How could they do that?
This is the Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind,
and coming to you from Riverside, California,
podcasting since 2004,
I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb.
This is the podcast that comes to you every single day.
We're reading the Bible in a year.
I'm so glad you're here. Welcome.
Website is LifespringMedia.com.
Today is National Bubble Wrap Day.
Who doesn't like the satisfaction
of popping those little plastic bubbles?
And did you know that it was originally
invented as a 3D wallpaper? Yeah, who knew? Well, that was obviously a flop, but today it's mostly
a stress relief tool for anybody unboxing a package. This is The Law Monday. We'll read
Exodus 5 through 8. I'll share some comments on the reading, the verse of the day, and we'll find
out what happened on this date in church history. Let's begin. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for
our time together. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for giving it to us so that we
would be able to know who you are, to be able to know what pleases you and what displeases you,
to be able to find out, Lord, that you gave everything so that we would be able to spend
eternity with you. Thank you, Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Exodus chapter 5. Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said,
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. Let my people go so that they may hold a festival
to me in the wilderness. Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go?
I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go. Then they said, The God of the Hebrews is met
with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our
God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword. But the king of Egypt said, Moses and Aaron,
Why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work.
Then Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from
working. That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the
people. You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks. Let them go and
gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don't reduce
the quota. They are lazy. That is why they are crying out, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working, and pay no attention to lies.
Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, This is what Pharaoh says,
I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it,
but your work will not be reduced at all. So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather
stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, Complete the work required
of you for each day, just as when you had straw. And Pharaoh's slave drivers beat the Israelite
overseers they had appointed, demanding, Why haven't you met your quota of bricks yesterday
or today as before? Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh, Why have you treated
your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, Make bricks. Your
Pharaoh said, Lazy, that's what you are, lazy. That is why you keep saying, Let us go and
sacrifice to the Lord. Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your
full quota of bricks. The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told,
You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.
When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said,
May the Lord look on you and judge you. You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh,
and his officials have put a sword in their hand to kill us.
Moses returned to the Lord and said, Why, Lord, have you brought trouble on this people?
Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name,
he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.
Exodus chapter 6
Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you will see what I do to Pharaoh,
Because of my mighty hand he will let them go.
Because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.
God also said to Moses, I am the Lord.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty.
But by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself fully known to them.
I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.
Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are enslaving,
and I have remembered my covenant.
Therefore, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the
yoke of the Egyptians.
I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched
arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.
Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the
Egyptians, and I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.
Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their
discouragement and harsh labor. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
to let the Israelites go out of his country. But Moses said to the Lord, If the Israelites will not
listen to me, why should Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?
Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. These were the heads of their families.
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanok and Paliu, Hezron and Carmi.
These were the clans of Reuben. The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar,
and Shal, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. These were the names of the
sons of Levi, according to their records, Gershon, Kohath, and Mereri. Levi lived 137 years.
The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei. The sons of Kohath were Amram,
Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. The sons of Mererai were Malai and Mushi.
These were the clans of Levi, according to their records. Amram married his father's sister,
Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. The sons of Izhar were Korah,
Nepheg, and Zichri. The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amenadab and sister of Nashon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu,
Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah were Azur, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite
clans. Eleazar, son of Aaron, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.
It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said,
Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.
They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, this same Moses and Aaron.
Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, he said to him,
I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything I tell you.
But Moses said to the Lord, Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?
Exodus chapter 7
And Yahweh said to Moses, See, I have made you as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.
You will speak all that I will command you, and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh, and he will release the Israelites from his land.
And I myself will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will make my signs and my wonders numerous
in the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will put my hand into Egypt,
and bring out my divisions, my people, the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great
punishments. And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch out my hand over Egypt,
and bring the Israelites out from their midst. And Moses and Aaron did it, as Yahweh commanded them,
So they did.
And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Do a wonder
for yourselves, you will say to Aaron, Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will
become a snake.
And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded.
And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a snake.
And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts.
Each threw down his staff, and they became snakes, and Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
And Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had said.
And Yahweh said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is insensitive. He refuses to release the people.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must wait to meet him
on the bank of the Nile. And you must take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
And you must say to him, Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying,
Release my people, that they may serve me in the desert. And look, you have not listened until now.
Thus says Yahweh, By this you will know that I am Yahweh. Look, I am about to strike with the
staff that is in my hand, the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood. And the
fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to
drink water from the Nile. And Yahweh said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your staff and stretch
your hand out over the waters of Egypt and over their rivers, over their canals, and over their
pools, and over all of their reservoirs of water, so that they become blood. And blood will be in
the land of Egypt, and in vessels of wood and of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh had
commanded. And he raised the staff, and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of
Pharaoh, and before the eyes of his servants. And all of the water that was in the Nile was changed
to blood. And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank. And the Egyptians were not able
to drink water from the Nile, and the blood was in all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt
likewise with their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them as
Yahweh had spoken. And Pharaoh turned and went to his house, and he did not take also this to heart.
And all of the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they were unable to drink
from the water of the Nile. And seven days passed after Yahweh struck the Nile. Exodus chapter 8
And Yahweh said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says Yahweh, Release my people,
so that they may serve me. And if you are refusing to release, look, I am going to plague all of your
territory with frogs. And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your
house and into your bedroom, and onto your bed, and into the house of your servants, and among your
people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. And the frogs will go up against you,
and against your people, and against all of your servants. And Yahweh said to Moses, Say to Aaron,
Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools,
and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of
Egypt. And the frogs went up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did likewise with their
And they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the frogs from me and from my people, and let me release the people so that they can sacrifice to Yahweh.
And Moses said to Pharaoh, I leave to you the honor over me.
When shall I pray for you and for your servants and for your people to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses?
They will be left only in the Nile.
And he said, Tomorrow.
And he said, Let it be according to your word, so that you will know that there is no one like
Yahweh our God. And the frogs will depart from you and from your house and from your servants.
They will be left only in the Nile. And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh.
And Moses cried out to Yahweh over the matter of the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh.
And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died from the houses,
from the courtyards and from the fields. And they piled them in countless heaps, and the land
stank. And Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he made his heart insensitive, and he did not
listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. And Yahweh said to Moses, Say to Aaron,
Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats in all the land of
Egypt. And he did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and he struck the dust of
the land, and it became gnats on the humans and on the animals. All of the dust of the land became
gnats in all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring out the
gnats, but they were not able, and the gnats were on the humans and on the animals. And the
magicians said to Pharaoh, It is the finger of God. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he did not
listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. And Yahweh said to Moses, Start early in the morning,
and stand before Pharaoh. Look, he is going out to the water. And you must say to him,
Thus says Yahweh, Release my people, so that they may serve me. But if you are not about to release
my people, look, I am about to send out flies among you, and among your servants, and among your
people and in your houses. And the houses of Egypt will fill up with the flies, and also the ground
that they are on. But on that day I will distinguish the land of Goshen, where my people are staying,
by there not being flies there, so that you will know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the land.
And I will put a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will be tomorrow.
And Yahweh did so. And a severe swarm of flies came to the house of Pharaoh, and the house of
his servants, and in all the land of Egypt. And the land was ruined because of the flies.
And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said, Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.
And Moses said, To do so is not right, because we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God a thing
detestable to the Egyptians. Look, if we sacrifice before their eyes the thing detestable to the
Egyptians, will they not stone us? We will go a journey of three days into the desert,
and we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God according to what He says to us.
And Pharaoh said, I myself will release you, and you will sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the
desert. Only surely you must not go far. Pray for me. And Moses said, Look, I am going out from you,
and I will pray to Yahweh so that the flies depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his
people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh again deceive us by not releasing the people to sacrifice
to Yahweh. And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh. And Yahweh did according to the
word of Moses, and removed the flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one
was left. And Pharaoh made his heart insensitive also this time, and he did not release the people.
Do you like magic tricks? Ever since I was about six years old, I have been a fan.
The first time I remember seeing a magic trick was when I was with my parents somewhere,
and an old guy on the street showed me a quarter in his hand. He put the quarter in the pocket of
his trousers and then pulled the quarter out from the bottom of his pocket right through the material
of his pants without making a hole. From that moment on, I've been fascinated with magic tricks.
I remember there used to be a mail-order catalog from a guy named Vic Lawston out of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida. I subscribed to that catalog, and when it came, I would just look through that thing
cover to cover, wishing I could order all of those tricks to amaze and astound my friends.
I actually did order a few of them.
And then when I got a little older on a trip to Disneyland,
I discovered that there were two magic shops in the park.
There's one on Main Street, and there used to be one in Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
That was my favorite one.
And by the way, did you know that Steve Martin used to work in one of those magic shops?
Yeah.
And I loved watching magicians on stage, too.
I remember seeing several big names perform in person.
Harry Blackstone Jr., David Copperfield, and others.
It's amazing how if you suspend disbelief, the tricks they do can seem real.
But once you know how the tricks are done, the magic is over.
That's okay, though, because it's fun to watch their craftsmanship to see how they do it.
But still, sometimes, even though I know how many of the tricks are done,
every once in a while I'll see a trick that I just can't explain.
There seems to be no way that this illusion could be done without some sort of black magic,
which, of course, I don't condone.
Now today, in chapters 7 and 8, we read that the Egyptian sorcerers were able to duplicate the miracles that God did through Moses and Aaron.
How could they do that?
Well, scholars differ in their answers.
Can you guess what their answers are?
There's basically two possibilities.
The first possibility is that they actually did miracles.
And the second possibility is that they faked them, that they did magic tricks or illusions.
So let's quickly tackle the second possibility.
The first miracle that we read about was turning Moses' staff into a snake.
Some have said that this could have been some sort of snake-charming trick,
where the snake was somehow trained to appear to be a rigid staff,
and then at some command the snake would relax and just do what snakes do.
Turning the water to blood could have just been done with dye,
and the plague of frogs might just be explained by saying,
well, there was a plague of frogs everywhere that God had miraculously caused. So how would they
know now that there were more frogs everywhere? Eh, I don't know. So now let's look at the first
possibility. The sorcerers really did miracles. Is that possible? Can people really do miracles?
Miracles that aren't from God? Well, let's look at what the scripture says.
Satan is called the father of lies in John 8.44, and we're told in 2 Corinthians 11.14 that he can
make himself appear as an angel of light. 2 Thessalonians 2.9 says that the Antichrist,
quote, will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders, unquote,
and that he'll do it through the power of Satan. Jesus says in Matthew 24.24 that in the end times,
false prophets will, quote, appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, unquote.
So it turns out that it actually is possible that the Egyptian sorcerers did do miracles
as they were enabled by Satan. But we must also understand that even though the enemy is powerful,
his power is limited. There are things that he cannot do. What limits him? God does. Just as we
read in the book of Job, God limited Satan in what he could do to Job. Maybe God allowed the miracles
to be performed by the Egyptian sorcerers for the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. But remember,
when the miracle of the gnats happened, the sorcerers were not able to duplicate it,
and they told Pharaoh that it is the finger of God. So I don't think that we can be dogmatic
and declare that one explanation of how they did the miracles is definitely the answer. I tend to
lean toward the thought that they actually did do the miracles, because we do know that,
as Ephesians 6.12 says, For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil
rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world,
and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. So how do you think it was done? Do you think it
was real, or do you think it was just illusions? Our reading tomorrow is 1 Samuel 21-25.
Today's verse of the day is Exodus 6-5.
Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves,
and I have remembered my covenant.
Exodus 6-5
On this date in church history, January 26, we see how God uses both the boardroom and
the boat to expand His kingdom.
First, let's go back to 1859. In Chicago, industrialist Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the
mechanical reaper, married Nettie Fowler. While Cyrus revolutionized farming, Nettie became one
of the most significant philanthropists in evangelical history. Her stewardship funded
the global missions of D.L. Moody and built the infrastructure for 20th century evangelism.
She proved that the fruit of industry could fuel the fire of the gospel.
But shifting from the American Midwest to the shores of a new continent,
on this same day in 1788, the first fleet arrived in Australia.
Among the convicts and Marines was Richard Johnson, an evangelical Anglican chaplain.
He held the first Christian service on Australian soil,
marking the start of organized Protestantism in the South Pacific.
Two very different beginnings, one in marriage, one in a new land,
and both dedicated to expanding the kingdom of God.
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Well, beloved, in a magic show, the fun is the mystery.
But in our walk with God, the real joy is in the truth.
Pharaoh's magicians could copy the plague, but they couldn't cure it.
Only God has the power to both bring the judgment and offer the grace.
Don't settle for the magic of the world when you can have the miracle of a relationship with the Creator.
Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly.
Thank you so much for being here.
I'm Steve Webb.
Bye.
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Thank you.
The Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind is a Lifespring Media production hosted by Steve Webb, the OG Godcaster, since 2004.