The plagues of Egypt have always fascinated me. And even more-so now, as we are studying Revelations in my Sunday school class. The plagues of Egypt mirror the seals, trumpets and bowls of the judgement of God. God is rattling the cages of these Egyptians, He is shaking their very lives! Pharaoh, even though he was seen as a God, must've been a very hated man by the end of all this. Time and again in our reading today we see that he promises to let the people go and then he 'changes his mind'. But it is God who hardens Pharaoh's heart.
3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
I see two things here in this passage, tell me what you think:
- God is judging Egypt. Why? I see some possible explanations: For their obvious slavery of the people of God. Or for their pantheistic beliefs. One search on google and one can come up with list of at least 20 major deities worshiped in Egypt. And with Joseph living in Egypt at such a high rank for so long, I am sure Pharaoh heard about the Lord. They were not ignorant. I also wonder if God did it to set the Egyptians as an example. The first two commandments are in regards to other gods.
- I believe God intended for the Israelites to witness His power and might. Scripture does not tell us if God showed Himself to the people while they were in slavery, but I wonder if they needed to be assured of who this God was. I'm sure they had seen the Egyptian gods many times, you know, they fashioned them out of wood and stone. So this 'new' God, what difference was He? I hate to say it, but it's like God needed to prove Himself so that the Israelites would believe and follow.
A few thoughts that popped out to me on the Matthew passage, particularly on the parable of the talents. These talents weren't something that the servants had owned previously. No. In fact, they weren't even something that their master gave to them for personal use, or to keep. Rather, they were entrusted with something that was their masters to use and to grow for his use in whatever way he saw fit. These talents were meant to give back someday to their master. Makes me think of my children. They are really on loan. They are the Lord's. He has entrusted them to my husband and I to grow for His use later. I need to treat them and grow them as if they are the Lord's children, because they really are.
What things in your life are really the Lords that He will call for later? What things is He asking you to grow now?
Man, something to think about. Don't know about anyone else, but I'm convicted.
Holy God, illumine our eyes. Show us what You have placed in our lives on loan that you want us to grow and later give back. Help us to see these things as Yours. Amen.
Tomorrow's passage: Exodus 9-11, Matthew 25:31-46
8 comments:
Excellent observations, Kathryn ~ I love those "lightbulb moments," too!! Thanks for sharing yours with us today.
I think you bring up an interesting point when you wonder exactly how much the Israelites themselves knew about God at this time. Certainly, up until the time of Joseph, anyway, worshipping the One True God seems quite random and extremely isolated. It seems faith in God is always just within a small "remnant" until the exodus.
It stands to reason then that four hundred years after Joseph moves his family to Egypt, there would still only be a handful with a real relationship with God, especially since for at least the first generation or two, the Israelites lived peacefully with the Egyptians. I think it's quite conceivable that only when the slavery and oppression got really unbearable towards the end of their stay that they remembered hearing stories about a God who they might call on for mercy and deliverance.
Funny how tough times still often work that way for us!
It actually said in yesterday's reading (Exodus 1:8) that the new king did not know about Joseph, so it stands to reason that he wouldn't have known much, if anything, about the Hebrew God, either. I agree with Tammi when she said it is quite likely that most of them knew very little about God. I believe the plagues were for the benefit of the Israelites, as you said, Kathryn. Had they been for the benefit of the Egyptians, we would have seen them turn from their gods to the one true God. Instead, God demonstrated his power for the benefit of the people of Israel, so they would know His power and that it was He and only He who delivered them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.
Interesting post. I never really understood why God "hardened" Pharoah's heart.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I remember actually reading that it was God who hardened Pharaoh's heart and being surprised that God would do that. I had never really thought about it being for the benefit of the Israelites.
The parable of the talents always makes me confused. While I *get* that we should be willing to take chances and go beyond our comfort zone for our master, I tend to think that the guy that hid the money (and the fact that he was given less money according to his ability) was trying to give back exactly what was given to him. Were the investments that the others did guaranteed?? What about if they had failed? What if they lost everything and had nothing to give the master when he returned? I think this would have made the third man a more responsible person than to blow it on an investment that didn't pan out. Or was the purpose of distributing the money to take a chance?
The thing that bothered me about hardening Pharaoh's heart just to impress the Israelites, is that the Egyptians suffered far more then they needed to in order to get the Israelites out, and even then the Israelites still rebelled time and time again against God.
Of course the worst one hits close to home for me. Would I want my son to die just because I happened to be an Egyptian mother and God wanted to show how powerful he was to Israel? But then, God ordered a lot of innocent children to die in the OT, just because they happened to not be born in Israel.
Sorry, but this one still doesn't sit well with me.
I think this is just one area where we simply have to accept God's sovereignty and justice, even though it doesn't seem that way to us. We think of many "innocent" victims here among the Egyptians and even in our times that end up suffering for various reasons, and yet, in God's eyes, none of us are innocent. We are all sinners, even the born again Christians.
I haven't had time to research this yet, but I read in my Women's Devotional Bible (downloaded onto my SOny Reader - perfect for reading by the pool!) that the plagues of Egypt demonstrated God's superiority over all the Egyptian gods who were believed to have control over those things (hail, etc).
I think it was for the Israelites benefit (so they would know that God was God and not just another "god") and quite simply to glorify God - to both the Israelites and the Egyptians and all the watching world. For the glory of His name.
I've thought the same thing Pam.
But the parable also says "at least you could've put it in a savings account and earned a little interest". I think the reasons behind the hiding of the talent were the issue.
To me, this also strikes me as something we need to remember regarding our talents - our gifts and abilities that God has graced us with. He has given them to us in order to use them for His glory. Are we using them? Are we purposefully developing our God-given talents and abilities in order to glorify His name and build His kingdom?
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