“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19, ESV
We are not bound to the Law of Moses with strict rules and sacrifices, for the perfect sacrifice was made. In Christ, we now seek to love God who indwells us by His Holy Spirit and helps us.
We are getting close to the Passover time of year! How fitting that we are currently in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic at the time of posting this!
Why? Because the Passover started during … THE 10 PLAGUES ON EGYPT!
Does God allow or even send things like pandemics and plagues?
Is there a purpose to suffering?
Can God use evil for good? How do we define good and evil?
Now, to the big question of the day:
Can we learn from the 10 Plagues today?
Plagues and False Hopes Exodus 7-12
Ten/10 is the number of completion, so God’s judgment is thorough and complete.
God gave Egypt plagues for each of their most powerful gods and goddesses.
#1 – Plague of the Nile into Blood
Hapi – god of the Nile This lasted 7 days, the number of perfection.
#2 – Plague of Frogs
Heket – goddess of Fertility and Water She had the head of a frog. Magicians made more frogs appear, but only Moses and Aaron could get rid of them.
#3 – Plague of Gnats/Lice/Mosquitos
Geb – god of the Earth 1st plague the magicians couldn’t copy (8:18-19) Remember that we are made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7)
#4 – Plague of Flies
Khepri – god of creation, movement of the Sun, and rebirth He had the head of a fly.
#5 – Plague of the Death of Livestock
Hathor – goddess of Love and Protection She had the head of a cow Economic disaster: food, transportation, and farming is affected.
Plagues 1-5 remove sources of sustenance and income.
#6 – Plague of Boils
Isis – goddess of Medicine and Peace Egyptians were neat-freaks and germophobes. This plague announced their uncleanness.
#7 – Plague of Hail and Fire & Brimstone
Nut – goddess of the Sky First plague to affect the household of Pharaoh himself. Affected the crops of flax and barley: used for making clothing and beer. The Egyptians would not be able to cover their nakedness nor “forget their woes” with alcohol. Wheat was not affected, showing God provides bread …
#8 – Plague of Locusts
Set – god of Storms and Disorder Locusts eat everything. This devastates even the food supply.
#9 – Plague of Darkness for Three Days
Ra – The Sun god, the highest god Their god of light was controlled by God. Darkness symbolizes spiritual blindness and death, judgment and hopelessness.
Plagues 6-9 remove sources of health and peace.
#10 – Plague of the Death of the Firstborn
Pharaoh – the living god If their worshiped king cannot stop a foreign deity from killing his son, is he really worthy of their worship? (No.) Most obviously, this points to Christ, the only Son of God and firstborn of the Resurrection, all others finding salvation from death through His shed blood.
Plague 10 removes our self-reliance.
God will allow and even send calamities, pestilences, and pandemics to show His power and sovereignty, and He might also do it to bring judgment on nations.
Think of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, or the locust swarms in Africa at this time. Or think of all of the wildfires in 2019.
Is this a buildup to Christ’s return? Maybe. Maybe not.
At the very least, God is in control, and our world has been pushing Him away like crazy. Just as the Egyptians claimed differing gods and had prophets declaring false things, we see this all over the world today, even within Christianity.
Just as the only salvation from death in the 10th plague was blood, the only way we know we are saved from eternal death is through the blood of God’s firstborn, Jesus Christ. We may not escape earthly suffering, but we are saved from eternal judgment. (And see the last lesson about those who have not heard the Gospel!)
I have a mental exercise for you. Please consider the following:
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” . . . 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Exodus 1:15-16, 22, ESV
And then Moses, the one who led the Israelites to redemption out of Egypt, was coming.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
Matthew 2:16
And all because Jesus, the One who would redeem Israel and all who would believe in Him from their sins, was coming.
Now consider this (from Number of Abortions and as of Monday, June 16, 2014):
The United States aborts between 3,000-4,000 babies every day.
This year (as of June 16) about 500,000 abortions have been performed in the US.
Since the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973, there have been almost 57 million abortions in the US.
There have been over 100,000 abortions today globally.
There have been nearly 19 million abortions this year (as of June 16) globally.
Since 1980, nearly 1.5 BILLION abortions have been performed globally. (That is 1/6 of our current population!)
Is something getting ready to happen?
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Revelation 22:20-21
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!