November 23, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Zechariah 8-14

Weekly Memory Verse: 2 Timothy 2:2

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Great news about my wife, the stitches were removed yesterday.  The headaches remain, but should be going away soon as the brain heals and the air trapped in her skull is absorbed.  She is still fighting with balance, that should also clear in time.  Thank you for your prayers. 

Exodus 10:1-2 (NASB95)
¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, ² and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” ^[1]

The plagues served a different purpose than it first appears, it wasn't just to get Pharaoh to let Israel go.  If that were the case, God could have struck all the Egyptians dead the same as He did their animals.  One purpose of the plagues was a testimony to all of eternity that God is all powerful, and no other god has any power at all.  Egypt had magnificent knowledge that scientists and archaeologists are still investigating today, yet they did not have enough knowledge to fight with God.  The gods of their land were proved to be deficient in comparison to the true God. 

It is a little puzzling when you consider the apparent ease that Moses prays to God and the plagues are removed.  Pharaoh does not demonstrate that he has really repented in any of the cases, even to the point where he actually lets Israel go.  The mystery is clarified in these two verses, it wasn’t about Pharaoh, it was all about God’s relationship to the Hebrews. 

Another purpose of the plagues was to demonstrate to Israel just how powerful that their God was, and that He was willing to fight for them.  Considering the tremendous power demonstrated in these chapters, it is clear that God is all powerful.  This lesson was not learned completely by the Hebrews, as we dig later into the book, there are tremendous judgments that Israel brings upon herself when she turns away from God to idols.

The hardening of the heart has always been a mystery to me.  God caused the hardening, yet Pharaoh chose to harden his heart. 

Exodus 10:3-20 (NASB95)
³ Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ⁴ ‘For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. ⁵ ‘They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field. ⁶ ‘Then your houses shall be filled and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. ⁷ Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?” ⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! Who are the ones that are going?” ⁹ Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Thus may the Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Take heed, for evil is in your mind. ¹¹ “Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. ¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat every plant of the land, even all that the hail has left.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt; they were very numerous. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again. ¹⁵ For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ “Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and make supplication to the Lord your God, that He would only remove this death from me.” ¹⁸ He went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the Lord. ¹⁹ So the Lord shifted the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.

Joel 1:2-7 (NASB95)
² Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days? ³ Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. ⁴ What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten. ⁵ Awake, drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth. ⁶ For a nation has invaded my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness. ⁷ It has made my vine a waste And my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.

Amos 7:1-3 (NASB95)
¹ Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. ² And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, “Lord God, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is small?” ³ The Lord changed His mind about this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord.

Exodus 23:17 (NASB95)
¹⁷ “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. ^[2]

A few interesting things going on here, first God establishes that Pharaoh refused to humble himself.  Place yourself in Pharaoh's shoes for a moment, God had established that He was capable of doing the impossible, ordering frogs to over-run the land, bugs, gnats, flies, mosquitoes, hail, not to mention turning the Nile to blood.  Considering all of this, would you hesitate to believe that God could bring locusts up to cover the land?

When I lived in Kentucky as a child, occasionally we would have swarms of locusts to go through our gardens.  These were grasshoppers that were like killer bees, they hung together and moved in packs.  In a very short time they could devastate the vegetation and kill crops.  I can't imagine the destruction that they were possible of causing when they blacked out the land.  Locusts will eat anything organic, crops, leaves, and tree bark, a swarm that was predicted would wipe out everything left by the previous plagues.  Pharaoh ordered them out of his presence.

In the following verses, it gets interesting; Pharaoh's cabinet is starting to turn against him.  They can see that Egypt is slowly being completely destroyed; further attacks on their city seemed to be ridiculous.  Can you imagine the boldness that it took for them to stand against Pharaoh like this?  They may have figured that if they didn't say something Egypt would soon be a pile of rubble.

Then a funny dialogue follows: ^7Immediately,^{ }Pharaoh’s courtiers asked him, “Just how long is this impasse to bring ruin upon us?  Send out the men, so that they can worship Yahweh their god.^ Have you still not seen^ that Egypt is destroyed?” ^8Quickly then,^ Moses was brought back, and Aaron,^ to Pharaoh, who said to them, “Go along, worship Yahweh your god. Exactly who will be going?” ^9Moses replied, “With our young men and with our old men, we will go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds we will go, for we are committed to a pilgrimage-worship^  of Yahweh.” ^10But he responded, “ ‘Yahweh’ will indeed be with you when I send out you and your toddlers^—look here, you are up to no good!^{ 11}No, indeed! The able-bodied men may go and worship ‘Yahweh,’ for that is what you claim to be seeking!” ^ Then he^  threw them out from Pharaoh’s presence.^[3]

Pharaoh is concerned that if they leave, they won't come back.  That is the  reason that he doesn't want them to take their little ones with them.  Add to that the fact that Moses is also taking all of their livestock.  It is very clear to Pharaoh that they don't intend to return.  Pharaoh tries another bargain with them by offering to allow the men to go.  He also shows an uncanny understanding of the practices of the Hebrews when the males normally go on the pilgrimage.

This is the only time that the plague doesn't hit right away, Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky as the Lord directed, and departed.  There wasn't any warning as to when it would start, only that the locusts would come.  God brought the locusts overnight and they came in full force. 

When Pharaoh repents, he changes his tune, he refers to God as Yahweh, and not as Elohim, which is significant.  By recognizing that God is Yahweh, he admitted that God is a specific God over the Hebrews. 

Exodus 10:21-29 (NASB95)
²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. ²⁴ Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.” ²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God. ²⁶ “Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the Lord our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the Lord.” ²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. ²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!” ²⁹ Moses said, “You are right; I shall never see your face again!”^[4]

The Ninth plague is the plague of darkness.  This plague is one non-destructive plague.  No property is damaged, only the fears of men are demonstrated.  I have been in a cave where the lights were shut off, you can’t imagine how dark darkness can be until you experience utter darkness.  It is totally and completely unnerving; I remember holding my hand directly in front of my face without a sense of sight.  This darkness could be extremely frightening, especially if you can’t produce any light at all.  This went on for three days.  Try to imagine everyone in your city going blind instantly for three days with absolutely no one to help them figure it out.  It would be devastating.

One more note: “This plague was aimed at one of the chief Egyptian deities, the sun god Re, of whom Pharaoh was a representation. Re was responsible for providing sunlight, warmth, and productivity. Other gods, including Horus, were associated with the sun. Nut, the goddess of the sky, would have been humiliated by this plague (as well as by the plagues of hail and locusts).”^[5]

By far this was the most terrifying plague of all, and it affected Pharaoh quickly.  He was quick to call for relief, but was not willing to surrender control of Israel.  He had lost almost his entire kingdom by the plagues, and was not willing to lose his work-force. 

In closing, God calls each one of us to surrender our lives to Him.  It is difficult to turn from the things that we love in order to allow Him to take over in our lives.  Pharaoh was determined not to lose the Hebrews, it didn’t matter what the cost of his treasure was, he wanted to make sure that they stayed in the land.  I exhorted you the other day to pray for revelation of what runs your life.  The thought is still in the back of my mind, I wonder what it is that controls us.  Thanksgiving is a couple of days away, as each one of us spends time with our families, consider the purpose that we are here for.  Are we here merely to live out our lives and to die after a long happy life, or is there purpose in our lives?  Each of us have to approach that question ourselves.

Father, as we consider Your word today, show each one of us where we have hardened our hearts.  Show us what we cling to in our lives and give each one of us a vision and purpose this season.

In Him,

Joe Turner.