God Gets Pharaoh’s Attention

God Gets Pharaoh’s Attention

Q: God sent several plagues to get Pharaoh to let the slaves go free. Which plague was first?

• a. hail
• b. water in the river turning to blood
• c. locusts covering Egypt

God has his ways of getting people’s attention. In Noah’s time, he sent a flood. With Moses, he used a burning bush. It took a whole series of events until Pharaoh was ready to let the Hebrew slaves (also known as the Israelites) go free.

After the first time Moses talked to Pharaoh, things got worse for the slaves. Moses asked God why this had happened. God answered, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!” (Exodus 6:1).

God had a whole series of plagues planned for Egypt. You can read about them in Exodus 7:14–12:30, but here’s a quick summary.

First, the Nile River turned to blood. After that plague, frogs covered the whole land. Ground dust turned to gnats. The land was filled with flies. All the horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats died. The Egyptians and their animals broke out with horrible sores. Hail killed every unprotected person and animal and ruined most of the crops. Locusts arrived and ate everything not destroyed in the hailstorm. Total darkness covered the land.

Even after all these disasters took place, Pharaoh would still not allow the slaves to go free. God had one more thing planned, and it was the worst of all. You’ll read about it in the next devotion.

God is a God of second, third, fourth, and even tenth chances. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened against God and the Israelites. In the end, God got Pharaoh’s attention.

For You

Keep your heart open to God. If he is asking you to do something, do it.

Answer: b

As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood!   Exodus 7:20

(The Whole Story: Exodus 7:14–10:29)