Tag: The ten plagues

Morning Musing: Exodus 11:9-10

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“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Let me give you a bit of a peek behind the curtain this morning. I often write the introductions for these posts several weeks before I write the rest of them. These introductions serve as placeholders so that when I come back to actually write the full post I have a bit of a reminder of what I was thinking when I was first studying through a particular passage. As a result, I’m often studying one part of the text while writing about another a few chapters back. On occasion this lets me see connections between two different parts that I might otherwise miss. Way back at the beginning of chapter 7, just before God set Moses loose on Pharaoh, He told him (again) what was going to happen. The words He used then were remarkably similar to these words right here. Let’s come back to them again and touch yet again on this theme of Pharaoh’s hard heart. From that, we’ll spend a moment reflecting on why all of the repetition we find in this story is so important.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 11:4-8

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“So Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock. Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again. But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Get out, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will get out.’ And he went out from Pharaoh’s presence fiercely angry.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

In the animated film from DreamWorks Studios about the Exodus, Prince of Egypt, the real climax of the film is when the Angel of Death moves through the city inflicting the final plague on the people of Egypt – the death of the firstborns. Even for an animated offering for kids, the scene is disturbing. The animation is scary enough, but the concept is what is really horrifying. We read this dryly and move on to the next part of the story in part because we don’t want to think about what is happening here. Indeed, when Moses writes about the actual event in the next chapter, he doesn’t describe it in any more detail than we see right here. Today, though, let’s wrestle a bit with what is going on here and what to make of this final plague.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 11:1-3

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“The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you out of here. Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold items.’ The Lord gave the people favor with the Egyptians. In addition, Moses himself was very highly regarded in the land of Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and the people.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you are a parent, have you ever finally gotten so frustrated with your child’s refusal to do something you wanted them to do that you finally lost it and shouted something silly like, “You’re going to do it, and you’re going to like it too!”? Pharaoh didn’t want to let Israel go. The very idea of his doing that was ludicrous to him. He had subjugated them, not the other way around. Why on earth would he accede to their God’s demands to release them? He was clearly the more powerful god or else he wouldn’t have been able to do that. As God prepares to give Moses the instructions for the final plague to share with Pharaoh, He basically says, “Pharaoh is going to let you go, and he’s going to like it.” Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 10:21-24

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived. Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, ‘Go, worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The summer after we moved to where we live now, there was a total solar eclipse that was almost fully visible from here. You had to go a bit further west to experience the moment of actual darkness, but it was pretty cool to look at through the special lenses we had. And the dimming of the light of the sun was wild. It was an interesting reminder of just how powerful the sun is. A great majority of it was blocked out and yet it was still mostly light. The penultimate plague God brought to the people of Egypt was darkness. It has always seemed to me to be a bit out of place as compared with the others, especially the ones that came just before it. Let’s talk about what is going on in this second-to-last plague, and why it was almost effective enough by itself to accomplish God’s purpose.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 10:7-11

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“Pharaoh’s officials asked him, ‘How long must this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated?’ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. ‘Go, worship the Lord your God,’ Pharaoh said. ‘But exactly who will be going?’ Moses replied, ‘We will go with our young and with our old; we will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds because we must hold the Lord’s festival.’ He said to them, ‘The Lord would have to be with you if I would ever let you and your families go! No, go – just able-bodied men – worship the Lord, since that’s what you want.’ And they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As a dad of three boys, one of the things I most enjoyed when my boys were little was wrestling around with them. As they’e gotten older (and bigger), it’s not quite as much fun as it used to be as they are big enough to gang up on me…and occasionally beat me. Especially the oldest who just nearly looks me in the eye now. Still, as I’ve gotten older, my stamina isn’t quite what it used to be. When I’m ready to be done, I’ll stop holding back so much to the point they know they’ve lost. I’ll ask if they’re done. And while they’re mostly done, they want to get one last shot in. So, while they’ve yielded almost completely, they’re not quite ready to give up entirely. As a result, I’ll keep piling on. Pharaoh wanted the plagues to stop. But he wasn’t willing yet to yield completely. Let’s talk about Pharaoh’s folly and our willingness to do what God says.

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