Opening Questions and Prayer
What makes someone an influencer?
Who are some of the biggest influences in your life?
Why?
In what ways is the Lord an influence in your life?
What things do you allow Him to influence?
Take a moment to pause and pray for the Lord to speak to you through studying the Bible today.
Read Exodus 10:1-3
Exodus 10:1-3 (All scripture is NLT unless otherwise noted)
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. 2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so they can worship me.
How is the Lord using Pharaoh's hard heart to influence the future generations of the Israelite people?
Why does Pharaoh continue to not let the Lord influence His life for good?
Who has influenced your faith in the Lord?
In what areas of your life do you struggle with letting the Lord influence? (finances, the shows you watch, what you post online, what you text to others, how you treat your family, etc.)
How can you let Him into that area this week?
Read Exodus 10:4-6
Exodus 10:4-6
4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I will bring a swarm of locusts on your country. 5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They will devour what little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees growing in the fields. 6 They will overrun your palaces and the homes of your officials and all the houses in Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt have your ancestors seen a plague like this one!” And with that, Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
What are the consequences if Pharaoh does not soften his whole heart to the things of the Lord?
How does this plague contrast the reason the Israelites came to Egypt in the first place?
See Genesis 42:1-2: When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? 2 I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”
When you allow other voices besides the Lord’s be a greater influence in your life, what happens?
What are some ways the Lord uses the things around us to point us to Him?
Read Exodus 10:7-11
Exodus 10:7-11
7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the Lord their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go and worship the Lord your God. But who exactly will be going with you?”
9 Moses replied, “We will all go—young and old, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds. We must all join together in celebrating a festival to the Lord.”
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The Lord will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones! I can see through your evil plan. 11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the Lord, since that is what you requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace.
What changed in Pharaoh’s officials lives that they are now on the side of the Israelites?
How were they a positive influence to Pharaoh now?
How was Pharaoh trying to get Moses to compromise?
What are some ways the enemy tries to get us to compromise in our relationship with the Lord?
How can you stay on the mission God has called you to complete?
Read Exodus 10:12-15
Exodus 10:12-15
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the hailstorm.”
13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the Lord caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms from one end of the country to the other. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian history, and there has never been another one like it. 15 For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
How did this plague further destroy things the Egyptians relied on for living?
What happens when we rely on the things the Lord provides, instead of the Lord Himself?
What are some things you rely on for peace, joy, and contentment in your life?
How do those things influence you and your behavior?
How can you rely more on the Lord this week to provide contentment in your life?
Read Exodus 10:16-20
Exodus 10:16-20
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you,” he confessed. 17 “Forgive my sin, just this once, and plead with the Lord your God to take away this death from me.”
18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and pleaded with the Lord. 19 The Lord responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go.
How does Pharaoh try to get the benefits of what God has to offer, without truly following God?
Even though Pharaoh doesn’t soften his heart to the Lord, why does the Lord still listen to him and answer his prayer?
What are some ways people try to get what God has to offer, without giving their lives completely to Him?
How have you done this in your own life?
Read Matthew 21:28-32
Matthew 21:28-32
28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?”
They replied, “The first.”
Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.
What lesson is Jesus teaching with this parable?
How was Pharaoh like the second son?
Why is it not enough to just say we are influenced by God?
How do you show that you have surrendered your life to the Lord?
Who can you tell this week about your journey on how you came to allow God to be the biggest influence in your life?
Memorize it!
Exodus 10:7
7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the Lord their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
Closing thoughts and prayer
It’s easy to say we follow God. It’s easy to show up at church and go through the motions. However, we have to allow the Lord to transform us from the inside out. It’s not enough to just say we will do the work the Lord calls us to, we have to actually do it! Pharaoh wanted the benefits of the Kingdom without actually living under the Lord’s influence. The Pharisees did the same thing, and people in the church still do it to this day. We have to live in complete surrender to the Lord, each day. The Lord then allows us to be an influence to others on how they should live in the Kingdom of God.
Pray and ask the Lord to show you the areas in your life that you are not surrendering to Him. Pray that He would help you give those things over to Him. Also, pray that the Lord would allow you to be an influence in someone’s life this week that needs to hear about Him. Finally end your time praying for our country, city, and leaders.
Further Study
Exodus 10:1-3
What does this passage teach us about the Lord’s character?
How have you seen that displayed in your own life?
How do you influence others for the Kingdom of God?
Is it a good or bad influence?
If the Lord was to say to you, “How long will you refuse to submit to me?” what would He be referring to?
How does not softening your heart to the things of the Lord hinder your worship?
Exodus 10:4-6
Why wouldn’t Pharaoh let the people go?
Who was influencing him?
When you’ve allowed someone or something to influence you for so long in an area of your life, what are some steps you could take to letting the Lord influence that area of your life?
What is difficult about obeying the Lord with our whole life?
Why is it better in the long run when we obey and allow the Lord to be the number one influencer in our life?
Exodus 10:7-11
According to the officials, who were the captives now?
What had changed?
What are some ways sin makes you think you’re in charge?
How does it become the captor?
When you find yourself stuck in sin, besides praying to the Lord, who can help you?
When will you talk to them this week?
Exodus 10:12-16
How do you respond when the “stuff” in your life goes away or doesn’t provide the comfort you expected it to?
What are some things the Lord has removed from your life during the last few months?
How has that made you rely on Him more?
What is something or someone you rely a lot on for comfort in your life?
How can you make sure you are relying on the Lord first, and allowing Him to be the biggest influence in your life?
Exodus 10:16-20
How does the fate of the locusts foreshadow the fate of the Egyptians if they do not turn their lives fully to the Lord?
How can Pharaoh see the things of God, realize his own sin and need for forgiveness, yet continue to live without surrendering his heart to the Lord?
Why do people want to live their own way, even if they’ve seen that God’s way is better?
How can you make sure that you have truly surrendered your life to the Lord?