Most of us know about the first 14 chapters of Exodus. We've seen, heard and read various translations most of which focuses on Moses, God's chosen deliverer of the Nation of Israel. We've been exposed to the story through various forms of media from the epic DeMille classic "The Ten Commandments" to the animated version "The Prince of Egypt" jokingly referred to in some Christian circles as "Moses lite".
In each incarnation, whether it be on the big screen, the small screen, live action, animation or in print, the story always unfolds from the point of view of the main characters, God, Pharaoh, Moses, and Aaron, and the Nation of Israel.
A bit of history: Approximately 400 years prior to the birth of Moses, 72 Israelites, essentially Jacob and his entire family, arrived in Egypt at the invitation of Pharaoh, to ride out the rest of the famine that affected the whole land. They were given the land of Goshen, the best parcel of land, just outside of Egypt. (Genesis 47:1-12).
The famine was so great that all the people came to Joseph for food and paid for it initially with the money they had, then with their land, and eventually, when all their worldly possessions were gone, they agreed to enslave themselves to Pharaoh for the price of corn. By the end of the famine Pharaoh, thanks to Joseph, owned every field, except that which belongs to the priests and, not to mention every Egyptian, and the first debt repayment program (a fifth of the harvest) was born. (Genesis 47: 24)
Fast-forward 400 years into the future. The 72 Israelites who settled in the Land of Goshen now numbered in the millions. The ruling Pharaoh was not of the same genealogical lineage as Joseph's Pharaoh and had no clue as to the history, or affiliation (read: God's chosen,) of the people who lived outside his palace walls. He was so deathly afraid of their growing numbers that he incited the rest of Egypt to enslave the Israelites for their "protection." When that didn't work to his satisfaction, because the Israelites were still growing in number, he ordered the destruction of all male Hebrew children and thus we are introduced to the story of Moses and how he came to be.
Fast forward again. Moses is now 40. He had run the gamut from being a Prince in the palace of Pharaoh, to being a criminal running from the law, to meeting God in the mountain of Horeb. His mission, deliver the Israelites from Egypt and bring them to the promised land. This mission leads to his confrontation with Pharaoh and the 10 plagues that God wreaked upon Egypt.
We're all pretty much familiar with the plagues and the warnings that came before hand. We're also told God will harden Pharaoh's heart so Moses and Aaron really had their work cut out for them. In the beginning, it was "Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness." Pharaoh's reply wasn't just no but h-e- double hockey sticks NO! Plus the Israelites got punished for Moses and Aaron's insolence against a self-proclaimed deity. Moses and Aaron weren't winning popularity contests with their people either.
The next time Moses and Aaron show up at Pharaoh's palace steps Aaron's staff becomes a snake and slithers around Pharaoh's courtyard. Pharaoh summons his "wise men" and his "sorcerers" and they too, with their "secret arts", turn their staffs into snakes. Never mind the fact that Aaron's "snake" swallowed all of theirs. Turning water into blood was another miracle the sorcerers were able to duplicate with their "secret arts". So was the conjuring of frogs, though none of the Egyptian sorcerers can undo any of the magic they cast.
By the time the flies came, the magicians were flabbergasted. None of their "secret arts" can conjure up flies and gnats and they turn to Pharaoh, the only god they've ever known, and tell him "This is the finger of God." Pharaoh, by this point, starts his waffling. He tells Moses and Aaron to go sacrifice to their God in the land. In the meantime, all of Egypt is dealing with swarms of flies while the land of Goshen is untouched. Do you think Joe-Egyptian-six-pack who lived a couple of houses from the palace didn't notice that?
By the time the boils came, the magicians were nowhere to be found for not only could they not duplicate this plague, they also had it on them. Pharaoh's waffling intensifies. First it was okay, you can go, and as soon as the plague disappears, he changes his mind. This pattern of behavior goes on until the bitter end.
Before the next plague, hail, struck Egypt Moses and Aaron gave a warning to the Egyptians describing how the hail will strike dead all the beast and livestock that are left in the field without shelter. "The one among the servants of Pharaoh, WHO FEARED THE WORD OF THE LORD made his servants and his livestock flee in the houses ..." (Exodus 9: 20). Think about it, these are Pharaoh's servants, sworn to worship Pharaoh and they were fearing the word of another God they had no clue about.
When the locusts arrived and wreaked their distinct brand of devastation, groups of people came to Pharaoh, not to ask for deliverance like their ancestors did with Joseph, but to point the finger at him and tell him to "Let these people go ... don't you realize that Egypt is destroyed?" Enough already! That kind of confrontation is significant. Never in the history of man - at least not up to that point - has a group of people confronted their god specifically to plead for mercy and submission to another God to save them from the destruction that was occurring in their land.
By the time it was all over and the Angel of Death has taken every Egyptian first born not only did the Israelites find favor in the eyes of their neighboring Egyptians that they were freely given articles of clothing, gold and silver but at the exodus, "A mixed multitude also went up with them ..." (Exodus 12: 38)
That was staggering for me to realize. Here is a people group conditioned, for 400 years, to worship the god in residence at the "temple" at the top of the hill and not only were they turning their back at said god, but they mustered up the nerve and the courage to tell him, to his face, that he single-handedly and stubbornly caused the destruction of Egypt.
Here's the whole point of all of this: Taking the Egyptians (read: non-believer) point of view, at what point will you say yes there is an Almighty, All-Powerful, All-Knowing God who is in control of all things living? Will it be at the first sign of the plagues? Or will it be at the cost of the life of your first born? Will you be like Pharaoh, who even in defeat and despair, clung to his hardened heart and will not submit? What will it take for you to acknowledge the presence of the one true God in your life?
