Again and again we hear the “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart”. I wonder, is this fair? Why was it necessary to prolong the devastation of Egypt this way? Would Pharaoh really have given in much earlier? I believe Pharaoh’s heart was already arrogant, self-centered and turned against God. I believe he was already exceedingly sinful, with a heart of stone toward God and his people. God started with what was already there, and then highlighted it to humble Pharaoh, Egypt and any who would ignore him. Even if Pharaoh had relented much earlier, how long would it have been before he changed his mind and chased after Israel. How much more would they have suffered when he caught them? Even after all this, he does just that. It is only by God’s intervention that his people are freed, his name is feared, and his holy and ever-loving character is shown and understood. The plagues and the plight of Israel culminate in the most memorable of them all. A story which has largely focused on second born and younger sons now centers greatly on the first-born. On this night, all of Egypt learned what it is to mourn the death of an oldest child. And Israel, with their doorposts smeared in the blood of sacrificial lambs, understood the cost and the sacrifice associated with freedom. The imagery is not lost. It is the center of the gospel story. By the death of the firstborn is anyone granted adoption as sons and daughters of God, younger children, chosen for covenant relationship. Through the blood of a perfect, innocent, sacrificial lamb is anyone freed from bondage, slavery, to sin, Satan, and death. This lasting ordinance is still observed by Jews around the world, and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, which the Passover foreshadowed, is still celebrated by Christians.
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The signs and the plagues…Where do I begin in discussing all of this?
Wisemen and sorcerers of old seem to have had some power! When Aaron threw down his staff and it became a serpent, Pharaoh’s wise men were able to do the same. These men certainly rival the likes of Chris Angel or Dalia. But then Aaron’s staff/serpent ate the others. Even the first plague seemed not much of a match for them. God turned the Nile into blood. Some have tried to argue that this was not really blood, but some kind of poisonous algae or mineral. Yet it came across all of the Nile, immediately with no warning. And, it even effected water already drawn from the Nile, collected in pots and cisterns. Not to mention, neither the Egyptians or Hebrews were so naïve that they couldn’t tell the difference between infected water and blood. But how did the magicians replicate this? Perhaps theirs was a deception to make water resemble something like blood, in limited quantity. I have heard several theories over the years attempting to explain or argue away the plagues. One interesting idea links these events to the eruption of Thera, or another great volcano, and attempts to show how all of these plagues might naturally occur, in this order. It is interesting, and I am no geologist or climatologist, but this is less than convincing for me. Another popular idea purports each plague to challenge a specific Egyptian god. One problem with this lies with plagues three and four, lice/gnats and flies. Although most of the plagues seem to correspond with great Egyptian gods, I can’t seem to find any Egyptian gods particularly associated with either of these. But I do not at all doubt that the plagues were meant to challenge the gods. God used these to reveal himself and his power to Israel and to Egypt. He used these to display his superiority over any gods Egypt worshipped, and Israel may be tempted to carry with them when they left. And as he moves onto plague four, he even more greatly displays his sovereignty over all things by confining the plagues to Egypt alone, and not afflicting Goshen or the Israelite people. Moses is one stubborn and reluctant hero. He has God’s promise and miraculous powers; he has the message of God and his mission. Yet he resists as much as he can. “I am nobody who will be listened to.” “I don’t speak so well.” “They haven’t listened to me.” “They don’t like me.” God confronts every one of his objections, even appoints Aaron to help him. No wonder God was angry with Moses! Job was berated by the divine being, for less. Jonah studied the insides of a whale for refusing and running from God. I think Moses got off pretty easy. Have you ever resisted God’s calling or leading in your life? Have you ever tried to refuse his plan for you – whether it was a call to the mission field or a word for a neighbor? Many of us do, and almost always it turns out for us like Moses. God gets his way, but the path becomes harder for us when we first resist. And of course Pharaoh dismissed Moses and the word from God. They were told he would! God said he would harden Pharaoh’s heart. In his letter to Rome, Paul uses this and God’s selection of Jacob over Esau as example and proof of what we today call predestination. Election is a central theme of the Bible and a defining characteristic of Israel. Through a chosen group of people God makes known his presence, his character, his desires, and carries out his plans so that the world will know who he is. Through a chosen people God brought his Son, the Messiah, to conquer sin and Satan and restore his relationship with mankind. Election, based on God’s logic and purposes, not on man’s deservedness, rings throughout the Bible. |
AuthorDonovan Campbell, pastor of Greenville Presbyterian Church in Donalds, SC. Archives
June 2020
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