Ten Egyptian Plagues Week 3

We are in the 3rd week of working our way through the 10 Egyptian plagues, as described in the book of Exodus. Hopefully, you have learned some things. Last Wednesday, after Laura and I got home from church, I asked her what she thought of the study. She replied: It was good, but I enjoyed week 1 better! THAT’S GREAT.” THANKS FOR SHARING! No, actually I replied that makes sense, as week 1 of a series is always going to be a little more interesting, as you are normally presenting context and certain new ideas that aren’t there in the subsequent weeks. Especially when you are looking at a series of events, like the plagues. When we are done with this series, we will be looking at the 10 Commandments, what they would have meant to the Israelites and what they mean to us today. Let’s go ahead and pray, then get started.

PRAY!

In week 1 we covered the context of the plagues and how they ended up happening, plus we started talking about the 1st plague, water turned into blood. The second week we finished up the first plague and then fully covered the second plague: frogs. Tonight, we are going to be covering 2 of the plagues…the 3rd and the 4th, as both of them are related to insects.

Similar to how the 2nd plague played out, we are going to see some unique things that haven’t happened before. Plus, we are going to talk about the highly debated idea notion of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart vs Pharaoh's heart being hardened through his own actions. There is a difference between the two…and how does that difference impact us today…or does it.

But first, let’s read through the text of plagues 3…

Exodus 8: 16-19

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt.’ ” They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt. The magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.”

Plague 3: Gnats/Lice

So, right off the bat, we have to deal with a bit of a controversy. Depending on who you are reading or listening to, some Bible translations use the word “lice” and some use the word “gnats.” Because of this, I looked up the actual Hebrew word, to try and determine what I felt comfortable with.

kên, kane; from H3661 in the sense of fastening; (from infixing its sting; used only in plural (and irregular in Exodus 8:17,18; Hebrews 13:14)) a gnat:—lice,

The idea presented is that of a larvae that puts its eggs in something, in order for them to hatch. The specific type of insect is not listed in this case, so we are left to draw our own conclusions. It could be either, lice or gnats, we do not know for sure. What we do know, is that this plague was mean to target a specif Egyptian god, just like the ones before…which we will get into in a moment. For myself, just by reading the text, I think it appears as though the plague sounds more like lice than gnats.

Our text opens up with Moses talking to Aaron, telling him to take his staff and to strike the earth. This plague is unique for what we do not see, rather than what we do. What I mean by that is:

Moses did not give Pharaoh a warning & The magicians are unable to replicate the plague

Something important to note here is that Aaron struck the earth. He could have simply waved his staff in the air…but God gave Moses very specific directions for each of these plagues.

SHOW PHOTO OF SETH

The third plague, whether it was lice or gnats, was a judgment on Set, the god of the desert. Seth served as protector of soldiers, hunters, merchants, and in general any person who spent a considerable amount of time away from home. According to Egyptian myth, he inherited the deserts of Egypt from Geb, the god of the earth. This is why he was regarded as the protector of trade caravans and he was named the Egyptian god of oases. He was also supposed to sow discord and confusion among the enemies of Egypt, thus ensuring the Egyptian army’s success in battle.

Now, unlike the previous plagues, the magicians were unable to duplicate this one and declared to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” As to why the magicians could not replicate this plague, we do not know, so it would not do us any good to speculate…not that I do that all of the time anyway. Perhaps, they simply had no “trick” or illusion to match this; or, perhaps God prevented them from replicating it. Either way, they couldn’t do it. Regardless, the Bible says:

But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.”

Important to note here, the magicians did not use the Hebrew word for God…Yahweh when they stated that the plague is from the finger of God. In actuality, the magicians only refereed to a divine being, other than their own Egyptian gods. The phrase that the magicians used “The finger of God” is used a couple of times in scripture, except they refer directly to God, Yahweh. The first is in

Ex. 31:18

“When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”

This is when God gave Moses the 10 Commandments…it says that they were written “by the finger of God,” using the Hebrew word for God. The other time is actually in the N.T.

Luke 11: 19-20

“And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Kind of a confusing verse if you do not know the context…it’s like walking in on the tale end of a conversation...

Here in Luke, Jesus cast a demon out of a man who could not talk. This scared some of the people who saw it, so they accused Jesus of using the power of the Devil to cast out the demon. The only problem is that the Jewish leaders at the time would also cast demon’s out of people. So Jesus then asked them, if I am using the power of Satan, then your own leaders are doing the same thing. Jesus also points out that Satan does not cast out his own demons. In essence, Jesus is saying: “listen the very finger of God is actually standing right here, but you can’t recognise it.”

So, while Pharaoh’s magicians did admit that the plague is from another divine source, they could not admit that it came from the God of Moses and Aaron. We are not sure how long this plague lasted, as we are not given a reference of time.

Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

Before moving on to the 4th plague, I want to discuss the idea of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Now, it’s not my goal to wade too deep into some of the deeper theological ideas that flow from the subject…I’ll save that for another time, perhaps. For today though, let’s look at what it means that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

This verse, in conjunction with Romans 9 serves as a major point of debate in Christianity. The main debate is between God’s supreme sovereignty vs our own free will. As we’ve read, God tells Moses that He is going to “harden Pharaoh’s heart.” Also, in Romans 9, speaking directly about this story, Paul says this:

Romans 9:14–21

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use.

Here in Romans 9, Paul is confirming the fact that God did, indeed harden Pharaoh’s heart. As I said, I’m not going to wade into the debate between free will and election. I will, however say this: There are 2 reasons why God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and Paul confirming that it happened have nothing to do with a person’s eternal salvation.

1. Because the context of Romans 9 is about the Jews and Gentiles, not about individual salvation.

2. It doesn’t matter who hardened Pharaoh’s heart…that’s not the point of the passages.

The problem is, people tend to ask the wrong questions when looking at these passages. Also, in the book of Romans, Paul is not talking about individual salvation at all, rather, he is talking about the Jews and Gentiles…how God had every right to choose Gentiles. This made Jews angry…that is the actual context, not our individual salvation. Now, can we take what Paul said and apply it to personal salvation, sure, but that is not keeping with the context of the scripture.

Often times, understanding these issues is all about asking the right questions of the text. Scripture makes it clear that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and Pharao hardened his down heart. They both happened.

The real question is this: “What does it mean for Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened?”

The issue is not about who hardened Pharaoh’s heart first—though that is where most of the ink has been spilled—but rather about what it means for Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened.

People on both sides of the debate often assume that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart means that Pharaoh was solidified in his status as an unregenerate person headed for hell.

But what if the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart doesn’t mean this at all? What if it simply refers instead to the resolve in Pharaoh’s heart to keep the Israelites as his slaves, and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Pharaoh’s eternal destiny?

What if God, in His desire to make His glory known to both the Israelites and the Egyptians, made certain that Pharaoh would resist the will of God to deliver the people of Israel from Egypt, so that all those who witnessed and heard of these events would know that the God of Israel alone was God?

Could not God, in His gracious sovereignty, harden Pharaoh’s heart without affecting whatsoever Pharaoh’s ability to believe in God’s promises and thus become part of God’s redeemed people?

This means that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, whether it is done by God or Pharaoh, or by some symbiotic combination of the two, has absolutely nothing to do with Pharaoh’s eternal destiny.

Even if the Exodus account laid all the responsibility for the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart upon God Himself, and none upon Pharaoh, this still would tell us nothing about whether or not Pharaoh concluded His life as one of God’s redeemed.

Pharaoh’s eternal destiny is not under discussion in Exodus or in Romans, and so Pharaoh’s heart can be hardened so that God’s purposes are achieved, while still leaving plenty of room for Pharaoh to believe in God’s promises and become one of God’s people. The reason people can’t see this is because they are too busy trying to prove their theological point, and completely ignore what is staring at them.

Hopefully that doesn’t add more confusion to the text. I think there are passages in scripture that we can debate, having to do with the issue of free will, but I think we get distracted too often by trying to plant our flag somewhere.

OK, to finish up today, let’s take a look at the 4th plague

The Fourth Plague

Plague number 4 is flies! Not pleasant for sure.

Exodus 8: 20-24

“Now the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they dwell. But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the land. I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.” ’ ” Then the Lord did so. And there came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants and the land was laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt.”

Even though the magicians couldn’t replicate plague 3, verse 19, said that Pharao still walked away. Enter plague number 4. This one also has some unique aspects to it. God tells Moses to go and warn the Egyptian leader…to warn him that the next plague will be swarms of flies. However, God is going to do something unique on this plague. God tells Pharaoh that the Israelites will not be affected…that God will set apart the land of Goshen…where the Jews were living. As far as we know, this is the first time this has happened. The idea here, when Moses says that God will put “division” between my people and your people refers to more than a simple boundary, where the plague will stop. It is referring to causing strife and trouble. Obviously, Pharaoh did not heed the warning, as vs. 24 says that the swarms of flies spread out all over the place. Also, notice that Moses says:

SHOW PICTURE OF BEELZEBUB

Scholars believe that this plague was designed to destroy the trust of the people in Beelzebub. Beelzebub was the fly God—reverenced as the protector of Egypt from visitation by the swarms of flies which commonly infested the land. The people had depended upon Beelzebub to be their guard against ravenous flies, but this plague convinced them of the impotence of Beelzebub, causing them to look elsewhere for relief. This is actually twice that we’ve seen reference to this name. The Jews refereed to satan as Beelzebub; but the Egyptians has a god by that name. Remember, way back, God told Moses:

5 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”

By attacking their gods, one by one, the Lord was telling the people of Egypt that the God of the Jews is more powerful. This is an important part of this story that we forget.

After the fly's started swarming, once again, we see Pharaoh beginning to soften.

Exodus 8:25–29

Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to the Lord our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not then stone us? We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He commands us.” Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make supplication for me.” Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall make supplication to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

Pharaoh wanted the fly's gone, so he thought he would strike a bargain with God. First, Pharaoh said that he would allow the people to make their sacrifices, but it had to be within the immediate vicinity. Of course, Moses did not accept that. So, the leader tried again: he was willing to let the Jews go out of the area, as long as they didn’t go too far. He even asked Moses to pray for him.

What does it mean when Moses says that the Israelite sacrifices will be an “abomination” to the Egyptians? To be honest, we aren’t sure. Here is a quote from the Faithlife Commentary:

The Hebrew word used here,

to'evah (meaning “abomination”), Gen 43:32 and 46:34

is also used in Gen 43:32 and 46:34 to describe the Egyptians’ revulsion at dining with Hebrews, as well as their distaste for shepherds. The nature of the Egyptians’ revulsion towards the Israelites’ sacrifice is unknown. Egyptian literature and art demonstrate that the Egyptians did not object to the sacrifice of cattle. Pharaoh does not argue with Moses’ concern, suggesting that he knows it to be true.

This could have simply been an excuse Moses used to try and go farther away than what Pharaoh was wanting. Interestingly, Moses takes him up on this offer. After all, the goal was to get the Israelites out of Egypt and on their way. Of course, Moses had no intention of bringing them back to Egypt…and still, Pharaoh still had no intention of letting them go.

Lastly,

Exodus 8: 30-32

“So Moses went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the Lord. The Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people; not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.”

Then, just like we saw with the 2nd plague. Moses goes to God and asks Him to remove the Plague…knowing that Pharaoh was going to back out. This is also often ignored in this story; how we see God’s hand of judgment, yet undeserved grace as well…God relented and stopped the plague, even though God knew. Just as we are unable to comprehend the sovereignty of God, we are unable to comprehend His grace. However, like before, Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to back out of the arrangement.

It’s important to remember what Pharaoh was wrestling with. He was supposedly a God himself, a God in the eyes of his people. He had been told that; he believed it. How could he give in to a God that was going to diminish him in the eyes of his people and reduce his power?

That’s a far-fetched question for us on the surface. But it’s not far-fetched in terms of the struggle that goes on within. Isn’t our struggle the struggle of who is going to be in control? Isn’t this the reason we continue to hold on tenaciously to the reins of our lives? Isn’t this the reason we continue to sit proudly on the thrones of our hearts? Rather than allowing the Lord to take the place of honor? We don’t want to give up our control.

I think this is one of the things we can learn from the story of the Egyptian plagues. Just like Pharaoh, we are always wrestling with God or trying to bargain with God for control.