11-15).”

Bruckner, James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster, 2008. p. 104.

Exodus 11 links:

a heart too heavy
Exodus- life, grace and deliverance

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 10

Exodus 10:1 Then Yahveh told Moses, “Go see Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart and the heart of his slaves, in order that I may show these, my signs, among them,

Exodus 10:2 and in order that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have humiliated the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, so that you may know that I am Yahveh.”

Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron saw Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what Yahveh, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Send my people away, so that they may serve me.

Exodus 10:4 Because if you refuse to send my people away, notice, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory,

Exodus 10:5 and they will cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they will eat whatever is left to you that escaped the hail, and they will eat every tree of yours that is growing in the orchard,

Exodus 10:6 and they will fill your houses and the houses of all your slaves and of all the Egyptians, something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came to the land to this day. ‘Then he turned around and went out from Pharaoh.

Exodus 10:7 Then Pharaoh’s slaves said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Send the husbands away, that they may serve Yahveh their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is destroyed?”

Exodus 10:8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve Yahveh your God. But which ones are to go?”

Exodus 10:9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we must hold a feast to Yahveh.”

Exodus 10:10 But he said to them, “Let it be so” Yahveh be with you, when I send you and your little ones away! See, you have evil in mind.

Exodus 10:11 Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve Yahveh, because that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Exodus 10:12 Then Yahveh told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.”

Exodus 10:13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahveh brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.

Exodus 10:14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and rested on the whole territory of Egypt; it had never been so very heavy with locusts before, nor will it ever be again.

Exodus 10:15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit from the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 10:16 Then Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have failed Yahveh your God, and against you.

Exodus 10:17 So now, forgive my sin, please, this time, and plead with Yahveh your God to remove this sure death from me.”

Exodus 10:18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with Yahveh.

Exodus 10:19 And Yahveh turned a very strong sea wind, which removed the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.

Exodus 10:20 But Yahveh made Pharaoh’s heart strong, and he did not send the sons of Israel away.

Exodus 10:21 Then Yahveh told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt and let that darkness cause people to feel around with their hands.”

Exodus 10:22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was deep darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

Exodus 10:23 No man saw his brother, nor did any man leave from under his roof for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.

Exodus 10:24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve Yahveh; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.”

Exodus 10:25 But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and ascending[1] offerings, so that we may present them to Yahveh our God.

Exodus 10:26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, because we must take of them to serve Yahveh our God, and we will not know with what we must serve Yahveh until we arrive there.”

Exodus 10:27 But Yahveh made Pharaoh’s heart strong, and he would not let them go.

Exodus 10:28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Go away from me; keep yourself from ever seeing my face again, because on the day you see my face you will die.”

Exodus 10:29 Moses said, “You said that right! I will never again see your face.”

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[1] עֹלָה = ascending. Exodus 10:25; 18:12; 20:24; 24:5; 29:18, 25, 42; 30:9, 28; 31:9; 32:6; 35:16; 38:1; 40:6, 10, 29.

Exodus 10 quotes:

“Clouds of locusts swept over the land blocking out the sun. They picked the trees clean, as well as herbs and crops of the field. Exodus 10:14 tells how the effects of the plague were so devastating that nothing like it had ever been witnessed in history. This was the eighth plague and would have been seen as a defeat of Oswiris (known to the Greeks as Osiris), who was supposed to be the protector of crops. His burial was often reenacted annually in ancient Egypt, and his “resurrection” was evidenced by corn sprouting from the site which the Egyptians believed was his grave.””

Long, James D. The Riddle of the Exodus. Lightcatcher Books, 2002. p. 86.

“10:1-2 / “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials.” The first two verses of Exodus 10 give reasons (“so that”) for the Lord’s actions. The explanations are brief, but they are critical to understanding who the Lord is. The focus is on the Israelites and their progeny: so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren.”

Bruckner, James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster, 2008. p. 96.

“Moses insisted, “Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind” (Exodus 10:26). All we have and are is needed to serve our God. Sacrificing to Jehovah involves everything. A Christian commitment is not merely spiritual, it is a lifestyle touching the warp and woof of everyday life. Our person and our possessions are involved.”

Briscoe, Jill. Here Am I, Lord– Send Somebody Else : How God Uses Ordinary People to Do Extraordinary Things. W Pub. Group, 2004. p. 67.

Exodus 10 links:

introducing the breath of God
no more bargaining
Perish the thought
remove this sure death
so that we may know
The sky God is supreme

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, March 15, 2023

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 9

Exodus 9:1 Then Yahveh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahveh, the God of the Hebrews, “Send my people away, so that they may serve me.

Exodus 9:2 Because if you refuse to send them away and still hold strongly to them,

Exodus 9:3 notice, the hand of Yahveh will fall with a very brutal plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.

Exodus 9:4 But Yahveh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the sons of Israel will die.”‘”

Exodus 9:5 And Yahveh set a time, and this is what he said, “Tomorrow Yahveh will do this thing in the land.”

Exodus 9:6 And the next day Yahveh did this thing. All over the place, the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the sons of Israel died.

Exodus 9:7 And Pharaoh sent, and notice, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not send the people away.

Exodus 9:8 And Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses throw them in the sky[1] in the sight of Pharaoh.

Exodus 9:9 It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out in sores on man and animal throughout all the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 9:10 So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it into the sky, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and animal.

Exodus 9:11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.

Exodus 9:12 But Yahveh made the heart of Pharaoh strong, and he did not listen to them, as Yahveh had spoken to Moses.

Exodus 9:13 Then Yahveh told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahveh, the God of the Hebrews, “Send my people away, so that they may serve me.

Exodus 9:14 Because this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your slaves and your people, so that you may know that none like me exists in all the land.

Exodus 9:15 Because by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been made to disappear[2] from the land.

Exodus 9:16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the land.

Exodus 9:17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not send them away.

Exodus 9:18 Notice, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

Exodus 9:19 So now send word, get your livestock and all the people whom you have in the field into safe shelter, because every man and beast that is in the field and is not gathered home will die when the hail falls on them.” ‘”

Exodus 9:20 Then whoever feared the word of Yahveh among the slaves of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses,

Exodus 9:21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of Yahveh left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

Exodus 9:22 Then Yahveh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and animal and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 9:23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and Yahveh sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the land. And Yahveh rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:24 There was hail and lightning flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Exodus 9:25 The hail destroyed everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and animal. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and stripped every tree of the field.

Exodus 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

Exodus 9:27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have failed; Yahveh is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

Exodus 9:28 Plead with Yahveh, because there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will send you away, and you will stay no longer.”

Exodus 9:29 Moses told him, “When I have gone out of the city, I will reach out my hands to Yahveh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the land is Yahveh’s.

Exodus 9:30 But I know that you and your slaves do not yet fear the face of Yahveh God.”

Exodus 9:31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, because the barley was fresh and the flax was in bud.

Exodus 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, because they are late in coming up.)

Exodus 9:33 So Moses went outside the city, away from Pharaoh and reached out his hands to Yahveh, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the land.

Exodus 9:34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he failed to keep his promise yet again and hardened his heart, he and his slaves.

Exodus 9:35 So the heart of Pharaoh was made strong, and he did not send the sons of Israel away, just as Yahveh had predicted. through Moses.

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[1] שָׁמַיִם = sky. Exodus 9:8, 10, 22, 23; 10:21, 22; 16:4; 17:14; 20:4, 11, 22; 24:10; 31:17; 32:13.

[2]  כָּחַד = make to disappear. Exodus 9:15; 23:23.

Exodus 9 quotes:

“So Yahweh declares the intention to strengthen or stiffen Pharaoh’s resolve. I imagine Pharaoh hearing this voice saying, “No, don’t be soft; it would be stupid to let them go’; but it is Pharaoh who decides whether to listen to this voice. Thus, when Moses and Aaron perform their signs, Exodus more often speaks of Pharaoh’s resolve being strong or firm and of Pharaoh’s strengthening or stiffening his own resolve than of God’s strengthening or stiffening it. The three ways of speaking are all significant. Saying, “Pharaoh’s resolve was strong or firm” simply reports the phenomenon. Saying, “Pharaoh strengthened or stiffened his resolve” makes clear that Pharaoh’s will is involved; this is not a decision imposed on him from outside. Saying, “God strengthened or stiffened Pharaoh’s resolve” makes clear that God is also at work. Referring to God’s intention first affirms that God’s sovereignty is involved, but in describing how things actually work out, Exodus refers first to Pharaohs resolve being strong or firm (Exodus 7:13, 14, 22) and to Pharaoh’ stiffening his own resolve (Exodus 8:15, 32) before speaking of God’s strengthening Pharaohs resolve (Exodus 9:12). That order again makes clear how significant is Pharaoh’s human involvement. He is not just a puppet in God’s hands.”

Goldingay, John. Exodus and Leviticus for Everyone. First edition, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. p. 37.

“Exodus 9 presents the fifth, sixth, and seventh plagues. The livestock pestilence (fifth) and the plague of boils (sixth) conclude the second cycle of three (flies-livestock-boils) and the text presents them in abbreviated form. Pharaoh responds very briefly to the fifth plague and not at all to the sixth. The Lord simply informs Moses of the pestilence on the livestock (vv. 1-5) and the pestilence of boils (vv. 8-9); they broke out (vv. 6, 10-11); and the text reports Pharaoh’s hard heart (vv. 7, 12). The chapter describes the storm of thunder, hail, and lightning, the seventh plague, in fuller form because it begins the third and final cycle (hail-locustsdarkness). This last cycle intensifies the struggle for control between Yahweh and Pharaoh for the service (worship) of the children of Israel. In this chapter we also see the transition from Pharaoh’s hardening of his (own) heart, to the Lord as the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart as the exit from Egypt approaches (vv. 7, 12).”

Bruckner, James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster, 2008. p. 86.

“The struggle with Pharaoh was not arbitrary; its purpose was both revelatory and redemptive.”

Dalglish, Edward R. The Great Deliverance : Studies in the Book of Exodus. Broadman Press, 1977. p. 45.

Exodus 9 links:

Exodus- warnings
fearing the face
gone too far
handfuls of soot
having thoroughly investigated…
kachad
left exposed
The sky God is supreme

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, March 13, 2019

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EXODUS in Jeff’s library