October 17, 2012, Rebecca Jones Blood, Crocodiles, Frogs and Gnats Exodus 7:6–8:19 I AM gave this “sign” to Moses Exodus 3:12 "I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." Hold that thought! I. A Croc on the Loose: Setting the Scene A. Which Pharaoh? Perhaps Ramses II (Dynasty 19 – about the 13th century BC). Perhaps Amenhotep II (15th century BC, with Thutmoses III reigning for most of Moses’ life). One scholar feels that the Egyptian timeline is erroneous. We don’t need to know in order to benefit from the truth of the Scriptures. The biblical texts were written by someone familiar with Egyptian beliefs and habits. Pharaoh was known as the king with a “strong arm.” Now it will be proven that the “arm” of the I AM will save.1 I AM begins the one-on-one struggle to the death – of Pharaoh’s firstborn, or I AM’s firstborn. B. Snake or Crocodile? Aaron and Moses throw down the staff and I AM turns it into a “monster of the sea,” perhaps a crocodile (tannin, not naḥaš, as in chapter 4:3). The magicians are able to do the same, but Aaron’s serpent swallows2 their serpents. Some scholars think that a snake is meant by both words, but that the text is reminding us of the Genesis references, in which naḥaš is used (3:1) for the serpent that tempted Eve, whereas tannin is used (1:21) for the sea creatures. Tannin also represents the chaotic forces of nature (Enns, 196-7). “Some Egyptians worshiped the crocodile god Sobek as ‘Ruler of the Nile’” (Ryken, 205). The word tannin is also used for a large venomous snake, such as a cobra. As this was the symbol of Pharaoh’s kingly power, such a translation is satisfying, though not certain. C. What about the Magicians? Is the sorcerers’ magic real or simulated? The Scripture does not imply that these were parlor tricks. God allows a certain deceptive power to Satan and his servants. When pagans seek demonic intervention, or contact with the dead, they find power, but the power only imitates 1 Isaiah 50:2-3 Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering." 2 For the Eyptians, swallowing something was to absorb its power. Ryken points out that the magicians were the first to recognize the power of I AM. (Ex 8:19). 1 October 17, 2012, Rebecca Jones or corrupts God’s real creative power and hurts not only the one who tries to wield it, but all who come in contact with it. We are to be encouraged by this passage that such power trembles and pales before the power of the word of I AM. Esquimaux sorcerers, when converted, have declared that their sorceries, when they were heathen, were not mere impostures, that they were acted on by a power they could not control; but when they believed in Jesus they had neither the will nor the power to do what they used in their pagan state. Brainerd states the same as to the Indian diviners, namely, that all their former powers of divination departed the moment the word of God entered their souls. (Fausset 990) Egyptian magicians prided themselves in their control of snakes, and the flared cobra, ready for war was the symbol on the crown of the Pharaoh (the ureaus), indicating his power over the entire land of Egypt, thanks to two goddesses: the Ureaus-goddess Wadjet (Lower Egypt) and the vulture-goddess Nekhbet (Upper Egypt) (Currid, 89). There were large libraries of scrolls containing curses and blessings from the gods. Apparently the wise men were unable to find the scrolls needed to deal with Moses and Aaron and the great I AM! II. I AM Confronts Pharaoh and the Gods of Egypt A. Pharaoh Pharaoh cannot be distinguished from the gods. He is seen as the incarnation of the gods, who give him all power and authority over the entire land of Egypt, and the Nile itself. Here Moses is given the authority of I AM (Ex 7:1) and confronts Pharaoh in His name. As I AM says to a later prophet about another Pharaoh: Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; speak, and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon (tannin) that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.”’” Ezekiel 29:2–5 The Egyptians saw the Nile as their lifeblood, the defining gift of the gods that created Egypt. And Pharaoh was the Lord of that Nile. Pharaoh was “eternal, worthy of worship, and omniscient: he imbued Egypt with existence and power….he was ka, the life force and soul of Egypt,…[but] Pharaoh’s cobra-crested diadem had no power against Yahweh.” (Currid 93-4) B. The Gods of Egypt 1. The Ennead – nine major gods There are over eighty Egyptian gods, many of whom were originally regional gods that gradually morphed into a national religion, maintaining many inconsistencies3 that didn’t seem to bother 3 Adolf Erman says, “we find a mythology with myths which are absolutely irreconcilable existing peacefully side by side ; in short, an unparalleled confusion.” (Erman, 361). 2 October 17, 2012, Rebecca Jones anyone. In theory, they were all One god, but Egyptians mixed and matched them at will. (Sound familiar?) Atum – creator and father to the King Shu – son of the creator god, god of dry air, wind and the atmosphere. Tefnut – the lunar goddess of moisture, humidity and water and the solar goddess of dryness Geb – god of the earth, the vegetation god Nut – sky goddess, who swallowed the sun each nitght and birthed it each morning Osiris – god of resurrection, the underworld, the afterlife, agriculture, fertility, including the annual flooding of the Nile and patron of Pharaohs Set – god of the desert, Storms, Darkness, and Chaos Nephthys – female goddess, divine assistance and protective guardianship Psalm 135:15-18 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them! We can see from this incomplete list, that it is hard to associate each plague with a particular god, but I AM defies them singly as well as in their united claim to power. God says, “against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments -- I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12). 2. Worship of Creation All the gods and their power are associated with nature: the Nile River, the land and the sky. Egyptians worshiped creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). These were, are, and always will be the only two possibilities for worship, and no faith but the Christian faith truly worships the Creator and Redeemer whose power is displayed in this event. All other religions worship creation in one way or another. C. The Plagues 1. Plague 1: Blood Drawn from the River Plague announced in advance, early in the morning. The magicians could imitate this sign but do nothing to stop it. A preview that the Nile will be the source of death to the Egyptians A challenge to Hapi: A specific challenge to Hapi, the god of the Nile. A challenge to the country’s lifeblood: The Nile served Egypt as the main transportation and commercial system, its source of drinking water, its source of food (fish), and its irrigation and fertilization source. A challenge to Pharaoh, who was the Lord of the Nile and of the whole land of Egypt – a power given to him by the gods. To strike the Nile was to strike at the heart of the entire country’s religious, cultural and physical existence. One author suggests that when the text says blood was “in wood and stone” (no mention of jars), it could refer to idols, which are elsewhere associated with “wood” and “stone.” 3 October 17, 2012, Rebecca Jones Apparently the Egyptians washed their wood and stone idols each morning in the Nile! (Ryken, 221). Blood sacrifices were offered during death ceremonies, as well as by priests in religious rites, and in general blood would be perhaps even more repulsive and unclean to an Egyptian than it would to us. Pharaoh’s Response: Refusal I AM said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is heavy; he refuses to let my people go.” Exodus 7:14: See the supplemental page to see how an Egyptian heart was “weighed” against a feather before Osiris, who judged enrance to the afterlife. If the heart was lighter than a feather, the person was judged to be ma’at – righteous, or in balance. But I AM declares Pharaoh’s heart “heavy,” i.e. “wicked” for not obeying I AM’s command. Anti-Creation: The waters are not filled with living creatures, but are spitting out those living creatures.