Lecture 3 The Plagues of Egypt and a Main Theological Lesson

in our next session we're going to focus on the signs and marvels in egypt the plagues the amazing things that happened according to the bible and we will be doing this with two perspectives in mind the one perspective is god's mission what is god doing the second one is to understand what's going on in egypt from an egyptian perspective we have reminder in much later psalm psalm 78 and it's reminder to all of us how quickly we forget the good things that god does for us and it says of the people of israel they did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe when he performed signs in egypt and his marvels in the fields of zoan or so on in hebrew we'll come back and talk about that what we see happening in the book of exodus especially the chapters from chapter 3 onwards is that god is israel's warrior and deliverer warrior and savior we read in exodus 3 19-20 where god says but know the king of egypt will not let you go unless compelled by mighty hand so will stretch out my hand and strike egypt with all the wonders that will do to it after that he will let you go say therefore to the people of israel am the lord yahweh and will bring you out from under the burdens of the egyptians and will deliver you from slavery to them and will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment so notice the language here god has an outstretched arm he has his mighty hand his hand will strike the enemy and he will deliver that as rescue or save israel and we are also introduced to god in exodus chapter 15 in the song of moses where we read the lord is man of war the lord is his name it's interesting the word war in hebrew is malach and if remember rightly talachim is the box now right yeah that's the word comes into arabic is box so he's warrior fighter now all of this is interesting that we have this language of god as warrior because of course pharaoh is the ultimate warrior from the earliest representations we have of the pharaoh such as the famous narmer palette on the left the cairo museum from over 5 000 years ago we see the pharaoh with his outstretched arm beating his enemy and opposite is ramses ii also with an axe ready to beat his enemy so the pharaoh of course was the warrior who represented egypt and protected egypt and not only did he protect egypt from within but enemies from the outside who might think to come and take egypt here is ramses ii on his horse and chariot and he is in battle against the hittites from modern day turkey and this is battle that took place in what is today syria they were fighting over where the egyptian empire would draw the line between the hittite empire and so once again you see the pharaoh as the warrior on the fronts of temples you see again and again the theme of the pharaoh with his arm outstretched to defeat his enemies and here again you have ramses iii at his temple at madina taboo in luxor and he is striking his enemies his foreign enemies and what's interesting is yes do up above his arm he is identified as the the strong-armed falcon the falcon is the the the bird the falcon that the pharaoh represents he's the strong-armed falcon lord of powerful arm so it's interesting that the language of the pharaoh as the warrior is that he has powerful arm he has an outstretched arm and so in the exodus narrative god says know he will not let you leave unless he is confronted by powerful arm and an outstretched arm so what we have here is battle between two great warriors the lord on the one side and pharaoh on the other so while we have this very important picture of two warring champions we have another picture of the pharaoh and that is that the pharaoh was responsible for the order of the cosmos that is heaven and earth and the order of the land the egyptians called this ma'at cosmic and social order if things are going well in egypt at the social level at the economic level the nile is flowing properly the crops are growing beautifully then mahat is in place when you have famine when you have low niles then you have chaos and ma'at is out of control this is very bad thing so here you have again ramses ii and he is making an offering and he's holding up the little goddess ma'at ma'at is the daughter of the sun god rey but she represents the cosmic order and so he's presenting rey the sun god with her daughter as if am the one who is maintaining order i'm the one who is keeping things under control so the pharaoh was responsible for the proper function and flow of the nile and the fertility of the land and keeping peace and protecting land from enemies so all those things is part of the duty of the king we can see some of this in egyptian literature want to give you some examples now earlier mentioned the prophecy of nefertiti in that context was referring to nefertiti talking about foreigners in the land and how that was causing great problems here this theme will come up again so here are couple lines this is his complaint the nile is dry one can cross the water on foot all happiness has gone away the land is cast down and troubled because of these food seeking asiatics people from the semitic world who are throughout the land so blame the foreigners who are in the land that's that's upsetting the order the ma'at ra the son withdraws himself from humans though he rises at the right time one does not know when noon occurs so the sun does not seem to be functioning properly now notice how everything changes in the next line then king will come from the south don't know why but in egyptian literature the saeed always comes to rescue the north just saying then king will come from the south who is called ameni this is short for aman emhat he will take the white crown and where the red crown then order ma'at will come to its right place and chaos ispet will be driven away so you see the duty of good strong king is to maintain order and to drive out chaos and disorder notice too the relationship between the chaos in the land and the presence of foreigners so you can see the pharaoh could very easily see we can blame all of the problems we're having on the aganeb the foreigners another illustration of this from the pharaoh sun washer at the first and here want to illustrate how the pharaoh is seen as the one who controls everything that goes on in the land he is one who is seen by his rays who illuminates shines egypt more than the sun disk who makes things healthy more than the nile so the king is likened to the sun who shines and brings health and life ahmosa who showed you earlier the king who brought egypt back under control after the hixo's period of him it says he is looked on like ray the sun god when he rises like the shining aten the sun disk like the rising hepri another aspect of the sun at the site of his rays on high like atum in the eastern sky so the king is looked at like the sun he's looked at like god mernepta mernepta is the son of ramses ii and when he became king this poem was recorded be joyful entire land good times have come the lord has ascended in all lands and orderliness mehti has gone to its throne the son of ray murnepta is king order ma'at has defeated falsehood garrog evil ones have been thrown on their faces the nile waters rise and does not subside the inundation the flood is high the days are long and the moon comes at the right time the gods are satisfied and content so you see the royal ideology is that the pharaoh is responsible for the proper function of the environment the agricultural cycle and all of this is is part of the king's duty to maintain ma'at so what happens then when moses comes along and we have the plagues for instance we're told in the first instance that the the nile turns to blood or looking red like blood in egyptian thought the god osiris osiris was killed by his brother seth and his his body parts were thrown into the water of the nile and the nile turned red so it could well be that the egyptians would see the water turning red and think that this was very bad thing because it reminded them of the death of osiris and as you remember osiris is the god who every egyptian needs if you want to live after life osiris is the one that rose from the dead and he is the one who would help you rise from the dead and live forever but if the nile turns to blood it's as if osiris is dead and this would scare them about eternal life so we can see that the eighth plague the plague of locusts is something that some of you in this room have probably experienced as recently as 2013 here in cairo locus is is periodic problem that comes from sudan and chad and then comes across north africa it's cycle pattern that occurs every so many years and this raises an interesting question that the locust plague the eighth plague is not so much miracle as it is god controlling nature and using it for his purposes of course god is the creator he makes all these and he moves the fl flocks of locusts but my point is that that this is part of regular pattern and god brings it at just the right time for his purposes the tenth plague or the ninth plague should say the darkening of the sun of course this would be big deal in egypt and that is because of course the sun god ray ra was the most important deity in egypt and for the sun to be blocked not visible would have caused great panic i'm sure now there are some scholars who think that because of the time of year when the exodus took place passover is always celebrated in march and april on our calendar that this would correspond with the hamasin season and all of you i'm sure have experienced hamasin there are the pyramids there is the sphinx three days of of may may well be what what we're dealing with can't prove it we don't know for sure but all of this to say is something that pharaoh is supposed to control and he has no control whatsoever and that seems to be the point so who is this pharaoh of the exodus and it's wonderful historical question that for more than 50 years have been asking have done research about and yet also recognize that it's the wrong question to ask it's the wrong question to ask because the story in the book of exodus is is to answer the question who is the god of the exodus it all goes back to exodus chapter 5 when moses comes back from sinai and god tells him to tell pharaoh let my people go that they may worship me pharaoh goes to moses and says to moses let my people go three days into the wilderness that we may make offerings to our gods our god and then we will come back and remember pointed out last time that this was the normal thing workers working for the egyptian state would get religious holidays not necessarily weekly or monthly holidays but religious holidays so moses saying we want religious holiday but the point is when moses makes this request pharaoh's answer is who is yahweh that should listen to him who is the lord who is yahweh that should obey his voice and let israel go do not know yahweh the lord and moreover will not let israel go so when pharaoh makes this statement the point from chapter 5 on is to prove to pharaoh and to everyone else in egypt including the hebrews who is the lord now it's very interesting some historians say well you see the story here is not historical because if it was true history we would know the name of the pharaoh however we have problem in exodus chapter 1 we know the name of the two midwives who deliver babies shifra and pua and from our standpoint it shows that god is more interested in the people who obey him who fear him like these two women than pharaoh who ignores him so the people that are important to god the people important in god's sight are not necessarily the people that are important in the sight of the world so pharaoh is the most important man in the world but we don't know his name the midwives who helped deliver babies we know their name shifa and pua so it gives you perspective of what is important to god not necessarily what we think is important for us okay so this is going to be important now get this do not know the lord that'll become very important so what was god's purpose what is god doing in the book of exodus between exodus 1 and exodus 14 the word no hebrew yada is used 19 times showing that it is the major theme in this section 19 times the word yada no when first off pharaoh says do not know and from then on we will encounter this word another 18 times this is just simple rule when you're reading literature when you're reading the bible when you get the same word repeated and repeated and repeated it's an important word it's an important concept so repetition is way of saying this is really important pay attention okay so we want to pay attention to this word and what it says and what it means so what was god's purpose yadda means to know fact but also to know by virtue of experience and to to know something intimately can say know that yesterday it was snowing in chicago but imagine there are people in this room who have never seen or experienced snow it's quite one thing to say know it snowed it's another thing to say i've experienced snow i've driven in it i've felt it know it so yada no it means to know fact to know by experience and to know intimately so for instance adam knew same word his wife eve and she conceived and bore cain so it means sexual intimacy to know something intimately so what is it that god wants of his people he wants them to know him so let's look at that one of the big questions we ask when we look through the exodus story is where was god when israel was suffering they go through decades and decades of suffering and i'm sure many of you in this room have gone through periods of suffering and you wonder where is god when i'm suffering why do have to go through this and the answers are not easy and don't come here to give you easy answers but do feel that what the text explains in this regard is helpful in exodus 2 we read starting in verse 23 during those many days the king of egypt died this is when moses is in the land of midian and the people of israel groaned under their slavery and cried out for help their cry for rescue from slavery came up to god and god heard their groaning god remembered his covenant with abraham with isaac and with jacob and god saw the people of israel and god knew there's our word god knew so i've highlighted and read those those really important words to show us that god is intimately aware and understands what's going on when we read god remembered we might be tempted to think he had forgotten and maybe sometimes when things are not going well you think god has forgotten me but in the bible when god remembers it doesn't mean that he forgot mean it might be all of sudden remember it's my wife's birthday and didn't buy present that's not good thing when god remembers it means that he is going to now fulfill promise that he has already made when noah and his family are on the ark in the flood chapter 8 verse 1 of genesis says and god remembered noah what do you mean he's forgotten for the last two months no what does god what did god remember he said when you go on the ark you'll take your family your animals and when you get off the ark will make my covenant with you so god is remembering that he had made promise of covenant and now he's going to take action so he can fulfill his promise and make the covenant now in the case of of moses and the israelites god remembered his covenant with abraham isaac and jacob of course is the promise to give them the promised land they are in egypt they're not in the promised land so in order for god to fulfill his promise he is saying okay i'm now going to fulfill my promise but the words here all suggest that god is intimately aware of what's going on and he is now going to do something for them he is aware of his people's suffering he is not detached he is concerned he's going to take action to fulfill his promise and god was going to save his people so those are the things that come out of that now specifically in the narrative about the plagues the word no yada occurs seven times i'll just show you the references here so there you have all the references in the plague narratives first second third fourth seventh and eighth in every one of those we read the word yada no let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness but so far pharaoh you have not obeyed thus says the lord by this you shall know that am the lord. so pharaoh is going to be the first one to know to learn who is yahweh remember he's the one who said who is yahweh who is the lord that should listen to him so moses is saying okay you're going to learn through what's happening here through these plagues who yahweh is who the lord is we'll read couple more of those in just moment so what is going on here it is god's purpose to reveal himself and to save his people it's god's purpose to reveal himself and save his people so number one that israel may know that am the lord exodus 6 and verse 7 will take you to be my people and will be your god and you shall know that am the lord your god who has brought you up from under the burden of the egyptians similarly with respect to the plague of the flies no swarm of fly shall be there that you may know that am the lord in the midst of the earth pharaoh as said earlier was one of the main characters that god wants to know him to know who is the lord thus says the lord by this you pharaoh shall know that am the lord behold with the staff that is in my hand will strike the water of the nile and it shall turn to blood and then again in chapter 8 verse 1 that you pharaoh may know that there is no one like yahweh our god so number one god wants the people of israel to know who he is number two he wants pharaoh to know and number three he wants the egyptians to know that am the lord then will lay my hand on egypt and bring out the hosts of my people the children of israel out of the land of egypt by great acts of judgment and the egyptians shall know that am yahweh when stretch out my hand against egypt and bring out the people of israel from among them so thirdly we see that god wants the egyptians to come to know who he is he repeats this again in chapter 14 when the israelites cross the sea will harden pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them will get the glory over pharaoh and all his hosts and the egyptians shall know that am yahweh lastly and the fourthly god wants the whole world to know that yahweh is the savior so we read here from chapter 9. for this time will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people and you shall know that there is no one like me in all the earth for by now could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth but for this purpose have raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth so at the heart of what's going on here in the exodus story or the especially the plague story is that god is on mission he's on mission to reveal himself to the hebrew people to reveal himself to pharaoh to reveal himself to the egyptians and through this to reveal himself to the whole earth so we can see that god's missionary purposes are primary factor in what goes on now interestingly enough we begin to see some of this actually taking place in moses day in exodus 12 38 we are told that when the israelites left egypt that joining in with them was group called mixed multitude mixed multitude who were these people it's clear they were not hebrews perhaps they were other people like the hebrews who were in forced labor they saw what god was doing and they became very impressed and they said look we believe in this god of yours can we come with you and it's very clear that these non-hebrews were part of the exodus and they are present with israel throughout their journeys and they are called the sojourners the non-israelites who live alongside the israelites and the bible is very clear that you treat the the sojourner fairly you don't treat them like slaves you you're fair to them you you they're your neighbors your brothers etc so interestingly these people whoever they were saw the hand of god in the exit and said we want to be with you so from the day of the exodus we see that god was reaching people with knowledge of who he was then of course there was the father-in-law of moses named jethro or ruel depending on where you're reading in exodus chapter 18 he makes the rather startling statement and by the way we're never told to which god he was priest when we first meet him he was simply called the priest of midian but what god did he represent we're never told but in chapter 18 and verse 10 jethro said blessed be yahweh who has delivered you out of the hand of pharaoh and delivered the people from under the hand of the egyptians get this now know that yahweh is greater than all the gods in this affair that he so god is greater than all the gods now he knows that yahweh is supreme so here is man who is midianite who now believes in the god of israel because of what he heard and saw about the exodus then too there's the story of rahab in kanan rehab of jericho and the marvelous story about how she gave cover and protection to joshua's intelligence officers in joshua chapter two she makes remarkable statement starting in verse 8. well i'll pick it up in verse 9. know that the lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen on us that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you for we heard how the lord dried up the water of the red sea when you came out of egypt and what he did to the two kings of the amorites who are beyond the river of jordan saihan and og and then in verse 11 and as soon as we heard about this our hearts melted and we had no spirit left in any man because of you for the lord your god is god in the heavens above and on earth beneath so here's woman very questionable character but once she hears about what god did it led to her salvation and her faith in the god of the exodus there's another report years later where the philistines when they're in battle with samuel in 1st samuel 5 and 6 when the judge eli was the leader the philistines referred to hey we better not do this because remember the plagues that struck the egyptians we don't want to have plagues on us well how did the philistines know about the plagues that struck egypt maybe through the witness of their hebrew neighbors we don't know but it's interesting to see here from the opening chapters of the torah and joshua that you have the nations responding to the god of the exodus we have this mixed multitude jethro who's midianite rahab who's canaanite and the philistines so people representing four different ethnic groups all saying we heard we believe in your god so what is the application here for us think we see in the story of the exodus that salvation is something that god initiates it required god entering into the picture to bring salvation humans cannot save themselves the israelites were were suffering and could do nothing to save themselves it required god's interaction and another important thing is to realize that god is always acting even when it doesn't appear that he is things are going on behind the scenes that we don't recognize the people suffering in egypt did not know that god was speaking to moses and midian giving him instructions on what he should do to help free his people this was going on they did not know about it god is revealing himself and his salvation to his human creation and we can see this unfolding in the narrative god is acting to save his people he is acting to save the egyptians he is acting to save the world that's his purpose and that's really the good news of the gospel for all people for all time so god uses people as instruments to bless others and to bring salvation god used moses to bring that message of salvation god used joshua god used rahab god used the priest of midian and so on so god uses people as instruments of blessing and salvation for others so think it's very important that we for this last session stepped away from history just for moment in archaeology to focus on what think is the main theological lesson of the exodus and that is that god wants to save his people and as we were told in exodus chapter 6 to take this people and that he would be their god and they would be his people so god is not only seeking to take his people but he also wants to expand that family of believers to include the gentiles the midianites the philistines the egyptians and so we see that god as big god who wants to save the world and of course ultimately that's why he sent the lord jesus christ into the world to save the world so in our next session we will turn back to more history and archaeology but thought that's very important place at this point in the day to be reminded of what this narrative is really all about and then we can return to history and archaeology in the next session you