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Back to Exodus
<aside> 📅 This page was originally posted on my Blogger version of the blog on August 2, 2015 The content below has a few minor tweaks for clarity, and additional references, and some updated information.
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The confrontation between Moses (backed by God) and Pharaoh is one of my favorite passages from the Bible. So much can be learned from the exchange and the outcome, yet I see it rarely gets quoted. Not only does the Exodus set up Jesus' fulfillment as the perfect Passover Lamb when He is crucified (sacrificed), but Exodus shows us a glimpse of what can be expected during the end times (now)! This post is dedicated to the awesomeness that comes from the act that God continually reminds us of throughout the Bible.
| #️⃣ Order | 🤮 Plague from God | 🪄Duplicated by Magicians | ✡️ Affects Israel [8] | 👑 Pharaoh Lies About Letting Israel Go | 📖 Corresponding Verses | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Water turns to blood | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Exodus 7:14-25 | | 2 | Frogs | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Exodus 8:1-15 | | 3 | Lice | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | Exodus 8:16-19 | | 4 | Flies | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Exodus 8:20-32 | | 5 | Death of the livestock | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Exodus 9:1-7 | | 6 | Boils | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Exodus 9:8-12 | | 7 | Hail and fire | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Exodus 9:13-35 | | 8 | Locusts | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Exodus 10:4-20 | | 9 | Darkness | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Exodus 10:21-27 | | 10 | Death of the firstborns | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Exodus 11, 12 |
There are many interesting points to be made about the 10 plagues of Egypt, most of which reveal why it is such a "popular" and one of the most well known sections of the Old Testament.
One of the major arguments of disbeliever is that there is no Egyptian record of the Israelites being held captive in Egypt. The Egyptians are known for destroying history[1] (re: Hatshepsut, who interestingly would have been co-ruler during the estimated time of the Exodus[2]), particularly for kings that fell out of favor with the people, so why would you expect them to build monuments recording God showing Pharaoh who's boss? Some destroyed artifacts were pieced together to decipher information on rulers such as Hatshepsut, but some information, like who the mother of Cleopatra was, has never been found. The fact that some damaged artifacts were restored further establishes the possibility of artifacts that have not been restored and/or artifacts that were successfully destroyed containing the "forgotten" history of the Israelites. Remember after the 10 plagues, the Israelites left Egypt. This situation is very different than that of American slavery. Those of us in America that are descended from African slaves are still here, able to fight for our side of the story to be taught, inserting our history into the dialogue, and forcing those who would rather forget, to remember what actually happened. I had a white classmate who once expressed his opinion that black history shouldn't be taught because it made him feel bad. I'm sure the Egyptians felt bad—embarrassed—that their slaves' God ransacked their city and gave much of their wealth to the slaves who walked out only to never come back. Egypt was the greatest empire in the world at that time; Pharaoh considered himself a god, but he got showed up by the real God—I'm not sure why people are so convinced the Egyptians would have kept a detailed log of their defeat as opposed to covering it up and maintaining their god-like facade. As it would have it, there is a document that has caused a debate among scholars over whether it is referencing the events of the Exodus or something else. This document is called the Ipuwer Papyrus, though it was probably written before the Exodus occurred (though no one is sure of its origin[3]).[4] An article discussing other links between the Israelites and Egypt can be found here and an interesting theory using the Egyptian histories can also be found here.
Like the narrative of the Israelite's triumphant exodus from Egypt, Revelation contains ominous warnings of plagues that will befall the world during the last days. Some plagues are even the same as those mentioned in Exodus. Ecclesiastes 1:9 confirms that history repeats, and you can bet that we are told to remember and teach how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt to prepare us for the future. In Exodus, God's chosen people (the Israelites) are held captive by Egypt, but in Revelation, God's chosen people (believers in Christ) are held captive by the antichrist. In both situations God gives ample warnings before pouring out His wrath. It is important to remember the behavior of the pharaoh (stubbornness and disbelief) and the actions of the Israelites (believing and taking part in The Passover on faith) as you study Revelation.
From the moment we are told what happened in Egypt, all the way into the New Testament, we are constantly reminded that God is the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The Bible stresses that this is a very important event and a defining attribute the Israelites' relationship with God. God could have easily killed the firstborns as the first plague, or killed all of the Egyptians but He didn't, which conveys two powerful messages.
The first and possibly most important message we receive is that God is patient. God sends Moses and Aaron to articulate God's desire for the Israelites to be let go and warn Pharaoh of the upcoming plague should he fail to release the Israelites. It is only after Pharaoh denies God's request that God unleashes the plague. God starts small; He doesn't deliver a death blow on the first swing.
The second message is that He is God. In Exodus 9:16, God admits that he is showing His power. The magicians of Egypt are able to duplicate God's miracles in the beginning, but eventually they discover that they cannot keep up with God. This was not just a sign for Egypt to scare Pharaoh into letting the Israelites go, but a sign for the Israelites so they would know who the God they were following was.