Today was the story of Moses and the Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues. Why ten? Probably because 10 sounds good. 10 Sounds official. 10 is poetic. Nine, not so much. Eleven sounds like you've got more than you need. Ten, though, sounds complete and authoritative.
I remember once listening to or watching documentary on the 10 Plagues, and they said that, if you look at them closely, most of them can be accounted for by natural processes. If I remember correctly, here is what they said: The Nile becoming like blood could have been caused by an abnormally high tide where the reddish soil got washed into the water, making it look like blood and making it stagnant, smell bad, and undrinkable. It would also explain why the Egyptians were able to filter it through the soil in the wells they dug (Ex. 7:24). Frogs like swamps, and when the water became stagnant, it may have become good for them to breed. So when there were too many to live on the banks of the Nile, they moved inland. The frogs overpopulated in Egypt and overran the Egyptians. Frogs cannot live so long away from the water, and they probably died. Their bodies would be perfect breeding grounds for gnats and flies who eat fungus and dead and decaying organic material. The water impurities and infestation of flies and gnats (who probably carried lots of diseases could have led to the livestock death in Ex. 9:1-7. I'm not sure how they would explain the boils and hail. Maybe the boils could come from eating poor meat and drinking bad water. The hail seems more like the effects of hot, humid, windy air masses. That was more of an obvious God-thing. Maybe the whole thing was God's doing. The narrative seems to present it that way, because God tells Moses what is going to happen. Then Moses warns Pharaoh.
Anyway, it was interesting to see how Pharaoh went back and forth from his arrogance and not listening to the advice of his officials (his hardening heart) and then wanting to let the Israelites go. He seemed to try and save face and not be challenged by an elderly goat herder (Moses).
What I also found interesting was that it mentions that the magicians of Pharaoh's court could do some of the miracles that Moses and Aaron did. They were able to make the snake into a staff and back again, although Aaron's staff ate their snakes (Ex. 7:11-13). I wonder what the allegorical significance of the staff eating their staff is. They were also able to change water to blood (Ex. 7:22), summon frogs from the land (Ex. 8:8). I would love to know how they did these things. I do not know if it was an illusion or something else. Modern illusionists have some pretty convincing acts, and it would seem that probably some of them could come up with ways of doing some of these. My bible also says in the margin that people do not know if it was illusions or some sort of demonic thing. I'm not sure.
They could not summon the gnats (Ex. 8:18), the boils (Ex. 9:11)and the sections on the other plagues don't mention their abilities, as far as I remember.
The reading is going OK, but I do find that I am finding that when I'm tired, it makes me less motivated to sit down and get the reading done. I'm so thankful that my church is all doing this together. Somehow, just knowing that others are doing the same thing is helpful. Praise God, He has given me the strength and perseverance to keep up with the readings for as long as I have.
I wasn't struck with any major insights from today's reading like I have in past readings. That's probably normal and to be expected. I don't think Numbers will be a particularly exciting read, for example.
Well, that's all for today. A much shorter blog today, but hopefully there will be more exciting stuff tomorrow.
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