Last night was rough. I had a terrible sleep. I was restless and ended up trying to sleep on the couch in the basement while listening to Wiretap, hoping the oh! so monotonous voice of Jonathon Goldstein would whisk me off to blissful sleep. However, I woke up with a headache, sore throat, queasiness, and a general ill feeling. Suffice it to say, my reading for today was put on hold until the afternoon when I felt mildly better.
I picked up where we left off yesterday; it's always good to start with an obvious statement like that. Chapter 10 describes the plague of the locusts. According to my study Bible, this event occurred around the time when locusts are young and voracious. Whatever hope of recovery Egypt had after the hail plague wiped out most of their agricultural production of the year, the locusts surely finished off. They ate everything. Yet, still Pharaoh was defiant.
The next plague was that of darkness. My Bible pointed out that Egypt worshiped Ra, the sun god, and that he was one of the most prominent religious ideas in Egypt. So, darkness not only was inconvenient and eerie, it quite possibly could be interpreted as a God to god can of wupa$$, because God demonstrated His power over Ra. The sun faithfully rose and set every day and was the basis of all circadian stability. God's darkness insulted that balance, drawing attention to the sun-disc's absence and lack of power in the presence of the LORD.
Chapter 11 is about the plague of the firstborn, or at least, the chapter where the LORD announces what He's going to do. It seems like the last straw. Pharaoh up until this point started defiant, then got scared, then changed his mind, etc. I think this last one was to try and finally show that the LORD controls life and death itself, unlike any other power Pharaoh's magicians or their mythology could explain. He was going to kill the firstborn of everyone, from the "slave girl" to the Pharaoh: everyone.
Apparently, the firstborn (male, of course; who couldn't use a little patriarchy?) symbolized all the hopes and dreams of a family. So, to kill the firstborn male was like murder plus life insurance theft plus defiling the name (which is synonymous with prestige and glory, remember) of the family. The LORD does not want to kill the Jewish babies and so He tells them about the Passover rules. On the tenth day of the month, they were to take a male lamb (sheep or goat; you choose) without defect, one per household, care for them til the fourteenth day. Then kill it at twilight (not the popular teen movie), and sprinkle its blood on the top and sides of the door frame of your house with hyssop (a leafy plant with a long woody stem conveniently similar to a handle). Then, you're supposed to eat all of the meat by roasting it over a fire (like shepherds do when they're in the wild) and you have to eat all of it. No leftovers for Passovers. You have to eat it with your jacket (cloak) on with your shoes on and staff in hand. Eat quickly. Essentially, it seems like they had to eat ready to leave, ready to exodus at any moment. They are to eat bread without yeast for 7 days in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
In verses 21 to 24, there is an interesting reference. God says through Moses that the LORD will go through the land and will pass over the houses with the blood. He will not permit the destroyer to enter the houses. So, God Himself actually passed through the land. I always remember a reference to an "Angel of Death":. Maybe that is the "destroyer".
All the unprotected firstborns die, and Egypt is mourning. Pharaoh's own son dies, destroying his legacy. He says, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go." So they are now free to leave.
But then he says something that I've never heard talked about. In verse 32, Pharaoh says, "And also bless me." Christ told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Perhaps he would have drawn on this verse as an example. I don't know.
God tells Moses about the promised land flowing with milk and honey. I wonder if milk and honey is more of a reference to having large herds of dairy and meat cattle, which are revered in near and middle eastern culture as a sign of wealth and prosperity. Honey could also represent the presence of bees, which are necessary for healthy crops. So, maybe "milk and honey" is like "wealth and food security". Again, I'm just observing patterns as I go.
The Israelites are then told to leave. They follow a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Fire by Night seems like a good band name, but I digress. The "angel of God", we are told in Ex. 14:19, traveled in front of Israel. So, they try to go to the desert, but Pharaoh wants them back and tries chasing them down, but the angel at the front (the cloud by day) goes behind Israel to provide a smoke screen between Israel and Pharaoh (Ex. 14:19-20). Cool stuff.
Then some even cooler stuff happens. Moses stretches out his staff parting the waters, not just receding them, but literally parting them into two halves with walls of water on either side and dry ground between for them to walk on.(Ex. 14:29-31). What I thought was cool was that there were walls of water. The water didn't just recede like a tide. The description is more like a canyon in the water was formed with walls of water on either side. That would be amazing to see. The phrasing here reminded me of Genesis 1:9-10, when God parts the waters to set up the dry ground He calls land. The Israelites all walk across on dry ground. Then just as Pharaoh is in the valley between the water walls, God looks down from the pillar of fire and cloud at starts causing the Egyptian chariots to fall apart and break down. Then God tells Moses to lift his staff again, and the waters close on the Egyptians. The Israelites are free.
Of course, this would be pretty amazing to see, and terrifying. Again, the idea of the fear of the LORD comes up. The Israelites feared the LORD after they saw all that. I know I would be a little freaked out myself.
The next chapter is a song of praise from Moses and Miriam about how the LORD rescued them. Again, the theme of the fear of God comes up. Read Ex. 15:14-16. That does not sound like just reverence to me. That sounds like they are dead terrified.
The only other cool thing is that this is the first passage I came across where a woman is described as a prophetess. Finally! Feminists rejoice! In Ex. 15:20, Miriam is described as a prophetess. Pretty cool.
Well, this has taken waaaaaay too long to write, and I am tired. I was struck, however, in this passage at God's faithfulness, and His providence in carrying the people He loves through trial and tribulation, providing for them. Thank you, God.
I love You. I need You. I desperately need You.
1840 pages to go!
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