Exodus 8:1; 25-32 LET’S MAKE A DEAL

 Some people here probably remember an old game show that was on television for many years called Let’s Make A Deal. The show debuted in December, 1963.  The premise of the show involved guests, wearing crazy costumes, winning merchandise and being offered the opportunity to trade that merchandise for something else.  If they wished to, they could take the items they had already won and trade them for items they could not see.  Sometimes the items were hidden behind doors or in boxes and the contestant had to make a choice. If they chose to trade the prizes they had already won, they might get something better, or they might get a “Zonk.”  That is, they might leave with something worthless. The show succeeded because there was always someone on there who was willing to make a deal. 

      You may wonder what that has to do with our text.  Well, the answer is simple.  The Lord sent a man named Moses down to a place called Egypt to speak to a king called Pharaoh.  Pharaoh had enslaved the people of God, the children of Israel, and God wanted Pharaoh to let them go.  When Pharaoh refused to let the people go, God sent awful judgment upon Pharaoh and his people in the form of ten devastating plagues.  During the course of these plagues, Pharaoh offered to let God’s people go.  But, he wanted them to go on his terms.  Four times he offered to let them leave, but each time he attached a condition and a compromise to their leaving.  He was saying to Moses, “I know God said to let His people go, and I will, but first, let’s make a deal.”  He wanted Moses and Israel to trade that which God had promised them for something