Exodus AUTHOR Exodus hs been termed the centrl book of the Old Testment. Indeed its pges contin some of Scripture s gretest tresures, including the Ten Commndments, the primry ccounts of the ten plgues, Isrel s exodus from Egypt into freedom, God s estblishment of covennt with his people t Mount Sini, nd the construction of the tberncle long with its scred furnishings. Not surprisingly, much controversy hs developed round this book s well. Critics hve questioned its uthorship, chllenged the ccurcy of its historicl ccounts, nd suggested tht its theologicl nd morl techings contrdict sttements found elsewhere in the Bible. Trditionl Judism nd Christinity hve mintined for thousnds of yers tht God is the uthor of the book of Exodus nd tht Moses ws the humn gent he used to pen its words. The cceptnce of Moses s the humn uthor of the first five books of the Bible is bsed first of ll on biblicl sttements indicting tht Moses wrote scred Scripture. These sttements re found within the Torh, or first five books of Scripture (Ex 24:4; 34:28; Nm 33:2; Dt 31:9,22), s well s in other prts of the Bible (Jos 8:31-32; Mk 12:19; Lk 20:28; Jn 1:45). Jesus himself ffirmed tht Moses wrote Scripture (Jn 5:46). Within the Bible, the usul wy of referring to the first five books of the Bible is to cll them the lw of Moses (Jos 8:31-32; 23:6; 1Kg 2:3; 2Kg 14:6; 23:25; 2Ch 23:18; 30:16; Ezr 3:2; 7:6; Neh 8:1; Dn 9:11,13; Ml 4:4; Lk 2:22; 24:44; Jn 7:23; Ac 13:39; 15:5; 28:23; 1Co 9:9). INTRODUCTION THE RELIABILITY OF EXODUS Some nineteenth-century skeptics rejected Mosic uthorship becuse they believed tht Semitic writing systems hd not been devised t the time he ws live. However, rcheologicl evidence hs dispelled tht objection; Semitic inscriptions written t lest hundred yers erlier thn Moses hve been discovered in the Sini desert. Nrrtive ccounts in the Torh deling with the events of Moses s lifetime contin detils tht suggest n eyewitness ccount nd thorough cquintnce with Egypt. Furthermore, references in the Torh to the lnd of Cnn re consistently those of one who lived outside the region, s did the Egyptin-born Moses. Linguistic evidence for n erly dte of composition is lso found in the rchic uses of certin terms, prticulrly the third-person singulr feminine pronoun. The wy tht the nrrtive hngs together s whole provides evidence fvoring single uthorship for the first five books of the Bible. While ccepting Moses s the uthor of the Torh, conservtive scholrs hve regulrly cknowledged tht editors living fter the time of Moses helped to shpe the first five books of the Bible. Evidence for this is found in the use of plce nmes tht did not exist during Moses s dy (e.g., Dn; see Gn 14:14; Dt 34:1), reference to Isrelite kingship (Gn 36:31), updted plce nmes (Gn 14:2,3,7,8,17; 23:2; 35:6,19,27; 48:7), nd the ccount of Moses s deth (Dt 34:1-12). It is lso possible tht editors were responsible for the inclusion nd finl rrngement of nrrtive pssges beyond the ccount of Moses s deth. To dmit tht God my hve used editors in the process of producing the finished book of Exodus nd the rest of the Torh in no wy reduces the centrl role Moses plyed in producing these books: Moses is legitimtely their humn uthor. These books re properly referred to s the lw of Moses.
Exodus INTRODUCTION 70 INTRODUCTION TO Exodus At more bsic level, some skeptics hve suggested tht there never ws n ctul person nmed Moses who led Isrel from Egyptin slvery to freedom. For them the story of Moses presented in Exodus Deuteronomy is work of fiction creted for religious nd politicl resons. According to these critics, the bsence of ny mention of Moses in the records of ncient Egypt or contemporry non-isrelite Semitic cultures, s well s the extrordinry clims bout him in Scripture, re enough to convince them tht Moses ws the invention of n ncient Isrelite storyteller. Of course, throughout the centuries Christins hve hd no problem ccepting Moses s relity. As with mny other controversil issues, the strting point for ddressing this issue is considering the explicit clims of the Bible. Clerly the nrrtives in Exodus Deuteronomy present Moses s historicl relity. Numerous pssges in the rest of the Old Testment (e.g., Jos 1:1-7; 14:7-11; Jdg 4:11; 1Sm 12:6; 1Kg 8:9; 2Kg 18:4-6; 1Ch 6:3; 2Ch 5:10; Neh 1:7-8; Ps 77:20; 106:23; Is 63:11-12; Jr 15:1; Mc 6:4) s well s in the New Testment (Mt 19:7-8; Mk 12:26; Lk 5:14; Jn 3:14; Ac 3:22; Rm 5:14; 1Co 10:2; 2Co 3:7-15; 2Tm 3:8; Heb 3:2; 11:23-24) mke it cler tht the biblicl writers believed tht Moses relly lived. Jesus lso implied tht Moses ws n ctul person (Jn 5:46-47). THE FOUNDATION STONE In mny wys the book of Exodus is the foundtion stone upon which the rest of the Bible stnds. Its lws estblished the outlines of Isrel s socil life nd provided the uthorittive bsis for the religious prctices tht informed Isrelite culture for more thn thousnd yers. The events in this book prepre the reder for Isrel s conquest of Cnn nd occuption of the lnd. Its regultions regrding the proper tretment of others serve s the core round which the techings of Proverbs, the lyrics of mny pslms, nd the proclmtions of the prophets were built. From New Testment perspective, this book is used in three min wys. First, it prefigures the life nd ministry of Christ, especilly in his role s our scrificil lmb (Heb 9:12; 1Pt 1:19; Rv 5:8-9). Second, it provides exmples tht illustrte the Christin life. Finlly, it presents the morl nd ethicl frmework to guide Christins in their decision mking.
71 Exodus 2:2 ISRAEL OPPRESSED IN EGYPT 1 These re the nmes of the sons of Isrel who cme to Egypt with Jcob; ech cme with his fmily: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, nd Judh; 3 Isschr, Zebulun, nd Benjmin; 4 Dn nd Nphtli; Gd nd Asher. 5 The totl number of Jcob s descendnts ws seventy; b Joseph ws lredy in Egypt. 6 Joseph nd ll his brothers nd ll tht genertion eventully died. 7 But the Isrelites were fruitful, incresed rpidly, multiplied, nd becme extremely numerous so tht the lnd ws filled with them. 8 A new king, who did not know bout Joseph, cme to power in Egypt. 9 He sid to his people, Look, the Isrelite people re more numerous nd powerful thn we re. 10 Come, let s del shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, nd when wr breks out, they will join our enemies, fight ginst us, nd leve the country. 11 So the Egyptins ssigned tskmsters over the Isrelites to oppress them with forced lbor. They built Pithom nd Rmeses s supply cities for Phroh. 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied nd spred so tht the Egyptins cme to dred c the Isrelites. 13 They worked the Isrelites ruthlessly 14 nd mde their lives bitter with di f icult lbor in brick nd mortr nd in ll kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed ll this work on them. 15 The king of Egypt sid to the Hebrew midwives the first whose nme ws Shiphrh nd the second whose nme ws Puh 16 When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them s they deliver. If the child is son, kill him, but if it s dughter, she my live. 17 The midwives, however, fered God nd did not do s the king of Egypt hd told them; they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives nd sked them, Why hve you done this nd let the boys live? 19 The midwives sid to Phroh, The Hebrew women re not like the Egyptin women, for they re vigorous nd give birth before the midwife cn get to them. 20 So God ws good to the midwives, nd the people multiplied nd becme very numerous. 21 Since the midwives fered God, he gve them fmilies. 22 Phroh then commnded ll his people: You must throw ev ery son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every dughter live. MOSES S BIRTH AND ADOPTION 2 Now mn from the fmily of Levi mrried Levite womn. 2 The womn becme pregnnt nd gve birth to son; when she sw tht he ws beutiful, d she hid him for three months. 1:5 Lit of people issuing from Jcob s loins b 1:5 LXX, DSS red 75 ; Gn 46:27; Ac 7:14 c 1:12 Or Egyptins lothed d 2:2 Or helthy 1:5 The number seventy mentioned here nd in Gn 46:27 seems to contrdict Stephen s figure of seventy-five in Ac 7:14. The number seventy-five cn lso be found t Ex 1:5 within the Septugint (the Greek trnsltion of the OT) nd the Ded Se Scrolls. However, these two numbers cn be reconciled. The higher figure includes five dditionl sons born to Ephrim nd Mnsseh sometime fter Jcob nd his other cln members rrived in Egypt. These dditionl individuls re nmed in Nm 26:28-37 nd 1Ch 7:14-23 s well s in the Greek version of Gn 46:27. 1:8 The biblicl writer s use of the term king to refer to the supreme leder of Egypt hs been used s evidence tht Moses could not hve written the book of Exodus since nyone fmilir with Egyptin culture would hve used the Egyptin term phroh. But phroh is used 185 times elsewhere in the Torh. Moses ws writing this document to Hebrew, not Egyptin, udience. In the lnguge of the originl reders the term king (Hb melek) referred to the highest governmentl officil within socil system. Perhps, for the ske of clrity for his reders s well s for literry vriety, Moses chose to use the usul Hebrew term. 1:11 The mention of city nmed Rmesses cnnot be used to prove tht the events of this nrrtive took plce during the dys of Rmesses II (c 1290 BC). However, the Bible s chronologicl references (see 1Kg 6:1) suggest tht the events of Ex 1 occurred t lest 150 yers prior to Rmesses II s reign. The city s nme mens literlly Born of [the god] Re. Re ws one of the most populr gods in the history of Egypt, worshiped since t lest the Fourth Dynsty (c 2772 BC). It is entirely possible tht city honoring this populr god ws built hundreds of yers before Rmesses II. 1:19 Were the Hebrew midwives lying? The Hebrew midwives misled Phroh in order to sve innocent humn lives. The Bible teches tht lying is wrong (20:16; Lv 19:11; Eph 4:29; Col 3:9; Rv 22:15) nd tht people should tell the truth (Zch 8:16). Wht the midwives did is not ment s n exmple of behvior of which God pproves. Nevertheless, their ct ws intended to vert fr greter wrong the murder of innocent children. Becuse of Phroh s wicked intentions in this mtter, he did not deserve to her the truth from these women. Others in the OT were recorded s delibertely misleding people in order to protect innocent humn life, including Smuel (1Sm 16:2) nd Jeremih (Jr 38:24-27). In world mrred by sin it is not lwys possible to choose between pure good nd pure evil, nd one is sometimes compelled to choose the lest sinful lterntive. Christins re to spek the truth in love (2Co 4:2; Eph 4:15). Jesus set the exmple for Christins by telling the truth even when it produced personl pin nd suffering (Mt 26:63-66; Jn 8:40-59).
Exodus 2:3 72 3 But when she could no lon ger hide him, she got p py rus bs ket for him nd cot ed it with sphlt nd pitch. She plced the child in it nd set it mong the reeds by the bnk of the Nile. 4 Then his sis ter stood t dis tnce in or der to see wht would hp pen to him. 5 Ph roh s dugh ter went down to bthe t the Nile while her ser vnt girls wlked long the riv er bnk. She sw the bs ket mong the reeds, sent her slve girl, took it, 6 opened it, nd sw him, the child nd there he ws, lit tle boy, cry ing. She felt sor ry for him nd sid, This is one of the He brew boys. 7 Then his sis ter sid to Ph roh s dugh ter, Should I go nd cll He brew wom n who is nurs ing to nurse the boy for you? 8 Go, Ph roh s dugh ter told her. So the girl went nd clled the boy s moth er. 9 Then Ph roh s dugh ter sid to her, Tke this child nd nurse him for me, nd I will py your wg es. So the wom n took the boy nd nursed him. 10 When the child grew old er, she brought him to Ph roh s dugh ter, nd he be cme her son. She nmed him Mo ses, Be cuse, she sid, I drew him out of the w ter. MOSES IN MIDIAN Then Mo ses be cme frid nd thought, Wht I did is cer tin ly known. 15 When Ph roh herd bout this, he tried to kill Mo ses. But Mo ses fled from Ph roh nd went to live in the lnd of Mid i n, nd st down by well. 16 Now the priest of Mid i n hd sev en dugh ters. They cme to drw w ter nd filled the troughs to w ter their f ther s flock. 17 Then some shep herds r rived nd drove them wy, but Mo ses cme to their res cue nd w tered their flock. 18 When they re turned to their f ther Reu el, e he sked, Why hve you come bck so quick ly to dy? 19 They n swered, An Egyp tin res cued us from the shep herds. He even drew w ter for us nd w tered the flock. 20 So where is he? he sked his dugh ters. Why then did you leve the mn be hind? In vite him to et din ner. 21 Mo ses greed to sty with the mn, nd he gve his dugh ter Zip po rh to Mo ses in mr rige. 22 She gve birth to son whom he nmed Ger shom, f for he sid, I hve been res i dent lien in for eign lnd. 23 Af ter long time, the king of Egypt died. The Is r el ites groned be cuse of their dif fi cult l bor; nd they cried out; nd their cry for help be cuse of the dif fi cult l bor s cend ed to God. 24 And God herd their gron ing; nd God re mem bered his cov ennt with Abr hm, with Isc, nd with J cob; 25 nd God sw the Is r el ites; nd God knew. 11 Yers lt er, b f ter Mo ses hd grown up, he went ut to his own peo ple c nd ob served their forced o l bor. He sw n Egyp tin strik ing He brew, one of his peo ple. 12 Look ing ll round nd see ing no one, he struck the Egyp tin ded nd hid him in the snd. 13 The next dy he went out nd sw two He brews fight ing. He sked the one in the wrong, MOSES AND THE BURNING BUSH Why re you t tck ing your neigh bor? d 14 Who mde you com mnd er nd judge Men while, Mo ses ws shepherding the over us? the mn re plied. Are you pln ning to flock of his fther-in-lw Jeth ro, g the priest kill me s you killed the Egyp tin? f Mid i n. He led the flock to the fr side of the o 3 2:10 The nme Moses sounds like drwing out in Hb nd born in Egyptin. b 2:11 Lit And it ws in those dys c 2:11 Lit his brothers 2:13 Or fellow Hebrew e 2:18 Jethro s cln or lst nme ws Reuel; Ex 3:1. f 2:22 In Hb the nme Gershom sounds like the phrse strnger there. g 3:1 Moses s fther-in-lw s first nme ws Jethro ; Ex 2:18. d 2:10 Is it resonble to suppose tht Phroh, who hd ordered the deth of ll mle Hebrew children, would permit Moses to live (1:16)? Yes. Ancient prllels exist in which governments rised nd educted select young mles of hostile cultures. Dniel nd severl other young Isrelites were rised nd educted in Bbylon so they could serve s government officils (Dn 1). Similrly, Moses s life ws pprently spred by Phroh in order to prepre him s n dministrtor over Egypt s Hebrew slves (see 2:11; Ac 7:22). 2:10 Why would n Egyptin princess hve given Moses Hebrew nme? Becuse the nme she chose ws both n Egyptin nd Hebrew word. In Egyptin the root word mens born nd ws commonly used s n element in personl nmes (e.g., Phrohs Ahmose, Thutmose). In Hebrew it mens to drw out [of wter]. This bilingul wordply fit Moses in both wys, especilly since she drew him out of the Nile. 2:14 This verse hs been tken by some s contrry to Heb 11:27, which sttes tht Moses ws not frid of the king s nger. Note, however, tht this verse only sttes tht Moses ws frid, not tht he fered Phroh s wrth. Wht then might Moses hve fered? Perhps it ws the loss of support from his fellow Isrelites, since they were willing to betry him. Or perhps he fered tht he hd lost his opportunity to be the deliverer of his people.
Exodus 3 by R. Dougls Geivett T he Bible reports mny direct experiences of God. As we red in the Old Testment, for exmple, Moses cme cross burning bush in the desert, nd God commnded him to return to Egypt to free his people (Ex 3 4). The Angel of the Lord promised Gideon divine delivernce from Isrel s enemy the Midinites (Jdg 6:11 8:32). In Abrhm s old ge, nd despite his hving no children, the Lord promised Abrhm tht he nd his ged wife, Srh, would hve son through whom Abrhm would become the fther of gret ntion (Gn 12 nd 28). In 1 nd 2 Kings God ppers to kings nd prophets with numerous wrnings nd promises. In the New Testment we red of the experiences surrounding the birth nnouncements of Jesus nd John the Bptist (Lk 1:5-38); the trnsfigurtion (Mt 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36); Pul s conversion while on his wy to Dmscus to persecute Christins (Ac 9:1-19); nd Peter s decision, motivted by vision, to tke the gospel to the household of Cornelius (Ac 10). There re mny other reports of this kind in the Bible but the record does not end there. Every genertion of believers hs testified to the immedite presence of God in vrious wys. Admittedly, in most cses, these religious experiences occurred in people who lredy believed in God. The experiences often were intended to imprt relible informtion or divine guidnce nd were frequently ccompnied by mirculous confirming events. On the other hnd, these experiences confirmed the prticipnts in their belief in God, led them to testify to the existence nd supremcy of the Lord, nd emboldened them to ct on the informtion nd guidnce they received. This rises n importnt question: does religious experience provide grounds for believing tht God exists? It is resonble to think so, nd here s why. A bsic principle of rtionlity is tht how things pper in our experience is good grounds for believing tht tht is how things re, unless there is good reson to think tht how things pper to us is ctully mistken. If I seem to see n ornge tree in my grden, then, in generl, I hve good grounds for believing there is n ornge tree there. But suppose tht, during the pst 10 yers, I ve never seen n ornge tree there, I did not rrnge for n ornge tree to be plnted there, my wife now looks nd sys she does not see n ornge tree there, nd I ve recently been prescribed mediction known for its hllucinogenic side-effects. These considertions now mke it very unlikely tht I m seeing wht I seem to be seeing. And thus I hve no good grounds for believing n ornge tree is in the grden. While lleged religious experiences do not involve the five senses, they do correspond to perceptul experiences of things like ornge trees. An entity (n object or person) is present to the consciousness of some person. So if I seem to be directly wre of God s presence, nd if there re no overriding resons why things re not s they seem, then I hve good grounds for believing tht God is present nd hence for believing tht God exists (since God would not be present if God did not exist). But now we must sk, would my experience be evidence for others if I reported my experience to them? Is testimony bout n experience of God good grounds for believing tht God exists? A bsic principle is tht the testimony of n experience should be trusted unless there is t lest s good reson to think tht it is mistken. If I report to others tht I sw prticulr ornge tree, then, in generl, recipients of my testimony hve good ARTICLE CAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE SHOW THAT THERE IS A GOD?
Exodus 3 74 ARTICLE grounds for believing tht I sw it nd hence tht tht prticulr ornge tree exists. But if I hve reputtion for clowning round or telling lies, or if I hve no ide wht n ornge tree looks like, or if recipients of my testimony hve strong independent resons for denying tht there is n ornge tree in the grden, then it would not be so resonble for them to ccept my testimony. Similrly, if I report personl experience of God, then this will be grounds for others to believe tht God exists if wht I report is plusible, if it is likely tht my fculties re dequte for such n experience, nd if I hve reputtion for honesty. In generl it seems rtionl tht, for those who hve hd the experience, belief in God my be grounded in n experience of God. Also, testimony bout the experience my even provide grounds for belief in God for those who do not hve such experiences themselves. In combintion with other evidences for God s existence, direct religious experience nd testimony bout such n experience my provide strong motivtion for believing in God. It should t lest provide motivtion for exploring other evidence for God s existence. wil der ness nd cme to Ho reb, the moun tin of God. 2 Then the n gel of the L ord p pered to him in flme of fire with in bush. As Mo ses looked, he sw tht the bush ws on fire but ws not con sumed. 3 So Mo ses thought, I must go over nd look t this re mrk ble sight. Why isn t the bush burn ing up? 4 When the L ord sw tht he hd gone over to look, God clled out to him from the bush, Mo ses, Mo ses! Here I m, he n swered. 5 Do not come clos er, he sid. Re move the sn dls from your feet, for the plce where you re stnd ing is holy ground. 6 Then he con tin ued, I m the God of your f ther, b the God of Abr hm, the God of Isc, nd the God of J cob. Mo ses hid his fce be cuse he ws frid to look t God. 7 Then the L ord sid, I hve ob served the mis ery of my peo ple in Egypt, nd hve herd them cry ing out be cuse of their op pres sors. I know bout their suf fer ings, 8 nd I hve come down to res cue them from the pow er of the Egyp tins nd to bring them from tht lnd to good nd sp cious lnd, lnd flow ing with milk nd hon ey the ter ri to ry of the C nn ites, 3:1 = Desoltion; nother nme for Mount Sini; Dt 4:10,15; 18:16; Ml 4:4 3:2 Who ppered to Moses t the burning bush the ngel of the Lord, or the Lord himself (v. 4)? Both terms re used in this pssge. Elsewhere in the OT the two terms could be used in close proximity in wys tht drw no cler distinction between them (Gn 16:7-13; Jdg 6:11-14). Since the Hebrew ml ch mens messenger, one does not hve to think of the ngel here s flling into some unscripturl stereotype. Perhps both expressions re simply different wys of referring to the one God. The intimte reltionship between the Lord nd the ngel of the Lord hints t the reltionship demonstrted in the NT between God the Fther nd God the Son (see Jn 10:30). 3:6 If God cnnot be seen, why ws Moses frid to look upon him? The Bible sttes tht God is invisible (1Tm 1:17; 6:16) nd tht no one hs ever b 3:6 Sm, some LXX mss red fthers ; Ac 7:32 seen him (Jn 1:18; 1Jn 4:12,20). But biblicl nrrtive lso mkes it cler tht God personlly visited humn beings t vrious times nd did so in wesome nd mysterious wys. The divine disclosure might tke the form of phenomenon of nture storm (Jb 38:1), fire (Dt 4:12), fiery cloud (Ex 13:21), or burning bush (3:2-4), or the reveltion could be humn in ppernce (Gn 18:1-33). But the Bible suggests tht these self-expressions of God were medited nd prtil, not the direct ppernce of God in his fullness. The Isrelites sw the fire of God, but they did not see him. They herd God s voice, but they never sw his mouth speking (Dt 4:12). Moses sw God s form (Nm 12:8), but never sw his fce (Ex 33:20-23). When Moses becme wre tht the bush ws burning becuse God s presence ws within it, he showed reverent submission by prcticing the timeless Asitic custom of voiding eye contct with superior. To hve gzed directly upon God would hve been to show contemptuous pride nd risk destruction. 3:8 Which people groups did Isrel ctully conquer? The Bible s lists of ntions tht inhbited the lnd of Cnn differ from one nother. Among the seven lists of ntions provided in the Torh, only three gree completely (vv. 8,17; Dt 20:17). The first list (Gn 15:19-21) is the longest, contining the nmes of ten people groups. One contins seven nmes (Dt 7:1), while the others contin only six (Ex 3:8,17; Dt 20:17). There re t lest two explntions for these differences. First, some of the groups my hve been exterminted from the lnd before the time of Moses. The
75 Heth ites, Am o rites, Per iz zites, Hi vites, nd Jeb u sites. 9 So be cuse the Is r el ites cry for help hs come to me, nd I hve lso seen the wy the Egyp tins re op press ing them, 10 there fore, go. I m send ing you to Ph roh so tht you my led my peo ple, the Is r el ites, out of Egypt. 11 But Mo ses sked God, Who m I tht I should go to Ph roh nd tht I should bring the Is r el ites out of Egypt? 12 He n swered, I will cer tin ly be with you, nd this will be the sign to you tht I m the one who sent you: when you bring the peo ple out of Egypt, you will ll wor ship God t this moun tin. 13 Then Mo ses sked God, If I go to the Is r el ites nd sy to them, The God of your f thers hs sent me to you, nd they sk me, Wht is his nme? wht should I tell them? 14 God re plied to Mo ses, I AM WHO I AM. b This is wht you re to sy to the Is r el ites: I AM hs sent me to you. 15 God lso sid to Mo ses, Sy this to the Is r el ites: The L ord, the God of your f thers, the God of Abr hm, the God of Isc, nd the God of J cob, hs sent me to you. This is my nme for ev er; this is how I m to be re mem bered in ev ery gen er tion. 16 Go nd s sem ble the el ders of Is r el nd sy to them: The L ord, the God of your f thers, the God of Abr hm, Isc, nd J cob, hs p pered to me nd sid: I hve pid close t ten tion to you nd to wht hs been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I hve prom ised you tht I will bring you up from the mis ery of Egypt to the lnd of the C nn ites, Heth ites, Am o rites, Per iz zites, Hi vites, nd Jeb u sites lnd flow ing with milk nd hon ey. 18 They will lis ten to wht you sy. Then you, long with the el ders of Is r el, must go to the king of Egypt nd sy to him: The L ord, the God of the He brews, hs met with us. Now plese let us go on three-dy trip into the wil der ness so tht we my sc ri fice to the L ord our God. 3:12 Or serve b 19 How ev er, I know tht the king of Egypt will not l low you to go, even un der force from strong hnd. 20 But when I stretch out my hnd nd strike Egypt with ll my mir cles tht I will per form in it, f ter tht, he will let you go. 21 And I will give these peo ple such f vor with the Egyp tins tht when you go, you will not go empty-hnded. 22 Ech wom n will sk her neigh bor nd ny wom n sty ing in her house for sil ver nd gold jew el ry, nd cloth ing, nd you will put them on your sons nd dugh ters. So you will plun der the Egyp tins. MIRACULOUS SIGNS FOR MOSES 4 Mo ses n swered, Wht if they won t be lieve me nd will not obey me but sy, The L ord did not p per to you? 2 The L ord sked him, Wht is tht in your hnd? A stff, he re plied. 3 Throw it on the ground, he sid. So Mo ses threw it on the ground, it be cme snke, nd he rn from it. 4 The L ord told Mo ses, Stretch out your hnd nd grb it by the til. So he stretched out his hnd nd cught it, nd it be cme stff in his hnd. 5 This will tke plce, he con tin ued, so tht they will be lieve tht the L ord, the God o f their f thers, t he God o f Abr hm, the God of Isc, nd the God of J cob, hs p pered to you. 6 In d di tion the L ord sid to him, Put your hnd in side your clok. So he put his hnd in side his clok, nd when he took it out, his hnd ws dis esed, re sem bling snow. c 7 Put your hnd bck in side your clok, he sid. So he put his hnd bck in side his clok, nd when he took it out, it hd gin be come like the rest of his skin. 8 If they will not be lieve you nd will not re spond to the ev i dence of the first sign, they my be lieve the ev i dence of the sec ond sign. 9 And if they don t be lieve even these two signs or lis ten to wht you sy, tke some w ter 3:14 Or I AM BECAUSE I AM, or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE Kdmonites, Kenizzites, nd Rephim re mentioned only in the list given to Abrhm, who lived hundreds of yers erlier. According to Dt 2:20-22, the Ammonites destroyed the Rephim. Perhps the Kdmonites nd Kenizzites were lso eliminted before the time of the exodus. Second, the remining lists my not hve been intended s n exhustive ctloging of ll the culturl Exodus 4:9 c 4:6 A reference to whiteness or flkiness of the skin groups present in the lnd; they merely listed the mjor people groups with which Isrel would hve to del. 4:3-8 Could stick ctully become serpent, or hnd suddenly become leprous nd then instntly helthy gin? Yes, if God trnsforms them. According to vv. 5 nd 8, God mde these things hppen to convince doubters tht he hd relly ppered to Moses. An impossible ct tht is, one occurring outside of the nturl order would be more convincing thn n ordinry ction. As Cretor of the universe, God is not limited to ctions in ccordnce with the lws of nture; the occurrence of these mircles would convince ll but the most determined doubters tht God hd come to his prophet.
Exodus 4:10 76 from the Nile nd pour it on the dry ground. The wter you tke from the Nile will become blood on the ground. 10 But Moses replied to the Lord, Plese, Lord, I hve never been eloquent either in the pst or recently or since you hve been speking to your servnt becuse my mouth nd my tongue re sluggish. 11 The Lord sid to him, Who plced mouth on humns? Who mkes person mute or def, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will help you spek b nd I will tech you wht to sy. 13 Moses sid, Plese, Lord, send someone else. c 14 Then the Lord s nger burned ginst Moses, nd he sid, Isn t Aron the Levite your brother? I know tht he cn spek well. And lso, he is on his wy now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15 You will spek with him nd tell him wht to sy. I will help both you nd him to spek d nd will tech you both wht to do. 16 He will spek to the people for you. He will serve s mouth for you, nd you will serve s God to him. 17 And tke this stf in your hnd tht you will perform the signs with. MOSES S RETURN TO EGYPT 18 Then Moses went bck to his fther-in-lw Jethro nd sid to him, Plese let me return to my reltives in Egypt nd see if they re still living. Jethro sid to Moses, Go in pece. 19 Now in Midin the Lord told Moses, Return to Egypt, for ll the men who wnted to kill you re ded. 20 So Moses took his wife nd sons, put them on donkey, nd returned to the lnd of Egypt. And Moses took God s stf in his hnd. 21 The Lord instructed Moses, When you go bck to Egypt, mke sure you do before Phroh ll the wonders tht I hve put within your power. But I will hrden his hert e so tht he won t let the people go. 22 And you will sy to Phroh: This is wht the Lord sys: Isrel is my firstborn son. 23 I told you: Let my son go so tht he my worship me, but you refused to let him go. Look, I m bout to kill your firstborn son! 24 On the trip, t n overnight cmpsite, it hppened tht the Lord confronted him nd intended to put him to deth. 25 So Zipporh took flint, cut of her son s foreskin, threw it t Moses s feet, nd sid, You re bridegroom of blood to me! 26 So he let him lone. At tht time she sid, You re bridegroom of blood, referring to the circumcision. REUNION OF MOSES AND AARON 27 Now the Lord hd sid to Aron, Go nd meet Moses in the wilderness. So he went nd met him t the mountin of God nd kissed him. 28 Moses told Aron everything the Lord hd sent him to sy, nd bout ll the signs he hd commnded him to do. 29 Then Moses nd Aron went nd ssembled ll the elders of the Isrelites. 30 Aron repeted everything the Lord hd sid to Moses nd performed the signs before the people. 31 The people believed, nd when they herd tht the Lord hd pid ttention to them nd tht he hd seen their misery, they knelt low nd worshiped. MOSES CONFRONTS PHARAOH 5 Lter, Moses nd Aron went in nd sid to Phroh, This is wht the Lord, the God of Isrel, sys: Let my people go, so tht they my hold festivl for me in the wilderness. b c 4:10 Lit hevy of mouth nd hevy of tongue 4:12 Lit will be with your mouth 4:13 Lit send by the hnd of whom you will send d e 4:15 Lit will be with your mouth nd with his mouth 4:21 Or will mke him stubborn 4:21 The Bible teches tht humn beings re free to mke choices (Gn 2:19; 4:7; Ezk 18:2-32). God is good (Ps 25:8; 34:8; 100:5) nd lwys cts consistently with his nture. Yet people cn choose to rebel ginst God s goodness, nd consistent rebellion cn led to their herts being hrden[ed]. As the sying goes, The sme sun tht melts butter lso hrdens cly. Egyptin phrohs believed they were divine, nd Phroh would never hve been inclined to submit to the Isrelites God. Ech time God plced demnd on him, he becme more determined to resist. Thus it ws both God s demnds nd Phroh s own pride-motivted stubbornness (Ex 8:15,32; 9:34) tht led to his hrdened hert. God would use Phroh s stubbornness for good end, to demonstrte his power nd extend his reputtion (9:16). 4:24 Why did the Lord try to kill Moses? To nswer this question, it is necessry to exmine how Moses s life ws spred; the sitution ws reversed only when Moses s wife circumcised his son. Since the dys of Abrhm God hd required his people to circumcise their sons s sign of their reltionship with him (Gn 17:10-14). As leder of God s people, Moses ws expected to set the proper exmple before the Isrelites. When he filed to hve his son circumcised before returning to Egypt, he incurred the Lord s displesure. Filure to meet God s requirement hd imperiled both his life nd ministry. 5:1 When Moses nd Aron sked Phroh to let the Isrelites leve Egypt to hold festivl in the wilderness, they were not lying. The proper
77 Exodus 6:7 2 But Phroh responded, Who is the Lord tht I should obey him by letting Isrel go? I don t know the Lord, nd besides, I will not let Isrel go. 3 They nswered, The God of the Hebrews hs met with us. Plese let us go on three-dy trip into the wilderness so tht we my scrifice to the Lord our God, or else he my strike us with plgue or sword. 4 The king of Egypt sid to them, Moses nd Aron, why re you cusing the people to neglect their work? Get to your lbor! 5 Phroh lso sid, Look, the people of the lnd re so numerous, nd you would stop them from their lbor. FURTHER OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL 6 Tht dy Phroh commnded the overseers of the people s well s their foremen: 7 Don t continue to supply the people with strw for mking bricks, s before. They must go nd gther strw for themselves. 8 But require the sme quot of bricks from them s they were mking before; do not reduce it. For they re slckers tht is why they re crying out, Let us go nd scrifice to our God. 9 Impose hevier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it nd not py ttention to deceptive words. 10 So the overseers nd foremen of the people went out nd sid to them, This is wht Phroh sys: I m not giving you strw. 11 Go get strw yourselves wherever you cn find it, but there will be no reduction t ll in your worklod. 12 So the people scttered throughout the lnd of Egypt to gther stubble for strw. 13 The overseers insisted, Finish your ssigned work ech dy, just s you did when strw ws provided. 14 Then the Isrelite foremen, whom Phroh s slve drivers hd set over the people, were beten nd sked, Why hven t you finished mking your prescribed number of bricks yesterdy or tody, s you did before? 15 So the Isrelite foremen went in nd cried for help to Phroh: Why re you treting your servnts this wy? 16 No strw hs been given to your servnts, yet they sy to us, Mke bricks! Look, your servnts re being beten, but it is your own people who re t fult. 17 But he sid, You re slckers. Slckers! Tht is why you re sying, Let us go scrifice to the Lord. 18 Now get to work. No strw will be given to you, but you must produce the sme quntity of bricks. 19 The Isrelite foremen sw tht they were in trouble when they were told, You cnnot reduce your dily quot of bricks. 20 When they left Phroh, they confronted Moses nd Aron, who stood witing to meet them. 21 My the Lord tke note of you nd judge, they sid to them, becuse you hve mde us reek to Phroh nd his o f icils putting sword in their hnd to kill us! 22 So Moses went bck to the Lord nd sked, Lord, why hve you cused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me? 23 Ever since I went in to Phroh to spek in your nme he hs cused trouble for this people, nd you hven t rescued your people t ll. 6 But the Lord replied to Moses, Now you will see wht I will do to Phroh: becuse of strong hnd he will let them go, nd becuse of strong hnd he will drive them from his lnd. GOD PROMISES FREEDOM 2 Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, I m the Lord. 3 I ppered to Abrhm, Isc, nd Jcob s God Almighty, but I ws not known to them by my nme the Lord. b 4 I lso estblished my covennt with them to give them the lnd of Cnn, the lnd they lived in s liens. 5 Furthermore, I hve herd the groning of the Isrelites, whom the Egyptins re forcing to work s slves, nd I hve remembered my covennt. 6 Therefore tell the Isrelites: I m the Lord, nd I will bring you out from the forced lbor of the Egyptins nd rescue you from slvery to them. I will redeem you with n outstretched rm nd gret cts of judgment. 7 I will tke you s my people, nd I will be your God. You will b 5:2 Or recognize 6:3 Lord (in smll cpitls) stnds for the personl nme of God, which in Hb is Yhweh. There is long trdition of substituting Lord for Yhweh out of reverence. worship of the Lord hd been denied the Isrelites in Egypt, yet it ws more fundmentl to their clling s the people of God thn freedom from slvery. Phroh hd the opportunity to ccommodte Isrel s desire, but his denil of the request mde it cler tht the only wy Isrel could worship the Lord s he required ws to leve Egypt for good (6:11). 5:7 Archeology revels tht bricks mde with strw were common building mteril in Egypt during the OT er. Such evidence from rcheology gives the biblicl nrrtive greter credibility.
Exodus 6:8 78 know tht I m the L ord your God, who brought y ou out from the forced l bor of the Egyp tins. 8 I will bring you to the lnd tht I swore to give to Abr hm, Isc, nd J cob, nd I will give it to you s pos ses sion. I m the L ord. 9 Mo ses told this to the Is r el ites, but they did not lis ten to him be cuse of their bro ken spir it nd hrd l bor. 10 Then the L ord spoke to Mo ses, 11 Go nd tell Ph roh king of Egypt to let the Is r el ites go from his lnd. 12 But Mo ses sid in the L ord s pres ence: If the Is r el ites will not lis ten to me, then how will Ph roh lis ten to me, since I m such poor spek er? b 13 Then the L ord spoke t o Mo ses nd Ar on nd gve t hem com mnds con cern ing both the Is r el ites nd Ph roh king of Egypt to bring the Is r el ites out of the lnd of Egypt. GENEALOGY OF MOSES AND AARON 14 These re the heds of their f thers fm i lies: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Isrel: Hnoch nd Pllu, Hezron nd Crmi. These re the clns of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jmin, Ohd, Jchin, Zohr, nd Shul, the son of Cnnite womn. These re the clns of Simeon. 16 17 18 19 These re the nmes of the sons of Levi ccording to their fmily records; Gershon, Kohth, nd Merri. Levi lived 137 yers. The sons of Gershon: Libni nd Shimei, by their clns. The sons of Kohth: Amrm, Izhr, Hebron, nd Uzziel. Kohth lived 133 yers. The sons of Merri: Mhli nd Mushi. These re the clns of the Levites ccording to their fmily records. 20 Amrm mrried his fther s sister Jochebed, nd she bore him Aron nd Moses. Amrm lived 137 yers. 6:8 Lit rised my hnd b 21 22 23 24 25 The sons of Izhr: Korh, Nepheg, nd Zichri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishel, Elzphn, nd Sithri. Aron mrried Elisheb, dughter of Ammindb nd sister of Nhshon. She bore him Ndb nd Abihu, Elezr nd Ithmr. The sons of Korh: Assir, Elknh, nd Abisph. These re the clns of the Korhites. Aron s son Elezr mrried one of the dughters of Putiel, nd she bore him Phinehs. These re the heds of the Levite fmilies by their clns. 26 It ws this Ar on nd Mo ses whom the L ord told, Bring the Is r el ites out of the lnd of Egypt c cord ing to their mil i try di vi sions. 27 Mo ses nd Ar on were the ones who spoke to Ph roh king of Egypt in or der to bring the Is r el ites out of Egypt. MOSES AND AARON BEFORE PHARAOH 28 On the dy the L ord spoke to Mo ses in the lnd f Egypt, 29 he sid to him, I m the L ord; tell Ph o roh king of Egypt ev ery thing I m tell ing you. 30 But Mo ses re plied in the L ord s pres ence, Since I m such poor spek er, how will Ph roh lis ten to me? The L ord n swered Mo ses, See, I hve mde you like God to Ph roh, nd Ar on your broth er will be your proph et. 2 You must sy wht ev er I com mnd you; then Ar on your broth er must de clre it to Ph roh so tht he will let the Is r el ites go from his lnd. 3 But I will hrd en Ph roh s hert nd mul ti ply my signs nd won ders in the lnd of Egypt. 4 Ph roh will not lis ten to you, but I will put my hnd into Egypt nd bring the mil i try di vi sions of my peo ple the Is r el ites out of the lnd of Egypt by gret cts of judg ment. 5 The Egyp tins will know tht I m the L ord when I stretch out my hnd ginst Egypt nd bring out the Is r el ites from mong them. 6 So Mo ses nd Ar on did this; they did just s the L ord com mnd ed them. 7 Mo ses ws eighty yers old nd Ar on eighty-three when they spoke to Ph roh. 7 6:12 Lit I hve uncircumcised lips, lso in v. 30
Exodus 7 by Ronld H. Nsh M ircles re essentil to the historic Christin fith. If Jesus Christ ws not God incrnte, nd if Jesus did not rise bodily from the grve, then the Christin fith s we know it from history nd the Scriptures would not could not be true (see Rm 10:9-10). It is then, esy to see why enemies of the Christin fith direct mny of their ttcks ginst these two mircles of Christ s incrntion nd resurrection in prticulr nd ginst the possibility of mircles in generl. Wht one believes bout the possibility of mircles comes from tht person s worldview. On the question of mircles, the criticl worldview distinction is between nturlism nd supernturlism. For nturlist, the universe is nlogous to closed box. Everything tht hppens inside the box is cused by, or is explicble in terms of, other things tht exist within the box. Nothing (including God) exists outside the box; therefore, nothing outside the box we cll the universe or nture cn hve ny cusl effect within the box. To quote the fmous nturlist Crl Sgn, the cosmos is ll tht is or ever hs been or ever will be. The mjor reson, then, why nturlists do not believe in mircles is becuse their worldview prevents them from believing. If nturlist suddenly begins to consider the possibility tht mircles re relly possible, he hs begun to move wy from nturlism nd towrd different worldview. Any person with nturlistic worldview could not consistently believe in mircles. No rguments on behlf of the mirculous cn possibly succeed with such person. The proper wy to ddress the unbelief of such person is to begin by chllenging his nturlism. The worldview of Christin theism ffirms the existence of personl God who trnscends nture, who exists outside the box. Christin supernturlism denies the eternity of nture. God creted the world freely nd ex nihilo (out of nothing). The universe is contingent in the sense tht it would not hve begun to exist without God s cretive ct nd it could not continue to exist without God s sustining ctivity. The very lws of the cosmos tht nturlists believe mke mircles impossible were creted by this God. Indeed one of nturlism s mjor problems is explining how mindless forces could give rise to minds, knowledge, nd sound resoning. ARTICLE ARE MIRACLES BELIEVABLE?
Exodus 7:8 80 8 The Lord sid to Moses nd Aron, 9 When Phroh tells you, Perform mircle, tell Aron, Tke your stf nd throw it down before Phroh. It will become serpent. 10 So Moses nd Aron went in to Phroh nd did just s the Lord hd commnded. Aron threw down his stf before Phroh nd his o f icils, nd it becme serpent. 11 But then Phroh clled the wise men nd sorcerers the mgicins of Egypt, nd they lso did the sme thing by their occult prctices. 12 Ech one threw down his stf, nd it becme serpent. But Aron s stf swllowed their stfs. 13 However, Phroh s hert ws hrd, nd he did not listen to them, s the Lord hd sid. THE FIRST PLAGUE: WATER TURNED TO BLOOD 14 Then the Lord sid to Moses, Phroh s hert is hrd: He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Phroh in the morning. When you see him wlking out to the wter, stnd redy to meet him by the bnk of the Nile. Tke in your hnd the stf tht turned into snke. 16 Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hs sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so tht they my worship me in the wilderness, but so fr you hve not listened. 17 This is wht the Lord sys: Here is how you will know tht I m the Lord. Wtch. I m bout to strike the wter in the Nile with the stf in my hnd, nd it will turn to blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, nd the Egyptins will be unble to drink wter from it. 19 So the Lord sid to Moses, Tell Aron: Tke your stf nd stretch out your hnd over the wters of Egypt over their rivers, cnls, ponds, nd ll their wter reservoirs nd they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the lnd of Egypt, even in wooden nd stone continers. 20 Moses nd Aron did just s the Lord hd commnded; in the sight of Phroh nd his o f icils, he rised the stf nd struck the wter in the Nile, nd ll the wter in the Nile ws turned to blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, nd the river smelled so bd the Egyptins could not drink wter from it. There ws blood throughout the lnd of Egypt. 22 But the mgicins of Egypt did the sme thing by their occult prctices. So Phroh s hert ws hrd, nd he would not listen to them, s the Lord hd sid. 23 Phroh turned round, 7:16 Or serve ; Ex 4:23 7:9-10 Did the Egyptins relly turn their rods into serpents (see v. 12)? Another trnsltion of the Hebrew word rendered by their occult prctices (v. 11) is by their flmes. The Egyptin sorcerers, like modern mgicins, seem to hve used bright distrction to concel their substitution of serpents for the sticks. (The NT in 2Tm 3:8 gives their nmes s Jnnes nd Jmbres.) The ctivities of these sorcerers foreshdow those of lwless one who will come t the end of the ge nd perform pseudomircles (2Th 2:9). 7:20 Did the Nile River ctully turn to blood? The OT uses the Hebrew word trnslted blood in two different senses in the literl sense to refer to the life-giving fluid in the circultory system of humn beings nd nimls (Gn 4:11), nd in the figurtive sense to refer to the color of blood (see Jl 2:31). Either interprettion is possible here: the Nile could hve become literl blood, or it could hve turned the color of blood due to the presence of some toxin within it. In either cse, the Bible is describing true mircle. God produced the results he sid he would, nd he did it when he sid he would. 7:20-21 Were the ten plgues nturl occurrences, not mircles? According to the Bible they were true mircles signs nd wonders performed by God (6:6; 7:3-4; 8:19). Theologiclly, mircle cn be defined s God s working t just the right time, in just the right plce, in just the right degree to produce redemptive outcome. Mircles re cts of God, but God cn mke them hppen in vrious wys. As Cretor of the universe he cn work mircles through nture or outside the nturl order when it suits his purposes. The biblicl description of the events ssocited with the ten plgues llows for the possibility tht God used nturl processes to bring judgments on Egypt s gods (Ex 12:12) nd set his people free from Egyptin cptivity. Some hve suggested tht bcteri turned the wters red, nd the poisoned wters killed the fish nd forced the frogs to seek cool, moist plces wy from the Nile. When the frogs died their corpses were breeding ground for two types of smll insects. These, in turn, spred communicble diseses mong both nimls nd humns, resulting in deth to the livestock nd boils upon the people. A well-timed locust plgue followed by spring hilstorm devstted Egypt s crops. Shortly therefter desert sndstorm or dust cloud drkened most of Egypt. Finlly devstting plgue, perhps one cused by the insects, killed both humns nd bests mong the non- Isrelites. God ws t work in the entire sequence of events, mking them occur in the pproprite loction, t the designted time, nd t the prescribed intensity level. If God chose to work outside the nturl order, it is resonble to ssume tht the wters of the Nile were trnsformed for time into ctul blood. No cusl chin would be needed to link the events of the first plgue with those tht followed up through the sixth, nd possibly the tenth, s described bove. God could bring smll insects into existence directly from the dust of the erth (8:16-17) without resorting to nturl cuses. He mde these ten events tke plce in response to Phroh s stubbornness. 7:22 The Bible suggests it ws humn cunning, not mirculous powers, by which the Egyptin mgicins turned the wter from the Nile into blood. The sme Hebrew expression, by their
81 Exodus 8:26 went into his plce, nd didn t tke even this to hert. 24 All the Egyptins dug round the Nile for wter to drink becuse they could not drink the wter from the river. 25 Seven dys pssed fter the Lord struck the Nile. THE SECOND PLAGUE: FROGS 8 Then the Lord sid to Mo ses, Go in to Phroh nd tell him: This is wht the Lord sys: Let my people go, so tht they my worship me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plgue ll your territory with frogs. 3 The Nile will swrm with frogs; they will come up nd go into your plce, into your bedroom nd on your bed, into the houses of your o f i cils nd your people, nd into your ovens nd kneding bowls. 4 The frogs will come up on you, your people, nd ll your o f icils. 5 The Lord then sid to Moses, Tell Aron: Stretch out your hnd with your stf over the rivers, cnls, nd ponds, nd cuse the frogs to come up onto the lnd of Egypt. 6 When Aron stretched out his hnd over the wters of Egypt, the frogs cme up nd covered the lnd of Egypt. 7 But the mgicins did the sme thing by their occult prctices nd brought frogs up onto the lnd of Egypt. 8 Phroh summoned Moses nd Aron nd sid, Appel to the Lord to remove the frogs from me nd my people. Then I will let the people go nd they cn scrifice to the Lord. 9 Moses sid to Phroh, You my hve the honor of choosing. When should I ppel on behlf of you, your o f icils, nd your people, tht the frogs be tken wy from you nd your houses, nd remin only in the Nile? 10 Tomorrow, he nswered. Moses replied, As you hve sid, so tht you my know there is no one like the Lord our God, 11 the frogs will go wy from you, your houses, your o f icils, nd your people. The frogs will remin only in the Nile. 12 After Moses nd Aron went out from Phroh, Moses cried out to the Lord for help concerning the frogs tht he hd brought ginst Phroh. 13 The Lord did s Moses hd sid: the frogs in the houses, courtyrds, nd fields died. 14 They piled them in countless heps, nd there ws terrible odor in the lnd. 15 But when Phroh sw there ws relief, he hrdened his hert nd would not listen to them, s the Lord hd sid. THE THIRD PLAGUE: GNATS 16 Then the Lord sid to Moses, Tell Aron: Stretch out your stf nd strike the dust of the lnd, nd it will become gnts throughout the lnd of Egypt. 17 And they did this. Aron stretched out his hnd with his stf, nd when he struck the dust of the lnd, gnts were on people nd nimls. All the dust of the lnd becme gnts throughout the lnd of Egypt. 18 The mgicins tried to produce gnts using their occult prctices, but they could not. The gnts remined on people nd nimls. 19 This is the finger of God, the mgicins sid to Phroh. But Phroh s hert ws hrd, nd he would not listen to them, s the Lord hd sid. THE FOURTH PLAGUE: SWARMS OF FLIES 20 The Lord sid to Moses, Get up erly in the morning nd present yourself to Phroh when you see him going out to the wter. Tell him: This is wht the Lord sys: Let my people go, so tht they my worship b me. 21 But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swrms of flies c ginst you, your o f icils, your people, nd your houses. The Egyptins houses will swrm with flies, nd so will the lnd where they live. d 22 But on tht dy I will give specil tretment to the lnd of Goshen, where my people re living; no flies will be there. This wy you will know tht I, the Lord, m in the lnd. 23 I will mke distinction e be tween my peo ple nd your people. This sign will tke plce tomorrow. 24 And the Lord did this. Thick swrms of flies went into Phroh s plce nd his o f icils houses. Throughout Egypt the lnd ws ruined becuse of the swrms of flies. 25 Then Phroh summoned Moses nd Aron nd sid, Go scrifice to your God within the country. 26 But Moses sid, It would not be right f to do tht, becuse wht we will scrifice to the Lord our God is detestble to the Egyptins. If we scrifice wht the Egyptins detest in front of 8:16 Perhps snd fles or mosquitoes f 8:26 Or llowble b 8:20 Or serve c 8:21 Or insects d 8:21 Lit re e 8:23 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reds will plce redemption flmes, occurs here s the explntion for wht they performed (see note on 7:9-10). 8:26-27 The Bible never sys tht Moses tried to deceive Phroh in requesting permission to leve Egypt in order to conduct scrifice. Apprently, on three occsions (vv. 26-27; 10:9,25-26) the Lord told Moses to mke reltively minor