Judgments on the Egyptian Gods

Judgments Begin on the Egyptian gods

Exod 5:1-3

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.(KJV)

As you see from the Pharaoh’s statement, he did not know the Lord. As a result, he did not realize who he was up against. But God had already planned it that way in order to reveal His Power and Glory on the behalf of the children of Jacob (Israel).

Exod 3:20

20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.(KJV)

You might ask, "Why did God have to bring about all that suffering in order to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?" Well, first of all, I don’t have the answer, but I do know that God used His judgments in order to make Himself known, in order to judge the Egyptian gods, revealing their powerlessness, and to fulfill a promise to Abraham some 400 years before to bring the people back from bondage in a foreign land. God has His reasons for doing things and He is the boss of the universe. He knows what He wants to do and how best to do it. Just cause we don’t like it makes no difference. We are also not really competent to understand all His ways, His ways are higher than ours, His thoughts are higher than ours, and He really does not have to answer to anyone anyway nor should He. He is God. That should be enough. You wouldn’t try to explain your ways to an ant, would you? That is at least about how much difference there is in understanding, power and knowledge between us and God.

So to the judgments we go.

1st judgment: Moses has requested Pharaoh let the people go to worship God in the wilderness as this is exactly what Moses was to request. Pharaoh says, "No way, Jose." In other words, just plain no and that there was no reason he should listen to Moses’ God. He sent Moses and Aaron out of the throne room and then ordered his taskmasters-the construction supervisors over the people of Israel to make the people gather the straw themselves for the bricks they were making. Up until this time, the straw had been provided for them, but now they had to take time and energy to get it themselves, and this without allowing them to make less bricks because of the extra time needed. Fair? Of course not. Pharaoh wanted to punish the people for listening to Moses. He also wanted to make Moses anathema to the people. He succeeded. When Moses learns of the order from the Pharaoh and gets flak from the people, he is surprised. I don’t believe it registered in his head that God had lots of judgments to make on the nation of Egypt, so he goes to God about this. God had mentioned miracles and showing His power, but this was not what he likely expected. Read the following.

Exod 5:22-23

22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.(KJV)

We can already learn our first lesson from this. When God gives an assignment, generally He gives bare bones information. If He gave more, likely we would rebel from the get go. In otherwords for those of you not familiar with the expression, "from the get go", it means from the beginning. Second, if He gave us all the information, where would faith come in? You see, God required people to operate by faith in Him way back then too. Operating by faith is not something started in the New Testament, it started actually with Adam and Eve. We see evidence of faith in Enoch, we see the evidence of faith in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now Moses is getting to operate by faith. You want to remember too that Moses from the beginning was a reluctant servant as he knew his own incapabilities, he had humility, and that is really one of the reasons God chose him for the job. Remember too, he wasn’t even prepared for this job until he was 80 years old. Not a young man.

So Moses has gone to the Pharaoh, expecting that the Pharaoh would at least have agreed to the request. After all, had God not said He would deliver the people from the hand of Pharaoh? What was happening here? God had not delivered the people after all. God’s reply was:

Exod 6:1

1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

(KJV)

Then God is kind enough to give Moses more information and instructions.

Exod 6:2-8

2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:

3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.(KJV)

Notice especially verse 6 where God says to tell the people, "I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments." This should have given Moses a clue that it was not going to be as simple as he thought it would be.

At this point I think Moses begins to understand just a little. And God’s point about being the Lord probably helped Moses accept what was going on and would be going on. (Remember Lord means boss.)

Sad to say, what happens next? The people don’t want to hear anything Moses has to say. They haven’t become believers yet. They blame him for their further difficulties. They think Moses is an airhead, living in the land of make believe and imagining God spoke to him, and basically living in his imagination. God then gives Moses more instructions and information and then sends Moses back to Pharaoh. This time He tells Moses:

Exod 7:4-6

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.(KJV)

Well, Moses and Aaron had little problem with faith at this time and did as God said. Of course we know even more clearly God’s purpose in the Pharaoh saying, "No," again. Reread verses 4 and 5. God gives his purpose. His major purpose is to reveal Himself to these Egyptians as well as rescue the people from bondage. Notice here at the end of verse 4, "out of the land of Egypt by great JUDGMENTS. Not one judgment, but great judgments, a lot of judgments. What is most interesting here to me is that with this trip to the king’s house, they participate in working a miracle.

Exod 7:8-10

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.(KJV)

Remember when Moses was on the mountain that first time with God, He had Moses throw down his shepherd’s staff? This is a repeat of the same miracle but this time Aaron gets to do this. Moses had no doubt told him of his own experience and now he was getting to have that same experience. I am sure Moses & Aaron were probably certain this should start convincing Pharaoh at least even though God had said that Pharaoh was not going to give in. But what happens next? The Pharaoh doesn’t think anything of this. After all he was quite familiar with witchcraft and he had his own witches or magicians, so he had his magicians, his witches perform the same miracle. I don’t know if Moses and Aaron expected this or not, but we do know that Pharaoh was not impressed even though their snakes got swallowed by Aaron’s snake.

Does this tell you anything? Did you know that Pharaoh’s magicians could do miracles? They could turn rods into snakes. They operated by demon power you see. If anyone tells you witches don’t have some supernatural power, don’t believe it. Here is proof right here. But praise God, God’s power is so far greater, and Satan’s powers must bow down to God’s power.

Well does Pharaoh let the people go? We know he doesn’t.

Exod 7:13

13 And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.(KJV)

The results:

Exod 7:15-21

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.

(KJV)

Now why did God do this to the Nile? This was the most important god of the Egyptians at the time. Pharaoh would go to the river each morning to worship it and give it offerings and sacrifices. It was believed to be needed in order to keep the annual flood coming in the spring for fertilizing the ground for the spring crops.

Exod 7:24-25

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.(KJV)

Notice the amount of time for the judgment. Seven days this happened to the Egyptians. What about the people of Israel up in Goshen? I believe they experienced it too. Why do I think that? Because of a verse later on in Exodus, after the 3rd judgment that states:

Exod 8:22-23

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.

(KJV)

So the people of Israel were separated from experiencing any plagues after the 3rd one took place. But they did need to see that God was behind Moses and this was the first proof. Now we are

seeing both the numbers 7 and 3 both brought into the picture. The number 7 is a number that means "completion". Remember, God created earth in 7 days. And I believe it was literally 7 twenty-four hour days. That would be plenty easy for God to do. He didn’t need thousands and millions of years to create this earth and mankind. The number 3-that number really signifies God, because God is a triune God; Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You will continue to especially see the number 3 involved in the book of Exodus, as well as the numbers 7 and 12. 12 is the number for authority and headship. You will see this too as we go through this study. God will often use numbers to point out something. You will also see the number 40, the number of testing in this study.

Back to the story; God strikes the Nile, a very major, major god of the Egyptians. The rivers, ponds, even water containers were filled with blood and of course the fish die. They can’t breathe blood, so they die off, and guess what, no more fishing for some time as the fish were dead and decaying and the whole countryside stank. The people had to dig wells to find any kind of water at all.

What is God saying to these Egyptians? I am greater than your god, the Nile god. And rebellion against me is going to cause suffering. "You will know that I am God." This is in effect what God is saying to both the Pharaoh and the rest of the people.

What are we learning here? And what connection does this have to do with the New Testament?

Well, first of all I hope we are seeing that it takes faith to obey God, especially in the face of opposition. Moses had that kind of faith. Do you? Do I? I hope I do. Paul quoted the Old Testament when he said, "the just shall live by faith." And our faith is in this very same God who struck the Nile with blood. And the main reason we have this faith in this very same God is because He provided Jesus. And just as God sent Moses, He sent Jesus. And guess what, both performed miracles, didn’t they? God sent Moses with miracles so the people would know for certain that this was God delivering them, and Jesus came with the same thing, miracles, so the people would know for sure He was sent by the Father. These were "signs". Signs were proofs. Moses was a type of Jesus Christ. Moses was a messiah, an anointed one, sent to the people of Israel to deliver them.

Jesus is the anointed one, the messiah for the entire world to deliver us from sin and its power.

Something else I hope we are seeing. Only Jesus could do His deliverance work perfectly. Moses did it imperfectly. He did have a sin nature. Jesus didn’t. Jesus had a perfect human nature like Adam’s before Adam sinned. And Jesus made sure not to sin. Being God Himself, He knew the consequences far better than Adam did. As a matter of fact, He not only had decreed the consequences back in the garden of Eden, but had arrived here on this earth in the form of man to pay for those consequences also.

What else are we seeing from these scriptures? Moses told Pharaoh exactly what God had told him to say. Jesus did the same kind of thing, saying only those things God the Father wanted Him to say. We see also Moses operating under authority, God’s authority. We see Jesus operated under the Father’s authority and when a kid under his earthly parents’ authority, proof of which is in

Luke 2:51a

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: ....... (KJV)

Now having been reminded of the authority God had as revealed to Moses in just that first plague, etc., think to yourself about Moses’ fear of the Lord and respect and awe of Him. Can you say you have that kind of respect, awe and fear of God? Very few of us in America can understand that kind of outlook, but we need to have it for our own protection. For

Prov 1:7a

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:......(KJV)

Prov 9:10

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.(KJV)

Prov 2:5

5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.(KJV)

Prov 14:26-27

26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.(KJV)

Here is a Bible definition of "fear" from these verses

3374 yir'ah-

fear, terror, fearing

a) fear, terror

b) awesome or terrifying thing (an object causing fear)

c) fear (of God), respect, reverence, piety

d) revered

We would do a lot better, wouldn’t we, to have that kind of fear and awe and respect for God. Moses certainly had it and we need to learn from his example.

So there is a lot to learn just from these verses from Exodus that apply to our day.

1 Cor 10:11

11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples(examples): and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.(KJV)

Let us be learners and doers of the Word 24 hours a day. Now for

Last Week’s Bible Trivia Question: We know Paul went ahead and did as asked and followed all the regulations involved, but a rumor again sprang up, all based on a false assumption. What was this rumor? The rumor was that Paul had taken a Gentile into the temple precincts with him when he had gone to the temple to get purified by means of a ceremony that involved 7 days. You must remember, Gentiles were not allowed in the temple precincts. The temple itself was on top of a flat mountain foundation-set quite high above the city streets, and one must climb a stairway to even get to the floor of where the temple once was. It was on that temple floor level I believe-Messianic Jews please correct me if I am wrong-that Gentiles could not go to. At any rate someone had seen Paul hanging around with a Gentile and made an assumption and so a rumor started.

This Week’s Bible Trivia Question: What happened as a result of this next rumor?

That should cover it for today. Next week the devotional will not be sent out as I will be out of town and not be able to access my computer. So May 28th will be the next time a devotional goes out. God bless you and may you learn much from God’s Word and put as much as possible into practice. Your Good News Lady

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem even more so now. "They shall prosper that love thee." Psalm 122:6 Pray also for wisdom for President Bush as enjoined us by I Timothy 2:1-03 and pray for our troops. Continue especially to pray God’s protection around our soldiers that are still in Iraq and other parts of the Arab world.