Pharaoh is still refusing to listen to Moses and Aaron, so now God shows the Egyptians his full might, unleashing on them a series of ten plagues. Can you name them all? I normally get to about seven and then draw a blank, but this time I have the advantage of having my Bible sat next to me. So, in order, they are the water turning to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, the death of all livestock, boils, hail, locusts, three days of darkness, and the death of all firstbon sons. There is a basic pattern to the plagues - Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go, God sends a plague, Pharaoh promises to let them go if Moses prays for the plague to end, Moses prays and God ends the plague, Pharaoh goes back on his word and refuses to let the Israelites go, God sends a plague...and so on and so forth.
Why is Pharaoh so stubborn? You may remember that yesterday's passage claimed that it is because God hardened his heart, an idea many find difficult to accept as it implies that God made Pharaoh disobey Him and then punished him for the sin that He had caused, making God seem cruel and unjust. Today's passage doesn't make things any easier. Again it says that God hardened his heart (9:12, 10:1), but it also says that he hardened his own heart (8:15, 32) and in other places it says simply that his heart was hard (8:19, 9:35). So which is it? Did God harden his heart? Was he deliberately obstinate out of pride? Or was he just naturally stubborn? And why are so many possible explanations given? Maybe the writer believed that nobody acts outside of God's will and so Pharaoh hardening his own heart is essentially the same as God hardening it, making the two phrases interchangeable. Maybe it means that God allowed Pharaoh to harden his heart. Maybe "God hardened Pharaoh's heart" is just an idiom or a metaphor, a throwaway comment that doesn't really mean anything. Maybe Pharaoh's experience of God hardened his heart, but it wasn't intentional on God's part - it is possible to make someone angry without meaning to. Or maybe we just have to accept that God did something we don't like for His own reasons, and it's not ours to judge.
I won't go through each plague individually because that will soon get dull and repetitive, but I will draw out a few points. The first three plagues seem to affect everyone, Egyptian and Hebrew alike, but the later plagues are more discriminate and the Egyptians suffer while the Hebrews are spared. It's the same for us. Sometimes God protects us but sometimes we suffer as the world suffers. It's tempting to think that God should keep us from all harm, and many new Christians struggle when they realise this is not the case, but the truth is that we are still a part of the world and so we can not expect to be exempted from all of its woes and hardships. Bad stuff happens and sometimes we get caught up in it. We should be thankful for the times we are saved, and seek God's help in the times when we are not.
The plague of hail is the first that threatens life and God gives the people a clear warning, telling them to stay indoors because anyone caught in the hailstorm will die. We see here that God did not want to cause death and destruction - the plagues were a message to Pharaoh, not an act of violent revenge. People died because they would not listen, not because of God. It's like when people ask why a loving God would condemn people to Hell. Well, I don't believe He does. He tells us that is the ultimate conqesuence of our sinful lives, but then He gives us every opportunity to save ourselves. Like the Egyptians who went outside in the storm, we condemn ourselves by our own actions.
All the way through, Moses makes it clear that it is God at work. He tells Pharaoh when God will send each plague, and when each plague will be stopped. At one point he even lets Pharaoh appoint the hour when he will pray for the plague to end, so that Pharaoh will know it is stopped through prayer and not by coincidence. What about us? Do we tell people when we are praying for them so that they can see their prayers answered? Do we let others know how God moves in our own lives? In a secular society, it can be really difficult to talk about God, but we need to be really open about God and about His work so that others can recognise him as Lord.
Before the final plague, God tells the Hebrews to kill a lamb and smear its blood on their doorposts so that the angel of death will pass over them and they will be kept safe, and also to bake bread without yeast because they will not have time for it to rise. Over and over again in the Old Testament we see God giving people detailed practical instructions (think back to Naoh and the ark). It's easy to think that God is only there for moral or spiritual guidance, but He wants to help us with the everyday realities of life too. And He never tells us to do something then leaves us to it.
After the plague on the firstborn and the death of his eldest son, Pharaoh finally relents and lets the Israelites go. God killing all the firstborn sons in Egypt is another one of those episodes that makes most Christians very uncomfortable. Why would He do something so terrible? The phrase "drastic times call for drastic measures" comes to mind. God had given Pharaoh plenty of chances, but his heart was hard and it needed to be broken before he would listen. That doesn't mean God was happy about it. I am totally convinced that it hurt Him as much as it hurt Pharaoh. He doesn't want to cause us pain, it's just that sometimes He has to make us listen. When there are signs telling us to do something, or to stop doing something, it is wise to heed them straightaway before drastic measures are required.
And so after 430 years in Egypt, the Hebrew people set out once more. Six hundred thousand men, plus women, children and livestoock just walk out of the country. It must have been quite a sight to behold. God tells them to set aside this day and commemorate it, keeping vigil on that night every year in rememberance of the vigil God kept over them. This is the origin of the Passover meal that Jews still celebrate today, thousands of years later. The tradition has only lasted so long because the Hebrews who were part of the exodus told the next generation what had happened, and then that generation told their children, who in turn told their children, and so it keeps going. It is our duty to remember and celebrate God not only for ourselves but also for others, sharing with them so that they too can know who He is and what He has done.
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