Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, October 6, 2012 Read –Exodus 9 & 10 Chapters 9 & 10 continue the story of the plagues. There are some things we should notice about the telling of this story. As the plagues proceed, more and more God’s people are singled out and spared from the plagues. They are called to gather in Goshen where they will be safe and even the Egyptians are given warning that might mitigate the effect of the plagues for them. The plagues are God’s tool of deliverance. God is acting. God is doing battle against Egyptian gods represented by Pharaoh. And God will achieve God’s purposes. At the beginning of the story of the plagues Pharaoh says he does not know who this “Yahweh” is – by the end he will know who “Yahweh” is and he will beg the Israelites to leave. The Egyptian gods represented by Pharaoh are completely defeated by the end of this story.