25 March 2006:
Exodus 7:1-10:28
Please take the time to read the above lesson.
We are now entering the fight between Moshe and his brother Aaron against Pharaoh for the children of Israel. More properly we are entering the fight between YHWH and Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s world system or Kosmos. Do not think that any of these plagues were accidents. Each one was aimed at a specific aspect of Egyptian religion. YHWH is not only demonstrating to the Egyptians that He is God, but he is demonstrating to the children of Israel that He is God.
Let us look at the first plague. The Nile is turned into blood. It is important that we realise what the Nile meant to the people of Egypt. Every year the Nile flooded, and that flooding would leave a rich layer of alluvial soil which made Egypt different from many other nations. Egypt had rich crops of a variety that would have been the envy of any other civilisation. That the flooding was caused by the melting of snow off the mountains was a mystery to the people of Egypt and they attributed the flooding to the gods, and in fact at several times in their history worshipped the Nile as a god. In addition, the Nile provided an abundance of fish for all, and was the main source of transportation for the country. Ninety percent of the population lived less than ten miles from the Nile. When the Nile turned to blood, God demonstrated that he was mightier than the Nile and had the entire Egyptian economy in his hands, and I am quite sure terrified the people of Egypt.
The second plague was frogs. Frog gods were said to accompany the god of the Nile as he came down the river in the floods. Frogs were associated with fertility, and there were several frog or frog headed gods: Heket, Ogdoad-heh, , Hek, Nun, Amun, and Heka, the last maybe most important as she was the goddess of magic. When YHWH used the Egyptians own frogs against them, he was demonstrating that he was superior to the powers of Egypt.
The third plague was lice. While I cannot link these in any way to Egyptian mythology, the magicians themselves tell Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God,” in other words something beyond their powers and beyond their Gods.
The following plague is probably gnats, which after the lice certainly made life miserable. We note at this point the magicians have given up and no longer try to imitate Moshe.
The next plague was death of livestock. We note in passing that there were three Egyptian bulls that were considered incarnations of gods, and at least one cow goddess, so once again the Lord is demonstrating his superiority to Egyptian gods. (We might remember that Moses told Egypt the Hebrew sacrifices would be abhorrent to the Egyptians, the Egyptians did not sacrifice cows or any thing they worshipped, but sacrificed wine and bread. Mummies of animals that had died naturally were also given to the Gods.)
God by this time has proved he is Lord over all these false Gods and Lords, and the next few plagues demonstrate his Lordship over mankind and nature. The next plague is of sores which leave the people miserable, but just as miraculously they are healed. The following plague truly demonstrated YHWH’s supernatural power, burning hail. By this time, some Egyptians are beginning to believe in the Lord, and bring their livestock and slaves in to protect them. Next we have the plague of locusts which destroys what the hail had not (it is noted that the wheat and buckwheat were not destroyed by the hail because they had not yet come up. YHWH, blessed be his name is truly God of nature.
The last plague we will consider for today is darkness. YHWH is getting up close and personal here. Ra or Re, the Sund God, is considered the chief of the Egyptian Gods. Pharaoh is a manifestation of Horus, the son of Ra, a God of the power of the Sun. The plague of darkness proves YHWH superior to Ra or Horus or to the supposed supernatural powers of the Pharaoh.
But these manifestations are not only to demonstrate to the Pharaoh that YHWH is true God, but to the Hebrew people themselves. As Dr. Tony Evans has said, “The problem is not just to get the people out of Egypt, but to get Egypt out of the people.” The Hebrews had lived for close to four centuries in Egypt, among a people whose god blessed them in abundance, especially with the mysterious yearly Nile floods. The people had to learn freedom, and dependence on the Lord of Hosts. Slavery, amazingly enough is easier and more desirable to stick with than freedom, especially after four centuries. Those of you familiar with the Torah will remember that the Hebrews cried often to return to Egypt where they had meat, leeks, and melons for the asking. Christians have the same problems; we want to go back to Egypt, to serve the gods we served there, gods of sex, carnality, food, liquor, drugs, addiction to internet, pornography, etc.
During this time of Lent, it is good to ask ourselves, “do we want to return to Egypt?” “Do we recognise that YHWH is God over all of our gods and lords which we have made?” “Do we recognise that God is God of and over nature, fully in control?” In other words, most of us are out of Egypt, but is Egypt out of us? Do we allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives? He cannot be Lord of our lives in truth unless we recognise that he is Lord of All. When we learn to truly trust him by giving him our selves, our souls, our bodies, our time and our money, or will we just give him lip service? It is time for us to decide. Remember what Corrie ten Boom said about revisiting our sins. “It is as God has thrown our sins into the deepest part of the sea, and placed a sign that says, ‘No Fishing!’ God has won the victory. All we need to do is follow and obey.
Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua
+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com
Please take the time to read the above lesson.
We are now entering the fight between Moshe and his brother Aaron against Pharaoh for the children of Israel. More properly we are entering the fight between YHWH and Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s world system or Kosmos. Do not think that any of these plagues were accidents. Each one was aimed at a specific aspect of Egyptian religion. YHWH is not only demonstrating to the Egyptians that He is God, but he is demonstrating to the children of Israel that He is God.
Let us look at the first plague. The Nile is turned into blood. It is important that we realise what the Nile meant to the people of Egypt. Every year the Nile flooded, and that flooding would leave a rich layer of alluvial soil which made Egypt different from many other nations. Egypt had rich crops of a variety that would have been the envy of any other civilisation. That the flooding was caused by the melting of snow off the mountains was a mystery to the people of Egypt and they attributed the flooding to the gods, and in fact at several times in their history worshipped the Nile as a god. In addition, the Nile provided an abundance of fish for all, and was the main source of transportation for the country. Ninety percent of the population lived less than ten miles from the Nile. When the Nile turned to blood, God demonstrated that he was mightier than the Nile and had the entire Egyptian economy in his hands, and I am quite sure terrified the people of Egypt.
The second plague was frogs. Frog gods were said to accompany the god of the Nile as he came down the river in the floods. Frogs were associated with fertility, and there were several frog or frog headed gods: Heket, Ogdoad-heh, , Hek, Nun, Amun, and Heka, the last maybe most important as she was the goddess of magic. When YHWH used the Egyptians own frogs against them, he was demonstrating that he was superior to the powers of Egypt.
The third plague was lice. While I cannot link these in any way to Egyptian mythology, the magicians themselves tell Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God,” in other words something beyond their powers and beyond their Gods.
The following plague is probably gnats, which after the lice certainly made life miserable. We note at this point the magicians have given up and no longer try to imitate Moshe.
The next plague was death of livestock. We note in passing that there were three Egyptian bulls that were considered incarnations of gods, and at least one cow goddess, so once again the Lord is demonstrating his superiority to Egyptian gods. (We might remember that Moses told Egypt the Hebrew sacrifices would be abhorrent to the Egyptians, the Egyptians did not sacrifice cows or any thing they worshipped, but sacrificed wine and bread. Mummies of animals that had died naturally were also given to the Gods.)
God by this time has proved he is Lord over all these false Gods and Lords, and the next few plagues demonstrate his Lordship over mankind and nature. The next plague is of sores which leave the people miserable, but just as miraculously they are healed. The following plague truly demonstrated YHWH’s supernatural power, burning hail. By this time, some Egyptians are beginning to believe in the Lord, and bring their livestock and slaves in to protect them. Next we have the plague of locusts which destroys what the hail had not (it is noted that the wheat and buckwheat were not destroyed by the hail because they had not yet come up. YHWH, blessed be his name is truly God of nature.
The last plague we will consider for today is darkness. YHWH is getting up close and personal here. Ra or Re, the Sund God, is considered the chief of the Egyptian Gods. Pharaoh is a manifestation of Horus, the son of Ra, a God of the power of the Sun. The plague of darkness proves YHWH superior to Ra or Horus or to the supposed supernatural powers of the Pharaoh.
But these manifestations are not only to demonstrate to the Pharaoh that YHWH is true God, but to the Hebrew people themselves. As Dr. Tony Evans has said, “The problem is not just to get the people out of Egypt, but to get Egypt out of the people.” The Hebrews had lived for close to four centuries in Egypt, among a people whose god blessed them in abundance, especially with the mysterious yearly Nile floods. The people had to learn freedom, and dependence on the Lord of Hosts. Slavery, amazingly enough is easier and more desirable to stick with than freedom, especially after four centuries. Those of you familiar with the Torah will remember that the Hebrews cried often to return to Egypt where they had meat, leeks, and melons for the asking. Christians have the same problems; we want to go back to Egypt, to serve the gods we served there, gods of sex, carnality, food, liquor, drugs, addiction to internet, pornography, etc.
During this time of Lent, it is good to ask ourselves, “do we want to return to Egypt?” “Do we recognise that YHWH is God over all of our gods and lords which we have made?” “Do we recognise that God is God of and over nature, fully in control?” In other words, most of us are out of Egypt, but is Egypt out of us? Do we allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives? He cannot be Lord of our lives in truth unless we recognise that he is Lord of All. When we learn to truly trust him by giving him our selves, our souls, our bodies, our time and our money, or will we just give him lip service? It is time for us to decide. Remember what Corrie ten Boom said about revisiting our sins. “It is as God has thrown our sins into the deepest part of the sea, and placed a sign that says, ‘No Fishing!’ God has won the victory. All we need to do is follow and obey.
Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua
+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com
posted by The Synod of Saint Timothy at 11:16
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