Exodus 7

Exodus 7 – May 15

We have now arrived at the incredible period of the plagues. I would like to draw your attention to three truths from this chapter.

“…I have made you like God to Pharaoh…”

What does it mean in verse 1 when God tells Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet?” In what way was Moses like God? As noted the other day, Moses is not the one who actually performed miracles. That power still belonged to the Lord. Moses certainly wasn’t omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent. In fact, Moses was not changed in this moment at all. Instead, his position of authority changed. The meaning of this phrase is simple. Even though Pharaoh was the God-established ruler of the land, he was placed under the authority of Moses. Moses was “like God” in the sense that Pharaoh was required to obey whatever Moses commanded. The reason that Pharaoh would reject Moses is that Pharaoh would first reject God.

“…the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord…”

In verse 5, the Lord said, “And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” In what way would the Egyptians “know” that God was the Lord? Through the process of the plagues, God was doing more than just making extreme weather patterns or affecting animal migrations. Throughout these 10 plagues, the true God of the universe was going to systematically dismantle the false gods of Egypt. It is difficult for people in our culture and society to grasp just how pervasive and all-encompassing the idolatry of the Egyptians was. Every aspect of their life was in some way related to a false deity. Every time God sent a plague, it was a way to prove to the Egyptians that their gods could not help them, or protect them, or serve them. Their gods were nothing but stone statues of imaginary beings. Let’s see how this works out in the very first plague…

“Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

The first plague was the turning of the Nile River into blood. It is literally almost impossible to overstate the importance of the Nile to the people of Egypt. It was the only thing that provided life against the backdrop of the ever-encroaching sands of the Sahara. To this very day, if you look at a population density map of their country, you will see that all of the people live along that river. It was their source of water. It was one of their primary sources of food. It was their primary highway system. And, even more, it was one of their greatest objects of worship. Don’t overlook that incredibly important line in verse 19. “Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” The word “vessel” there is the word “idol.” God was making it clear that the idols of the Nile were in His crosshairs. Osiris, Sodpet, Satet, Hapi, and Khnum were all worshipped as gods of the Nile. Hapi was the god of the flood waters and the fish. Khnum was the “life giving” god. Hatmehit was the goddess designated to protect the fishermen and their catches. By turning the Nile to blood, God not only declared war on those idols, He immediately defeated them. With nothing more than the words of a shepherd and the wave of a staff, the river gods were shown to be powerless.  

“…the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts…”

The Lord permits evil people to imitate His works on occasion. In this case, their works were done to harden the heart of Pharaoh. We are not given the name of these two magicians in Exodus, but in the New Testament Paul writes about this very event and calls them out by name. “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” (2 Tim. 3:8-9) Paul parallels false teachers in the church to these wicked magicians. Just like the Egyptian sorcerers, false teachers will be able to imitate some of the works of God. But, just like them, they will also not be able to imitate all of them. So much so that the counterfeit works of wicked men will eventually be evident by their failures. (For example, false teachers who claim to know when Jesus will return. Their record remains perfect. They are always wrong.) Tomorrow we will see the magicians tested beyond their ability to imitate, and God will show Himself true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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