SIGNS: BULLS, BOILS & BOOM (EXODUS 9:1-35)
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22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
SIGN 5: BULLS
SIGN 5: BULLS
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.” ’ ” 5 And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
ANIMALS/CATTLE OF FOOD, CLOTHING AND TRANSPORTATION
ALL = EVERY TYPE IN THE FIELD
LET MY PEOPLE GO = SEND
PHAROAH WILL SEND TO SEE IF THE LIVESTOCK ARE DEAD BUT HE WON'T SEND THE PEOPLE.
The symbolism of the fifth plague is especially potent because many of Egypt’s gods and goddesses were depicted as livestock.
Some Egyptians worshiped the bull, which they viewed as “a fertility figure, the great inseminator imbued with the potency and vitality of life.”
Cults dedicated to the bull were common throughout Egypt. ..But the chief bull was Apis. At the temple in Memphis, priests maintained a sacred enclosure where they kept a live bull considered to be the incarnation of Apis. When the venerable bull died, he was given an elaborate burial. Archaeologists have discovered funeral niches for hundreds of these bulls near Memphis.
Then there were the goddesses. Isis, the queen of the gods, was generally depicted with cow horns on her head. Similarly, the goddess Hathor was represented with the head of a cow, sometimes with the sun between her two horns. Hathor was a goddess of love and beauty, motherhood and fertility. One of her sacred functions was to protect Pharaoh, and on occasion she was depicted as a cow suckling the king for nourishment.
SIGN 6: BOILS
SIGN 6: BOILS
8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”
SOOT FROM A KILN. POETIC JUSTICE.
THE FURNACE WAS A SIGN OF OPPRESSION AGAINST ISRAEL. THE VERY SOOT MADE BY THE SLAVES WILL NOW BE USED TO CURSE EGYPT.
EGYPTIAN PRIESTS WOULD TAKE SACRIFICIAL ASH AND CAST IT INTO THE AIR AS A SIGN OF BLESSING.
THE EGYPTIANS KNOWN FOR MEDICINE.
AMON-RE THE CREATOR GOD IS A PHYSICIAN WHO HEALS ALL.
THOTH GOD OF THE HEALING ARTS.
IMHOTEP THE GOD OF MEDICINE.
CHIEF WAS SEKHMET. Sekhmet, a lion-headed goddess, was supposed to have had the power of both creating epidemics and bringing them to an end. A special priesthood was devoted to her called Sunu. Amulets and other objects were employed by the Egyptians to ward off evil in their lives.
10 So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
The Hebrew verb for ‘to stand’ is the same one that was used in the previous verse. It highlights a contrast: whereas Moses and Aaron could stand before Pharaoh and perform miraculous feats, the Egyptian magicians could not even stand before the Hebrew prophets….IN VS. 13-14 MOSES WILL STAND BEFORE PHARAOH.
SIGN 7: BOOM
SIGN 7: BOOM
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.” ’ ” 20 Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.
SEND = PHAROAH WILL NOT SEND THE PEOPLE OUT SO GOD WILL SEND THE PLAGUES/SIGNS/STRIKES
AGAINST YOU = LIT. AGAINST YOUR HEART
CUT OFF = BECOMING UNKNOWN. YHWH WILL BE KNOWN PHARAOH UNKNOWN IF GOD WILLS IT.
PROCLAIMED = IN OT VERB USED FOR GREAT PRAISE AND RECOUNTING THE GREATNESS OF GOD. IT IS A VERB OF WORSHIP.
HAS NEVER BEEN DONE = EGYPTIAN IDIOM OF BOASTING AMONG THE PHARAOHS
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.
THUNDER = VOICE = THEOPHANY
LIT FIRE TAKING HOLD OF ITSELF.
LAND = 7 TIMES IN THE 7TH PLAGUE
LAST ITME IS THE CALM OF GOSHEN = SABBATH REST
REMEMBER THE EGYPTIANS BELIEVED THEIR GODS TO BE PERSONIFIED IN THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE. The catastrophe of the hail was therefore a mockery of the Egyptian heavenly deities, including Nut (the female representative of the sky and personification of the vault of heaven), Shu (the supporter of the heavens who holds up the sky) and Tefnut (the goddess of moisture).
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
APPROACH PHARAOH PROSTRATING THEMSELVES SMELLING THE EARTH, CRAWLING ON THE GROUND WHILE EXALTING HIS BEAUTY.
THIS TIME...YOU PLEAD. REMORSE NOT REPENTENCE.
MIRACLE - THE YOUNG AT RISK PLANTS ARE PRESERVED.
HE ADDED TO/INCREASED THE SIN
NOT JUST PHARAOH BUT HIS SERVANTS AS WELL.
YHWH IS THE ONLY TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGE.
YHWH IS THE ONLY TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGE.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
BECAUSE YHWH IS OUR JUDGE WE SHOULD FEAR HIM
BECAUSE YHWH IS OUR JUDGE WE SHOULD FEAR HIM
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
DON’T BE LIKE PHAROAH. REPENT NOT JUST REMORSE.
DON’T BE LIKE PHAROAH. REPENT NOT JUST REMORSE.
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.