July 14, 2026
Tuesday, July 14
In Exodus 7:14-25, God tells Moses that the time for diplomacy has passed. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened like a cannonball, and He will not listen to reason. It’s time for action.
Thus begin the ten plagues upon Egypt. If you read these chapters in full, you very quickly see a pattern form: Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh to warn him of the specific judgment that is coming. When Pharaoh refuses to repent, they unleash the plague. When Pharaoh can’t stand it any longer, he calls for Moses and Aaron and asks them to pray to the Lord, which they do. The plague ends, but Pharaoh still won’t let the people go, and the cycle repeats.
Let’s walk through the ten plagues, and as we do, imagine you’re Pharaoh.
It starts with the pollution of the Nile river. Suddenly, Egypt’s source of fresh water is gone. As Pharaoh, you have thousands of people asking you where to find water. The fish have died, so you also have thousands of unemployed fishermen.
Next, it’s frogs. You lift the lid on your evening meal, and there’s a swarm of frogs on top of your food. You go to take a bath, but the frogs chase you out of the tub. All day and night, you hear the sound of millions of frogs croaking in unison until you can’t think anymore.
Then, when all the frogs die and are gathered into festering, odiferous piles, the gnats arrive. They cling to your skin, land on your eyes, invade your nasal passages.
You’re about to lose your sanity completely, when suddenly it’s not gnats anymore, but flies. That’s right, an even larger flying insect to torment you.
The flies finally leave, but then the animals start to die. There’s already a fish shortage, thanks to the curse on the Nile. Now you’re out of every other source of protein. You order a chariot to take you somewhere, but all your horses have died. Farmers are banging on the palace door, asking for help because they have no donkeys to plow their fields.
Then one day you wake up covered in painful boils from your head to your feet. Every movement of your body hurts. People are so boil-covered, they can’t walk to the palace to complain, but through your palace window you can hear them groaning in their beds.
Then a huge storm comes through, dropping massive hailstones. They strip the trees bare. They crush the grain in the fields.
You are looking for a way to feed your people until the wheat comes in, but just before the wheat harvest, a plague of locusts obliterates your wheat and consumes anything left that’s green.
Then, there’s darkness for three days, around the clock. It’s not just an eclipse; it’s a darkness that can be felt. It’s a black spot on your soul.
Finally, one night your firstborn child dies. It happens all over the land. The groans of pain become screams of grief. At long last, you’ve had enough. Your economy is in shambles. Your family is shattered. Your sanity is gone. You tell the Israelites, “Leave this place, and never come back.”
Tomorrow, we’ll start to unpack how the loving God we see in Jesus is the same as the vengeful God of Exodus. But for now, let me say it again: The point of everything that happens in Exodus is to make God known to the world. He wasn’t like the gods that men had invented. He cannot be bought. He cannot be manipulated. He is…I AM.
“Almighty God, it is good to know that there is no ruler, no army, no multi-national force that can overcome your awesome power. Help me to make you known to the people around me, that they might believe and be saved. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
