Front matter (continued, part 13)
(2) "I don't know your name" (vv. 13–22). As the representative of God, Moses had to be able to disclose His character to the Jewish people. Of course, God's name "Jehovah" had been known centuries ago (Gen. 4:26) and was familiar to the patriarchs (14:22; 15:1; 25:21–22; 28:13; 49:18). What Moses asked was, "What does Your name mean? What kind of a God are You?" God explained that the name Jehovah is a dynamic name, based on the Hebrew verb "to be" or "to become." He is the self-existent One who always
God's delays aren't evidence of unconcern, for He hears our groans, sees our plight, feels our sorrows, and remembers His covenant. What He has promised, He will perform, for He never breaks His covenant with His people. When the right time comes, God immediately goes to work.
The deliverer called (3:1—4:17) Moses spent forty years serving as a shepherd in Midian (Acts 7:23; Ex. 7:7), and during those many days and
Exodus 3—4
istries, for Aaron was to be the priest and Moses the prophet. When God in His anger gives us what we selfishly want, that gift rarely turns out to be a blessing (Num. 11:33; Hos. 13:11). One of the most painful judgments God can send is to let His people have their own way.
was, always is, and always will be, the faithful and dependable God who calls Himself "I AM."14 Centuries later, Jesus would take the name "I AM" and complete it: "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35), "I am the light of the world" (8:12), "I am the true vine" (15:1), and so on.
Subsequent events proved that Moses was very capable of speaking God's words with mighty power, both to his own people and to the king of Egypt. As the history of Israel unfolds, you find Moses delivering some eloquent messages in the power of the Lord. The book of Deuteronomy records his magnificent farewell speech.
The eternal God knows the end from the beginning, so He was able to tell Moses exactly what would happen when he returned to Egypt (Ex. 3:16–22). The elders of Israel would accept Moses as their leader and believe that God was about to deliver them. The king of Egypt would resist God's message and suffer the terrible judgments of God. The people of Israel would be delivered from the land and spoil the Egyptians and thus receive the wages they hadn't been paid during their years of slavery.
The lesson is plain: God knows us better than we know ourselves, so we must trust Him and obey what He tells us to do. When we tell God our weaknesses, we aren't sharing anything He doesn't already know (Judg. 6:15; 1 Sam. 9:21; Jer. 1:6). The will of God will never lead you where the power of God can't enable you, so walk by faith in His promises.
(3) "The elders won't believe me" (4:1–9). "They will not believe" really means "I do not believe." Moses was concerned about his credentials before the Jewish elders, so God gave him three signs to convince the elders that he was truly God's chosen servant. "The Jews require a sign" (1 Cor. 1:22). From now on, Moses will experience God's power and work miracles.
The deliverer sent (4:18–31) When you've lived in a place for forty years, how do you go about packing up and moving elsewhere, especially when you're going to a place of danger? The text describes five encouragements God gave Moses as he sought to obey the will of God.
(4) "I'm not a fluent speaker" (4:10–12). Moses completely missed the message of God's name and God's miraculous power. "I AM" is all that we need in every circumstance of life, and it's foolish for us to argue, "I am not." If God can turn rods into serpents and serpents into rods, if He can cause and cure leprosy, and if He can turn water into blood, then He can enable Moses to speak His Word with power.15 Moses was making the mistake of looking at himself instead of looking to God (6:12). The God who made us is able to use the gifts and abilities He's given us to accomplish the tasks He assigns to us.
His father-in-law's blessing (v. 18). Moses couldn't leave without first informing his father-in-law and receiving his permission and blessing. However, there's no record that Moses told Jethro of his meeting with Jehovah and his call to deliver the people of Israel from bondage. All he told Jethro was that he wanted to visit Egypt to see if his family was still alive.
The promises of God (vv. 19–23). As Moses stepped out by faith, God spoke to him and encouraged him. God told Moses not to be afraid to return to Egypt because his enemies were dead. Then He assured Moses that He would enable him to do the miraculous signs but that Pharaoh would only harden his heart and thereby invite more judgments from the Lord. Before Moses even arrived in Egypt, he knew he had a battle on his hands. It wouldn't be easy to convince Pharaoh to let his Jewish slaves go free.
Was Moses manifesting an attitude of pride or true humility? Forty years before, he felt perfectly adequate to face the enemy and act on behalf of his people, but now he's backing off and professing himself to be a worthless failure. But humility isn't thinking poorly of ourselves; it's simply not thinking of ourselves at all but making God everything. The humble servant thinks only of God's will and God's glory, not his or her own inadequacy, success, or failure. Moses was clothing his pride and unbelief in a hollow confession of weakness.
God also assured Moses of His special love for Israel, His firstborn son (Jer. 31:9; Hos. 11:1). In the ancient world, the firstborn in every family had special rights and privileges, and God would see to it that Israel, His firstborn, would be redeemed and rewarded, while the firstborn of Egypt would be slain. God was reminding Moses that he was the servant of a great God who knew what He would do. The key to victory was faith in the Lord.
(5) "Somebody else can do it better" (4:13–17). "O Lord, please send someone else to do it" (v. 13 niv). Moses calls Him "Lord" and yet refuses to obey His orders (Luke 6:46; Acts 10:14). Most of us understand that attitude because we've made the same mistake. If God isn't Lord of all, He isn't Lord at all.
In His anger, God appointed Aaron to be the spokesperson for Moses, but Aaron wasn't always a help to his brother. It was Aaron who cooperated with the people in making the golden calf (Ex. 32), and Aaron and his sister Miriam were critical of Moses and his wife and brought trouble to the camp (Num. 12). There's the suggestion in Exodus 4:14 that in accepting Aaron, Moses was confusing the Old Testament min-
Zipporah's obedience (vv. 24–26). Moses had neglected to circumcise his second son, Eliezer, and God struck Moses down with an illness that could have taken his life. We get the impression that when Moses had circumcised Gershom, his firstborn, Zipporah had been appalled by the ceremony and therefore had resisted
Exodus 4—5
because of conscience, their decisions must be based on the clear laws of God found in Scripture and not simply on personal prejudice. Note too that the midwives, Daniel and his friends, and the apostles were courteous in the way they dealt with the civil authorities and used the experience to bear witness of the truth of God. Jesus is the supreme example (1 Peter 2:13–25). 7 God's law is clear that it's wrong both to murder and to lie, but there are times in this evil world when we may have to choose between greater and lesser evils, and we need the wisdom of God to direct us (James 1:5). The legalist simply obeys the letter of the law, and the pragmatist does what seems safe and right at the time, but the spiritually minded person seeks the mind of Christ. As long as this world is in the travail of sin (Rom. 8:22), we will face difficult decisions. 8 Many conservative Bible scholars date the Exodus at about 1445 BC If Moses was eighty years old at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 7:7), then he was born about 1525 BC 9 Both Acts 7:20 and Hebrews 11:23 literally read "fair in the sight of God." Since the parents acted by faith, and faith comes through the Word (Rom. 10:17), Amram and Jochebed must have had some communication from the Lord that Moses was special to Him. 10 We shouldn't infer from the word "pleasures" that Moses was enjoying carnal delights in the palace. Rather, it was the pleasure enjoyed by a successful man of position. As a prince and "a man mighty in words and deeds," he had authority, respect, and security and needed nothing. 11 The name Gershom means "alien, stranger." Stephen points out in Acts 7:13, 35–36 that, like Jesus, both Joseph and Moses were rejected by their brethren at their first encounter but accepted at the second. Also, like Jesus, each man took a bride during the period of alienation from his people. 12 In Numbers 10:29 you find Raguel as an alternate spelling of Reuel and learn that his son's name was Hobab. However, Judges 4:11 names Hobab as the "father-in-law of Moses." The Hebrew word means "a husband's male relative by marriage" and can refer to either a brother-in-law or a father-in-law and should be translated "brother-in-law." 13 God's promises to Abraham had been passed down from generation to generation, so that Moses would be able to connect God's words in Exodus 3:18 with the promises in Genesis 15:13–21. It was all part of God's "continued story" of redemption. 14 The older versions of the Bible transliterate the Hebrew name for God as "Jehovah," but modern scholars prefer "Yahweh." 15 In Egypt, Moses had been "mighty in word" (Acts 7:22), but his years of shepherding seemed to have silenced him.
having Eliezer circumcised. Moses let her have her way and this displeased the Lord. After all, Moses couldn't lead the people of Israel if he was disobedient to one of the fundamental commandments of the Lord (Gen. 17:10–14). Even if the Jews didn't know it, God knew about his disobedience, and He was greatly displeased.
The servant of the Lord must be careful to "manage his own family well" (1 Tim. 3:4 niv) if he expects to enjoy the blessings of the Lord; for "[i]f anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?" (v. 5 niv)
Aaron's arrival (vv. 27–28). At Horeb (another name for Mount Sinai; 19:10–11; Deut. 4:10), Moses met his elder brother Aaron who would be his companion and associate for the next forty years. When it comes to serving the Lord, two are better than one (Eccl. 4:9). Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs (Mark 6:7) and God called Paul and Barnabas together to take the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 13:2). In spite of his faults, and we all have a few, Aaron ministered along with Moses and became the founder of the priesthood in Israel.
The nation's faith (vv. 29–31). Moses had expressed fear that the Jewish elders wouldn't believe his message or accept his leadership, but they did, and so did the rest of the nation when they saw the demonstration of God's power in the signs. On hearing that God was concerned for them and was about to rescue them, they bowed in grateful worship. Worship is the logical response of God's people to God's grace and goodness.
This was the lull before the storm. God was about to declare war on Egypt and Pharaoh, and life for the Jews would become more difficult before it would get better.
1 There are fourteen Old Testament books that begin with "and" in the original text: Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Esther, Ezekiel, and Jonah. Most English translations either ignore the "and" or translate it "now." 2 See my book Be Authentic (Cook) for an exposition of the life of Joseph and the last days of Jacob. The Hebrew word translated "name" is shem, and Shem was the son of Noah through whom the Hebrew nation came (Gen. 11:10). 3 Exodus 1:9 is the first instance in the Bible of the phrase "the children of Israel." 4 The word "Hyksos" means "rulers of foreign countries." The Hyksos were outsiders who infiltrated Egypt as servants and slaves and gradually took over the government, ruling during the fifteenth and sixteenth dynasties (1700–1542 BC). Being Semitic in origin, they would certainly identify with the Jews living in Egypt. 5 With so many Jewish women bearing so many children, it's likely that Shiphrah and Puah were "chief midwives" and had other women working under their supervision. The Egyptians were masters of organization and probably had a Bureau of Resident Alien Obstetrics. 6 These examples teach us that when Christians disobey the law
CHAPTER TWO Exodus 5:1—8:19 WAR IS DECLARED I
B.The Lord declares war on Pharaoh— 5—10
f Moses and Aaron had been privileged to listen to Jonathan Edwards preach his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," they probably would have shouted "Amen!" when Edwards said:
Exodus 5—6
was unconcerned about their welfare. Unknown to the king, God was working out His perfect plan to free His people and glorify His great name, and nothing Pharaoh could do would prevent God's plan from succeeding.
All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater.1
Instead of giving the Jews relief from their toil, Pharaoh made their labor even harder. He refused to give them the straw they needed for the manufacturing of the clay bricks, but he demanded that they still reach their assigned daily quotas. "If they have so much time on their hands that they can take a week off," he argued, "then let them find their own straw. The extra work will take their minds off such foolish ideas." God's message to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron was only "vain words" as far as the king was concerned (v. 9; "lies," niv).
Hearing those words, Moses and Aaron would have recalled the day they stood before the ruler of one of the greatest kingdoms of the ancient world.2 They were sent by God to inform Pharaoh that if he didn't release the Jewish people, Jehovah would declare war on him and his gods and wouldn't stop attacking Egypt until the people of Israel were set free. God's two ambassadors had one message from the Lord: "Let My people go—or else!"3 Pharaoh's responses to Moses and Aaron were predictable: he rejected God's command, disdained the miracles Moses and Aaron performed, and deliberately hardened his heart against the Lord.
When their work became unbearable because of the new rules, the Hebrews sent their foremen to protest to Pharaoh. It's unusual that slaves would have access to the king, but Pharaoh knew what he was doing. He told them what Moses and Aaron had demanded of him, and this turned the Jewish foremen against the leaders God had given them. The foremen told Moses and Aaron what they thought of them and then slandered them among the Jews. This wouldn't be the last time Moses would be opposed by his own people who didn't understand what the Lord was doing.
Pharaoh rejects God's Word (5:1—6:27) Their request was a simple one: Moses and Aaron wanted permission to take the Jewish people threedays' journey into the desert to a place where they could worship the Lord.4 Six days of travel and one day of worship would add up to a week away from their work, but Moses said nothing about how long they would be gone or when they would return. This omission made Pharaoh suspicious, and he wondered if the purpose of their journey was escape rather than worship. Three questions are involved in this episode.
Instead of going to Pharaoh to complain, the foremen should have gone to Moses and Aaron and suggested that they summon the elders and have a prayer meeting. They should have reminded themselves of the promises God had given Israel and claimed them by faith. What a difference that would have made for them and for their leaders! Alas, during the next forty years, complaining about God's will and criticizing God's leaders would be characteristic of the people of Israel, but are God's people much different today?
Pharaoh: "Why should I obey the Lord?" (5:1–3). This was a reasonable question because the Egyptian people considered Pharaoh to be a god, and why should their king obey a strange god that neither Pharaoh nor the Egyptians knew? Furthermore, what right did this new god have to call the Israelites "My people" when the Jews were the slaves of Pharaoh? If Pharaoh obeyed the edict, he would be acknowledging a deity greater than himself, and he wasn't about to do that. In his pride and false security, Pharaoh wouldn't listen to the words of the living God.
Moses: "Why have You sent me?" (5:22—6:27). Moses did what all spiritual leaders must do when the going is tough: he took his burden to the Lord and honestly talked to Him about the situation. It's easy to see that Moses was disappointed and distressed. He blamed God for the way Pharaoh was mistreating the Jews, and he accused Him of doing nothing. "Is this why You sent me?" he asked (5:22 niv). In other words, "Are You going to keep Your promises to me or not?"
Moses mentioned that the Israelites might be in danger of being killed if they failed to obey the Lord. Why bring that up? Perhaps Moses was hinting that Pharaoh's stubbornness might cost him his slaves and that he'd be better off to give the Jews a week off and thereby protect his cheap labor. However, there's another factor involved: Moses was telling Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews was a powerful God who could kill the Egyptians as well as the Jews. Pharaoh needed to understand that the demands Moses and Aaron were making were not to be taken lightly, for this was a matter of life and death.
God's chosen servants must expect opposition and misunderstanding, because that's part of what it means to be a leader; and leaders must know how to get alone with God, pour out their hearts, and seek His strength and wisdom. Spiritual leaders must be bold before people but broken before God (see Jer. 1) and must claim God's promises and do His will even when everything seems to be against them.
Pharaoh: "Why should the work stop?" (vv. 4–21). The enslavement of the Israelites was a great boost to the economy of Egypt, and Pharaoh wasn't about to give up a good thing. As dictators have done for centuries, Pharaoh exploited a captive people and
How did the Lord encourage His struggling servant? To begin with, God spoke to him and gave him great promises (Ex. 6:1–8). Today we have the written Word of God, but it's likely that Moses heard God speak in an audible voice (33:11; Deut. 34:10). Four
Exodus 6—7
Pharaoh belittles God's miracles (6:28—8:7) Up to this point in their confrontation with Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron had simply delivered God's ultimatum. Now the time had come for them to reveal God's power and perform the miraculous signs that proved they were truly sent by God. Still somewhat discouraged, Moses maintained that he wasn't a competent speaker, so God reminded him that Aaron could be his spokesman (6:26—7:2; 4:15–16). However, the Lord advised Moses and Aaron that it would take more than one or two miracles to accomplish His purposes, for He would multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
times in this speech, God reminded Moses, "I am the Lord" (Ex. 5:2, 6, 7, 8)5 and used His covenant name "Jehovah"; and seven times, God said, "I will." When we know that God is in control and we claim His promises, then we can experience peace and courage in the battles of life. God promised to bring Israel out of Egypt, free them from bondage, and take them into their Promised Land. At the heart of the seven "I will" promises is "And I will take you to Me for a people" (v. 7), which is the basis for all that God did for the Jews. God also reminded Moses of His covenant name "Jehovah" (6:3). One way to get to know God better is to pay attention to His names. The patriarchs knew God as "God Almighty,"6 which in the Hebrew is "El Shaddai—the all-sufficient and all-powerful God," and they knew that God's name was "Jehovah" (Yahweh), but they didn't understand the full implications of the name. God had explained the name "Jehovah" to Moses when He called him in Midian (3:13–14), but now He associated His name with the covenant He would make with His people (6:4). Jehovah is the special name of God that links Him with Israel and His covenants, and it is so sacred to Jews even today that they will not speak it when they read the Scriptures in the synagogue. Instead, they substitute "Adonai" (Master) or simply say "the Name."
Before we study this remarkable series of miracles, we must focus on the reasons why the Lord took this approach in dealing with Pharaoh and sent these sign judgments to the land of Egypt. The ultimate purpose, of course, was to bring Pharaoh and the Egyptians to their knees so they'd be willing for the Jews to leave the land. But at the same time, the Lord was revealing Himself to both the Israelites and the Egyptians and proving that He alone is God (7:5).
The miracles and plagues were also God's way of judging the gods of Egypt and proving them false and futile. "Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord" (12:12; and see 18:11 and Num. 33:4). More than eighty different deities were worshipped in Egypt, but they could do nothing to deliver the land and the people from the terrible judgments Jehovah sent. If nothing else, the Egyptians learned that Jehovah was the true and living God.
Third, the Lord assured Moses that He felt the burdens of His people and was working on their behalf (v. 5; see 2:24). God wasn't ignorant of their need or unconcerned about their suffering, nor was He adding to their problems by delaying their deliverance. Everything was working according to His plan and nothing God had planned would fail. Whenever we feel the Lord has abandoned us and doesn't really care, we need to remember His assuring words, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
But the people of Israel also needed to learn this lesson. According to Ezekiel 20:1–9, some of the Jews had begun to worship the Egyptian gods, and when they were delivered from Egypt, they took their gods with them! Did they compromise their faith in an attempt to please their captors and receive better treatment? But how could they forsake Jehovah after seeing all the demonstrations of His power? "Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies" (Ps. 106:7 nkjv).
Fourth, the Lord commanded Moses to speak to Pharaoh again (Ex. 6:9–13). Moses reached the depths of discouragement when the Jewish elders wouldn't even listen to him. They had forgotten the signs and promises that Moses and Aaron had given them (4:29–31) and in their anguish were convinced that the situation was hopeless. Moses and the elders had given up, but God hadn't given up on Moses. Moses was still God's servant, and He commissioned him to return to the palace and confront Pharaoh again. In times of despair, it's best to ignore our feelings and simply do what God tells us to do, leaving the consequences with Him.
The sign of the serpent (Ex. 7:8–13). God gave this sign to Moses when He called him in Midian (4:1–5), but now it was Aaron who performed it in Pharaoh's palace. The serpent was one of the special creatures in Egyptian religion, particularly the cobra, which was a symbol of immortality. Aaron's rod became a serpent by the power of the Lord, and his serpent ate up the serpents that the magicians produced.
The genealogy (6:14–27) isn't there by accident, for it's the Lord's way of reminding us, the readers, that God had prepared Moses and Aaron for their ministry in Egypt. Their arrival in Jacob's family was part of His providential working. Reuben was Jacob's firstborn, then Simeon, and then Levi, the ancestor of Moses and Aaron. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jer. 1:5 nkjv). God's calling means God's enabling, and what He begins He always completes (Eph. 2:10; Phil. 1:6).
The three sign miracles that we're considering—the staff turned into a serpent, the water turned to blood, and the invasion of the frogs—have in common the fact that all of them were duplicated by Pharaoh's court magicians. Perhaps "counterfeited" is a more accurate word, because what they did was more likely deceptive sleight of hand. However, Satan can empower his people to perform "lying wonders" (2 Thess. 2:9–10; Matt. 24:24; Rev. 13:11–15), and that may have been the source of their power.
Exodus 7—8
did; the magicians achieved their results by legerdemain and not by any supernatural power.
The apostle Paul used these Egyptian magicians to teach an important truth: in the last days, Satan will attack God's truth and God's people by imitating the works of God. Paul even named two of the court magicians: "Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth" (2 Tim. 3:8 niv). As Jesus taught in the parable of the tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43), Satan is a counterfeiter who "plants" imitation Christians in this world. Paul called them "false brethren" (2 Cor. 11:26). Satan has an imitation gospel (Gal. 1:6–9), a counterfeit righteousness (Rom. 10:1–3), and even counterfeit ministers who spread his lies (2 Cor. 11:13–15). Satan will one day produce a false Christ who will deceive the whole world (2 Thess. 2:1–12).
The sign of the invasion of frogs (8:1–7). Once more Moses and Aaron commanded Pharaoh, "Let my people go!" and warned him that another plague was coming. "Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings" (Ps. 105:30). In Egypt, the frog was a fertility symbol, and Heqet, the goddess of resurrection, fertility, and childbirth, had the head of a frog.
The Lord's warning was very specific. He told Pharaoh that the frogs would go into their houses, beds, ovens and cooking utensils, and would even cling to the bodies of the people. Of course, the magicians again counterfeited the miracle, when the smartest thing they could have done was to nullify it.
Pharaoh's magicians turned rods into snakes and water into blood, and were also able to produce frogs in the land. Satan opposes God's work by imitating it, and in this way he minimizes the power and glory of God. Pharaoh's attitude was, "Anything Jehovah can do, we can do better!" Of course, he couldn't, but that was enough to bolster his pride and keep him from submitting to the Lord.
Pharaoh hardens his heart against God (8:8–19) Pharaoh began to harden his heart when Moses and Aaron performed the first miraculous sign before him, just as God said he would do (7:3, 13–14). He hardened his heart further when his magicians counterfeited the signs (v. 22) and even when they couldn't duplicate what Moses and Aaron had done (8:19). When Moses succeeded in stopping the plague of frogs, Pharaoh's heart again hardened (v. 15). This hardening continued throughout the entire series of plagues (v. 32; 9:7, 34–35; 13:15).
The sign of water turned to blood (7:14–25). This miracle was the first of the ten "plagues" God sent to Egypt, the last of which (the death of the firstborn at Passover) led to the departure of the Jews from Egypt.7 The word "plague" (9:14; 11:1; 12:13) means "a blow, a stroke," and indicates that the hand of the Lord was punishing the Egyptians.
What does it mean to harden your heart? It means to see clear evidence of the hand of God at work and still refuse to accept His Word and submit to His will. It means to resist Him by showing ingratitude and disobedience and not having any fear of the Lord or of His judgments. Hardhearted people say with Pharaoh, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?" (5:2).
The longer Pharaoh resisted God, the more serious the judgments became. The first three plagues were distressful (water to blood, frogs, gnats); the second three were painful and costly (flies, death of the livestock, boils); and the last four were dangerous and destructive (hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn). The longer sinners resist God's will and refuse to hear His Word, the "louder" He has to speak to them through His judgments.
But the narrative also makes it clear that by sending these various judgments, God was hardening Pharaoh's heart (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17). Does this mean that God was unfair and that Pharaoh shouldn't be held responsible for what he did? No, for the same sun that melts the ice also hardens the clay. It all depends on the nature of the material.
Not only did the water of the Nile River turn into blood, but so did the other waters in the land and even the water stored in vessels of wood and stone. This was a judgment on the Nile River itself, which was treated like a god, and on Hapi, the god of the Nile, and Isis, the goddess of the Nile. The Nile River was the nation's major source of life-giving water for the people and their crops, so taking away their water supply was a devastating judgment. The people dug wells near the river in order to get pure water, but the fish in the river died and their decay produced a terrible stench. The plague and its consequences lasted a week (7:25).8
To the very end of the contest (14:5ff.), Pharaoh was a proud, unrepentant sinner who refused to hear God's Word, do God's will, or even keep his own promises to the Jewish people. The Lord gave him more than enough evidence to convince him that the gods of Egypt were false and the God of the Hebrews was the true and living God. Pharaoh sinned against a flood of light, and though God used him to accomplish His own purposes, Pharaoh made his own decisions and hardened his own heart against God.9
The magicians used some of the pure well water and duplicated the miracle. But if they had true magical powers, why didn't they reverse the miracle? That would have shown them to be more powerful than Jehovah and would have endeared them to Pharaoh and the people. The answer, of course, is that they didn't have the power to reverse what Moses and Aaron
He hardened his heart to God's mercy (vv. 8–15). Life was miserable for the Egyptians because of the invasion of the frogs, so much so that Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to remove the pests. He even admitted that the frogs had been sent by the Lord. So anxious was he to be rid of the frogs that he offered to let the Jewish people go on their worship trip if Moses
Exodus 8
The fact that the desert dust became gnats was a judgment against Set, the Egyptian god of the desert. Jehovah was so great that He could give life to insignificant dust and use that life to punish the people who revered Set. But something else was involved. The Egyptians in general, and the priests in particular, were fanatical about cleanliness, and the priests frequently washed and shaved their bodies in order to be acceptable to their gods. Imagine the chagrin and discomfort of the priests when their bodies were invaded by unclean gnats that made life miserable for them! And their gods could do nothing to deliver them!
and Aaron complied with his request. This was only a stratagem to remove the plague, but Moses and Aaron cooperated with him.
Why did Moses let Pharaoh select the time for the frogs to leave? To prove to him and the nation that Jehovah was the living God who heard their words and responded to the prayers of His servants. The plague wasn't a freakish accident; God was in control. But why didn't Pharaoh ask for immediate deliverance from the frogs? Why postpone recovery until the next day? Perhaps he was gambling on the chance that the frogs would leave of themselves, and then he wouldn't have to keep his bargain and release the people for their journey. Or, he may have wanted the word to spread that deliverance was coming so that the expectation of the people would be high. The next day the crowds would be waiting and watching, and if Moses failed, Pharaoh was the winner and Jehovah and His servants were discredited.
The defeated magicians saw "the finger of God" in this miracle when it was actually God's "strong hand" (6:1) and "outstretched arm" (v. 6). In Scripture, the "finger of God" is also associated with the giving of the law (31:18; Deut. 9:10), the creation of the heavens (Ps. 8:3), and the casting out of demons (Luke 11:20). All of these are demonstrations of God's authority and power.
But Moses wasn't about to fail, for he and Aaron prayed to God that the plague would end. God answered, not by causing the frogs to return to the rivers and ponds, but by killing the frogs and thus forcing the people to carry away the dead bodies and dispose of them. But how do you get rid of piles and piles of dead frogs? It wasn't easy, and the stench only reminded the Egyptians of their king's rebellion against God.
But God wasn't through with speaking to Pharaoh or judging the gods of Egypt. Jehovah had seven more plagues to send, and when they were finished, the nation of Egypt would be bankrupt.
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31).
Moses and Aaron kept their promise, and so did the Lord, but Pharaoh refused to keep his word and let the Jewish people go. He really wasn't interested in helping the Israelites; he only wanted to get relief from the awful plague of frogs. Many sinners aren't interested in repenting and receiving God's grace; they want only to be delivered from God's judgment. However, this was only a temporary respite; the greatest judgments were yet to come.
1 The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Banner of Truth Trust edition, 1976; vol. 2, 10. This is probably the most famous, least read, and most criticized sermon ever preached in America. Edwards preached it at Enfield, Massachusetts, on July 8, 1741, and God used it to begin a powerful spiritual awakening in New England. 2 Many scholars believe that the Pharaoh of the Exodus was Amenhotep II, son of Thutmose III, the Pharaoh of the oppression, whose death opened the way for Moses to return to Egypt. 3 "Let My people go" is found seven times in the pre-Exodus narrative: 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3. 4 The Lord had promised that the nation would worship Him at Mount Sinai (3:12), but they could never reach Sinai in three days (19:1). However, Moses knew that Pharaoh wouldn't let the people go (3:12–22); therefore, his words, though sincere, were but the first "volley" in God's war against Pharaoh. God's command gave Pharaoh an opportunity either to submit to the Lord or to reveal the sinfulness of his own proud heart. 5 God reminded the Jews that He was Jehovah (6:2, 6–8, 29; 10:2; 16:12; 20:2; 29:46; 31:13), but He also wanted the Egyptians to know that He was the Lord (7:5, 17; 8:22; 14:4, 18). The name "Jehovah" is translated as lord (all capitals) in most English translations of the Bible. It is used 6,823 times in the Old Testament. 6 See Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:3. "El Shaddai" (God Almighty) is used thirty times in the book of Job and eight times in the book of Revelation. Both of these books emphasize the greatness of God's power. 7 The first nine plagues divide into three triads, each triad climaxing with a plague that wasn't announced. The third
In my pastoral ministry, I've met people who were in trouble in one way or another, who begged me to pray that the Lord would deliver them. They made all kinds of promises to me and to the Lord, telling what they'd do if He would help them. But when He did graciously help them, they forgot their promises and even forgot the Lord. I never saw them again. They were quite unlike the psalmist who wrote: "I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you—vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble" (Ps. 66:13–14 niv).
He hardened his heart to God's power (Ex. 8:16–19). In stopping the plague of frogs, God was merciful to Pharaoh, but instead of surrendering to God's mercy, the king only further hardened his heart. So, the Lord sent a third plague and caused the dust of the ground to become gnats.10 Pharaoh's court magicians couldn't duplicate this miracle and had to admit it was "the finger of God." But even in the face of this evidence, Pharaoh refused to submit to the Lord and only hardened his heart even more. Neither God's mercy nor God's power caused him to repent and obey the Word of the Lord.
Exodus 8
ular holy occasion to see Moses and Aaron waiting for him. In Pharaoh's eyes, these two men were national nuisances. Actually, Pharaoh was the cause of the nation's troubles, but he would not admit it. God was dealing with Pharaoh in mercy, wanting to bring him into submission, for it's only when we obey God that we can truly enjoy His blessings. With one blow, God could have wiped out Pharaoh and the nation (9:15), but He chose to give them opportunity to repent.
(gnats), sixth (boils), and ninth (darkness) plagues came without warning; all the others were preceded by an announcement. Pharaoh had no right to complain because God told him what He was going to do. 8 The fact that there were still frogs in the river indicates that the water was again normal (8:11). If the water were still blood, the frogs would have died. 9 Since the Lord is holy, just, and good, and His ways are perfect, nobody has to defend what He does or try to explain why He does it (Rom. 9:14–21). God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to repent and yet he hardened his heart by the way he responded to God's clear revelation of Himself. What more could Moses and Aaron have done? 10 The Hebrew word is translated "lice" in the KJV and NKJV, and "gnats" in the NIV and NASB. Some scholars think it might have been a plague of mosquitoes. God sent swarms of little, flying, biting creatures that made life miserable for the Egyptians.
God's warning (vv. 20–21). We've already noted that before sending seven of the ten plagues, God warned Pharaoh what was coming but, of course, he refused to believe the Word of God and persisted in his disobedience. The fact that each plague occurred just as God described it, at the time announced, should have convinced Pharaoh and his officers that the God of Israel was in control of these spectacular events. They weren't caused by Pharaoh's magicians, who could neither prevent them nor reverse them, nor were they mere coincidences. The hand of the Lord was against the land of Egypt.
CHAPTER THREE Exodus 8:20—10:29 "THE LORD, MIGHTY IN BATTLE" G
God's grace (v. 22). The Lord added a new feature to this plague by announcing that the Jews in the land of Goshen1 would escape the plague completely. Only the great God of Israel could control the flight pattern of tiny flies and keep them from entering the land of Goshen. But God's providential care of Israel was evident in all these seven last plagues, because the Jews escaped each one of them (vv. 22–23; 9:4, 11 ["all the Egyptians"], 26; 10:6 ["all the Egyptians"], 23; 11:7).
od is gracious and longsuffering, but there comes a time when He will no longer tolerate the disobedience and arrogance of defiant sinners. "To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd" (Ps. 18:25–26 niv). If we walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to us (Lev. 26:23–24).
Often in Scripture, the land of Egypt symbolizes the world system with its pride and bondage, while the Exodus of Israel from Egypt pictures the deliverance of God's people through the blood of the lamb (John 1:29; Gal. 1:4; 1 Peter 1:18–19). During the time when Joseph was in Egypt, Pharaoh had given the land of Goshen to the Jews, and now God set it apart for His people. In this way God made a "division" between His people and the Egyptians. The word translated "division" in Exodus 8:23 means "a redemption, a ransom, a deliverance." Because they belonged to God in a special way, the Jews were "different" from the Egyptians, but Pharaoh wouldn't acknowledge this fact.2
"God shows Himself to each individual according to his character," wrote Charles Spurgeon, and no individual in Scripture illustrates this truth better than the king of Egypt. For months, Moses and Aaron had dealt with Pharaoh, but the king was unwilling to obey God's command or even acknowledge God's authority. The water courses in Egypt had been turned into blood, slimy frogs had invaded the land, and swarms of pesky gnats had irritated the people, but Pharaoh had refused to bend.
What did God do? He declared all-out war on both the ruler of Egypt and the gods of Egypt. The Lord sent six painful and destructive plagues to the land, and then a seventh plague which brought the death of every firstborn son. As you study Pharaoh's responses to these plagues, you see the moral and spiritual deterioration of a man who wouldn't submit to God and paid a terrible price for his rebellion.
God's wrath (v. 24). Just as God promised, the next day great swarms of flies invaded the land, entering the homes of the people and even the palace of the king. But the flies were more than just an immediate nuisance to the people, for their coming caused some long-range problems as well. The swarms of insects no doubt carried disease germs that affected the people, and it's possible the insects deposited their eggs on the vegetation and the larva that came out ate the plants and thus ruined the land. Some students think that the fly was especially sacred to the Egyptian god Uatchit, so the plague was also God's way of dishonoring another one of the false gods of Egypt.
Let's consider Pharaoh's responses to the judgments of God but, at the same time, let's examine our own hearts to learn whether or not we are responding positively to the will of God.
Bargaining (8:20–32) At certain times of the year, Pharaoh would go to the sacred Nile River to participate in special religious rites, and it certainly must have irritated him on that partic-
Pharaoh's offers (vv. 25–32). During the time of the plagues, Pharaoh offered four compromises to
Exodus 8—9
religion and the vanity of the many gods they worshipped, including Pharaoh himself. All that God did to Egypt was a reminder to His people that their God was fighting for them and they didn't have to worry or be afraid.
Moses and Aaron. The first two are recorded here, during the plague of the flies (vv. 25, 28); the third came during the locust plague (10:7–11); and the fourth occurred during the three days of darkness (vv. 24–26). The fact that Pharaoh even thought he could bargain with God is another evidence of his pride. What is mortal man, even the king of a great nation, that he should dare to negotiate the will of God? These offers were all part of Pharaoh's hypocritical scheme to outwit Moses and Aaron, for his heart was still stubborn and unyielding. He wasn't interested in either the will of God or the welfare of the Jews; all he wanted was to stop the plagues.
The fifth plague (vv. 1–7). Moses announced to Pharaoh that unless he released the Israelites within twenty-four hours, all the livestock in the Egyptian fields would be the next target for the demonstration of Jehovah's power. God would send a terrible pestilence upon the horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats in the fields, and they would die. We don't know what this pestilence was and it's useless to speculate. One thing is sure: God sent the plague and the livestock in the fields perished.4 Since some of the gods of Egypt were identified with bulls, cows, rams, and other livestock, this judgment was another successful attack on the Egyptian religion.
God's people face similar "Egyptian compromises" today as we seek to serve the Lord. The enemy tells us we don't have to be separated from sin because we can serve God "in the land." God's reply is found in 2 Corinthians 6:14–18. "Don't go too far away," the enemy whispers, "or people will call you a fanatic." James 1:27 and 4:4 demolish that proposal. True service to God means giving Him authority over all our possessions and all the people in our family for whom we're responsible. Not to do so is to disobey Mark 10:13–16; Ephesians 6:4; and Deuteronomy 6:6–13. Once we start to negotiate the will of God and see how close we can get to the world, we have already disobeyed Him in our hearts.
But God also kept His promise and protected the livestock that belonged to the Jews living in the land of Goshen. When Jacob and his family came to Egypt during the time of Joseph, they brought their flocks and herds with them (Gen. 45:10; 47:1; 50:8). During their time of bondage, the Jews were allowed to keep livestock, for at the Exodus, they took their flocks and herds with them (Ex. 12:37–38).
How did Pharaoh respond to this terrible plague? He hardened his heart and resisted the authority of the Lord. "How blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity" (Prov. 28:14 nasb). The opposite of a hard heart is a heart that fears God, and that reverential fear motivates us to obey the Lord's commands. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10), but the hardhearted person is ignorant of God and His truth (Eph. 4:18). The sixth plague (vv. 8–12). There was no warning given this time. Moses and Aaron simply went to one of the lime-kilns, filled their hands with soot, threw the soot into the air, and trusted God to do the rest. God kept His promise, for wherever the soot landed on the Egyptians and their cattle, it produced painful festering ulcers and boils. Once again, the Jews in Goshen were protected (v. 11).5
In his first proposal, Pharaoh offered to let the Jews hold their worship feast in the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:25), an offer Moses and Aaron rejected. They knew that some of the animals the Jews would sacrifice were sacred to the Egyptians,3 and what began as a meeting for solemn worship would quickly turn into a riot. The Jews were a separate people, living in Goshen, a land that had been set apart by God, and they had to separate themselves a three days' journey from Egypt in order to please the Lord.
Pharaoh's second offer was that Israel leave the land but not go too far away (v. 28). The appendix to his offer ("Now pray for me!" niv) shows that his real concern was to get rid of the swarms of flies. On the surface, it looks like Moses and Aaron accepted this second offer, because Moses promised to get rid of the flies. Perhaps they thought they could travel farther once they got out of the land, but surely they both knew that Pharaoh wouldn't keep his word. Pharaoh had a habit of begging for help when he needed it (v. 8; 9:28; 10:16–17) and then changing his mind once the plague was removed (8:15, 32; 9:34–35; 10:20). God answered Moses' prayer and removed the flies, but Pharaoh only hardened his heart even more.
Pharaoh summoned his court magicians, but they weren't able to go to the palace. The boils had caught up with them and they could do nothing about it! The experience was not only painful but also embarrassing, because the Egyptians were obsessed with physical cleanliness. They took frequent baths, but the festering sores would make that difficult.
The nation of Egypt was being devastated and the people were in great pain, but Pharaoh would not yield. He continued resisting the Lord and His servants, and each act of disobedience only hardened his heart more. "He who is often reproved and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" (Prov. 29:1 nkjv). For Pharaoh, the worst was yet to come.
Resisting (9:1–12) As you study the account of the plagues of Egypt, keep in mind the purposes God was fulfilling through these momentous events. First of all, He was manifesting His power to Pharaoh and his officials and proving to them that He alone is the true and living God. At the same time, the Lord was exposing the futility of the Egyptian
Exodus 9—10
Deceiving (9:13–35) It didn't look like Moses was achieving his purpose, for each new plague only made the situation worse. But God was in control and He knew what He was doing. The Lord always has a new word for His servants; all they have to do is listen, believe, and obey.
10:17.) However, his confession was insincere because it didn't lead to obedience.8 Moses knew that the king didn't really fear the Lord. All he and his officials wanted to do was stop the terrible hailstorm.
God in His grace answered Moses' prayer and stopped the plague. Pharaoh in his duplicity reneged on his promise and wouldn't let Israel go. When would he ever learn that you can't fight against God and win?
A fifth warning (vv. 13–21). This is the longest warning so far, perhaps because it introduced the most destructive plague God had sent thus far. Moses again gave God's command that Pharaoh allow the Jewish people to leave the country for a special meeting with the Lord, but this time the Lord added a special warning: the God of the Hebrews was about to release "the full force" of His plagues on Pharaoh, the people, and the land (v. 14 niv). Pharaoh's heart had become harder, so God's disciplines had to become more severe.
Appealing (10:1–20) When God gave Moses the instructions for his next meeting with Pharaoh, He added another reason for the great display of His wonders in the plagues: that the Jews might be able to tell the generations to come about the awesome power of their great God.
This purpose was also written into the Passover Feast (12:26–27; 13:8, 14–15). Whether in the family or the local church, it's good for each new generation to learn and appreciate the way God has worked on behalf of previous generations. Recalling and giving thanks for God's wonderful deeds is one of the basic themes of the book of Deuteronomy, including what the Lord did to Pharaoh (Deut. 4:34; 7:18–19; 26:5–8; 29:1–3). Interrogation (Ex. 10:3–11). Three questions summarize this confrontation with Pharaoh. First, Moses and Aaron asked Pharaoh how long he was going to persist in his pride and refuse to humble himself before God. It took a great deal of courage to tell any ancient ruler that he was proud, but especially the king of Egypt who was honored as a god. However, Moses and Aaron knew that the Lord would protect them and fulfill His word. They warned Pharaoh that if he failed to obey, vast swarms of locusts would come into the land and destroy everything that hadn't already been destroyed by the hailstorm. Moses and Aaron didn't wait for an answer or another false promise; they delivered their message and walked out of the palace.
Moses reminded the king of the Lord's mercy: "For if by now I had put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth" (v. 15 nasb). Simply by speaking the word, God could have wiped out the entire Egyptian nation, but God in His mercy doesn't give sinners all that they deserve. How grateful Pharaoh should have been, and yet he continued to resist the Lord.
Moses also reminded Pharaoh of God's sovereign grace (v. 16), a lesson more than one dictator has had to learn the hard way (Dan. 4:28–33; Acts 12:20–24). Apart from the sovereign will of God, Pharaoh would not have been the ruler of Egypt. Each time Pharaoh resisted God, the Lord used the situation to reveal His power and glorify His name. If Pharaoh exalted himself against God, then God exalted Himself through Pharaoh (Ex. 9:17). Paul quoted verse 16 in Romans 9:17 as part of his explanation of the justice and mercy of God with reference to Israel.6
The next day, God would send "the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt" (Ex. 9:18 niv), so Moses advised the people to gather into a safe place all the cattle that had not been in the fields and had survived the fifth plague. Even some of Pharaoh's servants now believed God's Word and obeyed it, but the king continued to harden his heart.
The second question came from Pharaoh's officers, "How long shall this man be a snare to us?" (v. 7) They suggested that Pharaoh had been wrong in not letting the Jews go, and they even dared to remind him that his anti-Jewish policy had ruined the land of Egypt. The officers certainly were brave to talk this boldly to Pharaoh, but the nation was in desperate straits and somebody had to do something. What harm could come from the Jewish people temporarily leaving their work and going on their journey?
The seventh plague (vv. 22–26). The next day, Moses stretched his rod toward heaven, and God sent thunder,7 rain (v. 33), hail, and lightning that ran along the ground. Any person or animal that wasn't under cover was killed, and the plants and trees in the fields were destroyed. Since the flax and barley were ready for harvest (v. 31), the plague must have come in January or February. Once again, the Lord protected His people in the land of Goshen and the plague didn't touch them.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron back to the palace and asked the third question: "Who are the ones that are going?" (v. 8 nasb) Moses made it clear that God wanted everybody to take this three-day journey. This included all the men, women, and children, the young and the old, and also the flocks and herds that would be needed to provide sacrifices for the Lord. Pharaoh offered to let only the men go on the journey, knowing that he could hold their families hostage and guarantee their return to Egypt, but it was a compromise that Moses and Aaron rejected.
Another royal lie (vv. 27–35). Seeing the devastation of his land, Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron, something he had done before (8:8) and would do again (10:16). However, this time the proud king acknowledged the justice of God and admitted that he had sinned! (He would do that again. See
Exodus 10
In his angry response (vv. 10–11), Pharaoh blasphemed the name of God. Literally, he said, "May the Lord be with you if I ever let you and your children go!" The Living Bible paraphrases it, "In the name of God I will not let you take your little ones!" Pharaoh interpreted their request as an evil plot to secure their freedom from Egyptian bondage. If all the Jewish men left with their families and livestock, they'd never have to return!
God sent the ninth plague, but the darkness over the land for three days proved that Jehovah was greater than Ra (or Re) and Horus, both of whom the Egyptians revered as sun gods. The darkness wasn't the natural result of a sandstorm but was a miracle from the hand of the God of the Hebrews. There was light for the Israelites in the land of Goshen, just as there would be light for them as they marched out of Egypt (14:19–20). The people of the world (Egypt) walk in the darkness, but the people of God walk in the light (John 3:19–21; 1 John 1:5–10). Always ready to call for help when he was in trouble, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and made one more offer. The Jews could go on their journey to worship the Lord, but they couldn't take their flocks and herds with them. Pharaoh's plan was to confiscate all their livestock to replace what he had lost in the plagues, and then send his army to bring the Jews back to Egyptian slavery. Moses and Aaron rejected the offer, not only because they saw through his crafty plan, but because they knew that Israel had to obey all the will of God.
That was the end of the interview, and Pharaoh commanded his officers to drive Moses and Aaron out of the palace. As far as he was concerned, he was finished with Moses and Aaron and would never again listen to their messages from the Lord. However, God had other plans, and before long, Pharaoh would again be appealing for deliverance and relief.
Invasion (vv. 12–15). God had seen and heard the entire interview and was prepared to respond to Pharaoh's blasphemy and disobedience. When Moses lifted his rod toward heaven, God sent an east wind that blew for the rest of that day and all through the night. It brought vast swarms of locusts into the land, and they began to devour all the vegetation that had survived the previous plague (9:32). Since the creatures attacked "all the Egyptians" (10:6), the inference is that Israel escaped this devastating plague.
Pharaoh was a proud man, and proud people don't like to be outwitted by those whom they consider their inferiors. Moses and Aaron had refused his four offers and had insisted that he let the Israelites go. These two humble Jews had proved themselves more powerful than the exalted Pharaoh of Egypt, a son of the gods. By His mighty judgments, the God of the Hebrews had brought the great nation of Egypt to its knees, and both the leaders and the common people in the land held Moses in high regard (Ex. 11:3).
If vocabulary is any indication of significance, then the locust was a significant creature in the Old Testament world, for there are at least eleven different Hebrew words in Scripture referring to it. The Jews were permitted to eat certain species of locusts (Lev. 11:20–23; Deut. 14:19–20; see Matt. 3:1–4), but for the most part, they hated the creatures because of their ability to strip the vegetation from an area with incredible speed. The Israelites used the locust swarm to describe anything that quickly invaded and devastated their land (Judg. 6:5; 7:12; Isa. 33:4; Jer. 46:23; 51:14, 27), and the prophet Joel compared the locusts to an invading army (Joel 1–2; see Amos 7:1–3).
Pharaoh was a beaten man, but he wouldn't admit it. Instead, he used his authority to try to intimidate Moses. He warned Moses that if he came back into the palace to see Pharaoh, he would be killed. There were to be no more official audiences before Pharaoh.
But before Moses left the throne room, he delivered God's final warning about the last plague, the death of the firstborn (v. 4). There's an unfortunate chapter division here, for it's likely that Moses delivered his final speech between 10:28 and 29, and then he left the throne room in great anger.9 Pharaoh had threatened to kill Moses, but God was going to slay every firstborn son in the land of Egypt and then drown Pharaoh's crack troops. In spite of what Pharaoh said about not seeing Moses, on Passover night, Pharaoh would once again call for Moses and plead for his help (12:31).
Intercession (vv. 16–19). If Pharaoh's officers thought that Egypt was already ruined (v. 7), then what was their opinion of the situation after the locusts arrived? Within a brief time, no vegetation was left anywhere in the land, and the creatures were invading the houses as well as the fields (v. 6). It was the most devastating natural calamity to hit the land of Egypt in all Egyptian history. In destroying the vegetation, God not only left the land bankrupt, but He triumphed over Osiris, the Egyptian god of fertility and crops. He also proved that He had control over the wind.
The hardening of Pharaoh's heart is a warning to all of us. If the sinful human heart doesn't respond by faith to God's Word, it cannot be transformed by the grace of God (Ezek. 36:26–27; Heb. 8:7–13). Instead, it will become harder and harder the longer it resists God's truth. No matter how often God may send affliction, it will only provoke more disobedience. In the last days, when God sends His terrible judgments on the world (Rev. 6—16),10 people will curse God and continue in their sins, but they will not repent (6:15–17; 9:20–21; 16:9, 11). There will be a whole world full of men and
Once again Pharaoh sought for relief without repentance, and God mercifully granted his request. God proved His greatness by reversing the winds and carrying all the locusts into the Red Sea. Within a short time, He would put Pharaoh's army into the Red Sea, and then the Israelites would be free to march to their Promised Land.
Threatening (10:21–29) We don't know how long after the locusts left Egypt that
Exodus 10—11
10 The parallels between the plagues of Egypt and the judgments in the book of Revelation are worth noting: water turned to blood (8:8; 16:4–6), frogs (16:13), painful sores (16:2), hail and fire (8:7), locusts (9:1), and terrible darkness (16:10).
women like Pharaoh who will behold God's judgments and still not repent.
"Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Heb. 3:7 nkjv).
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (10:31).
CHAPTER FOUR Exodus 11:1—13:16 ONE MORE PLAGUE T
C.The Lord wins the victory—11:1—15:21
1 Pharaoh had given the land of Goshen to Joseph's family in appreciation for all Joseph had done for the land of Egypt. See Genesis 45:10 and 50:8. 2 See Exodus 19:5–6 and Deuteronomy 32:8–9; 33:16. Balaam recognized the distinctiveness of Israel as a nation when he called the Jews "a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations" (Num. 23:9 niv). In Romans 9:1–5, Paul lists the special blessings God gave to the people of Israel. The fact that the Jews are God's chosen people doesn't mean they're better than any other people (Deut. 7:6–11) but that they belong to God in a special way, have special tasks to perform in this world, and are held accountable in a special way because of these privileges (Amos 3:2). 3 The goddess Hathor was pictured having the head of a cow, the god Apis the head of a bull, and Khnum the head of a ram. The cow was sacred to Isis and the ram to Amon. If the Egyptians had seen the Israelites sacrificing these animals to Jehovah, they would have protested violently and probably attacked the Jews who, after all, were nothing but slaves in the land. 4 Inasmuch as there were still livestock in Egypt that were affected by the next two plagues (9:9, 19–21), the word "all" in verse 6 should be interpreted in a relative sense. Note too that the livestock killed by the fifth plague were in the fields, not in sheds (vv. 19–21). 5 God warned Israel that if they disobeyed Him after entering the Promised Land, He would send them the same painful boils with which He had afflicted the Egyptians (Deut. 28:27, 35). 6 The fact that God allowed Pharaoh to be the ruler of Egypt, was longsuffering toward him, and mercifully spared his life, doesn't imply that God was to blame for Pharaoh's decisions. When God isn't allowed to rule, then He overrules and always accomplishes His purposes. However, He doesn't deprive people of the privilege of choice nor does He deny human responsibility. The Jews couldn't blame God for what Pharaoh did, nor could Pharaoh absolve himself of responsibility. 7 The Jews considered thunder to be the voice of God (Ps. 29; John 12:29), and thunder often accompanied the great works of God (Ex. 19:19; 20:18; 1 Sam. 7:10; 12:17). 8 Pharaoh is one of six people in Scripture who said, "I have sinned" but gave no evidence of true repentance: Balaam (Num. 22:34), Achan (Josh. 7:20), King Saul (1 Sam. 15:24, 30; 26:21), Shimei (2 Sam. 19:20), and Judas (Matt. 27:4). Those who said it and proved their repentance by their obedience were David (2 Sam. 12:13; 24:10, 17; 1 Chron. 21:8, 17; Ps. 51:4) and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:18, 21). 9 It is this incident that is referred to in Hebrews 11:27. Moses wasn't afraid of the wrath of Pharaoh as he organized the Jewish people and led them out of Egypt, for he knew that God would defeat Pharaoh and his army.
his section of the book of Exodus focuses on an unpopular subject: death. King Jehovah (Ps. 95:3) was about to confront King Pharaoh with another king—death, the "king of terrors" (Job 18:14). The last enemy, death (1 Cor. 15:26), would visit Egypt with one last plague and deliver one last blow to the proud ruler of the land. In one solemn night, all the firstborn sons and all the firstborn livestock in Egypt would die, and there would be a great cry throughout the land (Ex. 11:6; 12:30). Only then would Pharaoh let God's people go. However, death wouldn't visit the Jews and their livestock in the land of Goshen, because the Israelites belonged to the Lord and were His special people. In the land of Goshen, all that would die would be innocent yearling lambs, one for each Jewish household. This night would mark the inauguration of Passover, Israel's first national feast. In this chapter, we want to examine five different aspects of the Passover event.
Passover and the Egyptians (11:1–10) The people of Egypt had been irritated by the first six plagues, and their land and possessions had been devastated by the next two plagues. The ninth plague, the three days of darkness, had set the stage for the most dreadful plague of all, when the messengers of death would visit the land. "He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility—a band of destroying angels" (Ps. 78:49 niv).
Moses heard God's Word (vv. 1–3). These verses describe what happened before Moses was summoned to the palace to hear Pharaoh's last offer (10:24–29). Moses' speech (11:4–8) was delivered between verses 26 and 27 of chapter 10, and it ended with Moses leaving the palace in great anger (10:29; 11:8).
God told Moses that He would send one more plague to Egypt, a plague so terrible that Pharaoh would not only let the Israelites go but would command them to go. Pharaoh would drive them out of the land and thus fulfill the promise God had made even before the plagues had started (6:1; see 12:31–32, 39).
Moses told the Jewish people that the time had come for them to collect their unpaid wages for all the work they and their ancestors had done as slaves in Egypt. The Hebrew word translated "borrow" in the Authorized Version simply means "to ask or request." The Jews didn't intend to return what the Egyptians gave them, for that wealth was payment for an outstanding debt that Egypt owed to Israel. God had
Exodus 11—12
special blessing. God chose Abel, and then Seth, but not Cain; He chose Shem, not Japheth; Isaac, not Ishmael; and Jacob, not Esau.
promised Abraham that his descendants would leave Egypt "with great substance" (Gen. 15:14), and He repeated that promise to Moses (Ex. 3:21–22). God had given His servant Moses great respect among the Egyptians, and now He would give the Jews great favor with the Egyptians, who would freely give their wealth to the Jews (12:36–37).
These choices not only magnify God's sovereign grace, but they are a symbolic way of saying that our first birth is not accepted by God. We must experience a second birth, a spiritual birth, before God can accept us (John 1:12–13; 3:1–18). The firstborn son represents humanity's very best, but that isn't good enough for a holy God. Because of our first birth, we inherit Adam's sinful nature and are lost (Ps. 51:5–6), but when we experience a second birth through faith in Christ, we receive God's divine nature and are accepted in Christ (2 Peter 1:1–4; Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:9).
Moses warned Pharaoh (Ex. 11:4–10). This was Moses' final address to Pharaoh, who rejected it just as he did the other warnings. Pharaoh had no fear of God in his heart, therefore, he didn't take Moses' words seriously. But in rejecting God's word, Pharaoh caused the finest young men in the land to die and therefore brought profound sorrow to himself and to his people.
Pharaoh and the Egyptian people sinned against a flood of light and insulted God's mercy. The Lord had endured with much longsuffering the rebellion and arrogance of the king of Egypt as well as his cruel treatment of the Jewish people. God had warned Pharaoh many times, but the man wouldn't submit. Jehovah had publicly humiliated the Egyptian gods and goddesses and proved Himself to be the only true and living God, yet the nation would not believe.
Two questions must be addressed at this point: (1) Why did God slay only the firstborn? (2) Was He just in doing so when Pharaoh was the true culprit? In answering the first question, we also help to answer the second.