The simple answer is the JEW, the nation of Israel! What other Nation of People has lasted as long as the Jew? From the call of Abram (who became Abraham) until today, the Jew has survived. They are God’s chosen People.
Exodus 32:13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Currently God has set the Nation of Israel aside to open the door of Salvation to individual Gentiles (and individual Jews) who will believe in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and confess that Jesus is God (Romans 10:9-13).
But soon that door will be shut and He again will be dealing with the Nation of Israel (the Jew). This will begin after the Rapture of the Church and begins 7 years of Tribulation.
By studying the History of the Jew, from the call of Abram (who became Abraham) until today, one can see the protective hand of God at work. Then compare the History of the Jew (outside of the Bible) with the Bible history of the Jew and one has to concede that the Bible is the word of God.
Prior to the tenth, and the most dreaded plague, God tells Moses and Aaron the list of laws that the Israelites must follow. God has foresight. He knows that man does not always understand or even listen and it seems very plausible that He is preparing them for their journey out of Egypt. Because God is taking them out of a country they have lived in for over four hundred years and have been slaves in that country, to the Egyptian master, for a little less than 200 years, He wants them to know they will be responsible to Him in their behavior.
Today we use the term, “Freedom is not free.” With freedom comes responsibility. Without responsibility and rules we would end up in anarchy. Following God’s laws will be their responsibility. You can probably imagine what the very first law God gave to Moses was before they left Egypt, it was the law of celebrating Passover.
God said, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.” This month that God is talking about is Nisan. Which is the spring month that includes Passover. It is celebrated as a time of rebirth, renewal, new beginnings, and the Creator of the world. It would be their first “Happy New Year”.
But actually, the Jewish calendar has two different first months. The other is called Tishrei, the autumn month that includes Rosh Hashanah, which is also the New Year. In the Jewish Torah, they celebrate two New Years. Passover takes our minds to when Jesus Christ said, “You are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” He continued by saying, “Whoever sins is a slave of sin.”
That concept is as true today as it was at the time of Moses, and all throughout history. Freedom is a process, not a destination. It is a promise from God’s Word. Maintaining your freedom requires good choices. Once set free, good choices help us remain free. God wanted those Israelites to know they would be responsible for their own freedom. He would set them free but they would have to keep their own freedom. God will not take them out of Egypt until they reaffirm their connection with Him. Then they will only remain free by worshipping God and following His rules. It is a requirement that the Israelites will worship their God.
That all begs the question, “How does one worship God?”
Yes, we can do it corporately in a religious service, but the Bible continually tells us that we worship God with our ethical behavior. Micah 6:8 makes it clear when it says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
The Law is actually there to remind the Israelites they are being liberated from Egypt in order to serve God. After that reminder, God tells them that in order to worship, it requires a sacrifice. In ten verses God outlines the law of the Paschal sacrifice. The first thing we have to know to keep the law is that the word Paschal is nothing more than the Hebrew word for Passover. The entire community must partake of this celebration. On the tenth day of each month every family, or every household shall take a lamb. The only exception is if a family is too small for a lamb, they may share it with another family.
With understanding we can know that the requirements God places on His people are not frivolous, they are an object lesson to teach even the dumbest of His chosen, and they are even meant to teach the Egyptians and anyone else who cares to learn. The lamb was one of many animals worshipped as gods by the Egyptians. So now the Israelites must slaughter a god of their oppressors. If we remember our first lesson on the plagues, we learned the plagues were not an attack on the people but an attack on the false Gods. The plagues were to prove God was more powerful than their false Gods. Today some people tend to believe the sacrifice of those animals was inhumane. But If anyone objects to the sacrificing, or killing, of these animal we must just remember the sacrificed animals were eaten.
That begs the question, “Who are we to object to eating unless you are a vegetarian. Added to that is the fact that it is an object lesson for Christians. Scripture says, “Jesus Christ is the lamb of God that was sacrificed for our sins.”
Of course we know that sacrificial lamb had to be spotless, without blemish, a male that was taken either from the sheep or from the goats. It must be watched over until the fourteenth day of the month. God’s orders are to be followed precisely. How much easier we have it today. To please God all we have to do is believe in Jesus Christ.
The Israelites obeyed the Lord and they went to their Egyptian neighbors and asked for objects of silver and objects of gold. And what does God do? Well, Scripture says he disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. In other words He gave the Egyptians a tendency, toward the Israelites, to give them gold and silver. We can only assume that left to their own devises the Egyptians would not be inclined to give the Jews their valuables.
There are theories as to why that happened but among the many theories is that of Josephus, a name we are used to hearing in our church. He was a first century Romano-Jewish historian, who believed the Egyptians were willing to give the Israelites anything they requested, including their most valuable possessions, just to finally get rid of them. But then we still have the question as to how does that fit with Scripture when it tells us God disposed their hearts favorably toward the people. However, just because we don’t know exactly how God changed their hearts at this moment, what we do know is it could only be accomplished by an all-powerful God.
Following that thought we then have the verse that follows after, that says, “Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people”. In spite of every plague that came upon the Egyptians, they had great respect for Moses. Then we come upon another paradox. Moses had told Pharaoh he would never see his face again, and now Moses is speaking to Pharaoh. Thus we see Moses did speak again to Pharaoh, although the message was not good. In fact, it may be the worst message Moses ever had to give to Pharaoh. Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians and every first born in the land of Egypt shall die. The first born male in Pharaoh’s family right on to the first born male in the slave girls family, and the first born among all the cattle.”
It all sounds so very cruel to kill all the firstborn under Pharaoh’s control, but then we have to remember this is not an arbitrary decision by a pouting God. Back in Exodus 4 verses 22 and 23 God told Moses: “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”
And then we get an euphemism that is not really familiar to us. Pharaoh is told, “Not a dog shall snarl at any of the Israelites, at man or beast, so you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”
Moses ends his conversation with Pharaoh by telling him all his courtiers would come and bow low to Moses and tell him to depart with all that was his. After all the warnings to Pharaoh, Moses got angry and left Pharaoh’s presence. And as sad as it turns out to be, God warned Moses that Pharaoh would not listen to him “so God’s marvels may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
In spite of the fact that Moses and Aaron had performed all these marvels before Pharaoh, God had hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he would not let the Israelites go. Pharaoh was not about to turn loose of all these productive workers he did not have to pay. It’s obvious it is going to take something earth shatteringly horrible to change Pharaoh’s mind.
We have looked at the first eight plagues placed on Egypt because the Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go worship their God. Now at number nine we have reached the plague of darkness. God told Moses, “Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt”.
Some scholars claim the darkness in Egypt was caused by a solar eclipse. But once again we have the choice of either believing God or just believing the world that it was a scheduled solar eclipse that Moses used for his own purposes. The problem becomes apparent when we learn that the darkness did not cover the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. And let’s face it, Goshen was in the land of Egypt and was the home of the slaves who were the Israelites. Goshen is a region in northeast Egypt along the eastern Nile Delta. The extent of the region is uncertain. Saying the eclipse covered the land of Egypt except for Goshen would be equivalent to saying day and night are reversed at every city or state line border.
Further testimony against it being simply a solar eclipse is the fact God created a darkness that can be touched. Or said another way, ‘the darkness was so oppressive you could feel it’. The darkness could be felt both physically and spiritually, it took away their perception, their ability to recognize others and their ability to make progress. That darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another, and for three full days, no one could get up from where they were, while ALL Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings. This evidently panicked Pharaoh. He summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord and even your children may go with you.”
But once again, Pharaoh being Pharaoh, he insisted their flocks and herds must be left behind. Moses being Moses, and having gained confidence with all the Lord had done for the Israelites, answered, “You, yourself, Pharaoh, must provide us with sacrifices and burnt offering to offer up to the Lord our God.” And then Moses added, “Our own livestock, shall go along with us, not a hoof will be left behind.”
Moses’s intention was to have enough animals to worship the Lord while not knowing what they would need until they get there. With that being said by Moses, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh would not let them go.
Pharaoh then told Moses, “Be gone with you! Don’t you dare see me again! You have no rights, You are not my kin. If you hear from me a simple sigh, and you look at my face, You will surely die.”
Moses replied, “You have spoken rightly, I will not see your face again.”
Actually, there was no point in seeing each other again. They did all that negotiating and neither were prepared to lighten their stance. It was time for God to take the Israelites out of Egypt. Then the Lord told Moses He would bring one more plague upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt, and then Pharaoh will let you out of here, one and all! God then instructed Moses to tell his people to ask their neighbors if they could borrow objects of silver and objects of gold.
And of course it sounds good to say you want to borrow something, but it’s not really borrowing when the Israelites will be leaving this land and they will be returning nothing. Now we know God is never deceptive and asking to borrow when there is no plan to return is truly deceptive.
That’s why we have language scholars. Actually the instructions in Hebrew says, “Tell the people to ask for silver and gold items, and to say please.” That was not such a bad idea since the Israelites had diligently worked for the Egyptians and were never paid for their work. So these objects were really due them. Giving to them was surely aided by the fact that the Egyptians were traumatized by the plagues and now they only wanted to get the Jews out of their land anyway they could.
In Chapter 10 God tells Moses to once again go to Pharaoh. But the interesting part is the reason why God is sending Moses back to Pharaoh. This time God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh because God has hardened Pharaoh’s heart and now wants to display God’s signs among the Egyptians. God is making a mockery of the Egyptians to show that He is the Lord. God is giving the Jews a lesson that can be recounted to their sons and their son’s sons. God is actually instructing the Jews to tell generation after generation about God’s miracles when He was taking the Jews out of Egypt. But it is not only a lesson for the Egyptians and the Israelites, it is a lesson for the whole world through all the generations. That is why God has preserved the Old Testament writing for us. These writings give proof that God is The Supreme Being and we are to have no other gods before him.
Following God’s instructions, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and asked how long it would take for Pharaoh to humble himself before God? They followed up that question with an instruction from God, “Let My people go.” IF not, tomorrow you will be converged upon with locusts. Those promised locusts are going to cover the land so it will not be able to be seen, and they will devour all the grain in the field, that was left after the hail, and they will even eat away the trees that were left. And then it gets much worse than that. Those locusts will fill the palaces and the houses of the courtiers and of all the Egyptians. No one has ever seen before such a plague as this. Without waiting for an answer, Moses turned and left.
Pharaoh’s courtiers appealed to Pharaoh. They asked how long Pharaoh would let this be a snare to them. They advised Pharaoh to let the people go worship the Lord their God. They asked, “Are you not yet aware Egypt is lost?”
With that Pharaoh evidently decides to bargain with Moses. He said, Go, worship the Lord your God,” but then he questioned, “Who are the ones to go?”
Foxy old Pharaoh, he wants to hold the ace card! For Pharaoh being humble is just too hard. If only a portion of those Israelites go, He can still be running the complete show. They will surely come back to be with those who were left behind and were not chose. But Moses would not be controlled. His answer was “We will all go, young and old, for we must observe the Lord’s festival.”
Pharaoh sarcastically answers Mosses request with, “The Lord be with you the same, as I mean to let your children go with you. Clearly you are bent on mischief.”
The word in Hebrew that was translated mischief actually translates to evil. Pharaoh is accusing Moses that he wants his people to leave so they can do something evil – evil like wanting to be free. And while Pharaoh is making accusations to Moses he still doesn’t believe God has total power and he is rude and obnoxious to Moses, disregarding his own advisors advice. He told Moses, “You menfolk go worship the Lord, since that is what you want.” And then Moses and Aaron were kicked out of Pharaoh’s presence.
And of course it was inevitable that God told Moses to hold out his arm over the land of Egypt for the locusts. The Lord drove an east wind over the land all that day and all night; and when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. With hindsight, remembering what we have learned about the plagues earlier, we can see God uses natural forces to bring devastation upon Egypt.
It’s kind of a test. Anyone can believe either the plagues were by nature or by the Hand of the Lord. Today we still have the same conundrum the Egyptians had, was it coincidence or was it God? Throughout the years many, many people have made the mistake of not believing God has power. Even when it comes to our own existence we have to make the choice whether we evolved from a big bang or God created us.
Because of Pharaoh’s unbelief locusts invaded his land. They settled in the territory of Egypt in a thick mass. They hid all the land from everyone’s view, they ate everything green, not just a few. Nothing was left of grasses or green they ate all the fruit which could be seen.
And you probably can’t even imagine what happens next! – You are probably right! Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and humbly said, “I stand guilty before the Lord your God and before you.
But there is a hidden problem here in Scripture. We believe if we sin we can repent before God and he will forgive us. Polytheists, those who worship more than one God, believe they can sin before only one god while doing nothing wrong in the eyes of another god. This is why it is so easy to say if he did anything wrong before the Jew’s God, he is not guilty before any of his own gods. “Forgive my offense just this once” says Pharaoh. He continues with, “Plead with the Lord your God that he remove this death from me.”
Moses did as Pharaoh requested and God caused a shift in the wind to the west and cleared all the locusts from the territory of Egypt – Not one was left!
And of course experience teaches us, that once again it is not Pharaoh hardening his heart, it is God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.
At first Pharaoh of Egypt hardened his own heart against the Jew’s God. But then God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he could not change his mind as the plagues worsened.
This meant that not only did he not heed what Moses and Aaron said but he also would not heed what his own advisors told him.
His advisors got anxious to get rid of the Israelites and their terrible plagues before more bad fortune befell the Egyptians.
The magicians, in particular, wanted rid of them. They were no longer able to duplicate the plagues, but they were also not able to get rid of them. This conundrum is ruining their reputations.
Pharaoh is nothing more than an evil ruler who is bringing destructions on the people he claims to represent and love. Pharaoh’s stiffened heart continued to create problems.
Once again the Lord told Moses, “Early in the morning, present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go.”
God then threatened to send all the plagues upon Pharaoh and all his citizens. He told Pharaoh He could have erased them from the face of the earth entirely. But He spared them in order to show His power and for the purpose of spreading God’s name throughout the whole universe.
After which, God told Moses to tell Pharaoh God would rain down a very heavy hail of which they had never seen in their life. Then Pharaoh was to announce to ALL the people that they must bring all their livestock and anything of value inside under shelter.
This instruction creates a conundrum. During a past plague we are told “all the livestock of the Egyptians died”. No one really knows why or how there are more livestock to take inside. And I am certainly not going to argue with the scholars guessing at the meaning.
Now we all know God even warned that anyone who did not take cover would be killed by the hail. With hindsight we can see the irony. Here was the ‘most high’ leader of the land having to follow the orders of the Israelites God. It must have been a very humbling situation.
Remember, they were warned that every man and beast that remained outdoors would be killed. But as human nature would have it, there were those who did not obey the Lord and they left their slaves and cattle outdoors.
Moses was told by God to hold out his arms toward the sky that hail might fall on all the grasses of the field in Egypt.
When Moses held out his arms, hail, thunder and lightning fell down upon the land of Egypt. The sad part of this situation was it was not just the livestock that were killed, but also the Israelite slaves that took care of the livestock.
The slaves were not evildoers but they had the misfortune of living with the evil doers and therefore were caught in the punishment.
Not only did the hail strike down all that were in the field but it also struck down all the grasses of the field and shattered all the trees of the field. And as promised, there was no hail in Goshen, where the Israelites lived.
Of course, Pharaoh was up to his old tricks. He sent for Moses and Aaron and said: “I stand guilty this time. The Lord is right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord that there may be an end to God’s thunder and hail.”
Moses answered that he would plead with the Lord to stop the hail, but then he added, “I know that you and your courtiers do not yet fear the Lord.”
Scripture tells us the flax and the barley were ruined, as they were ripe for harvest, but the wheat and the emmer, which is another type of wheat, were not ruined because they were late crops.
Moses did as he said he would and the hail and thunder ceased. It was wonderful for Pharaoh to be believed. The problem was he could not be believed. He reverted back to his old guilty ways.
We all know people like that. Humble when they are caught and punished, repentant when they have no choice, but quickly return to their old ways when they think they got away with it. And low and behold, his courtiers were exactly the same way.
Once again Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he would not “let the people go”!
Luke (1), Acts (8), Romans (10), 1 Corinthians (3), 2 Corinthians (3), Galatians (1), Ephesians (3), Philippians (2), Colossians (3), 1 Thessalonians (4), 2 Thessalonians (1), 1 Timothy (1), Titus (3), Hebrews (5), 1 Peter (4), 1 John (1)
And perhaps the best HOPE for believers is found in Titus 2:11-14For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Paul was looking for that BLESSED HOPE in his life time. The Rapture. He wrote about it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; and in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 he tells about the new body we will have. One like the risen Lord Jesus Christ, Flesh and Bone, no blood.
In deed the best hope for all believers, the coming of the Lord Jesus for all his saints.
God has logic in everything he does. When it comes to the plagues on the Egyptians they are divided into a pattern of three sets of three and then the Judgement which is the only one in the fourth set.
In the first set Pharaoh was warned of the first two plagues which were the Water to Blood, and next the Frogs. Pharaoh was not warned about the third plague in the first set of three which was the Lice. In the second set Pharaoh was warned about the first two, but not the third. The second set containing three plagues began with the fourth plague of insects everywhere. In the third set of threes he was warned once again, about the first two plagues but not the third. And he certainly wasn’t warned about the one in the fourth set which was the judgement. Some people think the forth plague of insects were flies. But not just any fly, flies that bore into the skin and lay eggs under the skin.
If the fourth plague is interpreted as flies, it fits within a speculative framework of the Ten Plagues of Egypt being linked to scientific climate change. There is a theory which promotes a climate in warming that says, “Biting flies, having hatched in soil heavily polluted with animal urine and feces, would have become abundant with warming weather, and the flies would have easily bred in a land strewn with frog corpses.”
But if we are going to believe the plagues were all natural forces of climate and climate change, we have to take power away from God. Actually, that theory would only make God nothing more than a fortune teller. But we know God is all powerful and He is capable of making and moving nature to use for His needs. God actually brought the plagues, for his purpose of freeing His people.
The fifth plague, the second in the second set of three’s, was the killing of the livestock owned by the Egyptians. We start Chapter nine of Exodus the same way we did so many times before. God once again laid it on the line: Pharaoh must let God’s people go, submission to God he must show. If Pharaoh refuses to submit, it won’t be pretty Moses admits. God will strike Egyptian livestock in the fields. No harm to Israelites livestock he will yield. This plague was laid out completely. It will include horses, asses, camels, cattle, and sheep. They will be struck with a very severe pestilence.
We remember the Egyptians worshipped almost everything, and had a god for everything. Remember, we know God was not attacking the Egyptian people, He was proving the impotence of the Egyptian gods. He is reaffirming only the God of the Israelites is divine and nothing else in nature is, even if they call them gods. Then He did what He did prior to the last plague. God made it known that there is a difference between the livestock of the Egyptians and the livestock of the Israelites when He said, “nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites”.
It seems this is a first between the Egyptians and God. But this time, for the first time, He tells them even more. This time he tells them the plague will be tomorrow. And God being true to his word struck all the livestock the very next day. All the livestock of the Egyptians died but not one of the livestock of the Israelites died – NOT ONE BEAST. Pharaoh at least had a curiosity about God. He inquired if any of the livestock of the Israelites had died. And even though none had Pharaoh remained stubborn against God and the Israelites.
But now for the sixth plague, the third in the second set of threes, God told Moses and Aaron to go to the kiln and take out handfuls of soot. They were to throw those handfuls of soot in the air, in front of Pharaoh. They were told, It shall become a fine dust all over the land of Egypt. Moses threw it toward the sky and it caused an inflammation breaking out in boils on both man and beast. The magicians didn’t even try to duplicate or to dispel this plague as they were also covered with inflammation, and hurting, the same as all the Egyptians. We are not told this time that Pharaoh hardened his heart against God and the Israelites. Pharaoh didn’t have that chance. God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart first.
And now Pharaoh has time to decide what he wants to do with the Israelites. Their fate, at this time, is directly in the hands of Pharaoh. Pharaoh had much opposition to his decision. The magicians were particularly eager to change Pharaoh’s mind. They evidently realized this God had far greater power than they did with their illusions, and it was obvious God had far more power than Pharaoh did.
The Lord said to Moses, “Early in the morning, present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews; Let my people go to worship me. For this time I will send all my plagues upon your person, and your courtiers, and your people. In order that you may know THERE IS NONE LIKE ME IN ALL THE LAND.”
They worshiped the frogs until they got them in abundance then they were convinced the frogs were redundant. Do away with the frogs and Pharaoh will respect God’s request. But low and behold he didn’t pass the test. As soon as he got just what he wanted his power to say no was immediately vaunted. In his land the Jews must stay. He was convinced he would have his own way.
Well poor Pharaoh, he forgot who he was up against. Once again he forgot Man rules but God overrules. And when Pharaoh said no, God said, “Pharaoh you have not yet learned from experience who my people are, and more importantly, who I am”.
That’s when God brought on the next plague. God told Moses, “Say to Aaron, hold out your rod and strike the dust of the earth and it shall turn to lice throughout the land of Egypt.”
And they did! In fact all the dust of the earth turned to lice throughout the land of Egypt. I guess you could cope with walking on lice but having the habits that lice have, they didn’t stay under their feet! Those lice took abode on man and beast! The interesting fact is that those wonderful magicians were unable to make more lice or to make the lice disappear. This evidently made a real impact on the magicians because they told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!”
Was Pharaoh affected? He surely was. His heart became more stiffened. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Early in the morning present yourself to Pharaoh, as he is coming out to the water, and say to him: Thus says the Lord, Let My people go that they may worship me. And if you do not let My people go, I will let loose swarms of insects against you.”
In Hebrew, God is telling Pharaoh either send the Israelites, or God will send another plague. This is where God tells us He will set apart the region of Goshen where His people dwell, and they will not have the swarms of insects. And then for the very first time God makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites and the time of the plague is fixed! In fact, God said “I will make a distinction between my people and your people, and tomorrow this sign shall come to pass.”
And He did just what He said He would do. Heavy swarms of insects invaded Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his courtiers; throughout the country of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of insets. And then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and told them to sacrifice to their Lord within the land. This of course, is not God’s instructions. So, Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh it would not be right to do this. They told Pharaoh that what they sacrificed to the Lord would be untouchable and reprehensible to the Egyptians. And if they saw that we sacrifice, and that we worship, it would incite violence from the Egyptians. They told Pharaoh they had to go a distance of three days into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord God, as He had commanded. Pharaoh decided he would let them sacrifice in the wilderness, but they must not go very far, and Pharaoh wanted them to plead for him. Because of Pharaoh’s repentant attitude Moses said, “I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of insects depart tomorrow from Pharaoh and his courtiers and his people, that the swarms of insects may leave you.”
And Moses did just that. But you surely remember this Bible story and you already know Pharaoh became stubborn again or still, as the case would have it, and would not let the people go. Once Pharaoh got his own way he hardened his heart against the God of Israel and against all the Israelites. It is reasonable to believe that the Egyptians thought that the God of the Jews was their enemy. But that is not so. It is their own Pharaoh who is the real enemy of his people.
How sad that even in our “enlightened age” we have enemies who do not care about our welfare. Scripture teaches that we face three foes:
the World
the Flesh
the Devil
And many times I believe I can be more specific and say our governing leaders can be, and are, on many occasions, our enemies. It may not be as easy to see as the plagues were but we are plagued none the less.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Chapter eight of Exodus begins with the second plague, the first of course was turning the water into blood, but the second was frogs. Frogs, frogs everywhere. In the house, under your chairs, in your bed, no place to sit or lie but rather worship, sleep and eat with them instead. And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Hold out your arm with the rod over the rivers, and the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt.”
Aaron followed the orders and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. It is known that out of all the plagues the frogs were the least destructive. Some have believed they were simply meant to annoy and humiliate the Pharaoh.
Today the Jews use a song that was written around 1957 for children to sing and learn Jewish history at their Passover Seder, it is:
One morning when Pharaoh awoke in his bed. There were frogs in his bed, and frogs on his head. Frogs on his nose and frogs on his toes. Frogs here, frogs there. Frogs were jumping everywhere.
Of course, the lesson to be learned was since you choose to worship the frog god Hekt, you can have frogs everywhere. And now the magicians do it again, they add insult to injury. Why did they do it? To prove they are as great as Moses and Aaron they inflict even more pain on the Egyptians. They produce more frogs! Think about the stupidity! Wouldn’t it have been wiser to make frogs disappear rather than make even more frogs? Well, even though those frogs were only a humiliation, Pharaoh decided he would cooperate. He summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to remove the frogs from me and my people and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
Did you listen carefully? Pharaoh is willing to acknowledge the God of the Jews as a real God. In fact Pharaoh even choose to call Him the word YHVH which we translate as Yaway. And Pharaoh is acquiescing to the God of the Jews. He skipped right over his magicians who were using illusion to duplicate what God does easily. Moses’s reaction to Pharaoh was judicious. He agreed to Pharaoh’s request, he even asked Pharaoh when he would like the frogs removed. Pharaoh quickly responded ‘tomorrow’. Moses agreed with Pharaoh and added “that you may know that there is none like the Lord our God.”
And Moses assured the Pharaoh that the frogs would return to the Nile and remain there. Actually the phrase, “that you may know that there is none like the Lord our God” is said four times during the plague narratives.
That phrase is repeated because the purpose of the plagues is to reveal the one true God to humanity. When Moses and Aaron left the Pharaohs presence, Moses cried out to God! It doesn’t say he prayed, or speaks to him it says he cried out. This implies he is anxious to relieve the suffering of the innocent Egyptians who were plagued by the frogs. In fact, we saw this before when Abraham pleaded for those in Sodom who might be innocent. Moses is pleading for those Egyptians he believes are not full-fledged evil doers.
We, in turn, have Christians crying out for the saving of non-believers who are really nice people and just don’t happen to believe God. We want mercy for the “good guys” who just don’t see a need to study scripture or believe what anyone tells them about God. Even though God did not tell Moses to allow Pharaoh to dictate when the frogs would leave, God went along with Moses’s decision. And God did it! He killed all the frogs in the houses, in the courtyards, and the fields.
And they piled them up in heaps! And then, oh boy, did they stink! We can understand the frogs stunk but can we understand why Pharaoh stunk? Well, once the frogs were gone, at his request, he no longer listened to Moses, and he would not allow the Jews to leave to worship their God.
Pharaoh has not yet learned the lesson, Man Rules, God Overrules. But eventually Pharaoh will.
