Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Moses came to God complaining that nothing good has happened since Moses came to talk to Pharaoh. I mean, what is the point of having sent me at all? And God replied, ‘I have Pharaoh right where I want him!’ Moses might have wondered if God had heard him. But God kept going. He repeated who He was. The covenants He had made. And that He was a God who FULFILLED covenant.that Moses would know it, Aaron would know it, the Israelites would know it, and that the Egyptians would know it – especially Pharaoh. Moses took the message to his people, but they ignored him. God didn’t let Moses wallow. He commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh. That’s where we open today.

God gave Moses encouragement. God told him Pharaoh wouldn’t listen, but that in the end God’s hand would deliver Israel by great judgments. That He – Yahweh, Fulfiller of Covenant – would stretch out His hand and deliver His people. God commanded. Moses and Aaron did what He said. Moses was eighty years old. Aaron was eighty-three.

Now God’s judgment wasn’t only against a people who chose to oppress instead of afflict. It was also against their gods. He was proving that demonic tricks, witchcraft, and supernatural displays of power are different from REAL power and authority. That all the occult has to offer are shadows and showmanship. God wanted to  show the Israelites this because the land they were going to (Canaan) was influenced by Egypt and they would see evidence of these gods elsewhere. If they knew and held to the memory of what God could do and how much higher He was than manmade or demonic ‘gods’, they would have no trouble being faithful. This was signs and wonders for the present and also for the future (we’ll see that in the book of Joshua).

First, a warning. God told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and when Pharaoh asked for a sign, throw down Aaron’s rod (it is unclear if this was Aaron’s own rod or if he was using the Rod of God Moses brought with him. It doesn’t specify), and it would become a snake. So they went to Pharaoh and did what God said. Aaron threw down the rod and it became a snake. Pharaoh’s magicians did the same. Now Moses was educated in ALL the ways of Egypt (Acts 7:22-25). Were the magicians simply demonstrating that Moses was using an Egyptian trick? Could be. But the rod of Aaron ate their rods. Signs can be imitated, but God is above that. In any case, Pharaoh chose to harden his heart. Just like God said.

God told Moses to go to Pharaoh first thing. Warn him to let the people go. That the waters would be struck with the rod and they would turn to blood. The Nile, other rivers, the canals, the ponds, and all the pools of water. All over Egypt all standing water in wooden or stone vessels. Everything would be blood. And it happened. All the fish died. It reeked. From one end to the other (no mention that the Israelites were exempt). This water into blood (Exodus 7:19-21) was judgment against Hapi (also called Apis), the bull god, god of the Nile; Isis, goddess of the Nile; Khnum, ram god, guardian of the Nile; and other miscellaneous ones (a LOT of the deities were connected to the Nile). The magicians copied it – but didn’t try to remove it – and Pharoah hardened his heart again. A bad judgment, but God was merciful. He did NOT transform the water in sand, so they were able to dig wells and live. This was a substance to a substance miracle. And seven days passed.

God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites out. If not, frogs. Frogs everywhere. Frogs where frogs should not be. On people, in homes, spoiling food, and everything. No one would be exempt. Did you know very few tadpoles make it into frogs? Imagine frogs having more tadpoles than usual, tadpoles protected from harm, a sped up growth cycle, and wham. Frog city. A sped up miracle working in an unnatural way. From every stream, river, and pond. Aaron’s rod went over them and frogs came out of them. This frog judgement (Exodus 8:2-7) was against Heqet, goddess of birth, with a frog head. The magicians made frogs too – notice they did not or could not REMOVE the frogs – so Pharaoh may not have been convinced it was God. This seems like a dumb move. My eight-year old read this and asked scornfully, ‘Why did they make MORE??’ When your heart is hardened, you’re spiritually retarded. You are NOT firing on all cylinders.

Have you noticed Aaron and Moses are INVOLVED in this? God didn’t sovereignly do these plagues. He used Moses and Aaron. He performed according to the power working in Moses (Ephesians 3:20). As the plagues went on, Moses’ confidence in the Lord grew, until he was full of the power of God and he had CERTAINTY this freeing of the Israelites WOULD happen. That there was NOTHING God couldn’t do and at that point things really got going (starts around four, but really kicks in at seven).

Pharaoh called Moses in. Asked Moses to ask God to take away the frogs. Moses asked when, and Pharaoh said ‘tomorrow’. Was he hoping that his gods would remove them before then? Was he hoping they would just leave? That it was natural, not supernatural? Maybe holding out that it wasn’t God – remember the magicians made some too. So Moses entreated God and the frogs died. They didn’t go, just died. They had to gather them into piles. It stank! But they weren’t frogging around anymore, so Pharaoh hardened his heart.

God told Moses to get Aaron to stretch out his rod over the dust – no talking, no repsite. This (Exodus 8:16-18) would be a judgment against Set, god of the desert storms. The rod went out and gnats or lice came up. On animals. On people. Everywhere. The magicians tried, but could NOT make gnats. This wasn’t substance to substance or a sped up cycle. This was transmutation from dead stuff to living stuff and NO ONE but God could do that! They TOLD Pharaoh this was the finger of God – not a trick or an art – but he hardened his heart and would not listen.

God told Moses to meet Pharaoh when he came out to bathe. Tell Pharoah to let the Israelites go or there would be flies. So many flies. And THIS time, only in Egypt. Goshen, where the Israelites lived, would have not even one fly. And it was so. Swarms of them. Pharaoh tried to cut a deal. He told Moses they could worship God in the land. Moses said no dice. Pharaoh said okay, go out but just a TINY bit. Tell your God to lay off the flies. Moses said okay. I’ll ask. And tomorrow they’ll go. BUT, said Moses, no more changing your mind – kind of a ‘look, I know you’re lying and YOU know you’re lying and God knows you’re lying, so quit it’. The flies WENT AWAY (didn’t die) and . . . Pharaoh changed his mind. The flies (plague #4 – Exodus 8:20-24)  were judgment against Re, a sun god; and Uatchit, possibly represented by the fly.

Moses went back to Pharaoh and told him to let the people go. If not, the livestock in the field – horses, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep – would be struck with a ‘grievous pestilence’ the next day. Pharaoh had time to decide. He could avoid this. Again, the land of Goshen was exempt. No Israelite would lose an animal – whether they believed and followed God didn’t matter. He was remembering covenant. This plague (Exodus 9:3-7) was judgment against Hathor, goddess with a cow head; and Apis, the bull god, symbol of fertility. Pharaoh shut his mouth and the next day all the livestock of Egypt died. This was a severe loss to the economy and the labour of the nation. Not the Israelites, though. Pharaoh checked. Every one of them was a-okay. He didn’t change his heart though.

“Only let not Pharaoh again deceive us by not releasing the people to sacrifice to Yahweh.” (Exodus 8:29b)

This time Moses was to do something. He was to take ashes and in Pharaoh’s sight (no claiming coincidence here), toss them up into the sky. Moses did. Boils broke out on man and beast (but not the livestock – they were already dead. I assume dogs, cats, etc). The magicians would not come challenge Moses face to face because they were covered – the shame of being spiritually impotent. This (Exodus 9:8-12) was a judgment against Sekhmet, goddess with power over disease; Sunu, the pestilence god; and Isis, healing goddess. No Israelite got the boils. This time the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

The Lord wasn’t unrighteous or unjust to harden Pharaoh’s heart. God wasn’t looking to inflict more damage. He wasn’t smite-happy. Pharaoh had already chosen this for himself. All the Lord did was enforce Pharaoh’s own decision and then use that against him as judgment to manifest forth His glory. He knew it was going to happen. He knew what Pharaoh would choose again and again. So God gave the free-willed Pharaoh what he had already chosen.

God told Moses and Aaron to head to Pharaoh early in the morning. Warn him that because he continually exalted himself by refusing to let the Israelites go, God was going to use Pharaoh to get God’s name (not Pharaoh’s) declared throughout the Earth. God told Pharaoh He could have just killed them all. He was being Merciful sticking only to judgment. So the next day, anyone who brought their servants and animals under shelter would be fine. Anyone who left them in the field would lose them. Hail mixed with fire was going to drop and drop hard. Everything in the open was going to be toast. This (Exodus 9:13-35) would be a judgment against Nut, the sky goddess; Osiris, god of the crops and fertility; and Set, god of the desert storms.

Next day, those who believed Moses’ words brought their stuff inside. Others still trusted their Pharaoh and their gods. It didn’t go well for them. Humans, beasts, herbs, and trees were all destroyed by hail and fire. It was worse than anything else that had ever happened. Makes it sound like it’s possible to have hail and fire, right? Well, in 2020 there was a wildfire in California (the Hog Fire) which had both. Meteorologist Jonathan Belles said, ‘The pyrocumulus clouds that developed downwind of the hot Hog Fire were given an extra bump in intensity by thunderstorms that developed in the northern Sierra Nevada. This extra jump in the height of these clouds, combined with the ash and other debris from the fire, which act like magnets for raindrops and hailstones, helped create hail.’ But what happened in Egypt was WARZONE stuff, not a bump of crazy weather. The country was razed. Interestingly the specific crops mentioned were flax and barley, which are January/February crops in Egypt.

Pharaoh called for Moses. Pharaoh said ‘I have sinned this time’. To be honest, he sinned every time he rebelled against God and refused to let the people go, oppressed them, or dealt with demons, gods, or magic of ANY kind (there is NO ‘white’ magic or witchcraft. It is ALL rebellion against God). Pharaoh used the words of repentance – and none of the behaviour – and asked for an end to the hail. That he would let them go. That they would stay no more. Moses said okay. That he would WALK out of the city, and when he was outside, he would pray for the hail to stop and it would.

So, no mention of Aaron. He could have been there because he was Moses’ mouthpiece. But maybe Moses was more confident now. Also, Moses was walking out of the city while the hail and fire were falling. That’s a movie star moment right there. Cue Charlton Heston. Moses was not harmed in ANY way by this plague (Psalm 91).

Moses agreed, but before he left Pharoah he told Pharaoh that he knew that both Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s servants did not yet revere the Lord. And behold. When the storm ended? He ‘sinned more’ and he and his servants hardened their hearts (not God, mind you. HE and THEY). Just as the Lord told Moses, he did NOT let the people go.

Summary

Key Players: Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh, God

Key Themes: Judgment, Rebellion, Obedience

Key Verse(s): Exodus 7:1-5, 13, 22-23; 8:15, 19, 29-32; 9:7, 10-12, 27-30, 34-35