Exodus 9: The Plague on Livestock
BEHIND THE TEXT
This is the second plague of the second triad of plagues. According to the pattern, the plague is announced to Pharaoh (9:1–4) before it is carried out by Yahweh (v 6). In this plague, the livestock of Egypt die. This is the first plague that brings death to living creatures. Some suggest that this loss was caused by a skin disease, cutaneous anthrax, contracted perhaps through the biting flies of the previous plague. Others suggest that it came through the animals’ inhalation of anthrax spores while grazing on contaminated soil. It is possible that the plague involved anthrax or other diseases related to the previous plague of flies. Nevertheless, the sudden death of the livestock of Egypt en masse within a set time frame emphasizes the supernatural character of the plague.
The Egyptians venerated some livestock as deities, which explains why the sacrifice of livestock by the Israelites is called the Egyptian abomination (→ 8:26) in the previous plague account. In this plague, the animals that represent some of their chief deities are struck down (e.g., cow [Hathor portrayed as a cow, a goddess of love, motherhood, and beauty] and Apis bull [an incarnation of the pharaoh]). This plague on livestock, then, is a great blow not only on the Egyptian economy but also on their religion. Sadly, later at Sinai, the Israelites make an idol of a calf and worship it (32:4), perhaps not for the first time.
FROM THE TEXT
Human sins bring damage and suffering to creation itself. The effect of human sin on creation is vividly portrayed in the garden narrative (see Gen 3:17) and the flood narrative (see chs 6–9). In this Exodus passage, animals suffer because of the defiance of the political powers to God’s call for the freedom of his people. In the wider plague narrative, the entire land of Egypt and its waters, animals, vegetation, and atmosphere experience destruction and death. Hosea and Jeremiah also lament over the suffering of creation because of the wickedness of God’s people (Jer 12:4; Hos 4:1–3). It is as if creation itself absorbs and bears human sin and its consequences.
The Apostle Paul writes that the suffering of creation because of human sin is not in vain; “the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” in the hope of the redemption of humanity and all creation (Rom 8:19). The creation’s deep groans and travails alongside the people of God somehow serve the actualization of that hope in a restored creation (vv 22–23). Even in the deadly diseases and disasters and plagues that relentlessly strike down the Egyptians, the hopes of restoration and redemption remain. The hope of restoration for the nation of Egypt lies in its willingness to acknowledge and serve the creator God, rather than to serve images of created things (such as livestock).
It is the hope of the restoration of the created order—human beings existing to love and worship the creator God and human beings representing this God to the rest of creation. The plagues can be seen as the means through which the disorders (idolatry, enslavement, and defiance toward Yahweh) in Egypt are thoroughly deconstructed, in the hopes of reconstructing the proper order. The hope of redemption is also for the nation of Israel, so that Israel, too, can be reordered as a nation under the creator God, serving God’s purposes.
The narrative suggests that continued human resistance to God’s purpose of a restored and reordered creation can only lead to an existence marked by continued disorder for individuals, societies, and nations and for creation itself. Ultimately, God’s sovereign will and purpose prevail over all the false claims of and loyalties to power and authority. Pharaohs of our world are (individual, societal, or national) powers that remain unyielding to the gracious and sovereign purpose of God for his creation. They may even be those who profess to be Christians yet resist God’s good and gracious work in the world. The narrative warns them of the consequence of their actions and even their ultimate demise, if they continue to be oppressive in their dealings with others and unyielding to God’s sovereign authority over his creation.