Exodus 9:1-7 comments: a great murrain

1 ¶  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4  And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel. 5  And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 6  And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7  And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Moses is now told to threaten Pharaoh with a great death among all of his cattle. A murrain (mu-wren) is an infectious disease among animals and the Hebrew word murrain is translated from, transliterated as “deh’-ber,” is used most of the time for the English pestilence in the Bible. Again, too, nothing will die that belongs to the people of Israel. Still, the Pharaoh remained stubborn. Wonders continue as there was first the rod turning into a serpent, surface water turned to blood, infestations of frogs, lice, then flies, and now a great plague among the cattle of the Egyptians.

Remember how during the time of the great famine Joseph arranged for the Egyptians to sell their cattle to the government in exchange for bread and the Pharaoh wanted Hebrew men to watch over his cattle in Genesis 47?

 

Verse 3 gives us a definition of cattle in the Bible which is much broader than our modern consideration of beeves or cows and bulls only.

It is interesting how this happened right after Moses’s expressing of a concern about sacrificing that which was unpleasing to the Egyptians in front of them and I spoke of how they held many animals as representing gods. This is an attack on the Egyptian food supply and on their gods showing that Jehovah God, the creator of all mankind, has power over disease, a power these gods are helpless in front of. For a side note, Augustine of Hippo, the great Christian leader of the fifth century AD, also wrote in his City of God how the gods of the Romans were helpless to save them from the calamities they faced throughout their history.

Exodus 8:20-32 comments: swarms of flies

20 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21  Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22  And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23  And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. 24  And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. 25  And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26  And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27  We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28  And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. 29  And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD. 30  And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 31  And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. 32  And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

The rod turning into a serpent, the surface water turning into blood, the frogs, the lice, and now the flies. Baalzebub, a god of the Philistines at Ekron, referenced in 2Kings, chapter one, is the lord of the flies. In a play on this god’s name, we get in the New Testament Beelzebub, the lord of the house, whom Jesus called the prince of devils in Matthew 12:24. In Luke 11:18 we get, by virtue of parallel phrasing, the information that this god is Satan himself.

Matthew 12:24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Luke 11:18  If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

The Egyptian god of the flies was Kheper or Khepri according to some, pictured with a man’s body and a fly’s head, although some authorities name another god. God insulted and judged the Egyptian hierarchy of gods in these plagues as noted previously.

 It is a matter of common sense to believe these things did not afflict Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, but that exemption from suffering is only mentioned here first as a sign of God’s power in dividing His people from the rest. He had a reason for doing so here which He might not have in a natural disaster now when churches and Christians suffer along with the heathen.

 Pharaoh is now willing for the Hebrews to have a time of worship within his territory but when Moses persists he agrees that they go into the wilderness, only not too far. But again his heart is hardened and he goes back on his willingness to let them go.

When Pharaoh offered that the Hebrews sacrifice to their God in the land Moses declared that the sacrifice they would make to the Lord was the abomination of the Egyptians and that they would attack the Hebrews for doing so in their presence. This was his excuse for why they needed to journey into the wilderness. The Egyptians held several animals as sacred, for instance a cow for Isis, and it must be remembered that much later when the Romans ruled Egypt a Roman official was murdered by a mob for killing a cat. Moses was not willing to sacrifice in a manner unpleasing to God just to keep from causing a riot among the Egyptians for sacrificing in a manner that displeased them.

Exodus 8:16-19 comments: a plague of lice

16 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17  And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18  And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19  Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

The court magicians could counterfeit the rod turning into a snake, the surface water turning into blood, and the frogs. However, they could not produce the lice. The Egyptians hated lice. Lice were a sort of personal horror to them. The remains of lice can even be found in Egyptian tombs. They were so sickened by the infestation of lice that normally Egyptian men and women shaved their heads and the hairstyles you see on statuary and tomb paintings represent wigs. The Ebers Papyrus, listing many medical remedies, contains remedies for lice as well.

This is very personal. I am reminded of the symbolic significance of the first wonders; the serpent, the blood, and the frogs. But, with lice I am reminded of the personal horror and nausea this entailed, much like the Philistine lords being afflicted with painful hemorrhoids in 1Samuel 5. The symbolic wonders that may have told a story of spiritual significance were able to be copied by the heathen magicians. But, this very personal pestilence was all God’s own. God even warns us now in our lives in many other ways, often, before afflicting us personally to turn us from our sin to Him.

Each of these plagues affect things that were worshipped as gods by the Egyptians. The earth the lice came from was no different. God is punishing not only the Egyptians, and the entire ancient world by example, but their devils, their gods.

Exodus 12:12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

In God’s ministry of reconciling man to Himself we have come to a critical point. As I pointed out in my comments on Genesis the ancient world had deteriorated spiritually to a point where idolatry was the norm, where gods were created who were gods of a particular city and family, and where the God who created mankind was ignored or forgotten. Political gods were part of a nation, a cultural entity’s sense of self-identity. A nation, an ethnic nationality, was justified by its political gods much like the Hindus and Muslims who battled at India’s independence from the British in the late 1940’s or the so-called Christian governments of Britain, Russia, and Germany during World War One or the fundamentalists of America who glorify the state with flags on the pulpit and celebrations at every national holiday and support any martial effort of this country no matter what the reason or consequence. It was all done to the glory of their gods, not the God of the Bible or creation. Yes, I am saying that many Christians in America today, Britain, Russia, and Germany in times past, and Hindus and Muslims worship false gods, devils, and not the God of the Bible. Their gods are wrapped in a flag, a political ideology, and a cultural chauvinism. That is why they hate each other so and why they kill each other so easily. But, even supposedly non-religious people will fight and die over secular gods whom they call ideals and ideologies thinking they have escaped the plague of religion. It is not so. Communists and other atheist ideologies are also bloody killers, trying to create a perfect kingdom out of millions of victims and great suffering they cause.

God is judging mankind here by proxy for its decay into the lunacy of national gods and cultural gods, as even the modern Christian merely worships a god who is a reflection of his own political beliefs, paranoia, and bigotry.

The magicians acknowledge that, because of their inability, they realize that this is proof of the God of the Hebrews involvement. This is not a saving acknowledgement however, as we see the Pharaoh, as a god-man, the only physical and living emblem of the gods on earth for the Egyptians, set his heart to oppose the God of the Hebrews, who, unknowing to him, is the God who created him and sustains him.

The Egyptian Pharaoh was the incarnation of gods on earth as he lived and when he died he was the representation of the god of the underworld. Pharaoh was a false god in the flesh. He, of course, possessed by devils, and filled with pride and exaltation, like the Beast of Revelation, sets his heart of stone against the God who created Him.

Some part of mankind will follow God through the only physical representation He has ever had, the incarnate God, the physical body of the invisible God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God by which all things were created and are sustained. But, it began with one man, Abraham, coming out of Ur of the Chaldees, and now this one group of people, the Hebrews, coming from Jacob, who was called Israel, who will depart from Egypt as Abraham departed from Ur and as the Christian looks forward to departing a judged world that is shrouded in darkness, a condition of which one proof is decay and death, the greatest temporal plague of all.

Exodus 8:1-15 comments: a plague of frogs

1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2  And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3  And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4  And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 5  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6  And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7  And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD. 9  And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? 10  And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. 11  And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. 12  And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 13  And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 14  And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. 15  But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

We have the rod turned into a snake, the surface water turned to blood, and now, frogs unleashed on the land; three wonders that the heathen magicians are also permitted to copy.

Frogs, in a different context, represent unclean spirits.

Revelation 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Note: In the verse from Revelation the unclean spirits resemble frogs but are not frogs. Here are two more comparisons that we should examine and be careful of taking too literally of unlike things joined by like for a comparison. Remember, these things look or act like each other but are not the same thing as each other.

Job 11:12  For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

John 1:32  And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

Events in the physical world often seem to represent events in the spiritual world and the spiritual world is more real even than the limited, finite world of the senses we perceive. We are like people chained in a cave facing the wall. We can only see shadows on the wall of what is going on behind us, out of our sight, where the greater reality, the real truth, exists. Some of us prefer the shadows but others long to turn and face the truth. Even heathen philosophers like Plato understood this in a limited way, as I took the cave allegory from him.

If there is a comparison to be made one might imagine the guiding rod of God’s instruction turned into the lying serpent by man’s choice of whom to believe in Eden, the surface water turned to blood as a representation of the will of God corrupted by man’s vain religion of the time from pure, life-giving water to a bloody mess, and the frogs covering the land of Egypt showing its infestation in every place by evil spirits. We might take this as a lesson for today, as well.

Pharaoh, for the first time, acknowledges the reality of Jehovah and asks Moses and Aaron to Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD (verse 8). But, when relieved, Pharaoh’s hardened heart will not permit them to leave. 

Exodus 7:14-25 comments: river turned to blood

14 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. 15  Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. 16  And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. 17  Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18  And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. 19  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. 20  And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21  And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22  And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. 23  And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. 24  And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25  And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

It was apparently the custom to go down the all-important Nile in the morning for bathing and perhaps ritual in the morning. There they met the Pharaoh. Between Moses and Aaron all of the surface water in Egypt was turned into blood. The only drinkable water was found by digging. Fish died and the Nile River stunk. This second wonder the heathen magicians could also duplicate which did not support Moses’ and Aaron’s credibility. This went on for seven days.

Psalm 78:44  And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

Psalm 105:29  He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

This sort of judgment will come again at the end of human history, perhaps referring to the Mediterranean Sea.

Revelation 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9  And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

The Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and he will not listen to this warning. Later, after all of their interactions with God and after so many of their distresses that arose from disobeying Him, it will be said;

Zechariah 7:12  Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

Exodus 7:8-13 comments: words and modern views of Bible translating and interpretation collide yet again

8 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9  When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. 10  And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11  Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12  For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13  And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Here is the disconcerting evidence that heathen worshippers of false gods and devils are permitted their own minor miracles. Of course, the Lord’s work overcomes anything they have to offer as it was He who gave permission for their little show of power in the first place. This was clearly allowed to create the stage for God’s power to be displayed, even in this small way.

For those lovers of the original languages I’m going to repeat part of my comments that were said on the passage in Exodus 4:1-9 because they bear repeating. If I make any mistakes please let me know.

“The Holy Spirit, through Moses, uses the Hebrew word, naw-khawsh, for serpent, the same word used for the serpent who is Satan in the garden. But, in 7:9 & 10 serpent will be translated from tan-neem, which also is used in other places for a dragon or even a whale. But in 7:15 we come back to naw-khawsh again for serpent. As we have seen in Greek from our study of books in the New Testament it is pointless to look at a Hebrew or a Greek word and state that this or that is its exact meaning when the context determines meaning and while one word can be used for different ideas, more than one word can be used for the same idea. A study of the word, love, in the Greek text of the New Testament will produce little understanding if one runs off on a rabbit trail trying to use those words to delineate different kinds of love. The kind of love the Holy Spirit is explaining will depend on the context, not on the Greek word.

For instance, in the following passage different words for love are used and a great many mental gymnastics with the original Greek will take you off the road of understanding into the mire of the meaning of Greek words. For instance, several different Greek words are used for love in the New Testament but they all, in context, mean what we think of as love, not, though, the erotic or romantic kind.

After the resurrection, in John 21:15-17 Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves Him, which calls into sharp, painful memory that Peter had denied His Lord three times as Jesus predicted He would. And there are many other great sermons from that passage, I'm sure.

Here, a person who pretends to be a Greek expert is about to burst. He excitedly points out that the first and second time Jesus asks the question He uses the word Agape' for to love someone from esteem or respect and also used for divine love. Each of those times Peter responds with Phileo, the love that comes from friendship or brotherly love. The last time Jesus Himself uses Phileo and once again Peter responds with the same. The pseudo-scholar will say that this lends much more meaning to the conversation because Jesus is asking for a different kind of love, a divine love, which Peter is not capable of and this reflects a fundamental failure in mankind's capacity or willingness to love God in the right way blah, blah, blah.

What the person who likes to think he is more intelligent and knowledgeable than a Christian janitor who can read English has done is to reveal his own ignorance. Agape' and Phileo are words for love that are used interchangeably. No extra insight into these verses is gained by playing ping pong with them. In Matthew 6:5 hypocrites Phileo to pray standing in the synagogues, in Matthew 19:19 you are told to Agape' your neighbor as yourself, John 15:19 says the world won't Phileo the disciples, 1 Corinthians 16:22 says that if any man Phileo not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha, and when we are repeatedly told to love our neighbor as ourselves with Agape' the Scriptures in no way imply that this is superior to our brotherly love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. I doubt anyone would imply that the kind of love Jesus says we are to have for each other, which distinguishes us as His followers, is inferior to the love we are supposed to have for a stranger who is in need.

Titus 3:4 doesn't have the love of God our Saviour toward man as Agape'. Paul's admonition in Titus 3:15 isn't Agape'. 1 Peter 1:22 uses both words for the same thought with Phileo first and then Agape'. Does knowing this change your understanding of the text? Does it help you know what you are to do? Is your lack of access or availability of access to the Greek a determinant of your ability to understand God's words? Finally, in Revelation 3:19 does it matter to you that Jesus Phileos here?

So, trust your English Bible and don’t be concerned about unbelieving preachers choking on nuances of meanings, offering “nuggets” of wisdom from the original languages that simply aren’t there.

Serpent is a serpent whichever Hebrew word for such a creature serpent comes from.”

In verse 11 we see that wise men, sorcerers, and magicians are all references to the same type of person in this context.

Exodus 7:1-7 comments: Pharaoh prepared to do battle with God

1 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2  Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4  But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. 6  And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they. 7  And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

Moses is 80 years old when these events take place and Aaron is 83, old men by our measurement in a world where lifespans were decreasing from the hundreds of years before the Flood due to the judgment on mankind, in part, made possible by the change in environment after the Flood.

Pharaoh is already stubborn, obstinate, prideful and a type of not only Satan but the Beast of Revelation, popularly called The Antichrist. God will use that pride and harden his heart for an occasion to perform signs and wonders. The Hebrew people are born in signs and wonders.

Deuteronomy 4:34  Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

The condition of the ancient world was such that each nation, each tribe even, claimed its very own deities and, as we have seen, even individual families had their own gods of familial spirits of ancestors. The understanding that the God of the Hebrews is real and powerful will not save the Egyptians because they will regard Him as only the God of the Hebrews. Mankind has degenerated to the point where he worships national gods he has invented who represent people groups and real devils as layers upon layers of spiritual beings preventing them from seeing the God who created him, as we do today with the theoretical entities of science like the Higgs-Boson particle that have explanatory power but no other reality. Now, the God who created them all is announcing Himself to the world using the people He has prepared as a vehicle.

The question begs itself, has He made Himself known to you?