SIGNS: FROGS, LICE & FLIES (EXODUS 8:1-32)
Notes
Transcript
THE SECOND SIGN: FROGS
THE SECOND SIGN: FROGS
Exodus 8:1–4 (ESV)
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. 3 The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ”
THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME – THIS IS THE POINT! WHO WILL BE SERVED – YHWH OR PHAROAH?
PLAGUE = STRIKE
SWARM = INNUMERABLE. IN GEN 1:20 GOD COMMANDS THE NEWLY CREATED ANIMALS TO SWARM THE EARTH. IN gEN 9:7 MAN IS TO SWARM OVER THE EARTH. IN EX 1:7 PHAROAH FEARS THE HEBREWS BECAUSE THEY ARE SWARMING.
FROGS: One of the major goddesses of Egypt was Hekhet, who is depicted as a human female with a frog’s head. She was the spouse of the creator-god Khnum. He was thought to fashion human bodies on his potter’s wheel, and Hekhet would then blow the breath of life into them. Hekhet also had the responsibility of controlling the multiplication of frogs in ancient Egypt by protecting the frog-eating crocodiles.
IT IS YHWH WHO TRULY CONTROLS FERTILITY; HE SWARMS THE EGYPTIANS WITH FROGS.
YHWH IS SOVEREIGN OVER FERTILITY, OVER EHYPT AND EGYPT’S GODS.
5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
MAGICIANS = HARTUMIM = CHIEF LECTOR PRIEST. WISE MEN AND SAGES WHO COULD FORSEE THE FUTURE, PERFORM MIRACULOUS FEATS AND HAD SECRET KNOWLEDGE UNKNOWN EVEN TO PHAROAH. THEY ARE TO HELP PHAROAH PRESERVE MA’AT.
8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.”
PHAROAH BEGINS TO BARTER.
BE PLEASED = LIT GLORIFY/BOAST YOURSELF OVER ME.
YOU WILL KNOW!
YHWH WILL BE THE ONE WHO RESTORES THE NATURAL ORDER OR MA’AT.
12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’ ”
CRY OUT IS ALWAYS USED IN EXODUS IN TIMES OF GREAT PERIL.
HEAPS = THEY HEAPED THEM UP, HEAPS HEAPS!
STANK = REVERSAL OF EX 5:21 WHERE THE FOREMEN COMPLAIN THAT MOSES HAD MADE THEM STINK TO PHARAOH.
THE THIRD SIGN: LICE
THE THIRD SIGN: LICE
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so. 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 in all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
DUST OF THE EARTH = HEBREW EXPRESSION FOR GREAT ENORMITY OR INTENSITY
DUST = ECHO OF GEN 2:7 WHERE GOD CREATES MAN FROM THE DUST
YHWH IS THE ONLY CREATOR
GNATS = UNKNOWN SO VERMIN, LICE, OR EVEN MAGGOTS
HERODOTUS: [Egypt’s] priests shave the whole body every other day, that no lice or aught else that is foul may infest them in their service of their gods.
FINGER OF ELOHIM: HOLD ON TO THAT!
THE FOURTH SIGN: FLIES
THE FOURTH SIGN: FLIES
20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” ’ ” 24 And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.
PRESENT YOURSELF = TAKE YOUR STAND BEFORE PHAROAH.
PUT A DIVISION = SET A REDEMPTION BETWEEN MY PEOPLE AND YOURS. YHWH WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE AND PHAROAH WON’T/CAN’T.
GREAT SWARMS = THE FLIES CAME HEAVILY
25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us.” 28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31 And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
NOTICE THAT THIS TIME PHAROAH DOES NOT CALL HIS MAGICIANS.
PHARAOH BEGINS TO MAKE CONCESSIONS. YHWH WILL NOT MOVE AN INCH.
I, I WILL LET YOU GO!
NO ONE REMAINED: THEY SIMPLY DISAPPEAR. MIRACLES ALL AROUND.
THE FINGER OF GOD
THE FINGER OF GOD
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!