One more plague

Portion Exo 8-10
Message from Exo 7-11

God never fought with Pharaoh, because all the plagues were directed against his Gods.
How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?
Let my people go, so that they may worship.

[The word in the Hebrew is literally "stroke."] I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here

1.Water to Blood (7:19): Specifically, this first plague was directed against the numerous Egyptian river deities. The Nile itself was virtually worshipped as a god by the Egyptians, and the Lord God shows that He has complete power over the Nile, not some river god. The Egyptian god Khnum was said to be the guardian of the Nile, and this showed he was unable to protected his territory. The god Hapi was said to be the spirit of the Nile, and was dealt a defeat. The great god Osiris was thought to have the Nile as his bloodstream - now, he is truly bleeding!
In fact, the Nile itself was worshipped as a god, and we have papyri recording hymns sung in praise of the river.

2. Frogs (8:2-4): I will smite all your territory with frogs: God threatened a plague of frogs for a specific reason. The Egyptian goddess Heqt was always pictured with the head of a frog. For this reason frogs were considered sacred and could not be killed. God will show the Egyptians the foolishness of a frog-god! Egyptians worshipped the frog as a female goddess because frogs were common around the Nile, because they reproduced rapidly, and because being amphibians they are part of two worlds, creatures of both land and water.

The frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt: It's hard to miss God's sense of humor. He shows just how ridiculous it is to worship a frog-god as He says, "If you want to worship frogs, I'll give you all the frogs you want!"

"Though he is the Lord of hosts he has no need of powerful armies, the ministry of angels, or the thunderbolts of justice to punish a sinner or a sinful nation; the frog or the fly in his hands is a sufficient instrument of vengeance." (Clarke)

3. Gnats (8:16) :Struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast: This plague struck at the heart of all Egyptian worship, especially at their priests. The Egyptian priesthood was extremely scrupulous about hygiene and ritual cleansing and an infestation of lice made them unable to worship their gods. The plague of lice was also upon every beast. The gods of Egypt would not receive the sacrifice of lice-infested animals, so this stopped their sacrificial system.

4. Flies (8:21): And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

Thick swarms of flies came: Literally, it says God sent a swarm (Hebrew, awrob) upon Egypt; it does not specify what the swarm is. It may have been a variety of gross insects. Psalm 78:45 says these swarms devoured them, and this indicates that there were "biting" insects in the swarm.

The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies: This shows that the point of this plague was probably the same as the plague of lice. The Egyptian gods could not be worshipped amidst this uncleanness

5. Livestock Diseased 9:3: All the livestock of Egypt died: This plague was directed against the Egyptian god Hathor who was thought to be a mother goddess was in the form of a cow. In addition, Egyptian religion considered cattle sacred and the cow was often a symbol of fertility. God shows Pharaoh and all of Egypt that He is mightier than this imagined pagan god.

There is a ancient record of a battle the Egyptians lost because their enemies put a herd of cattle in front of their advancing troops. It worked because the Egyptian soldiers would not shoot at the opposing army for fear of accidentally killing the "sacred" cattle.

6. Boils 9:8: Boils that break out in sores: The idea behind the ancient Hebrew word for boil is "to burn." It has the idea of a swelling, painful, skin inflammation, and as with some of the previous plagues, this one also affects people and animals

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils: This plague was probably directed against the Egyptian god Imhotep, who was said to be the god of medicine; even those who would be thought of as closest to the Egyptian gods (the court magicians) were stricken with this plague.

7. Thunder and Hail 9:18: There was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it: This would have been the most frightening plague thus far. The Egyptians must have believed that the wrath of God poured down from heaven in all severity.The hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt: This plague was directed against several Egyptian gods. Notable among them would was Nut, the sky goddess.

8. Locusts (10:4):They ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: Now the Lord God shows Himself greater than the Egyptian god Seth, thought to be the protector of crops

When Moses first came to Pharaoh, Pharaoh said: Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? (Exodus 5:2). The fact that Pharaoh still will not submit to the Lord shows that he doesn't know who the Lord is yet. This is despite the fact that the Lord God has made it clear that He is:

* Greater than the god Khnum (the guardian of the Nile)
* Greater than the god Hapi (the spirit of the Nile)
* Greater than the god Osiris (who had the Nile as his bloodstream)
* Greater than the goddess Heqt (the frog-goddess of fertility)
* Greater than the goddess Hathor (a cow-like mother goddess
* Greater than the god Imhotep (the god of medicine)
* Greater than Nut (the sky goddess)
* Able to stop the whole worship of the Egyptian gods with loathsome lice and swarms of insects.

9. Darkness (10:21): Darkness which may even be felt: This was no normal darkness, it had a supernatural element to it that could be felt. Light is not only a physical property; it is an aspect of God's character (God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, 1 John 1:5). In judgment, God can withdraw His presence so significantly that the void remaining is darkness which may even be felt.

Seemingly, God did not even allow artificial light sources to work. The Egyptians would attempt to use candles and lamps but were unable to produce light. This was dramatic show of greatness over the prominent Egyptian god Ra, thought to be the sun god. All the children of Israel had light in their dwellings: We don't know if this was because God spared them the plague or because God granted them His unique presence, bringing a supernatural light.

10. Death of the Firstborn (11:4,5):The first-born in the Oriental culture, particularly Egypt but also in the Semitic culture, was the opening of the womb. It was the fruit, the strength of the male. It was the key person. In the Semitic culture the first-born male became the high priest of the family. He was the patriarch of the family. He got double the inheritance. In the case of Pharaoh, where the law of primogeniture obtained, the first-born got the throne. So it was an extremely important position in the eyes of the ancient Semites and the ancient Egyptians. Now God is going to directly strike at the first-born of the Egyptians plus the first-born of their cattle, because the first-born are dedicated to a number of gods.

This was even worse news to Pharaoh. A politician doesn't mind calamity if he can blame it on someone else. Here, God promised that Pharaoh himself will bear the blame. Pharaoh will not heed you: If nine plagues had come from the hand of God, one might expect that the warning about a tenth plague would be believed; but Pharaoh's heart remains hard, and God strengthens Pharaoh in his hardness of heart.

In the middle of the night, God himself came upon Egypt and directed the Angel of Death to take the life of all the Egyptian first-born sons, including Pharaoh's own son. That night, there was a great cry in Egypt, such as had never been heard before, or ever will be heard again. However, no Israelite first-born was killed, as God "passed over" the Israelite houses.
After this, Pharaoh, furious and saddened, ordered the Israelites to go away, taking whatever they wanted. The Israelites didn't hesitate; and at the end of that night Moses led them out of Egypt, with "arms upraised".

Terrible climax was this. Disease, desolation, and darkness had visited Pharaoh’s land; now death itself was to do its work. The study of these plagues shows plainly the character of Him with whom we all have to do. The Lord is not indifferent to sin, nor can He be defied with impugnity. He bears with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath, but in the end His righteous judgments descend upon them. What point do these plagues give to that solemn word, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31)! Be warned, then, dear reader. Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart. Remember what befell Pharaoh for hardening his! Flee then to the Divinely appointed Refuge. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.