America's tolerant society teaches us to elevate all faiths to an equal playing field. Such egalitarianism inflates our pride of open-mindedness, but is that what God says?
Who is God? The LORD tells us in ancient Egypt, defining Himself as He does battle with Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt.
THE PLOT
God gives the nation of Israel an assignment to make Him known in the pagan world and Moses is the point man.
This is larger than a Cecil B. DeMille story about Pharaoh and Moses. Yahweh is declaring Himself to be God over the little gods. And He accomplishes the evidence by using the pagans AND their demonic power to prove who He is.
THE PLAYERS
In one corner are two eighties-something poor Hebrew slaves carrying only a shepherd's staff. In the opposite corner stands Pharaoh, the rich and educated king of the whole world, carrying the importance of being thought to be the reincarnation of the sun god, Ra.
The battle doesn't sound too promising, does it? It's reminiscent of the time God had Elijah pour water on the wood before He lit it. Jehovah wants everyone to understand that the power and glory are all His.
The story is familiar. God and Pharaoh go head-to-head around three areas of Egyptian worship. Egypt had about 80 different "nature gods", but the plagues squared off against the most prominent (two river gods, four land gods, and three sky gods).
Each time Moses and Aaron go into the Pharaoh's presence, God is giving the ruler a chance to know Him. However, the Pharaoh progressively hardens his own heart until finally, God hardens Pharaoh's heart. In between, there is much razzle-dazzle as the supernatural powers fly.
The first battle salvo was eye-catching. When the Nile turned to blood, desert people would take notice of the lack of drinking water and crop irrigation. God was saying to the people..."You pray to the god of the river, but I am the Living Water. Where is the river god that you think protects you?" Their sorcerers took note that they could duplicate the phenomenon, but could not reverse it.
And Pharaoh hardened his heart.
After the blood had killed the living things in the water, God caused a malignant number of frogs to appear from the river. Again, the priests of Pharaoh could duplicate with more frogs, but couldn't remove the frogs. And since the people worshipped a god with a frog's head, they couldn't very well kill the frogs; that would be like an Indian killing a cow. Pharaoh begged Moses to take the frogs away, but Pharaoh didn't change his heart.
GOD'S POWER (over the four land gods)
Moses was told to tell Aaron to strike the dust of the ground and all the dust of Egypt became lice/gnats. God was showing His sovereignty over all of the ground. Remember, we were made from that dust and so His rule extends over us. But Pharaoh hardened his heart.
After the gnats came the dogflies, bloodsuckers more damaging than gnats flying up your nose. This plague affected Egyptians, but not Israelites. Here the LORD begins to make a redemptive distinction between His people and demon worship. Beelzebub was known as the Lord of the Flies (or Satan) and Egyptians called on him as an insurance policy to protect them. But even in Beelzebub's own territory (flies), the "Lord of the Flies" was impotent. God took away the flies, but Pharaoh hardened his heart.
When Pharaoh doesn't respond to the destruction of livestock, the severity of consequences are ratcheted up. We take note that a nation's leader can inflict great damage on his people as we watch Pharaoh's choice result in itchy boils full of puss all over the Egyptians' bodies. Again, Israel was spared. Egyptians were known all around the world for their advanced medical knowledge, but it wasn't helping them now. Think that didn't humiliate Pharaoh's personal physician...and the priests who couldn't even come before Pharaoh because their boils defiled them? With THIS plague, God hardens Pharaoh's heart.
Today in Egypt, Cairo only receives about two inches of rain annually so the next plague would have been an attention-grabber. The Lord filled the skies with clouds that brought hail and lightning and thunder. The hail beat down everything in the fields and stripped every tree everywhere except in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. This time, God told Moses to warn the people of the coming destruction. Some believed and moved themselves and their cattle into shelters. Pharaoh's response? He made a "sort-of" confession, but his heart was not changed. Again, he hardened his heart.
Then Moses stretched out his hand and the LORD sent a strong east wind that blew locusts in from the Arabian desert. They ate everything that was left in the fields after the hail; there would be no harvest in Egypt that year. Now the officials at court begged Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. They knew the grain god (Nepri) and the guardian of the fields (Anubis) and the deity of the harvest (Min) could not help them. But still Pharaoh would not let God's people go.
In the death of the firstborns, God demonstrates His character traits of justice and mercy. While all men are sinners who earn their wage of death, God gives unmerited favor to some. One group (called Egyptians) received JUSTICE for their sins because they trusted idols in the face of great evidence to the contrary. The other group (called Israelites) were shown MERCY for their sins as they were given instructions on how to trust God's sacrificial way to cover sin.
Both groups are an illustrated picture book for us. Will we humble ourselves and trust God to instruct us? In faith, the Israelites applied blood to the doorpost of their homes and the death angel passed over their home. Sadly, there was loud wailing in Egyptian homes as death visited each house. With this great personal cost, Pharaoh finally relented and let the Israelites go.
CONCLUSIONS
1. All worship is not equal. The Bible was written that we might know who God is and what He expects. He presented Himself to the Egyptians THEN and He presents Himself to the whole world NOW as we read this big story of salvation. God said "By this you will know that I am the LORD."
2. Who are these gods of Egypt? There are two supernatural forces in the world; God says that if worship is not of Him, it is demonic. The Bible calls the priests of Egypt "sorcerers" and their magic arts were limited. God is more powerful than Satan and He says "there is none like Me in all the earth".
4. Did you know that in the end times, the LORD will send similar plagues? In the first bowl judgment, He will inflict painful sores on those with the mark of the beast that sound much like the boils of the 7th plague. And in Revelation 16, it says "Great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe."
5. Egyptians were very religious people, worshipping everything around them. God came to call them to true worship, proving He was greater than all their gods. We can take note that it is dangerous to harden your heart.
6. By the time Israel left Egypt, both sides had a clear picture of God's power and protection and plan. And surely all those who lived in the surrounding nations had also heard the story as the knowledge of God spread. Not all in Egypt believed, but the Bible says the ones who did believe went along with Israel in the exodus.
So who is God? He is MERCIFUL and MIGHTY, the One True God who graciously reveals Himself in His creation, His miracles, and in His Word. Just as then the Israelites followed His instructions to deal with their sin by the blood of the lamb, now the blood of the Lamb deals with sin once and forever.
God has drawn a red line of expectation in the knowledge of Himself. He wants us to worship the Creator, not the created. His demand on Pharaoh's life to acknowledge Him as LORD is the same call He offers each man as He gives us an offer to deal with our sins. It's a good offer.
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