Exodus 10:1 - 12:51
I used to think it was somehow unfair of God to harden Pharaoh's heart and thus force Egypt to go through ALL of the plagues. I reconciled that by understanding God's sovereignty certainly but I couldn't quite get it.
What struck me this morning is that what I think God was really up to in all of the plagues was showing HIS people who He was.
The Israelite people have been in Egypt for 400 plus years, probably with little more than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and perhaps some Joseph stories handed down. When God shows up and communicates through Moses He comes in with a rather significant display.
If you look closely too and do even a tiny bit of research you find out that each of the plagues goes right in the face of one of the gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Seth, Imhotep, Ra...they all take a hit when they're powerless against the God of Israelites.
Now imagine these folks who have been living in slavery in Egypt for 400 years surrounded by the Egyptian religious infrastructure...some of them HAD to have been influenced in their beliefs.
So God hears their cry, shows up, and quite clearly demonstrates His superiority before He ever leads them out the door. Proving who he is AND proving His power over the so called gods of the Egyptians.
All the while somehow managing to make the Egyptian people favorably disposed towards the Israelites...they must have been TICKED with Pharaoh who just wouldn't give it up.
In the end it seems even Pharaoh has an inkling as to who is in charge:
Exodus 12:31
During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take you flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me"
As cool as the stuff that is coming is...the pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, it had to have been awesome to live in Goshen and see God's display of power in the plagues.
Showing posts with label plagues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plagues. Show all posts
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Moses and Pharaoh
Exodus 4:18 - 9:35
After all of his attempts to get out of going before Pharaoh Moses goes and asks his father-in-law for permission to go to Egypt. God tells him right up front, "Look you're going to go tell Pharaoh to let the people go and he is going to say no. Just perform the signs and ride it out...he'll keep saying no." On the one hand not very encouraging but on the other I would think Moses would have to at least have some small sense of comfort in knowing that God had a plan...since he obviously knew what would happen in this first bit. In fact in 4:22-23 God foreshadows the eventual outcome:
"Then say to Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let my son go, so he may worship me'. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son." God is already informing Moses that the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, that he won't let the people go and that in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
The next bit is a little odd...God shows up while Moses is on his way back to Egypt...and apparently wants to kill Moses. (Ex 4:24) I'm almost wondering if Moses was being disobedient in regards to circumcising his son and so he downplays this episode when he writes the story.
All turns out well when Zipporah whips out the flint knife and performs a field circumcision.
It is also interesting that when Moses and Aaron first show up Pharaoh treats them like a nuisance...(Ex5:4)"Moses and Aaron why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!"
He's the king for crying out loud!
But he chooses to play the political manipulation card rather than dealing directly with these two...(Ex5:7)
You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota.
From there things unfold pretty much like God said they would:
the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, he won't let the people go and in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
I wonder if Moses secretly kept a checklist?
After all of his attempts to get out of going before Pharaoh Moses goes and asks his father-in-law for permission to go to Egypt. God tells him right up front, "Look you're going to go tell Pharaoh to let the people go and he is going to say no. Just perform the signs and ride it out...he'll keep saying no." On the one hand not very encouraging but on the other I would think Moses would have to at least have some small sense of comfort in knowing that God had a plan...since he obviously knew what would happen in this first bit. In fact in 4:22-23 God foreshadows the eventual outcome:
"Then say to Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let my son go, so he may worship me'. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son." God is already informing Moses that the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, that he won't let the people go and that in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
The next bit is a little odd...God shows up while Moses is on his way back to Egypt...and apparently wants to kill Moses. (Ex 4:24) I'm almost wondering if Moses was being disobedient in regards to circumcising his son and so he downplays this episode when he writes the story.
All turns out well when Zipporah whips out the flint knife and performs a field circumcision.
It is also interesting that when Moses and Aaron first show up Pharaoh treats them like a nuisance...(Ex5:4)"Moses and Aaron why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!"
He's the king for crying out loud!
But he chooses to play the political manipulation card rather than dealing directly with these two...(Ex5:7)
You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota.
From there things unfold pretty much like God said they would:
the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, he won't let the people go and in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
I wonder if Moses secretly kept a checklist?
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