PREPARE YOUR HEART FOR THE SERMON BY LOOKING THROUGH THESE SUGGESTIONS THAT WILL ASSIST YOU IN MAKING THE MOST OF OUR TIME TOGETHER HEARING GOD'S WORD.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• Read Exodus 6:26-30 for context before reading Exodus 7.

• What do verses 3 and 4 tell us about God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility as the Lord will harden but Pharaoh will not listen?

• What is the difference between the miracle performed by Moses and Arron in the staff turning to a snake and the what the magicians did in turning a staff to a snake?

• What is the significance of Aaron’s snake eating the magician's snakes?

• The Nile was vital to life in Egypt and was an object of worship. What would be the significance of it being turned to blood?

• What was the scale of the plague of blood? Just the Nile? Local? National?

• The magicians were only able to duplicate or mimic this plague but not reverse its effects. What does this tell us about their power in contrast to God?

Prayerfully Meditate

• What do we learn about the character of God in contrast to faint heartedness of Moses and the Israelites and the hardened pride of Pharaoh?

• How do chapters 5-7 encourage our faith in God when the events of life don’t happen as we expected?

• Why does the Lord not cause Pharaoh to immediately release the people?

• Why were the magicians able to mimic the signs performed by Moses and Aaron?