TUESDAY 19 October 2021 “Egyptian god failure” (Exodus 10:24-29)

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

I wonder if you’ve ever worked ‘the night shift’ in your life? Was it hard for you to sleep in the daytime so you could work at night? Perhaps you had a room with no windows or you covered the windows to keep out the light so you could sleep? Sometimes darkness is welcome, but sometimes darkness can be frightening, right?

Yesterday I left you in the dark… a deep, prolonged darkness in Egypt. It lasted three long days and I imagine the Pharaoh and his officials spent much of that time fighting back their fear in the darkness by talking about what they had experienced since Moses had first walked into the Pharaoh’s throne room. I can hear them recounting to each other every conversation, every miracle. Pharaoh and his officials knew Moses’ purpose was to tell them that the God of the Hebrews was the only true, living, Almighty God. But more, God wanted Pharaoh and all Egyptians to know HIM as the only true God and acknowledge that all those Egyptian gods were only idols and false gods. I see that in Exodus 7:5 and 9:16.

Moses and Aaron had not only spoken to the Pharaoh, but they had demonstrated God’s power, remember? First it was the miracle of Aaron’s wooden staff turning into a snake (Ex. 7:10-12) but when that miracle was imitated by Pharaoh’s sorcerers Aaron’s snake attacked, killed and swallowed their snakes. Pharaoh was startled but hard hearted, and he threw Moses and Aaron out of his palace!

Then it was the Nile river water turned to blood (Ex. 7:20,21). Fish died in the river, and people had to dig new wells for fresh water. But the magicians mimicked that miracle also! Then it was an invasion of frogs which came up out of every water pond and river in the land, covering the land with frogs. And when those frogs died, that left mounds of dead and decaying frogs which had to be disposed of. This was particularly horrific because frogs were treated in Egypt, in those days, similarly to how cows are treated in much of India in our day! In Egypt, if a person killed a frog, even accidentally, it was a very serious crime, so can you imagine what it was like when God sent millions of frogs and then God killed them all, leaving piles of dead frogs to be cleaned up!

Then came the plague of gnats or another translation describes it as ‘lice’. (Ex. 8:16-19) This time the sorcerers could not duplicate this miracle and they declared to the Pharaoh: “This is the finger of God!” (Ex. 8:19) While Almighty God in His sovereign wisdom had allowed ‘black magic’ or demonic powers to imitate the miracle of the snakes, the Nile river to blood, and the frogs, here God drew a line and stopped their evil powers. But, you may ask, by what power were those sorcerers imitating God’s miracles and why would God allow it? 2 Corinthians 11:14 says “…Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” In Mark 9:14-27 we find the account of a man who brought his son to Jesus asking that Jesus deliver his son from an evil spirit. The father described how the evil spirit sometimes took control of the boy: “…it has robbed him of speech. Whenever the dark spirit seizes the boy it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.” Do you see here various evidence of the power of the dark kingdom?

Oh my, what a heartbreaking description of the dark kingdom taking control of this boy and harming him. It’s the very same powers those Egyptians sorcerers were using to mock God and mimic His miracles! But just as Jesus rebuked the evil spirit in the boy and cast it out, so God controlled the evil spirits working through the sorcerers and stopped their power demonstrations. Also please notice that while the sorcerers could duplicate the first three miracles they could not stop or prevent God’s power which caused those plagues! God’s power was, and always has been, the superior power in the universe, and here God stopped those sorcerers from interfering any further in His work with the Pharaoh. It’s a spiritual battle my friends, and do we understand this battle still rages today…. for your heart and mine?

With the next plague, the invasion of flies, (Ex. 8:20-32) God drew a distinction between Egyptians and Hebrews, and God miraculously kept the flies out of Goshen, the region of Egypt where the Hebrew slaves lived! In fact with every remaining plague the Hebrews were untouched by the damage while Egypt was devastated… The plague on livestock killed animals belonging to Egyptians, (Ex. 9:1-7) but spared those belonging to the Hebrews. The plague of boils (Ex. 9:8-12) brought great pain and suffering to Egyptians but no Hebrews fell ill. The great hail storm (Ex. 9:13-35) destroyed crops across Egypt but not one hailstone fell in Goshen. The infestation of locusts (Ex. 10:1-20) devoured everything green across Egypt but stayed out of Goshen as though God had placed an invisible, impenetrable wall at the border. Even though Pharaoh and his officials sit in a dark palace, surrounded by blackness over Egypt, they know the Egyptian landscape is barren and so is Egypt’s future.

But there’s more happening in the darkness my friends. If the magicians are also meeting with Pharaoh and the officials, there’s an important spiritual dynamic to this conversation that these leaders are having as they try to understand what has happened to Egypt and make a plan for the future. In each of these plagues God was humiliating one or more of the ‘gods’ the Egyptian religious leaders had invented over many decades. Cast idols were made of these ‘gods’ and worshiped in ceremonies throughout the year. “Hapi” was worshiped as the Egyptian god of the great Nile river, the source of fresh water and most of the agriculture keeping Egypt alive…until it turned to blood by the power of Almighty God! Obviously “Hapi” was proven to be helpless when the power of Jehovah God was unleashed on the Nile and rather than it being a source of life it became a river of death.

“Heket” was worshiped as the Egyptian goddess of fertility and its image had the head of a frog. Yet when God sent millions of frogs and then they suddenly died, “Heket” was proven to be nothing more than a myth. “Geb” was worshiped as the Egyptian ‘god of the earth’, but when the dust became gnats and lice, “Geb” was seen as helpless before Almighty God. “Khepri” was worshiped as the Egyptian god of creation and its image had the head of a fly, but when God covered the land with swarms of flies the Egyptians were killing flies rather than worshiping them!

“Hathor” was worshiped by the Egyptians as the goddess of love and protection, and its image had the head of a cow or ox. But when suddenly all the livestock owned by Egyptians were dying everywhere in the land at the hand of Almighty God, the Egyptians saw their idol “Hathor” was only that… a man made idol who was helpless. And then “Isis” was worshiped by Egyptians as the goddess of medicine and good health. But when festering boils broke out on all Egyptians of all ages, all across the land, “Isis” was proven to be helpless. “Nut” was considered the god of the sky. Worship of this god was thought to bring good weather for growing crops and provide a wonderful climate for Egyptians, but when God sent the worst hailstorm in all of Egyptian history, those who led worship of ‘Nut‘ were humiliated.

“Seth” was the powerful god of storms worshiped by Egyptians. As they worshiped this idol, they expected Seth would provide protection from all storms, but especially those which might bring damage to their land or crops. So when great storm clouds brought billions of locusts which devoured every green thing, if there was such a being as “Seth” obviously this god was destroying Egypt. Finally there was “Ra” the famous Egyptian god of the sun. “Ra” controlled both daylight and warmth for Egypt. “Ra” was understood to be alive, for the great sun moved in the sky, and “Ra” was reliable and orderly for the sun moved at the same pace, in the same direction everyday. “Ra” was loving for the sun never got too hot to burn people nor did it lessen it’s fire to let the people and animals freeze. And “Ra” faithfully brought the beloved light, each and every day.

But then came the day when “Ra” apparently died and the sun went dark. Can you imagine the conversations with Pharaoh, his officials and his religious advisors sitting in the dim light of candles, surrounded by a thick darkness. They no longer had any idea what time it was, nor was it day or night! Pharaoh had only one good option… he sent for Moses!

The record says: “The Pharaoh said, ‘Go, worship the LORD. Even your women and children may go with you, only leave your flocks and herds behind.’ (Ex. 10:24) With eyes squinting both to see in the dim candlelight and in disbelief that Pharaoh would remain so stubborn, so hard hearted, Moses refused. All the Hebrews and all their animals would be freed to go or else… Or else what? By now Moses and Pharaoh are standing face to face, both determined, both unwavering. Finally Pharaoh shouts: “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die!”

Moses paused. God had prepared him for this. He had one final, horrible, terrifying message for Pharaoh. It would be the last time these two men would see each other, for the final plague God was preparing was beyond imagination. I believe it may have been with sadness and even some mercy that Moses said “Just as you say Pharaoh, I will never appear before you again.” (Ex. 10:29)

Perhaps Moses turned as though preparing to leave, looking directly at the officials and the sorcerers, the men who most influenced Pharaoh. Moses paused. ready to pronounce the terrifying judgment plague that would cause the throne room of Pharaoh to go breathless. The judgment of God is profound and Pharaoh and all Egypt would experience it.

Let’s pause right here and ponder what the holy judgment of God will be like in our sin filled world? Let’s remember we too, each and all of us deserve God’s judgment for our sin. But let’s also remember that Jesus has taken the wrath justice of God for our sin, so we need not experience God’s justice judgment. Do you understand that friends and have you placed your full trust in Jesus to take your place in the judgment?

I found a worship song that will help us contemplate how God might be viewing our sin filled world, God’s holy justice, His judgement, Jesus’s atonement sacrifice, and you and me…

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 10:24-29.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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