The saga of Moses continues as he returns to Egypt following his encounter with God through the burning bush. Although begging God to send someone else, Moses finally submits and armed with his staff and his brother Aaron, went to face Pharaoh and demand that he let God’s people go.
Pharaoh meets Moses’ requests with arrogance and repeated shows of power, making their lives even more difficult. Even though Moses relates God’s promise to bring the Israelites out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, they do not believe Him. But then He sends terrible plagues to Egypt. And after each—waters of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, dying livestock, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness—Pharaoh still stubbornly refuses to let His people go. Until the last plague pierces the heart of Pharaoh’s family, and he agrees to let them go. That is, until he changes his mind.
By then, God had led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Lord hardens the heart of Pharaoh so that he pursues the Israelites with all his horses, chariots, and troops, overtaking them as they camped by the sea. You know what comes next—one of the most dramatic acts of power in human history.
