God Confronts the Powers (Exodus 7-11)
Bible Passage: Exodus 7-11
In these chapters, we see some of the dramatic action scenes of Exodus playing out. There is a series of ten plagues inflicted by God on the Egyptians. Each time there is a demand that the Israelite slaves be set free, and each time there is a refusal. The pattern emerges that Pharaoh says he will let the people go when the plague is taking place, but then changes his mind once the plague ends. Reading these kind of events may make us uncomfortable in out twenty-first century setting, but it is important that we dig beneath the surface and understand the significance of what is happening.
Divine Contest: At the heart of the plagues is a divine contest between the God of Israel and the gods of Egypt. The Egyptians worshipped a plurality of gods, and believed that each was responsible for governing different aspects of life. In the particular details of the ten plagues, the LORD is stepping onto the turf that was ascribed to different Egyptian deities, and showing that they had no power to thwart his purposes. He alone is truly God and is supreme. The gods that the plagues challenged were Osiris (of whom it was said that the Nile is his bloodstream), Hapi (said to be attended by frogs), Seb (said to be the god of the dust of the earth), Uatchit (known as the fly god), Apis (considered to be a sacred bull), Imhotep (thought of as the god of healing), Nut (seen as the goddess of the sky), Serapia (a locust headed goddess, who it was said would protect from locusts) and Ra (called the sun god). The final plague on the firstborn can be seen as a contest with Pharaoh himself (who considered himself to be the son of a god). Though in some ways our world is very different to ancient Egypt, it is still a contested space with different so-called gods competing for people’s hearts and worship. The plague stories of Exodus shows the supremacy of the LORD, and gives us confidence that our God truly is greater than any other and has no rival.
Divine Judgement: Whilst the plagues can be understood as a contest between the LORD and the gods of Egypt, it is still the case that real people were affected by what happened and suffered as a result of the plagues. The context is one of significant injustice. The Egyptian people had enslaved and oppressed the Israelites for generations, and despite multiple warnings had refused to set them free. The plagues are an act of divine judgement on this injustice. When we put ourselves in the position of the oppressors, thinking about judgement can be uncomfortable to us, but from the perspective of the victims it is a comforting truth that what has happened to them has not gone unnoticed, and those who are guilty will be brought to account. Seeing God’s judgement in action is sobering, and thinking of the day of judgement to come causes us to examine our own heart, and turn to Christ who was given to face the judgment we deserve on our behalf.
Divine Salvation: God’s actions were not about proving a point to the Egyptians in the abstract, but about securing the deliverance of his people, who he had made his covenant with. “Let my people go” is the repeated cry of these verses, and it is God’s heart to see his people set free. The Exodus story is a picture of the gospel, and it points to God defeating the powers of sin, death and the devil through the cross in order to win our salvation and set us free so that we may worship him.
Potential Applications:
- What we worship is a key theme of this passage. There is a call to align our hearts and give our worship to the one true God.
- We see the extent that God will go to in order to save his people. You could offer the message of salvation to people and invite them to respond.
- There is a challenge for those who are involved in oppressing others. The reality of divine judgement that we see here should be a sobering wake-up call.
