The Egyptian Pharaoh came to know Joseph, and his respect for Joseph grew. He trusted him.
The Israelites were thriving in Egypt.
They were fruitful and increased in number.
The Israelites were thriving in Egypt.
They were fruitful and increased in number.
Time passed, the Pharaoh that knew and loved Joseph died and a new pharaoh, who knew not (and cared not) for Joseph’s family, came to power. He began to feel threatened by the vast, blessed numbers of Joseph's family. He came down hard on them, forcing them into slavery.
It had been 400 years suffering under Pharaoh’s rule when the Israelites groaned in their slavery.
They cried out to God for help, and God, he heard their cry! The time had come for YAHWEH to reveal his plan of salvation. Up to this point Moses himself is unaware that God had rescued him as a baby for this just purpose – that one day he would save the people of God!
Moses met YAHWEH in a bush that wouldn’t burn down. God got his attention, drew him near, and spoke of his plan.
Oh how I have seen their misery. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering! So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…the land that I promised to Abraham long ago… the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. So now, go, Moses. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 3:7-10
And YAHWEH gave Moses two signs – a staff turned snake, and a hand turned leprous – “so that they might believe that YAHWEH, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” (4:5)
But God had in his heart more than just his people.
This story is usually told: 10 plagues - one brief plot and a God that saved his people from slavery …and that he absolutely did! But if we slow down the action a little and illuminate the ancient context within which it’s set we begin to see that Moses’ task was also a missionary one!
What the Israelites and the Egyptians alike don’t understand is that God is planning to wage war on all the false gods of Egypt, so they too can to know and love and worship YAHWEH, the ALLPOWERFUL One True God. This was YAHWEH’s plan all along! This was his plan long before the Israelites even became slaves in Egypt – before Joseph was sold by his brothers eventually bringing them there, before Jacob had his 12 sons, before Isaac’s near sacrifice… We hear of God’s plan for the first time when God was speaking with Abraham. Do you remember what God said to him?
Know for certain that for four hundred years your family will be strangers in a country not their own and they will become slaves and suffer tremendously there. After four hundred years of suffering I will punish the nation that enslaved them, and in the end they will come out with riches. I will do this when the sin of the Amorites reaches the point that I cannot wait any longer to punish them.
Here we are! They’ve become a great nation, and the time has come for their freedom, but their freedom as a people is tied up in God’s heart for all people. For God had also said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you… I will make your name great – everyone will know it one day, and you will become a blessing for the whole world.
YAHWEH’s desire was that all of Egypt might know him, call on his name, and be saved – indeed, that all the earth might come to know him! But this battle for their hearts would be hard won, for the Egyptians did not know that there was One True God – one God who was the creator of the universe, all-powerful over all of its elements.
That’s why Pharaoh refused to obey the One True God. “Who is YAHWEH, that I should obey him and let Israel go?” Pharaoh asked. “I do not know him and I will not let Israel go.” (5:2) And so Pharaoh made the lives of the Israelites that much harder to bear… instead of letting them go to worship their God. It got worse, much worse, before it got better. But it was all a part of God’s plan. (6:6-8)
The Israelites didn’t understand what God was doing, and they complained and groaned. Lets just say Moses wasn’t their favorite guy at the moment.
But God offered them words of comfort:
"I am YAHWEH, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am YAHWEH your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am YAHWEH." (6:6-8)
God spoke to Moses about his plan, and about his desire that Egypt might come to know him too:
“You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 ****And the Egyptians will know that I am YAHWEH**** when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” (7:2-5)
Did you hear it? In the midst of God's judgment?
It was God’s heart to save them, too. But first, they would need to come to know him. To understand his Creator nature. His dominion over all. These things would be difficult for them to come to know because the Egyptians believed there were thousands of gods, each with power over some aspect of nature.
They believed…
Hapi was the goddess of the Nile. The Nile that brought life to all Egypt by watering the ground, making things grow, watering the animals, and offering life-giving water to the people there. They believed Hapi helped people to be healthy and even to have babies. Hapi was one of the most important gods to the Egyptian people. One would expect such a goddess to have control over the waters, and so the first plague would be a big blow to her reputation. It was YAHWEH who turned the Nile to blood, and Hapi could do nothing about it. She was NOT a true god. Only YAHWEH, who created the water, truly has power over the Nile River.
A frog-god named Heket was the god of childbirth. They loved this god so much that frog-murder was punishable by death! But… was Heket a true god? One would expect him to be able to at least control the fertility of his own froggy kind, but it was YAHWEH who multiplied frogs so that they could not walk without squashing one underfoot. Heket was powerless. Heket is NOT a true God. It is YAHWEH who created human beings (and all created life, for that matter) and told them to be fruitful and increase in number, and it is YAHWEH that has power over fertility.
Geb was god of the ground. One would expect the god of the ground to be able to control the dust of the earth, but as YAHWEH turned the dust into gnats even Pharaoh’s magicians recognized “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as YAHWEH had said. YAHWEH has shown that Geb does not have power over the ground. Only YAHWEH who created the land has that power! Geb is NOT a true god.
Kephri was a dung beetle god. The dung beetle is an insect that rolls poop along the ground, and as it does, it keeps the flies from reproducing too much. The Egyptians believed that, just as the dung beetle rolls poop along the ground, that KEPHRI rolled the sun across the sky each day. But can Kephri keep keep the flies from multiplying? As YAHWEH poured out dense swarms of flies into Pharaoh’s palace and into the house of his officials, even throughout the whole land of Egypt, ruining the land, Kephri was powerless. Only YAHWEH, who created everything, has ultimate power over the flies! Kepnri is NOT a true god.
Hathor, a cow god, was the goddess of love and protection. But could she protect the animals? Or at least HER own kind? As YAHWEH poured out his judgment on Egypt once more, all the livestock of the Egyptians died… but not one belonging to the Israelites passed away. Hathor couldn’t even keep the cows safe! Only YAHWEH, who created the animals, has ultimate power over life and death! Hathor is NOT a true God.
Thoth was the god of healing. But could Thoth protect the health of the Egyptians? As YAHWEH took the soot and turned it into boils on Egyptian skin – human and animal alike – Thoth, who they believed created medicine, couldn’t heal their boils let alone prevent them. Only YAHWEH, who created the humans and their bodies, has ultimate power over health! Thoth is NOT a true god.
Set was the god of storms. Yes, one would expect him to have power over such things. But as YAWHEH sent the worst hailstorm that ever fell on Egypt, Set was nowhere to be seen. Some of Pharaoh’s officials, who had come to fear the word of YAHWEH, hurried to bring their slaves and livestock inside at God’s warning and were saved, but the devastation of this plague brought Pharaoh to his knees, confessing: “This time I have sinned… YAHWEH is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong," and he asked Moses to pray to YAHWEH on his behalf.
Pharaoh’s heart hardened again once the suffering was lifted, but Set’s
reputation had been destroyed in the storm. Set is NOT a true God. Only
YAHWEH, who created the heavens and the earth, has divine power over
the elements.
Pharaoh’s heart hardened again once the suffering was lifted, but Set’s
reputation had been destroyed in the storm. Set is NOT a true God. Only
YAHWEH, who created the heavens and the earth, has divine power over
the elements.
Osiris was the god who protected the crops and helped them to grow. But YAHWEH sent locusts, and they devoured what little was left after the devastation of the previous plague. Again, Pharaoh cried out, “I have sinned against YAHWEH your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to YAHWEH your God to take this deadly plague away from me.
Nut was the sky god. But she was powerless as YAHWEH spread darkness over Egypt. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet YAHWEH lit the places where the Israelites lived! Nut was powerless to stop him because only YAHWEH who created the sky and light and darkness has power over these things! Nut is NOT a true God.
Isis, as mourner, “she was a principal deity in rites connected with the dead; as magical healer, she cured the sick and brought the deceased to life; and as mother, she was a role model for all women.”(1) But as YAHWEH went out among the Egyptians every first born son in the land of Egypt died, proving Isis to be powerless, and bringing Pharoah to his knees as he begged the Israelites to leave, and leave they did… with great treasures. Isis is NOT a true God. Only the God who breathed life into humanity has ultimate power over life and death.
YAHWEH is the One True God.
There were many in Egypt who never believed. Even Pharaoh, who came to recognize YAHWEH’s power, was never willing to bow to him, forsaking all others. But, there were many who did come to know YAHWEH, and they left with the Israelites, following the One True God wherever he would lead them.
There is only One True God, and yet still today people are in bondage, slaves to false gods, illusive powers, and to the lie that we can (or even must) be our own gods. What wonderful news that we need not be in bondage any longer! We are not true gods! We cannot save ourselves! There is only one with power over all – the power to save us, and he is coming soon!
The time is near! We cry out for you, Jesus! Save us! Save us, too!
Questions to inspire family discussion:
Are there people or things that you find it easier to trust in than God? What do you put your faith in?
Confess your idols to the One True God.
Ask him to be Lord of your whole life and bow to him in worship!
Then Listen. Listen to the world, our broken world. Hear the cry of the people around you. How does God want you to share his healing? To whom will you offer it?
Then Listen. Listen to the world, our broken world. Hear the cry of the people around you. How does God want you to share his healing? To whom will you offer it?
Pray together:
Lord God, you have remembered us! You have turned and heard our cry, and we wait for that freedom only Christ can bring!
Mighty to Save (youtube)
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