The Plagues of Egypt He who is often

The Plagues of Egypt

§ “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29: 1). § Throughout the Old Testament, it is clear that Israel struggled constantly with the sin of idolatry. From the very beginning of Israel as a nation, God condemned idolatry and proved Himself to be the only true Deity. § Within the “Ten Commandments” given to Moses, God wrote, “You shall have no other gods before Me, ” which was followed by “You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20: 3 -5). § Did this mean that Israel could have other gods just so long as God was in first place?

§ Consider the fallacies of idolatry. § Jeremiah 10: 2 -5 – “Thus says the LORD: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, 3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. 4 They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. 5 Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. ” § An idol requires that a man build it and secure it, for it cannot build itself. Remember also that Dagon could not even stand before the ark of God, let alone repair itself (1 Samuel 5: 1 -5).

§ When we compare these two examples of idols and their lack of ability with the real God (consider 1 Kings 18 and 1 Samuel 5: 1 -5), then there is a clear distinction where strength and power are concerned.

§ It is into this discourse that we enter with the plagues that God leveled against Egypt. § In Exodus 12: 12, God said, ““…and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment…” § This declaration was the culmination of those plagues, but this statement came with the death of the firstborn. § While all of the plagues were horrible in their own right, this one in particular was a devastating blow to both the nation (Pharaoh) and to the gods of Egypt which proved powerless before the one, true God. Let us, then, jump into the plagues!

§ The magicians played a significant, but why and how? § First, note the reason why God chose to send the plagues § Exodus 7: 3 -5 - “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them. ”

§ Second, what did the magicians do? § They duplicated § Rods to Serpents – Exodus 7: 11 -13 § “Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. ” § Water to Blood – Exodus 7: 22 -23 § “But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ”

§ Frogs – Exodus 8: 7 § “But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. ” § Third, what could the magicians NOT do? § Lice – Exodus 8: 18 -19 § “The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God. ” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. ”

§ Fourth, what happened to the magicians? § Boils – Exodus 9: 11 -12 § “And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses. ” § What is the significance of all of this? § Pharaoh and the Egyptians placed great faith in these magicians who were clearly skilled § God used them to harden Pharaoh’s heart (remember that this was a judgment on the gods of Egypt) § Is this an Old Testament application of 2 Thessalonians 2: 9 -12? § In this manner, God destroyed the faith the Egyptians had in their magicians

§ Moving on, consider the most common interpretation(s) of God’s pronouncement against the gods of Egypt § First, and probably most common, is the “one god per plague” view § For this view, each individual plague would be a direct attack on a specific god § Although this is common, it makes the least sense, but why? § Within the Egyptian pantheon of gods, each element often had multiple gods attached § Further, it is true that “over time the ancient Egyptians had as many as two thousand deities” (Friedman, 2015, p. 8). § This is not to say that God could not or necessarily did not target specific Egyptian deities, but that seems less likely than some of the other options

§ Second is the multiple gods per plague view § For this view, each plague attacked a sub-category of gods § For instance, water to blood attacked Khnum (guardian of the river’s source), Hapi (Spirit of the Nile), and Osiris (the Nile was his bloodstream)

§ Third is the view that there was one main god over the gods and that the plagues attacked him, thereby attacking all of the gods § “This article discusses passages in the Torah’s narrative of the ten plagues that can readily be associated with Egyptian worship of the goddess of war, plague and pestilence, Sekhmet, and suggests that God used this deity as the focal point of His defeat of the Egyptian deities” (Friedman, 2015, p. 9). § With each of these views, none of them do a disservice to our primary text of Exodus § We can read and understand the primary text and these different possibilities do not negate a single thing in the revealed word of God

§ Water to Blood – Exodus 7: 14 -25 § Frogs – Exodus 8: 1 -15 § Lice – Exodus 8: 16 -19 § Flies – Exodus 8: 20 -32 § Death of Livestock – Exodus 9: 1 -7 (difference between Israel’s livestock and Egyptian) § Boils – Exodus 9: 8 -12 § Hail – Exodus 9: 13 -35 (Early crops destroyed, late crops spared ) § Locusts – 10: 1 -20 (Ate what the hail did not get – 10: 5) § Darkness – Exodus 10: 21 -29 § Death of the Firstborn – Exodus 11: 1 -10; 12: 29 -30

§ The final “god” upon whom God dealt out judgement was Pharaoh himself. Consider the following quotation: § “New Kingdom Egypt witnessed a major attempt at religious innovation. In the sixth year of his reign, the young Pharaoh Amonhotep IV (“Amon is Satisfied”) and changed his name to Akhenaten (“Servant of the Aten”). The change of name heralded an attempt at religious revolution. Akhenaten’s aim was to replace the worship of the numerous deities previously venerated in Egypt with the exclusive worship of the sundisk Aten and of himself as its living embodiment” (Jankowski, 2000, p. 12). § Given how hardheaded the Pharaoh was in Exodus, it is clear that he envisioned himself as this “embodiment” or god figure. § Some Pharaohs, it seems, thought themselves to be more powerful than did others.

§ Jankowski (2000) also wrote that “Throughout ancient Egyptian history the Egyptian pantheon was a fluid rather than a static one. The attributes of individual gods and goddesses and their perceived relationship to each other shifted over time in accord with the changing fortunes of different regions and temples” (p. 12). § After all the Pharaoh had witnessed, he still opted to pursue the children of Israel…to his own destruction. § God attacked Pharaoh in two ways here: death of the firstborn and in the death of Pharaoh himself (Exodus 14: 26 -28). § Not only was judgment thus dealt upon the “gods” of Egypt, but the children of Israel were witnesses to these acts: § “Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses” (Exodus 14: 31).

§ And so we have the original Proverb fulfilled, “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29: 1). § And it was in this manner that Exodus 6: 7 was fulfilled: “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ” § “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20: 3).

§ Where does this leave us? § Don’t place faith in anything but God § Do not believe the lies of the world § Do not harden your heart or stiffen your neck § Do not look to the so-called wisdom of the world, but look to the proof of God