Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh
Both Sides Perform Signs
The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
Exodus 8
The Second Plague: Frogs
The Third Plague: Gnats/Lics
The Fourth Plague:
Exodus 9
The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die
The Sixth Plague: Boils
The Seventh Plague: Hail
It's sad that the magicians are so obsessed with trying to beat Moses that they are willing to inflict the same plagues on themselves. Also, it's kind of ridiculous that they see all of their water has been turned to blood, and so they do the same thing. Why not save that water?!
ReplyDelete-Christopher
okay, there's a lot to get into regarding Pharaoh's heart, who was responsible, and what the implications are...well, for all of us. (I think this whole thing actually started earlier, back in Chapter 4) - perhaps I can put up another post for discussion 🤔
ReplyDelete- jeffrey
It's widely recognized that the ten plagues were an assault on the power and glory of Egypt and their "gods", including Pharaoh himself, believed to be the incarnation of Ra, believed by many to be the chief god of their culture...
ReplyDeleteif you'd like to see how the plagues disarm their false gods, you can do a search for "ten plagues of egypt and their gods" - here's one result reduced to a single page:
Deletehttp://biblecharts.org/oldtestament/thetenplagues.pdf
- jeffrey
Pharaoh's magicians dropped out of the competition once the gnats (or lice? depending on how you translate that word) came into play. Their comment on the matter was "this is the finger of God" Here's something interesting: Jesus used that same phrase when some folks who opposed his ministry accused him of being in league with demons/false gods. I wonder if he meant for the crowd to think back to this story when he used that phrase...🤔
ReplyDelete- jeffrey
I was yesterday-years-old when I realized that the Fourth Plague might have been "mislabeled" as *flies*. Now we all know that Exodus wasn't originally written in English, and it's reasonable to think that the earliest written record was in Hebrew.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the Hebrew words that were translated into English for the translations we use, you may notice two things. First, "fly/flies" was just not there. That word was inserted (presumably for clarity, but I would say that it muddles the meaning instead).
Secondly, that Hebrew word seems to mean "swarms". Now it's *possible* that "swarms of....flies" could be a good translation, but... since the effect of these swarms was the land being ruined...probably not. A few "literal" translations suggest beetles, and some commentary suggests hordes of different kinds of insects.
I"m not sure what the critters in those swarms were, but I do know that "Fourth Plague: Flies" is not the best description. That's why I changed the note in the blog post above.
= jeffrey
Exo 9:20 Those who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for the pattern we see here! In the midst of a whole nation experiencing the righteous judgement of our heavenly father those who believe His Word, as evidence by their actions, will be saved!
-Stacy
yes sir!
DeleteHis salvation has always been open to all who would trust in him, listen to his voice, follow his instructions, walk in his ways. From the red man to the boat builder to the Babylonian who trusted in the God who had a plan to create a people, and everyone else along the way, including some of Pharaoh's own people here in Exodus.
- jeffrey