After God strikes the land of Egypt with hail, destroying the early harvest of barley and flax, He sends Moses to pharaoh once again. This time He threatens Egypt with a plague of locusts that will completely destroy Egypt’s remaining wheat harvest. Pharaoh’s counselors then urge him to free the Hebrew slaves because Egypt can no longer endure these blows from the Hebrew’s God. Pharaoh tries to bargain with Moses to no avail.
After the plague of frogs and swarms of insects, God began to place a distinction between Goshen, where the Israelites dwelled and the rest of Egypt. All the rest of the plagues only struck the Egyptians. The fifth plague strikes the cattle. The sixth plague strikes the Egyptians with blistering boils on their skin. And In the seventh plague God sends a devastating hailstorm. But in all of this, pharaoh and his people’s hearts still remain hardened against the God of Israel.
When Moses goes to the king of Egypt the second time, God gives him a sign miracle to perform and when that is not heeded he turns the waters of Egypt into blood. Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to release the Hebrew slaves. So, God sends Moses again.
Continuing from chapter 6, God remedies Moses’ complaint of not being eloquent by sending Aaron as a spokesperson (prophet) for him. In his second appearance before pharaoh, Aaron’s (Moses) rod is turned into a serpent; but pharaoh’s magicians are able to accomplish the same miracle. And this working of demonic miracles by the magicians of pharaoh is significant in understanding both the power and limitation of Satan himself.
When the king makes the Hebrew slaves gather their own straw to make bricks, they blame Moses for their predicament. Moses cries out to God and God reassures him that indeed He will deliver the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. He tells him that the time for Him to fulfill the covenant that He made with their Jewish ancestors has come and He is now going to act.
After Moses went to the elders of Israel to tell them that he has been divinely commissioned by their God to deliver them from slavery, he goes to pharaoh. He confidently tells the king that God commands him to release Israel, but is strongly rejected. The king accuses the Israelites of laziness and adds to their burdens by taking away the straw that was formerly given to them and commanding them to get their own.
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