(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, we're here in Exodus chapter 7, and we're going to finish the entire chapter here tonight. We're looking at the first plague, and I don't know about you, but this has always been one of my favorite parts of the Bible. Maybe this is when I was a kid, I watched the Ten Commandments, you're seeing all these plagues, but even for children, it's very interesting, very fascinating. And we're looking at the first plague here today in Exodus chapter 7, start at verse number 1, the Bible reads, And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Now it's kind of interesting in verse number 1, that what God says to Moses is, I've made thee a god to Pharaoh. Now obviously we understand there is only one God, hero is your the Lord, our God is one Lord, the Bible says. There's one God, there's one Lord, we realize that, and of course, we understand that God is a Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, but there is only one God. So why does he make this statement, I have made thee a God? Well go in your Bible to 1st Corinthians chapter 8, 1st Corinthians 8. And I think this is pretty widely known about ancient Egypt, but if not, I'll just kind of mention it a little bit that ancient Egypt was very famous for worshiping a multiplicity of gods and goddesses. And they would often have their gods be like part animal and part human. And so it's kind of similar to how Hinduism is today where they worship a multiplicity of gods. And you'll see this very often in India where people will be like god people and they'll think they have like magical powers, they'll get like a following behind them and everything. It's like, well, they're the 37th manifestation or avatar of whatever, and they'll get like a following behind them. Well, it's kind of the same thing in ancient Egypt. And what God is basically saying is, Pharaoh thinks there's all these gods out there, you're going to be more powerful than all of them. And notice what it says here in 1st Corinthians 8 verse 4, as concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered and sacrificed unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other god but one. Idols are something that stand in the place of God. And of course, as Bible-even Christians, you know, we have poor idolatry, it's a wicked sin. But when you look at these cultures that practice idolatry, it's basically like a god. And the only difference between the Catholic Church and Hinduism or other religions that are worshipping idols is the Catholic Church is dishonest about it. Because the Catholic Church certainly worships idols, you say, well, how can you say that they worship them? They say it's not a god, but they pray to them. It's like if you're praying to them, you're praying to Joseph, you're praying to Mother Mary, you're praying to Peter, it's like, you know, if you're praying to them, and you've got an idol that you think is good luck and you talk to it when you're scared or whatever, you're worshipping it. It's a god to you, right? And so we understand that, you know, there's only one God. But when it comes to people that practice idolatry, they have a lot of false gods that they worship, right? And it says here, verse number five, for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there be gods many and lords many. So called gods, you think of like Dagon, Dagon is called a god in the Bible, right? Or you think, great is Diana of the Ephesians, Diana is called a goddess, right? It's interesting because you look at a lot of the famous gods and goddesses throughout history, nobody knows Dagon in 2024. I mean, they said the whole world worships Diana. Well, not anymore. Nobody knows who Diana of the Ephesians is, right? And so there are a lot of people that are a lot of statues that are called gods, a lot of false gods. It says here in verse six, but to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, and we by him. That's obvious from the context is comparing idolatry to the true God, and it's showing that there is only one God. We understand this as saved people, it says, but to us there is but one God. We realize there's only one true God. Now, the Mormons turn to this passage to try to prove that there's multiple gods, and that you can become a god. They say, well, we worship one God, but there's multiplicity of gods out there, and you can become a god one day if you're a good Mormon. That's ridiculous, right? What the Bible is showing when it has a lowercase g, we're looking at a false god. We're not looking at a real god, right? Go in your Bible to Exodus 7, Exodus 7. Now what I will say about the 10 plagues is that if you look at the different plagues of Egypt, they really are kind of attacking, you know, not just Egypt, but even the religious system of Egypt, and they really seem to be focused on certain gods that were worshipped in ancient Egypt. And so basically Moses, one right after another, it's like a boxer coming through the rankings, and he knocks off the number one contender, and he knocks off the next guy, he knocks out the next guy, he knocks out the next guy. So it's kind of like, well, here's a false god that comes up to Moses and Aaron, and then Moses defeats that one, and he defeats that one, and he defeats that one. But of course, you know, it's not a matter of Moses or Aaron, those are just the speakers that God used. It's a matter of the true God basically showing how foolish the false gods are. The Bible says in Exodus 7, verse 2, Thou shalt speak all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. Now, the Bible is very clear in verse 3, it says, I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart. So we see both of these things, how Pharaoh hardens his own heart, and God also hardens the heart of Pharaoh. Why would God do that? It says in verse 4, But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. It says in verse 5, And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them. Now, when I've been preparing and studying for these sermons, one thing that really jumped out at me is just the fact that God's saying, Egypt shall know that I'm the true Lord, Egypt shall know, and even says the world's going to know that I'm the true Lord, that my judgments known throughout the entire world, because you know, when I stopped to think about it, why is it that God has this prolonged battle? Why is it not that Moses just goes in, and then the people leave, and they get to freely serve God? And the people wonder that. Moses wonders that. They complain about it. Why is it that ever since that you got sent in, we're not getting let free and things are worse? I mean, it makes for an incredible story. It made for a great movie to watch as a kid, but it's kind of like, why would he actually do that? And what I would say is that the Hebrews were being in the situation, being persecuted and going through that in order to help the Egyptians know who the true God is. It was never about trying to get Pharaoh saved. When we go soul winning, there's people that we talk to, sometimes you talk to a group of people, and in your mind, you know, this person is never going to get saved. And I'm not saying it's because, you know, they're a reprobate, I'm just saying sometimes, you know, this person's not interested, they're not going to get saved, you just know that. This is never about trying to convert Pharaoh because that's just not going to happen. But I do believe that there were Egyptians, which, as I've said, I don't think they would have had freedom to preach the gospel to unsaved Egyptians in Egypt. I think you'd get arrested. I think you would get thrown in jail. You know, this would be like if you were trying to take it to the modern day, let's say just North Korea, where they're obviously not able to serve God, and God allows this exact situation, it's like, why wouldn't he just let the saved people get out of that, you know, hell hole immediately? Because look, anybody who's saved in North Korea, the best thing for them is to just leave as soon as they can. Do whatever you can, cross illegally if you're able to, right? I mean, I would say whatever it takes to get out of that country. But then imagine God allowing like a three month battle. You'd say, I've been persecuted for decades, why won't he just let me go? But if it can cause those in North Korea to end up knowing who the true God is, well, there's a purpose. And what he says in verse number five is, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. It doesn't mean that they're all going to get saved, but I do believe it means a lot are going to get saved. And I do believe even after all of these events take place, it kind of led to a much more open door in Egypt. There'd be saved people that remain then after this as some get converted. And then there's going to be more of an open door for the gospel to be preached, right? And so I believe that's the reason why God allows this long battle, or at least one of the primary reasons is simply that those in Egypt and even around the world could know about who the true God is. Because I mean, Egypt owns the world, so everybody's going to eventually hear, wait a minute, the Hebrews escaped from Egypt, you know, like how did that happen? And so it's not just Egyptians that are going to know the true God, it's even those outside of Egypt are going to find out about that and realize, you know, who the true God is, right? Verse number six, and Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they. And Moses was four score years old, and Aaron four score and three years old when they spake unto Pharaoh. Score is referring to 20 years. So when it says four score, you do four times 20. So four score is 80 years old for Moses. For Aaron, it is 83 years old. I'm not sure if this phrase is really used here in the Philippines, but the US is kind of famous because it's like the speech of Abraham Lincoln, it's like four score and seven years ago. So it's kind of like a known speech. But score is referring to 20 years, so you multiply times the four and then Aaron is the kuya by three years over Moses. And it says here in verse eight, and the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying, when Pharaoh shall speak unto you saying, show a miracle for you, then thou shall say unto Aaron, take thy rod and pass it before Pharaoh and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh and they did so as the Lord had commanded and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent. Now this is not known as one of the 10 plagues. The 10 plagues is going to start later on in this chapter. This is sort of like an introduction where it's like, here's the first sign, but it's not considered one of those 10 plagues that's going to come upon Egypt here. And basically they throw down the rod that they're holding. So it'd be like kind of like a long stick that you use, which people could often use this, you know, if you're, you know, sometimes, you know, you use a cane or something to walk if you're older or whatever, or you go hiking in the woods, if it's very steep, sometimes you might bring something like that to make yourself more sturdy. And so they're going to cast it to the ground and it becomes a serpent, it becomes a snake. You know, I'd imagine the natural reaction from a normal person would be to jump back. I mean, when I see snakes, you know, in West Virginia, we'd see them, it's like immediately you just kind of jump back and it's not really an animal you want to be around. Verse 11, then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the magicians in Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments, meaning that they cast a rod upon the ground and it became a serpent also, right? So basically they use sorcery, you know, sorcery is punished by the death penalty in the Bible. They use magic, they use enchantments, these are all terms with, you know, using, you know, magic. And there's no such thing as white magic or black magic, it's all bad. Say, well, you know, Harry Potter's the good guy because he's doing the white magic, right? And, you know, it's interesting because I saw this mini documentary on voodoo, you know, several years ago. And, you know, the opening is like the darkest, most satanic seeing seeming thing ever. And they show where it's like they're like doing like blood sacrifice and all kinds of wicked stuff. And the woman's like, we don't practice black magic, we practice white magic. It's like, if that's white magic, I'd be very scared to see what black magic is. I mean, it's like, it's, you know, bizarre. You know, what I'm saying is, you know, everybody thinks they're the good guy, right? It's like, no, it's all bad. I mean, both Harry Potter and the bad guys in that Harry Potter series, they'd all be put to death under God's rule, it's all wicked. You look at Disney, Disney is filled full of magic. Guess what? I mean, the good Disney characters practicing magic, they would get the death penalty in real life under God's system, right? Go to your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 18, Deuteronomy 18. You know, this is something that I think we need to be very strict on as parents because, you know, in our modern day, I actually think it can be a good thing because with the internet now having been around for a long time, I think you can actually find decent things on YouTube that your kids can watch that aren't really that bad. Even more so than 5 or 10 years ago, but for sure, the vast majority of the kids' things that are on YouTube are just garbage and I don't know how, but magic is passed off as just being some innocent thing like it's no big deal, right? And you know what, I believe there's a lot of parents that they're trying to raise their kids in a good way, in a conservative way, not even necessarily save people. They want to shelter their kids from some of the stuff that's out there and when I was a kid growing up, you know, I think my parents had the same philosophy, but you know, they restricted a lot of things from us watching, but one thing they let us watch a lot was Disney and because Disney passes itself as being innocent, just fun for kids and it's actually very dangerous because it's desensitizing you to magic as if it's not a big deal when it is a big deal, right? I mean, I don't remember all the names of the old Disney movies, but like Snow White had magic in it, Cinderella, Aladdin, you know, not all of them did, but it's just like they make it seem like it's some innocent sweet little thing that it's not a big deal, but it's actually, no, this is actually something that's punished by the death penalty in the Bible and in some ways it's more dangerous because it passes itself off as being for kids when it's not. It's not just that it shouldn't be for kids, it shouldn't be for adults, I mean, magic is just not a game, it's not a fake thing, it is a real thing that the Bible shows us here from the book of Exodus. Here's what it says in Deuteronomy 18 verse 10, there shall not be found among you anyone that naked the son or his daughter to pass through the fire or that useth divination or an observer of times or an enchanter or witch. Now, it's kind of interesting because in this verse, it mentions, let's see, five different things. The last one is a witch, probably the most common term, an enchanter, I mean, using enchantments that's also attached to sorcery, an observer of times, this is also using magic, or they useth divination, I mean, these are all things associated with magic. The first one mentioned is having your son or your daughter pass through the fire. And you know what, that kind of shows me and this is true that when you look at the history of people that practice magic, they also often have sacrifices. And so often the same people that would have their children pass through the fire are the same people practicing magic. And you know, when you look at cultures that have magic in the past, like religions like, what is it, Asatru, which was common in the Nordic or Scandinavian areas, the religion of the Vikings from the past, you know, the prose Edda, it's the, what is it, Loki and Odin and Thor, the hammer of Thor, and it's like, but their culture had a lot of magic associated with their religion and their culture. And they would also have human death rituals to try to get the blessings from the gods. And so these things often go hand in hand. So I believe there's a reason why in the same verse, it mentions growing your kids in the fire. And then it talks about all this magic that you would do. I mean, I can't really think of something much worse than intentionally sacrificing your child, right? Verse number 11, or a charmer or a consoler with familiar spirits or wizard or necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination on the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. And the Bible saying, I mean, in these verses, it's like magic, magic, magic, magic, magic. And what the Bible shows us is that these are what the heathen nations did. It has always been like this too. Ancient Egypt was filled with magic. The religious leaders are the magicians. I mean, this is always the way that it's been. Even if you were to go back in the history in the Philippines, you know, a lot of the people that are the religious leaders, they're practicing magic. And of course, they still do that in certain areas of the Philippines, where they'll get some witch thought. What's the term here in the Philippines? Albulario, right? You know, going to an albulario. And you know, when I was younger, I used to think all this sort of stuff was fake, because I've never really seen magic, like some people described it, but it's not all fake. And these people, you know, oftentimes they have the ability to just get in touch with spirits and do weird things. And it's like, it's nothing for Christians to be involved in, according to the word of God. Verse number 13, thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God, for these nations which thou shalt possess, hearken unto observers of times, and unto diviners, but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee, so to do. So during these times, what the Bible is basically saying is, all of the heathen nations are doing this, but it's not for God's people. And in today's world, though, magic is everywhere, because it enters in on the TV. And in Christian circles, it's not considered that big of a deal. I mean, a lot of the famous movies that are out there that are, you know, get hundreds of millions of dollars, they're filled full of magic. I mean, the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, oh, they're Christian films. How are they Christian films? Because I would rather you just set aside the Christian aspect of the film, and just openly said that, hey, this is not a Christian film at all, rather than trying to mix Christianity in with it. Right? Turn your Bible to Exodus chapter seven, Exodus seven, and there's a verse in the Bible that talks about the death penalty for magicians, sorcerers, wizards, thou shalt not suffer which to live. So they had the death penalty associated, and you know, I think one of the reasons why is because of the fact, it's not just that what they're doing is wicked, it's something that is just very appealing to young people. I mean, kids are just fascinated by it. And you know, obviously, there's like tricks that magicians do, but then there's like real magic. And look, I believe that the famous magicians that are out there, I do not believe they're just experts at doing tricks. I believe that they actually are given the ability to do certain things. I mean, you cannot tell me that David Blaine, it's all just tricks. You have got to be kidding me. Some of the things that David Blaine, I think he's the most famous magician that's out there. I mean, you know, you see several things like it's demonic. You cannot tell me they have, because if they had the ability going back thousands of years ago, why would you think it would be any different today? There are people that are sorcerers, people that are practicing magic, and they do have the ability to do things. And in today's world, as of the 20th century, it even really hit into the Christian circles with the Pentecostal movements, because they're literally playing around with devils and spirits. And what these famous Pentecostal preachers are doing is they're literally putting demons into people. Why do you think it is when they touch somebody and then all of a sudden they fall to the ground and they start shaking? It's probably because they put a devil into that person, they didn't heal them, they did the opposite. And this is very associated in Christian circles in 2024. As Christians, we should have nothing to do with it. Now I will say this, that the Bible says that the Egyptians do the same thing. It is my opinion that they did not literally turn an inanimate object into a serpent, a living, real animal. The Bible says that all things were made by God, without it was not anything made that was made. I don't believe, you know, and I'll talk about it when we talk about the frogs next week, because the magicians also create frogs. What I believe they did with the frogs is actually relocate frogs from one area. So I do think they had the ability to actually transport frogs, but I don't think they just created frogs out of thin air. That is my opinion. I'll kind of talk about that more next week, why I believe that. But basically, they appear to be doing just what Moses and Aaron are doing, turning a rod into a real living serpent. Then this is what it says in verse number 12, for they cast down every man's rod and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And so basically, they turn the rod into serpents and it gets eaten by Aaron's rod. And it says in verse 13, and he heartened Pharaoh's heart that he hearken not unto them as the Lord had said. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Verse 15, get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning, lo, he goeth out onto the water. It's interesting in verse number 15, the Bible says that Pharaoh goes on the water. It's an interesting detail the Bible adds. Go to Exodus chapter 8. Exodus chapter 8. I believe that when it says he went to the waters, referring to the Nile River is what that's referring to. Obviously, the Nile River is the famous river that's over in Egypt. And it says in Exodus chapter 8 verse 20, and the Lord said unto Moses, rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, lo, he cometh forth to the water and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me. So you're seeing many times when Moses is confronting Pharaoh, he's doing it at the Nile River. Right? Why do you see that multiple times here? Not every time, but why is it that several times you see this, it seems like Pharaoh has a pattern in the morning to go to the Nile River. Right now, I cannot be 100% dogmatic because the Bible does not say, but I don't think that Pharaoh is really into jogging. I don't think that he was going for a morning walk. There's a lot of opinions on this. I'll tell you my opinion here in a second. But a common opinion people have is that he was going to bathe in the Nile River. When you read online, they'll say, well, it was very hot in ancient Egypt. So Egyptians would take baths four times a day. I don't believe that. Four times is a lot. I'm the sort of person that is much more likely to take multiple showers than no showers in a day. But I don't know if I've ever taken four showers in a day. I mean, that's a lot of time that you're spending. And so I don't really buy that. But the thing is, I really don't buy it, especially because if you research in ancient Egypt, those that were elite had very intricate bathing systems indoors. They would not have needed to go to the Nile River. The common man would go to the Nile River, which that would make sense, and that's what you'll read. The common person had to go to the Nile River to take a bath. But the elite, the pharaoh, had a very intricate system indoors. So he would not have needed to do that. And I think that makes sense. I don't think that he would do it. And a big reason why I think that he would avoid going to the Nile River is because the Nile River is one of the most dangerous waters on the planet. You say, why? Because over 90% of crocodile deaths to humans come at the Nile River. It's known as the Nile crocodile, or crocodile Nile. It's like the, let me just read you these statistics. It says the Nile crocodile accounts for almost all crocodile attacks. Salt water has less than 10%. So basically 90%, and obviously the Nile River runs through many countries, I'm not saying it's only Egypt, but the vast majority of deaths are happening right there in Egypt. It's always been like that, and it's like that today as well. So when you're going to the Nile River to take a bath, it's like there is the chance that a crocodile is going to pop out and is going to eat you. And so I would say this, that if you're the pharaoh and you've got indoor bathing, it's like I'm not going to the Nile River and taking that chance. Because if you've ever seen videos with crocodiles that they're really scary animal because they really come out of nowhere. Like there's no sign whatsoever. You have no idea and they can attack them. And it happens in African countries all the time, especially along the Nile River with the Nile crocodiles as it's known. As a result of this, the crocodile became one of the most worshipped animals in ancient Egypt. So they've got a, one of their gods is called Sobek. And Sobek is basically a human with a crocodile head. And that's kind of how they do their gods. It's like they look like a human and then like the last part is like some animal. Here's what it says about Sobek. Sobek was an ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and elastic history and nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile or the West African crocodile and is represented either in its form or as a human with a crocodile head. Sobek was also associated with pharaonic power, fertility and military prowess, but served additionally as a protective deity with apotropaic qualities, invoked especially from protection against the dangers presented by the Nile. And if you read things on ancient Egypt, they'll say that, you know, having a crocodile sort of, they're kind of like Catholics have the rosary beads and, you know, if you're going to go and take a shower or a bath at the Nile River, you'd come with like this little figurine in your hand and somehow you thought that was going to protect you because it's kind of like, well, it's like I'm, it's like you're praying to the crocodile god, then it won't eat me or whatever, right? I mean, I don't understand idolatrous countries. I mean, it's bizarre, but if you read, because ancient Egypt actually has a lot of their history preserved just because, you know, it's, people are very fascinated by ancient Egypt. So a lot of it's actually been preserved, whereas some of the cultures like Babylon kind of got wiped out, Assyria got wiped out. Ancient Egypt, you can actually learn some of their information from their past. So I don't believe he was going to the Nile River to go running. I don't think he was going swimming. I don't think he's training for the Olympics. I don't think he's going there to take a shower. You say, why would he be down there? I think he's there to worship the Nile River. I think that makes the most sense. I mean, you see him down there multiple times and, you know, the Nile River was not technically one of the gods of ancient Egypt, but it was certainly worshipped like a god or even above the vast majority of gods. And it's kind of funny because we were talking about this before the service and you could think of like the Ganges River in India, where that's not technically one of their gods, but isn't it kind of worshipped at a level above, you know, almost all their gods? Where over in the Ganges River, they think that if you bathe in this water, it's going to give you this magical power and just heal you. And so I believe that Pharaoh was at the Nile River worshipping the Nile River and, you know, it's some sort of religious service. I think there's a lot of people there and you see this happening multiple times in the book of Exodus when we're having this battle that's going forth. Let me also read you from this other false god in ancient Egypt and, you know, the first plague could very well have been an attack on this god, Hapi, H-A-P-I, the god of fertility. Hapi was a god of fertility in ancient Egyptian mythology associated with the Nile River and its life-giving properties. He was often depicted as a man with large breasts and a prominent belly symbolizing the abundance and fertility of the land. So he's like a transsexual, it's not just some modern day thing, I mean, it's obviously existed back then as well. Now we're going to go back to Exodus in a second. Go to Isaiah chapter 19, Isaiah 19, and I've got this verse, I wasn't going to show this to you but I'm going to, we're going to turn there and you might ask this question about ancient Egypt because I wonder this as a kid because, you know, ancient Egypt was like the first very powerful empire and it's a fascinating, when I was a kid I was fascinated by ancient Egypt, I was fascinated by the pyramids and just, you know, like mummies and, you know, things such as that, I mean, it's very interesting, the ancient culture, more interesting than some of the other ancient cultures, I think, and, you know, you kind of wonder how is it they were so powerful and then they lost their power at some point and all powerful empires, that eventually happens, I mean, if this world lasts another thousand years, the United States is not going to be the most powerful country, I mean, nobody lasted power for just an extended period of time, eventually they make God so mad that God just wipes them out, right? But technically what made Egypt so powerful was the Nile River and the Nile River would annually flood, which is actually a good thing for them and they had just better crops than anybody else, they just became richer than any other culture, what the Bible says is that God dried up the Nile River and here's what it says in Isaiah 19 verse 4, and the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, and the waters shall fail from the sea and the rivers shall be wasted and dried up and if you read articles they will say that the Nile River, what caused the Nile River to dry up, why is it it was no longer such? Because I mean, in our modern day the Nile River is just another river, it's nothing special about it compared to other rivers, but it is what made them so wealthy before, it's like, well, how did it dry up, you know, what was the event that took place and they have like long and complicated explanations, my explanation is pretty simple, God dried it up, it's really that simple, I mean, God just decided, you know what, I'm no longer going to let you be such a powerful empire like you've been before and the Bible is very clear here in Isaiah 19 that God's the one that just made the river just dry up and no longer was it going to be this abundant thing that just made them so wealthy above anybody else. Go back to Exodus chapter 7, Exodus 7. And it shows you, even a powerful empire like Egypt, it's kind of like, their power is really in God's hands, where God can just take it away at any moment. You know, you look at Nebuchadnezzar, he's so powerful and then he's like, this great empire that I've built and then just like instantly it's like, the power's gone, I mean, God can allow you to be powerful, I mean, the Assyrians, like 185,000 died like instantly, I mean, back then 185,000 had to be a lot of people. For them to just die instantly, it's like, well, there goes the power of Assyria, right? So God can, you know, give and he can take away and he does that to us individually, we see this with the nation, what we need to take away because none of us are ever going to be the Pharaoh or the king or whatever of any country but here's the thing, I mean, God can bless us and he can take away that blessing instantly. That doesn't mean that if you're going through a tough time, that means that you're not blessed or God is mad at you or whatever, we need to realize like our number one job while we're here is to make God happy, far more important than anything else. Now here's what it says in Exodus 7, verse 15, get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning, lo he goeth out under the water and thou shalt stand by the rivers break against he come and the rod which was turned to a serpent shall thou take in thine hand and thou shalt say unto him, the Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee saying, let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness and behold, hitherto, thou wouldst not hear. Now, as I said, it's my opinion that Pharaoh is at the river basically worshiping it or paying homage or having some sort of ceremony or whatever they would have done in ancient Egypt and I believe that there's other people there when these events are taking place. I don't think this is just some event that's being done in the corner. I think other people witness it and then, of course, everybody's going to witness it, but I mean, people witness the initial thing where it's like, well, this is God's judgment and then word gets passed around. But just, you know, if you don't agree with me, that's fine, but just imagine this being a church service and just imagine in the middle of a church service, somebody just comes in like, you know, a street preacher, a protester saying, thus sayeth the Lord. Imagine going to, you know, the Catholic church over there in the middle of their church service and then just standing in the back say, thus sayeth the Lord. God is going to rain down judgment on your items. I mean, they throw you out of there. Imagine, you know, that, you know, the Muslims are in the middle of one of their prayer sessions, you know, praying five times a day and you just stand in the middle, thus sayeth the Lord. I mean, you'd be pretty angry if you're a Muslim, right? I mean, just imagine any sort of religious service. I'd be mad. I would be mad if somebody came in the middle of a church service and did that. Let me just say this, you know, if that ever does happen, it's like, just get rid of the person. I mean, I'm not saying that to beat them up or whatever, just try to do it as quietly as you can. You know, the best strategy is tuned in. You always want to have an extra witness, plus you never know with some crazy person who knows what could take place, but just have two guys just do your best to try to get them to go quietly or whatever. I don't expect that to happen, but you know what? You never know what happens in church, right? We let Iron Man show up, who knows who could show up, you know, another day, right? So who knows? But or imagine, you know, a Jew is just like doing this thing at the Wailing Wall and you just say, thus sayeth the Lord, right? And so I believe that's what's taking place here, where basically Moses just shows up and remember he had already given them a warning before and then he just shows up and it's like, thus sayeth the Lord, and you know, basically the judgment is going to come down upon him, right? So this is already going to make Pharaoh very upset, he already obviously doesn't like Moses and then this is taking place. Verse 17, thus sayeth the Lord, and this thou shalt know that I am the Lord, behold I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And you know, you have to realize that they looked at the Nile River as being a magical godlike river. Verse 18, thus sayeth the Lord, and this thou shalt know that I am the Lord, behold I am the Lord, behold I am the Lord, behold I am the Lord, behold I am the Lord, behold I am the Lord. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.