Exodus Chapter Seven

Transcription

1 Exodus Chapter Seven Exodus 7:1-5 Exodus 7:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst. 6 So Moses and Aaron did it; as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh. (NASB95) The Lord s statement to Moses in verse 1 that he will seem to be like God to Pharaoh echoes His statement to Moses in Exodus 4:16, which God made to Moses prior to his first meeting with the Israelites and his first confrontation with Pharaoh. So prior to his second confrontation with Pharaoh, God is encouraging Moses that Pharaoh will be in awe of both his words and deeds. The ten plagues will bring this about. The statement in verse 2 is a reference to the Lord s directives to Moses as recorded in Exodus 3:18-20 and 4: In verse 3, the Lord warns Moses again that Pharaoh will harden his heart and not release the Israelites. This echoes what the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 4:21. The Scriptures teach that God hardened Pharaoh (Exodus 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8). There were prophecies that God would do this to Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21; 7:3). However, the Scriptures also teach that Pharaoh would harden himself (Exodus 7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34, 35). God s hardening of Pharaoh is the result of Pharaoh first hardening himself in the sense of rejecting over and again God s command to release the nation of Israel from her bondage to him in Egypt. God permitted Pharaoh to exercise his volition repeatedly to reject His command to release the nation of Israel from her bondage in Egypt. Pharaoh was responsible for his evil actions. God s hardening was His response to Pharaoh s hardening or in other words, it was in response to Pharaoh repeatedly rejecting His command to release the nation of Israel from her bondage in Egypt. Thus, God s hardening is a manifestation of His wrath, i.e. righteous indignation towards sin and is an expression of His holiness William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1

2 God used Pharaoh s evil actions and negative volition to glorify Himself in the sense that through Pharaoh s disobedience to His commands, God manifested His omnipotence in delivering Israel from her bondage to Pharaoh s Egypt. Repeated sinning as in Pharaoh s case hardens the conscience so that it becomes seared like scar tissue (1 Timothy 4:2). To continually reject God s truth as Pharaoh did causes the conscience to become progressively calloused, hardened and less sensitive to sin, as if covered with layers of unspiritual scar tissue. In Romans 9:18, Paul uses this example of God hardening Pharaoh because in context in Romans 9-11 he is speaking of the nation of Israel s rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah in his day and is defending God s righteousness in rejecting the nation for rejecting Jesus Christ. In Paul s day God had hardened unregenerate Israel for her rejection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, as their Messiah just as He hardened Pharaoh s heart for Pharaoh rejecting His revelation of Himself and command to release the nation of Israel. This prediction of Pharaoh s hardening in Exodus 4:21 was based upon God s omniscience in the sense that He saw down the corridors of time that Pharaoh would reject His revelation of Himself and His command to release Israel. In His foreknowledge, which is based upon His omniscience, God can see if a person is going to accept His Son or reject Him. In the case of Pharaoh, He could see that Pharaoh would reject Him, thus His response to Pharaoh s rejection of Himself was to harden Pharaoh or in other words, give Pharaoh over to his own negative decisions in judgment. This is just what Paul in relation to unregenerate Gentiles in Romans 1: God always wanted the best for Pharaoh, however He permitted Pharaoh to exercise his volition against Him when throughout His entire encounter with Pharaoh, He desired that Pharaoh get saved and come to the knowledge of the truth as He desires for all men. He desires all men to be saved because He loves all men (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16). In Exodus 7:3-4, the Lord tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh s heart with multiple signs and wonders and that He will lay His hand upon Egypt, which refers to the Lord striking Egypt with ten plagues by means of His omnipotence. In Exodus 7:5 the Lord tells Moses that the Egyptians will know that He is God as a result of these plagues whereas in Exodus 6:7, the Lord says that these plagues will demonstrate to the Israelites that He is the Lord God. Exodus 7:4-5 echoes Exodus 3:20. The Israelites and Pharaoh would know in an experiential sense that God is in their presence when God s power is manifested through the plagues. In Exodus 7:1-5, we have the Lord giving Moses a new perspective on his meeting with Pharaoh. He is simply to be God s representative to Pharaoh. He is only to speak the words God gives him. Success and failure is not based upon 2011 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2

3 Moses actions but rather upon God acting through him. God is concerned about providing both the Israelites and Pharaoh and the Egyptians an experiential knowledge of His presence through the miracles. Moses is simply an instrument used by God. Moses and Aaron are to be instruments used to demonstrate God s presence. John Durham writes, Thus Yahweh is orchestrating, in a combination of opposing and unlikely forces, a deliverance that will above all be a proof of his active Presence. A reluctant Moses, an unbelieving Pharaoh, a crushed and dispirited Israel, a proud and ruling Egyptian people, a non-nation against the greatest of nations, are brought together, and the opposing sides are set still more firmly in their respective ways, so that the proof of Yahweh s Presence, which is to turn everything upside down, may be established irrevocably. Even as Moses and Aaron speak Yahweh s words of command to Pharaoh, Yahweh will increase Pharaoh s resistance, thus creating an impasse. 1 Exodus 7:6 records Moses and Aaron obeying everything God commanded them. This verse does not refer to Exodus 5:1-5, which records Moses and Aaron saying and doing everything the Lord commanded them to do in their first audience with Pharaoh. Rather it serves as a prelude to their obedience to God in their second audience with Pharaoh. Exodus 7:7 presents the ages of Moses and Aaron at the time of their confrontation with Pharaoh. The former was 80 and the latter 83. Interestingly, in the Old Testament the age of a prominent person is given when a major event is about to occur such as the age of Abraham when he was circumcised just prior to the miraculous birth of Isaac (Genesis 17:24-25) or Isaac before the birth of his two sons (Genesis 25:19-25). Exodus 7:8-13 Exodus 7:8 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Work a miracle, then you shall say to Aaron, Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent. 10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. 12 For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet 1 Durham, J. I. (2002). Vol. 3: Word Biblical Commentary : Exodus. Word Biblical Commentary (87). Dallas: Word, Incorporated William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3

4 Pharaoh s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. (NASB95) In His omniscience, God knew Pharaoh would demand a miracle from both Aaron and Moses in order to challenge their authority. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to throw down his staff down at Pharaoh s feet and at once it would become a snake. This instruction is the same one found in Exodus 4:2-4. Notice that Moses is to tell Aaron to throw his staff down before Pharaoh. This was to fulfill what God said to Moses that he would be like God to Pharaoh in that he would be giving orders and have them carried out by others just like God. However, verses record Pharaoh summoning his wise men, sorcerers and magicians who perform the same miracle with their secret arts which they learned from the kingdom of darkness. But Aaron s staff swallowed up their staffs demonstrating the superiority of God over the demons. This sign and the ten plagues to follow would humiliate not only the Egyptians but also the demons and Satan who were behind the gods of Egypt and the wise men, sorcerers and magicians of Pharaoh s court. The ability of the magicians of Pharaoh to duplicate this first sign was not merely sleight of hand or magic or trickery but rather a demonstration of Satan s power. Satan and his minions are able to perform all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12), which are to deceive (2 Thessalonians 2:10; Revelation 13:11-15; cf. Matthew 24:24). Clearly, Pharaoh has been deceived by the magicians and sorcerers and wise men of his court. This sign along with the ten plagues demonstrates that the Lord is sovereign over all creation including Pharaoh and Satan and the demons. It also authenticates the authority of Moses and Aaron that God has delegated authority to them. Furthermore, it demonstrates that God was present in this second confrontation with Pharaoh. In Exodus 7:13, we have the record of Pharaoh hardening his heart after this first miraculous sign from Moses and Aaron, which fulfills the Lord s prediction to Moses and Aaron (Exodus 4:21; 7:3-4). Exodus 7:14-25: The First Plague This passage records the first of ten plagues and is divided into three parts: (1) God gives instructions to Moses and Aaron (verses 14-19). (2) God performs a miracle through Moses and Aaron (verses 20-21). (3) The resultant action taken by Pharaoh and his people (verses 22-25). Now, the term ten plagues is the traditional designation to describe what God had done to the Egyptians as recorded in Exodus 7:14-12:32. Stuart writes, It derives both from the translation plague for a variety of Hebrew words such as 2011 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4

5 deber in 5:3 and negaʿ in 11:1 and from God s reference in 15:26 to the diseases I brought on the Egyptians. 2 It is a summary expression referring to both the plagues which caused disease and those that did not. The noun ʾôṯ (א ות) means miraculous sign and is used primarily in Exodus 7:14-12:32 to denote the ten plagues that God struck Egypt with. These plagues were demonstrations of God s sovereignty over Egypt. These miraculous signs were designed to show Pharaoh and the Egyptians that not only does the God of the Israelites have sovereignty over them but also that He is superior to the gods they worship. The Scripture teaches that Satan and the kingdom of darkness are behind the idolatry and the worship of the false gods in Egypt. Therefore, the Egyptians were worshipping demons by worshipping the various gods and practicing idolatry. Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 teach that the worship of idols is connected to the worship of demons since the sacrificing to idols is in reality sacrificing to demons who promote the worship of idols. Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread. (NASB95) 1 Corinthians 10:20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. (NASB95) Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself. Scores of references to idolatry appear in the Old Testament. Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me. (NASB95) Exodus 20:23 You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. (NASB95) Joshua 24:2 states that Abraham s father served idols. The most noteworthy instance of idolatry in the history of Israel was Aaron s making of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex 32:1-4). Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols, but came to mean among the Old Testament Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise or the worship of the Lord through visible symbols (Hos 8:5-6; 10:5). Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3). Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God 2 Stuart, D. K. (2007). Vol. 2: Exodus (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (184). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5

6 alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3). The idolatry of the Egyptians is an expression of their total depravity. These ten plagues demonstrated to the Egyptians that the God of the Israelites not only has sovereignty over them but has the power of life and death. These ten plagues in actuality are demonstrations or signs to the Egyptians that the God of the Israelites is sovereign over every creature and all of creation. The term sovereignty connotes a situation in which a person, from his innate dignity, exercises supreme power, with no areas of his province outside his jurisdiction. As applied to God, the term sovereignty indicates His complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will or wills. Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. (NASB95) Isaiah 40:17 All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless. (NASB95) The first two plagues were imitated by Pharaoh s magicians. However, they could not imitate the final eight plagues. Each successive plague was an intensification of the previous plague. The only plague that caused death to human beings was the tenth and final plague, which receives the greatest attention in the narrative than the first nine. The tenth plague is actually the beginning of the exodus of the Israelites and is memorialized in the Passover. The NET Bible writes, The theological emphasis for exposition of the entire series of plagues may be: The sovereign Lord is fully able to deliver his people from the oppression of the world so that they may worship and serve him alone. The distinct idea of each plague then will contribute to this main idea. It is clear from the outset that God could have delivered his people simply and suddenly. But he chose to draw out the process with the series of plagues. There appear to be several reasons: First, the plagues are designed to judge Egypt. It is justice for slavery. Second, the plagues are designed to inform Israel and Egypt of the ability of Yahweh. Everyone must know that it is Yahweh doing all these things. The Egyptians must know this before they are destroyed. Third, the plagues are designed to deliver Israel. The first plague is the plague of blood: God has absolute power over the sources of life. Here Yahweh strikes the heart of Egyptian life with death and corruption. The lesson is that God can turn the source of life into the prospect of death. Moreover, the Nile was venerated; so by turning it into death Moses was showing the superiority of Yahweh. 3 3 Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Ex 7:14). Biblical Studies Press William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6

7 The Ten Plagues Plague Scripture Egyptians Gods 1. God turns the water of the Nile into blood. Exodus 7:14-25 Hapi, the god of the Nile 2. God causes frogs to infest the land of Egypt. Exodus 8:1-15 Heqet, goddess of birth, with a frog head 3. God causes small gnats Exodus 8:16-19 Set, god of the desert to infest the land of Egypt. 4. God causes swarm of flies to infest the land of Exodus 8:20-32 Re, a sun god or the god of Uatchit represented by the fly Egypt. 5. God causes a deadly disease to attack the cattle Exodus 9:1-7 Hathor, goddess with a cow head of the Egyptians. 6. God causes boils to break out on the Egyptians. 7. God causes a great hail storm to destroy the grain fields of Egypt but spared the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. 8. God causes an infestation of locusts to destroy the crops and all vegetation in Egypt. 9. God causes extreme darkness to cover the land of Egypt for three days. 10. God kills the firstborn of every Egyptian. Exodus 7:14-25 Exodus 9:8-12 Exodus 9:13-35 Exodus 10:1-20 Exodus 10:21-29 Exodus 11:1-12:30 Sekhmet, goddess with power over disease; Sunu, the pestilence god, Isis, god of healing Nut, the sky goddess; Osiris, god of crops and fertility; Set, god of storms. Nut, the sky goddess; Osiris, god of crops and fertility Re, the sun god, Horus, a sun god; Nut, a sky goddess; Hathor, sky goddess Min, god of reproduction; Heqet, goddess who attended women at childbirth; Isis, goddess who protected children; Pharaoh s firstborn son, a god 2011 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7

8 Exodus 7:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. 16 You shall say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now. 17 Thus says the Lord, By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. 18 The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile. 19 Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. 20 So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. (NASB95) This first plague begins a new section in the book of Exodus. Up to this point in the narrative, the emphasis has been on the preparation involved with the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Now, beginning in Exodus 7:14, the emphasis is going to be upon preparing Pharaoh for Israel s departure. Verses 14 reveals the motivation for the first plague, namely that Pharaoh s heart is stubborn as demonstrated in Exodus 7:8-13. In this passage, God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to throw his staff down at Pharaoh s feet and at once it would become a snake. However, verses record Pharaoh summoning his wise men, sorcerers and magicians who perform the same miracle with their secret arts which they learned from the kingdom of darkness. But Aaron s staff swallowed up their staffs demonstrating the superiority of God over the demons. In verse 13, we have the record of Pharaoh hardening his heart after this first miraculous sign from Moses and Aaron, which fulfills the Lord s prediction to Moses and Aaron 2011 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8

9 (Exodus 4:21; 7:3-4). So verse 14 tells us that, because of Pharaoh s failure to submit to God s Word, God will punish him for his disobedience. In verses 15-19, we have the record of God giving Moses instructions concerning the first plague, which struck the Nile River, which the Egyptians regarded as the source of life and productivity. It was regarded by the Egyptians to be a god. First it was called Hapi, which means the giver of life and then Osiris, which denotes the embodiment of fertility. Ancient Egypt stretched a distance of about 550 miles from Aswan northward to the Mediterranean Sea, which would include the narrow Nile Valley, which was from Aswan to Memphis. It was divided into three geographical sections: (1) Upper Egypt in the south (2) Middle Egypt in the center (3) Lower Egypt or Delta in the north. Upper Egypt is very narrow and surrounded by mountains, which rarely take the form of peaks and the northern coast of Egypt is low and barren, and without good harbors. Egypt was situated along the Nile and when the Nile flooded its banks in July and August, it inundated the soil, which produced tremendous crops. In fact, Egypt was the breadbasket of the world in the ancient world. Therefore, the economy of the Egyptians was dependent upon the Nile. Now, the reason Pharaoh is down by the Nile is that he is going to perform some religious ceremony connected to the worship of this river. During July and August when the Nile flooded its banks, the Pharaohs officiated at ceremonies commemorating the blessings associated with the Nile. So it appears that Moses and Aaron are interrupting these ceremonies. In Exodus 7:16, we have God telling Moses to communicate to Pharaoh the reason for this first plague, namely that God wants Israel to leave Egypt to worship Him and Pharaoh won t permit it. Thus, God is punishing Pharaoh for not complying with His demands. God also tells Moses to communicate to Pharaoh that this first plague is the direct result of Pharaoh failing to acknowledge that He is the true God. The description of the first plague in verses 17 and 18 makes clear that this judgment from God was designed to get Pharaoh to acknowledge that the God of the Hebrews is sovereign over him. It was designed so that the Egyptians would know by experience that the God of the Hebrews was sovereign over their nation. This judgment not only struck the Nile but its tributaries as well as the smallest streams. In fact, even the water that was in wooden buckets or stone jars had turned to blood. Now, throughout history the Egyptians had experienced the disaster of the Red Nile. The appearance of the Nile as red in color is the result of chalk particles that gave the river a red appearance, especially when the sun was shining on it. However, this first plague is unlike this natural phenomenon because it killed off the marine life and made the water unfit for human consumption William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9

10 Exodus 7:22 records the magicians of Egypt duplicating the miracle with their secret arts that they received from the kingdom of darkness. Their attempt to imitate the miracle deceived Pharaoh since Exodus 7:23 records him going into his house and not showing any concern for this first plague. However, these magicians could not bring an end to the plague. Pharaoh s response also reveals that he is a terrible leader who has no concern for his people for if he did, he would have given in to Moses demands. The Egyptians are suffering because of the bad decision of their leader. Exodus 7:24 says that Egyptians dug around the Nile for water because the water of the Nile was contaminated. Therefore, this first plague did not kill anybody but was a warning to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. This is the case throughout each of the ten plagues. Exodus 7:25 says that this first plague lasted a week. The effects of it are also never mentioned again in the narrative William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10