Well, here you see, my friends, the sovereignty of God, and the fulfillment of this prophecy and in the esteem of the Egyptians, and even in the isolation of Pharaoh, all of Pharaoh's support is beginning to crumble now, and he alone stands against the Lord.
Have you noticed how the Lord has moved everybody out of the way? And now the total focus of His attention is upon this one who is the representative of rebellion against His rule, and the representative of oppression of His people. Do you not see Pharaoh set forth as the one who back in the shadows is indeed the archenemy of the people of God?
Do you see God not clearing the battlefield to deal the deathblow against the one who opposes His people's good? God's sovereignty is shown in His fearsome judgment and in His discrimination and conquest. Well, we look at verses 4 through 8.
Here Moses is instructed, perhaps even receiving this revelation in the presence of Pharaoh, he is instructed to tell pharaoh about this revelation, and this tenth plague is heralded to Pharaoh in hot anger. And again, we see something of God's sovereignty here. God's sovereignty is shown in His fearsome judgment, and it is shown in His discrimination, and it is shown in His conquest.
In His fierce judgment, in His discrimination, and in His conquest. These words, look at verse 4, seem to have been delivered to Pharaoh before that final breach that was recorded in Exodus, chapter 10, verse Pharaoh will not let Israel out of Egypt.
And so what does God announce? I'm coming to Egypt. I'm coming to the midst of Egypt. The presence of God is sweet to those who have been reconciled to Him, but it is a terror, and it is an awesome thing when God comes into the presence of His enemies. Pharaoh will not let Israel go, so God comes to Egypt. It's interesting, of course, that this whole scenario is going to come about at night, at midnight.
I'm coming at midnight. That's when I'm going to be arriving. You know, we've already said that Ra, the sun god, was their great god. And nighttime was a picture of the battle between darkness and death and chaos against Ra, the sun god. And midnight was the pinnacle of that darkness, and so the most terrifying time for Egyptians. I'm coming at that point when you yourself recognize yourself most vulnerable. And then in verse 5, the curse is announced. All the Egyptian first born shall die, from the greatest of the Egyptians to the least, and even their cattle, God will strike down the firstborn.
Even Pharaoh is going to be directly impacted. And as if it needed to be pointed out, verse 6 tells us that the anguish of this event would be unparalleled in Egyptian history and experience. And there's an irony here. In Exodus, chapter 2, verse 23, the people of God cried out for deliverance under the burden of their oppression. And we are told at the end of that chapter that God heard that cry. In Exodus, chapter 5, verse 15, the people of God cried out to Pharaoh for relief from their burden and oppression.
And Pharaoh turned a deaf ear to them. Now, the Egyptians will cry out to their gods, and no one will hear them, for they have created their gods themselves. Their gods are idols and are not real; and this cry of anguish will be met by a deafening silence, and no help.
And in verse 7, it is made very clear that God will make a distinction between Israel and Egypt. Israel is going to be unscathed, and the Egyptians will see this and know this. In fact, Moses uses a figure of speech to emphasize how completely protected the children of Israel are going to be. It says , not even a dog will bark. And I'm told by those who are experts that that literally means that not even a dog will growl. And this may even be a little backhanded slap at another Egyptian god, because you may or may not know that the god of death, and the god of embalming in Egypt was a god called Enubis, and he had the form of a canine, a dog.
And here Moses says, not even a dog will growl against my people. And by the way, beginning in verse 7, Moses is pointedly directing these words at Pharaoh. Look at verse 7. It's not simply that God is making this distinction, it's that God is making this distinction, and He is going to make it clear to Pharaoh that He's made this distinction; that He's chosen His people for mercy, and He has chosen Egypt for destruction.
He's going to make that clear to Pharaoh. And again in verse 8, Moses continues by saying that God will make Egypt, as it were, to be servants and to come and to beg Israel to leave. Moses is addressing this directly to Pharaoh, and He says this. Can you imagine this? And I want to tell you, sir, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Now I just want to ask a question. Why do you think Moses would have left in a rage after that exchange? There are several good answers that are given.
Some have suggested that it was in response to Pharaoh's threat. That even after all these warnings, all these dire prophesies, these ominous warnings of the doom to come that there is no repentance upon the part of Pharaoh and Egypt; that Pharaoh then responds with this threat again.
He would rather bring down a nation, than bow the knee to the merciful and sovereign God of Israel. And Moses is wroth. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
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A nearby volcanic eruption about 3, years ago on Santorini, an island north of Crete in the Aegean Sea, may explain this plague, as well as others. It's possible that the volcanic ash mixed with thunderstorms above Egypt, leading to a dramatic hailstorm, Nadine von Blohm, from the Institute for Atmospheric Physics in Germany, told the Telegraph.
When the Pharaoh once again refuses to let the Jewish people go, hungry locusts descend as the eighth plague. Moses warns the Pharaoh: "They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. The volcanic eruption on Santorini may have created favorable conditions for the locusts, said Siro Trevisanato, a Canadian molecular biologist and author of "The Plagues of Egypt: Archaeology, History and Science Look at the Bible" Gorgias Press, According to the Old Testament, a darkness so thick that "people could not see one another" descended on Egypt for three days.
Perhaps the darkness coincided with an eclipse on March 5, B. However, the fact that Israelites had light in their homes might mean "lights out" for the eclipse hypothesis, as it doesn't make scientific sense why some people, but not others could overcome the darkness.
Another idea is that a volcanic eruption about 3, years ago on Santorini, an island north of Crete in the Aegean Sea, spewed ash that caused the darkness, according a to National Geographic special, as reported by the Telegraph. However, the eruption happened about miles kilometers from Egypt and before the exodus event, according to the Christian Courier.
In the 10th, and last plague, Moses tells the Pharaoh that all the firstborns in the land of Egypt would perish. Perhaps, the algal bloom that turned the rivers blood red released mycotoxins, poisonous substances that can cause disease and death in humans, according to a review in the journal Clinical Microbiology Reviews.
Grain contaminated with these mycotoxins could have been deadly, and could explain the death of the firstborn children, said epidemiologist John Marr, who was the chief epidemiologist at the New York City Department of Health, as reported by Slate. The firstborn might have been the first to pick the grain, and thus would have fallen victim to it first as well, according to the Telegraph. Live Science. Coronavirus: Is it mentioned in Bible prophecy? Second Coming of Jesus Christ. What is the fruit of the Spirit?
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