THE FIRST SEVEN PLAGUES
Chapters 5 to 9
Pharaoh knew many gods, as Egypt and the neighbouring peoples were full of them, and he himself was revered as a god by the Egyptians. In his view, this LORD God of the slaves could not be very powerful, so he despised the message of Moses and Aaron.
Although Moses and Aaron had taken the message of the LORD faithfully to Pharaoh, the initial result was disastrous: more work and more oppression on the Hebrews: an example of how obedience to God sometimes brings persecution and tribulations to His people.
Saying that the people were thinking of leaving to worship their God in the desert, because they were idle, Pharaoh demanded that they find their own straw to make bricks, but that production must not be diminished because of this.
The officers of the Israelites, perhaps responsible for daily production control, were flogged by the Pharaoh's taskmasters if there was any reduction in the daily quota. They complained futilely to Pharaoh and went back to complain to Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them. Disappointed, Moses cried out to the LORD because instead of freeing the people, his trip to Pharaoh had only worsened their situation.
The LORD replied to Moses that, to free the people of Israel from Egypt, He would show his great power. He reminded Moses that He had revealed Himself to the patriarchs as El-Shaddai (God Almighty), not primarily as Jehovah, the personal name of the covenant-keeping God. The thought here seems to be that He would now reveal Himself as Lord in a new way, in new power in delivering His people. He had made a covenant and was about to fulfill it by freeing the Israelites from Egypt and bringing them into the Promised Land. Notice the seven "I will's" in verses 6-8. The name "Jehovah" had been used before, but now it took on new significance. Notice 25 personal pronouns used by God in these verses, emphasizing what He had done, was doing, and would do. Moses seems to have missed the point, being still occupied with his own inadequacy. After further reassurance, he did obey the word of the Lord (chapter 7).
At His behest, Moses assured the people that they would be freed from their bondage, being rescued with great manifestations of punishment (the captors) and that he would be his people, and that He would lead them to the promised land. But the people didn't give him attention, such was their anguish.
When the LORD commanded Moses to go back again to speak to Pharaoh, Moses, discouraged, did not want to go, thinking it would be useless. But the LORD insisted, and told him and Aaron to speak to the people and to Pharaoh, ordering him to let the people go.
A genealogy is then given to identify clearly the lineage and history of the family of Moses and Aaron, giving them the credentials and authority to work in the name of the LORD.
The narrative continues at the beginning of Chapter 7, with more details about what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron to say to Pharaoh; they were warned that they would not be heard by him, drawing upon the Egyptians major punishment: it was the plagues, so that, finally, the Egyptians would come to know that the God of Israel is the LORD.
God made Moses as a god unto Pharaoh, and his brother Aaron as prophet: the Pharaoh thought himself to be a god, but soon recognized Moses to be equal and even superior to himself. As the spokesman of Moses, Aaron was his prophet.
When Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh for the second time, he ordered them to do a miracle so that he could believe them. As the LORD had commanded, Aaron cast his rod before Pharaoh, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh called his sages, Jannes and Jambres (2 Timothy 3:8) and they repeated the miracle, but Aaron's rod devoured the others, showing that it came from a higher Power.
They also managed to copy the first and the second plague, but not the rest. Ironically, when duplicating what Moses did, they were only worsening the situation: they did not even try to contain or annul the plagues, which might prove a superiority that they did not have.
These facts also serve as a warning that while miracles can help our faith, it is very dangerous to rely solely on them: the enemy can imitate what God does and deceive the unwary. Pharaoh gave his whole attention to the miracle, and none to the message: we can avoid this error by taking the Word of God as the basis of our faith.
Then we have seven plagues, which are distinguished from the others because apparently until the seventh Pharaoh had opportunity to obey God and so prevent the continuation of his punishment.
After that God hardened his heart (chapter 10: 1).
1. Blood
Because of the obstinacy of Pharaoh, after another refusal to let the people go, Aaron took the stick and the waters over which he extended it, rivers, canals, ponds and reservoirs, the LORD changed into blood: both in taste, smell and texture, as in its deadly effect on fish, rotting everything. The Nile River was a river sacred to the Egyptians, dedicated to the god Osiris, whose eye-see-everything lies in many Egyptian paintings. Pagan rituals were performed in the spring, when the river brought life to the crop, on which the nation depended for its survival. The LORD demonstrated His sovereignty over it.
2. Frogs
Seven days later, because of another refusal of Pharaoh, extending his stick Aaron caused frogs to rise on rivers, canals and lakes, covering the land of Egypt. The frog-headed goddess Heka had a beautiful temple in Memphis, and the frogs were a symbol of fertility, sacred to the Egyptians, but the LORD made the frogs odious to them. Pharaoh entreated Moses to beg the LORD to take away the frogs, and promised, in return, to let the people go. Moses promised to do so on the following day, and so he did. But Pharaoh did not fulfil his part.
3. Lice
This plague was produced without first consulting Pharaoh. The Egyptians worshipped the god-earth Geb, but all the dust of the Earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt! The Hebrew word translated lice can also refer to fleas and mosquitoes. The magicians this time failed to do the same, and attributed the miracle to God. But the Pharaoh gave them no attention.
4. Flies
Again Pharaoh was consulted first and warned. On his refusal, swarms of flies came over all the territory of Egypt, except the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, proving that God was the LORD in the midst of that land. It is likely that the "flies" were beetles or scarabs, and scarabs were sacred. Many of them, made of gold, have been found in the ancient tombs of Egypt: dedicated to the sun-god Ra they represented eternal life. Again the Pharaoh promised, reluctantly, to let the people go, and backtracked when the flies were stopped.
5. Pestilence
The Pharaoh was consulted and warned: pestilence would come the next day over all cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep. But he would not budge, and the plague came. The second largest temple ever built in Egypt was dedicated to the god Apis, which was a black bull! The Pharaoh carried out a check and found that, in fact, all Egyptian herds had succumbed and died. Those of the Israelites remained intact. But he did not let the people go.
6. Boils in men and animals
Again without consulting the Pharaoh, Moses threw ashes from the furnace toward heaven, before the Pharaoh, and noils came upon the magicians and all the Egyptians, and on the animals. All the priests of Egypt had to be spotless-without any stain or defect in their bodies in order to serve in temples. With this plague, there had been an interruption in their services. But Pharaoh didn't give in.
7. Hailstones
There was a more time-consuming on intercession of Pharaoh, without result, so hailstones came with huge destruction. But God had said, "Get yourselves and your cattle inside." It was a question of whether or not they believed God. Many people did not believe the words of God, and they suffered from the judgment. God gave them a chance, but they had a choice whether or not they believed what He said. The same holds true today. The goddess of heaven that the Egyptians worshipped could do nothing for them. Pharaoh acknowledged that he had sinned and that the judgement was fair. He called for Moses to pray that the LORD might cause the thunder and the hailstones to stop, and then he would let the people go. Nevertheless he again failed to fulfil his word, as Moses had anticipated because he saw that Pharaoh still did not fear the LORD God.
R David Jones