Exodus 5-10 (Sunday and Monday)

Whew.  A whole lot has been covered in the last couple of days.  For those of you who wonder, Nicole and I decided to split up our blogging days.  I do M-W-F.  Nic does T-R-S.  Sunday is a free for all.   If we have something to add on the other person's post, we will definitely do that!  We just thought it would be less overwhelming to do it this way.
On to the reading...
Yesterday we started in on the plagues.  God wanted the Egyptian people to worship him, not their false gods.  He recruited Moses, along with the help of Aaron, to do this for him.  Pharoah would not let his people go to worship God because he firmly believed that Moses was lying.  God warned Moses of this, saying He was going to harden Pharoah's heart so he wouldn't let his people go.  Nicole and I both struggled with why God would do this.  Why not just strike a deal or take care of things with Pharoah?  Why go through all the hoopla of the different plagues?  God wanted all the people, the Isralites and the Egyptians, to know that He was the one true God.  He was capable of making all of these things happen.  Some of the Egyptian's false gods were also able to perform some of the plagues, but in the end, they realized this was our God.  No magic or spell could do the things God had instucted Moses and Aaron to do.   Our comparison was in regards to our kids.  We don't want to have all the strict rules, punishments, etc...  But, as a parent, it is necessary to ensure that the kids know we are in charge.  Pharoah would eventually start cutting some deals with Moses, and in return he would let his people leave Egypt.  Each time he backed out and refused their freedom.   
God cared about the Egyptians just as much as those who were already worhiping Him.  He could have just forgotten about them and let them worship their own gods.  However, he took the time to go above and beyond and show them His miracles and let them see a little bit about Himself.  Moses and Aaron had the job of sharing God's miracles, no matter how detrimental they were at the time.  It's a good lesson for us...we need to share God's miracles in our lives with those around us, just as Moses and Aaron did.  Julie