These chapters cover the ten plagues God brought upon the land of Egypt for the continual refusal of Pharaoh to "Let My people go, that they may serve Me." I find it interesting that the plagues were seemingly aimed at the ten deities in Egypt. When the water was turned to blood, the Egyptian god of the Nile was silent. When the frogs came upon the earth in Egypt, the frog-faced goddess of fertility said nothing. The Egyptian god of the earth was speechless when the dust turned to lice and the god of creation said nothing as the flies tormented the people, animals, and homes of the Egyptians. (It was at this point that Pharaoh attempts to "bargain" with the God of Israel.) Bargaining didn't work of course, but as the diseased livestock began to die during the fifth plague I wonder where the goddess of protection was? Do you think the Egyptians cried out to their goddess of medicine when the ashes turned to boils on their skin? Do you think they heard an answer? When the hail and fire rained down, the goddess of sky was silent. Nothing was heard from the god of disorder when the locusts consumed everything in sight. The sun god was helpless in three days of darkness. Certainly Pharaoh, a god himself....supposedly the "greatest of all Egyptian gods", was proven powerless when his own son died in the final plague.
The answer here is that there is only one God.
I also think we should mention the continued hardening of Pharaoh's heart during these events. With the plagues of water, frogs, lice, flies, and diseased livestock, Pharaoh's heart grew hard. He didn't want to believe his gods weren't real, or that the God of Israel was the one true God. I also find it interesting that some of the miracles, the pharaoh's magicians were able to falsify. I wonder why? And, how cool that the plagues affected the Egyptians only, and not the Israelites? You can almost hear the people asking, "Who is this God?" As the plagues continued with boils, hail, locusts, and darkness, I noticed "the Lord hardened his heart" and Pharaoh would not release the children of Israel to serve their God. Finally, the most devastating plague that proved total inability for Egyptian gods to protect their subjects...the death of the firstborn children. Indeed, God holds the heart of the king in His hand! May we not harden our hearts toward Him.
There are even a few Psalms written about this time in history of Israel. My favorite is Psalm 105:14, "He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying, 'Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.'" God brought His people out with joy and His chosen ones with gladness. Oh, praise Him!
We shouldn't judge this Pharaoh.....I can't help but ask some days, what will it take for us to believe God is who He says He is?
