Year 7, Day 57: Exodus 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Today I have three thoughts.  They do all tie together in that they are a part of the Exodus story and they all relate to our relationship with God.  In truth, though, they are separate thoughts.

First, let’s return to the overarching conversation of the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart that always surrounds this passage.  Three times we see Pharaoh’s heart harden.  Verse 15 gives us insight into God’s involvement in the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.  It says that Pharaoh’s heart hardened as God said it would.  God gives Pharaoh three more times in this story to let the people go, and three times Pharaoh says he will let them go but changes his mind.  Pharaoh’s heart isn’t in it for the good of mankind.  Pharaoh’s heart desires to not lose his slave population.  His heart weakens under pressure, as most of us do.  But when the pressure goes away, his heart reverts back to its hardness.

Second, let’s talk about Pharaoh’s magicians.  Do you notice that the magicians can imitate God with the frogs?  But then they cannot imitate with the gnats.  They don’t even try with the flies.  Human beings can occasionally imitate the work of God.  When I think about this, I think about big things like seeding rain clouds to make it rain, or the nuclear processes for creating fission and fusion power, or even curing diseases.  We can do some things that God can do – albeit not in the same method.  But we must also remember that we are merely imitating a greater power.  No matter what we learn to do with great effort, God can do far more with far greater understanding.  Our greatness should never be reason to think less of God.  We are like the Egyptian magicians in that we will eventually reach our limit in our imitation of God.

The last idea that I would like to speak about is the reason for God to separate the plagues, beginning with the fourth plague.  Beginning with the flies, we see that the plagues will only impact the Egyptian people and not the Hebrew people.  Be extraordinarily careful with this.  It is so easy to speak about this in terms of God loving the Hebrew people more or God not wanting to put the Hebrew people in jeopardy.  When you think this, don’t forget that God did subject them to the first three plagues!  Read the actual words that God uses when describing His motivation for separating the peoples.  God does this s that the Egyptians will know that He is God.  God isn’t sparing His people, at least not as His primary motivation; He is demonstrating His power!  God is revealing His character while Pharaoh reveals his own.  Yes, God does love the Hebrew people.  However, He loves all mankind.  His love isn’t the issue here.  God’s character and Pharaoh’s understanding is the issue.

For the record, look up most healing stories that Jesus does in the New Testament.  Yes, Jesus loves all the people that He heals.  But f you are careful and read the reason for the healing, you will find the same rationale.  Jesus heals so that God may be known in the world.  Miracles – and the Egyptian plagues are indeed miracles – have more to do with revealing who God is than demonstrating His love.

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