Moses the Messenger

Pharaoh asks the question, “Who is this LORD and why should I obey him . . . ?” (Exodus 5:2), and Moses is God’s mouthpiece to answer him. Moses has been specially preserved and prepared by God for eighty years to be Israel’s deliverer. Now God will prepare Pharaoh and the Egyptians to fulfill his plan of redemption. Pharaoh’s unwillingness to acknowledge the all-powerful God unleashes a series of plagues that show God’s power over all the gods of Egypt

Let My People Go and Worship

“Let my people go” (8:2). This is the focus of God’s Story in Exodus. The book opens in slavery and closes with Israel in freedom to worship God. It is tempting to look at the plagues God brought to Egypt simply as agents of destruction but their purpose was to save his people. God is in the business of redemption. Why frogs? They were considered sacred, a symbol of fertility, by the Egyptians.

God Preserves His People

A pattern emerges as the fourth plague is released by God. We see a symmetrical, unfolding scheme. The first nine plagues are a series of three plagues each. The first is announced by Moses at the Nile, the second by Moses at the palace and the third without warning. The final one is the climax of all that came before, “I am the Lord, and I will punish the gods of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12b). As the swarms of flies are released into Egypt, God makes a distinction between his people and the Egyptians.

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A Hard Heart

Through every blow on Egypt, every warning from Moses, every suffering of his people, the Pharaoh remained recalcitrant and defiant. Even when he tried to negotiate with God, or made promises he didn’t keep, Pharaoh’s heart was unyielding (v7). It can be distracting to focus on the phrase, “he made the king too stubborn to listen” (v12) and claim that he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Pharaoh’s path was chosen and his hard heart was a consequence and culmination of all his decisions up to that point.

For This Purpose

In the desert land of Egypt, God sends a wildly destructive hailstorm. The Egyptians worshipped fire and water so it seemed like their gods were judging them from the sky. The Lord takes the time here to expound a lesson. His purpose is clear, “…just to show you his power and to bring honor to himself everywhere in the world.” The Lord tells Pharaoh that he could have wiped the people out completely but he wants them to know who he is (vv 14-16). His goal is to save not destroy.

Tell Your Children

Pharaoh is a stubborn child of God who is being disciplined and humbled. He continues to contend with God although his efforts are frustrated and fruitless. As Pharaoh negotiates with the Creator, he is reminded who is really in charge of Egypt. Ancient civilizations dreaded locusts and the Egyptians surely saw their arrival as divine judgment. This swarming army of voracious insects toppled the Egyptian god Set who protected crops.

Creation Undone

Darkness symbolizes evil, chaos and judgment. It’s the obvious opposite of light. In the beginning of the creation account in Genesis, God makes the formless and dark world light. This ninth plague unravels God’s creation and returns the land to chaos. It attacks Egypt’s most potent religious symbol, the sun god Ra, and Pharaoh himself who was considered the incarnation of Amon-Ra.

A Price to Pay

Pharaoh refused to release Israel, God’s firstborn son, and now God will take his firstborn son (Exodus 4:22-23). This tenth plague will not be reversed by Pharaoh’s insincere confession of sin—there is a price to pay. It dealt a final blow to the Egyptian false gods and undermined Osiris, the Egyptian giver of life. The stroke on the firstborn meant the entire community was being judged from the lowest to the highest. The death of Pharaoh’s firstborn wiped out the future divine king over the land.

The Passover Lamb

The Israelites are instructed to take the blood of a perfect lamb, apply it to their doorposts, so that death would pass over them as it ravaged Egypt. The Lord required Israel’s participation in the final plague but not the others. They were not automatically exempt from the substitution of a life for a life. Obedience to God’s plan protected them and provided the escape from judgment

Deliverance

God definitively answered Pharaoh’s question, “Who is this Lord and why should I obey him?” (5:2). Pharaoh discovered God’s uniqueness and let the Israelites go! The Lord displays his nature, defeats the gods of Egypt and delivers his people from bondage. God is the director and producer of this dramatic documentary. The Israelites were obedient and ready to be freed to worship God (vv 35, 50-51).