Exodus 6

Study Guide 10: Exodus 5-12 GOD’ S MIGHTY POWER Overview These best known of Old Testament chapters tell the story of God’ s personal intervention in history. By acts of power God forced Egypt to release the Israelite slaves, who were His covenant people. The events reported here are important for their major contribution to a biblical concept of God. God is the One who made covenant promises to Abraham (Gen.). God is the One who is able to act powerfully in our world of space and time — and who will act to deliver His people (Ex.). In addition, the concepts of miracle and of redemption have their roots in these significant Exodus chapters. MIRACLE. The Hebrew words that are associated with miracles are: pala’, “ to be marvelous, wonderful” ; mopet, “ wonder, sign” ; and ‘ ot, “ sign.” As used in the Old Testament they suggest miracles are acts of God intended to create awe and wonder in the observer; a sense that God is real and present. In addition they contain a message of God to humankind, not only about Him but also about their beliefs or situations. We’ ll see how the 10 plagues on Egypt fit this well. REDEMPTION. Each of the Hebrew words linked with redemption finds human beings helpless, captive to powers or forces they cannot fight. Only the action of a third party can break the bonds that hold the captives, and set them free.

Commentary God is a great dramatist. Now, in a series of striking confrontations, God acted out on history’ s stage a play which communicated, as words alone could not, the reality of His power and personal concern for Israel. It is helpful for us to read these chapters with the drama of these confrontations in view: to discover, with the men and women of that time, the identity of God and the identity of those on whom God set His love.

Moses vs. Pharaoh Moses’ old enemy, Thutmose III, was dead. The new Pharaoh, Amenhotep II, was probably about 22 when confronted by the 80-year-old Moses. More than age contrasted when these two men met. There was a confrontation between lifestyles and attitudes as well: a confrontation between meekness and pride. Moses had been 40 years in Egypt, nurtured to be a somebody. For 40 years in the desert he had learned that he was a nobody. Now God would show what He could do with a somebody who was willing to be a nobody. Not so the young Pharaoh. In Egypt, society was structured around religion: a religion in which secular and sacred distinctions were lost, and the Pharaoh was himself considered a god. In official monuments the Pharaoh was often called neter nefer, the perfect god. We even have records in which a courtier describes Amenhotep II, this young man confronting Moses, as neter aa, the great god! Imagine the pride of Amenhotep. Imagine Moses speaking in the name of the Lord God of Israel (e.g., “ God of slaves!” ). How easy it is to visualize the haughty pride that moved Amenhotep to respond, “ Who is the Lord that I should obey Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). Through the succeeding judgments we watch the Pharaoh coming to know the Lord . . . and struggling against Him. At first judgments fail to move Pharaoh. Then, under the pressure of the supernatural, Pharaoh promised to yield . . . only to return to his pride and obstinacy when a miraculous plague was removed. Even after the ultimate judgment, striking against his son and the firstborn of every Egyptian, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent an army to pursue freed Israel. In the confrontations between these two men we see in stark contrast the patience and steadfastness of faith against the back-drop of a self-exalting pride. It is this kind of pride which will not permit men to bow to God, even when it is clearly for their own good.

Israel vs. Egypt. One of the purposes expressed in the design of the plagues which the Lord brought on Egypt was so that “ you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel” (Exodus 11:7). Anyone looking at the two peoples would have made a distinction between them. But not the distinction the Lord made! The Israelites themselves were conditioned to evaluate . . . and to bow in shame, before the culture and power of Egypt. Everything that men tend to value . . . the evidences of accomplishment, all the wealth, the education . . . were there in a high degree in Egypt. Archeologists still wonder at the mechanical feats of that people. Mathematicians and astronomers are amazed at the precise measurements that allowed great pyramids to mark with various architectural features the exact time of summer and winter solstices. The Israelites were slaves. Mere tools to be used by the master race, then tossed aside when they had served their purpose. Worthless. Poor. Subhuman. The Jews were beneath the notice of men. But God made His own distinction between Egyptian and Jew! And God’ s value system is different than man’ s! God affirmed the worth and value of the slave people. In doing so, God not only kept the covenant He had made with Abraham, but God also shouted out for all to hear that no man is “ nothing” to Him. We value what men do. God values what men are. The Prophet Hosea beautifully revealed God’ s attitude and helps us see that the distinction God drew between Egypt and Israel was no mere legal act, performed to honor a previous contract. It was that. But God also acted in compassion, expressing deep love and concern for the suffering. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. . . . It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love, I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. Hosea 11:1, Hosea 11:3-4The confrontation between these two peoples is important for us to see. We too are forced to choose between the value system each represents. We too are challenged to have compassion on the downtrodden of this world . . . and in compassion to reflect the character and the values of our God.

Yahweh vs. the Gods of Egypt This is the third, and greatest, confrontation. We need to see these chapters of Exodus as a mighty struggle staged for our special benefit. In these chapters the God who is confronts all which men call “ gods” but which are not. Dramatically, convincingly, God shows that He is Victor over all. Religion played a central role in the life of Egypt. Each of the many gods was seen as having control over vital aspects of Egyptian existence. Together, the structure focused on insuring a safe passage beyond this life into the next. Now, in a series of 10 judgments, the gods of the pagan pantheon were challenged by the Lord and defeated. The Pharaoh had asked, “ Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?” Through the subsequent judgments, God announced, “ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 7:5). They would see His power, and His fame would spread throughout the earth (Exodus 9:16). What’ s more, the Jews would come to “ know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 6:7). In the plagues God would reveal Himself, and He announced, “ I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12). The first plague, the turning to blood of the floodwaters of the Nile, set the pattern for the others. To the Egyptians, the Nile itself was sacred. In its annual flood the river enriched Egypt’ s farmlands. The water from the Nile irrigated those narrow strips of fertile land on each bank which held and fed Egypt’ s population. No wonder this people of many gods dedicated hymns like this one, from the Middle Kingdom Period, to the Nile: Hail to thee, O Nile that issues from the earth and comes to keep Egypt alive. He that waters the meadows which recreate, in order to keep the kid alive. He that makes to drink the desert and places distant, that is his dew coming down from heaven. This Nile, that re-created life each spring, God at Moses’ word turned rotten . . . polluted and stinking as spilled blood (Exodus 7:14-24). The source of Egypt’ s life died, and brought death. The gods of Egypt were powerless before the God of Egypt’ s slaves. And so it went. The frog god of fertility, Heka, was represented in rotting piles of dead frogs. The god of the earth, Seth, was infested with lice, speaking to the Egyptians of ceremonial pollution. Isis and Serapis, gods of fire and water, were unable to protect Egypt from hail or locusts. Ra, the sun god, lost all power to overcome the blanket of darkness God threw over the land. In each encounter, the gods of Egypt were judged, and found wanting. They went down in defeat before Yahweh, the Creator. Bernard Ramm suggests that the confrontation of Yahweh and the gods of Egypt has even deeper significance. In God’ s judgments on Egypt, Ramm sees pictured a confrontation “ with all gods, power, authorities, principalities, and ideologies, visible or invisible, that oppose God and His truth and that enslave and oppress men.” Whatever enslaves you, God can conquer, even as He conquered the empty gods of Egypt! (His Way Out, Zondervan) This is important to grasp. There is no power but God’ s power. He is the one underlying reality. As you and I come to know Him, the powers that enslave us will assuredly meet a similar defeat at His hand. The God who visited judgment on the gods of Egypt has the power to visit judgment on our captors too. And, because He is a God who has compassion, as we come to know and to trust Him, He will! LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN “ I can’ t swallow a pill,” the eight-year-old cries. “ I can’ t win the race, so I won’ t try.” There are many things that look overwhelmingly big to some children. How good for them to realize that our God of miracles has the power to help them even as He helped the Israelites. Have your class think of some things that are “ impossible” for them to do. Something they are worried about, something that may be a temptation, something they are supposed to do but seems too hard. After the list is made, tell the story of the 10 plagues on Egypt. Emphasize God’ s power, and His willingness to help the helpless Israelite slaves. If they had been there watching, how powerful would they have thought God is? Powerful enough to help? (here mention items on chalkboard list) Assure your boys and girls that God is with them and able to help them do “ impossible” things. If you wish give each a Bible verse on a card to take home as a reminder of God’ s power. Appropriate verses are Isaiah 40:29; Ephesians 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 1:24-25. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Youth and adults also need a strong sense of who God is, and what He is able to do. Ask your group to read through the miracle section in Exodus 7:14-11:10. Have them imagine they were there, as slaves, observing. What would they have thought and felt? This can be done as a role play, with your class a group of slaves sitting together at night. Or simply by discussion. Your goal is to help your class sense what it was like to be eyewitnesses to the exercise of God’ s power — for them. Then move on. “ Do we have a sense today of how powerful God is? Do we see Him as Someone involved in our lives? What can help us remember that His power is still available to us? In what area do you most need to trust God’ s power and step out in faith today?”

The Message Many have poured over these chapters of Scripture, and have noted exciting truths. These chapters are so full it’ s all too easy to be distracted from the primary thrust. The Pharaoh’ s hard heart. This question has been a favorite one for speculation. In some verses the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh’ s heart. In others Pharaoh hardened his heart. Do these phrases mean that God moved the Pharaoh to sin against his will? Was God the source of Pharaoh’ s evil? Exodus 3:19 reports that God told Moses that He knew Pharaoh would not let Israel go unless compelled. Certainly Pharaoh’ s first reaction to Moses (Exodus 5:1-23) is a spontaneous one . . . one that gives us solid evidence that Pharaoh by nature was not responsive to God. And yet in Exodus 7:3-4 God told Moses that He would “ harden Pharaoh’ s heart, and though I multiply My miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you.” What is this hardening? And what does it all mean? Explanations have varied. Some point to the Hebrew view of causation, which tends to trace responsibility back to God, ignoring intervening acts or choices by men. Others have suggested that God refers to the natural result of revelation: when God speaks to responsive hearts, they melt before Him. When God speaks to unresponsive hearts, they harden. Thus the same sun’ s growing heat will melt wax, yet harden clay. The Hebrew word most frequently used in this setting means “ to be or become strong.” Thus the derivation “ to strengthen, to harden.” We might paraphrase, “ God strengthened Pharaoh’ s resolve to resist.” This paraphrase would have one advantage. It would make very clear the fact that God did not force Pharaoh to act against his own conscience or against his will. But even this would not resolve the problem. God does say to Pharaoh, “ I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). God could have acted differently than He did. Yet He let Pharaoh, whose rebellion and mistreatment of Israel merited death, live. He let the Pharaoh live that he might be used by God for His own glory. But this is just the fear that strikes many of us when we read these chapters. It’ s not the theological debate between free will and God’ s sovereignty that troubles us. It’ s a far more personal issue. It’ s the doubt and the uncertainty that lead us to ask, “ Will God use me? Am I a pawn to Him, or does He care?” The continual response of Scripture to this question is reassuring. Yes, God does care. He reached down in compassion to deliver Israel. He Himself stepped into our world — and was jerked upward on a wooden cross — because He does care. To all who respond with faith to His message, God commits Himself, even as He committed Himself to Abraham in a covenant oath. I can know, I do know, that I am not a pawn to God. He loves me for myself. He cares, and because God cares He has lifted me to freedom in Jesus Christ. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Young children can appreciate the fact that God cared for the people of Israel, and helped them. Tell the story, emphasizing the pains of slavery, and the fact that in the plagues on Egypt God was at work to help His people be free. God cares for boys and girls today. God is with them everywhere, as He was with the slaves in faraway Egypt. Give the children a large sheet of paper, with crayons or markers. On half the sheet have them draw a picture of slaves in Egypt. (Perhaps drawing a triangle for a pyramid will help the younger children get started.) On the other half each child is to draw a place he goes where he is glad God is with him or her. Let the children explain their pictures to each other. Pray and thank God that He cares for us, and is with us as He was with ancient Israel. The miracles. Over a nine-month span God brought a series of miraculous judgments on Egypt. These were recognized by Egyptian and Jew alike as God’ s special intervention . . . as “ wonders” done by God’ s hand. Later speculation has grown about the nature of the miracles. Some have associated them with a volcanic cataclysm in the Mediterranean that destroyed what we have come to call “ Atlantis.” The Reader’ s Digest even published serious articles explaining the supposed relationship between Atlantis and the Exodus. Others have tried to explain away the miraculous elements by insisting these were merely normal occurrences, expanded by the storyteller. After all, locusts often infested that part of the world. The “ bloody” Nile might be explained away as some unexpected infestation of algae. Even the death of Egypt’ s youths has been considered a sudden, but not unusual, childhood epidemic. It is certainly probable that God did use natural events in the course of His judgments on Egypt. But the extent and the timing of these events made it very clear that they came by God’ s hand. On Moses’ word judgments began; at his prayer they ended. Hail struck the Egyptians, but the Hebrew territories were free. The “ childhood epidemic” struck only the firstborn sons of Egyptian families, and hit the entire land in a single night. And Hebrew children were strangely “ immune” ! No, to think that by suggesting “ natural” elements the miraculous can be removed is to miss the point entirely. Whatever means God chose to use, Egyptian and Jew alike knew that it was God who acted. God known anew. As fascinating as it is to speculate about Pharaoh’ s hardening and about the nature of the plagues, to focus on these issues is to miss the message of these vital chapters of our Bible. That message, what God was saying through these events to Israel and to us, is made strikingly clear. God said to Moses: I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name the Lord I did not make Myself known to them. . . . Therefore, say to the Israelites: “ I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them and will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” Exodus 6:2-3, Exodus 6:6-8It is important for us to realize what God was saying here. He was not saying that the name “ the Lord” or “ Yahweh” had never been applied to Him before. It had. He was saying instead, “ You have not known Me as Yahweh.” This is a vital distinction. For the Hebrew, the word “ know” spoke not only of casual information, but of intense and intimate personal experience. God told His people, “ You have heard the name Yahweh; now you will experience Me as Yahweh.” What then does Yahweh mean, and why is it so special? The name itself is a form of the verb “ to be,” and is a proper name rather than a descriptive name. In descriptive names the Lord is spoken of as “ God of battles” or as “ God our refuge.” But He is never called “ Yahweh of” anything. “ God” is a description. “ Yahweh” is a personal name. In God’ s revelation of Himself to us as Yahweh we have a disclosure of His central character and being. What, then, does Yahweh imply? Simply that we are to see God as One who is. In fact, we might expand the idea expressed in this form of the verb “ to be” and say that we are to know the Lord as the “God who is always here!”In this character, as a God of the present, the Hebrew people had not known the Lord. They thought of Him as a God of the past, who long ago spoke to their forefathers. Or they thought of Him as a God of the future, who might one day keep His covenant promises. But the Hebrew slaves simply had not thought of God as a God of their present, who would act in their world of here and now! But God did act. And Israel came to know their God as Yahweh, The One Who Is Always Present, always with us, always able to act. Today to truly understand God you and I must see Him as Someone who is with us now. What a revelation! How it can revolutionize our spiritual lives! When we know God as One who is present with us now, willing and able to act for us, we are freed to live our present lives by faith. We are free to obey God, knowing He walks beside us. Knowing His power is available to enable us to do whatever He asks, no matter how far it may be beyond our own weak powers.

The Passover The final stroke against Egypt was the death of each firstborn. Following God’ s instructions, Moses moved the Israelites to hurried preparation. They were told to ask gold and jewels from the Egyptians. The Lord would move their masters to give. The Israelites were to pack and prepare for a sudden journey. Bread must not be mixed with yeast — there might not be time to let it rise. Also, a young, unblemished lamb was to be taken into each household. It was to be kept for four days, and then on the 14th day of the month the lamb was to be killed and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts of the home. The family within that structure was to eat the lamb, taking care not to break a single bone. But why should this ceremony be called “ Passover” ? Because on the night the lamb was slain, God’ s death angel would move through the land of Egypt. The firstborn in every family, from Pharaoh’ s own home to the home of the lowest peasant, would die. Yet the death angel would pass over homes protected by the blood of the lamb. God distinguished between Egyptian and Jew. The lamb of sacrifice, the sign of the blood on the door, marked off God’ s people from all others. They alone were exempt from the decree of death. The full significance of this event waited the coming of Christ. His death on Calvary took place as the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world. Yet the Old Testament believer could learn vital lessons. *Relationship with God is a life or death issue. Only identification with the people of God as one of His own exempted one from death. *Redemption brings freedom at the cost of death. Breaking the bondage of Egypt was not accomplished until the death penalty had been imposed. Israel’ s freedom was costly. *Release from the death penalty is accomplished by sacrifice. Somehow the blood of the sacrificial lamb covered and protected the household of the believing Jew. Later God would explain to this same generation, “ The life of a creature is in the blood; and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement” (Leviticus 17:11). Much later, the writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews would see in sacrifice the necessity for Jesus’ death. “ Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Sacrifice and forgiveness, the death of a substitute and spiritual freedom, would be forever linked. *Remember. The importance of this first Passover is underlined by the divine demand that every year, without fail, the Passover experience be reenacted. Each year for seven days God’ s people were to commemorate their deliverance, “ as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come” (Exodus 12:17). From the 14th through the 21st of Abib (Nisan, the modern Jewish equivalent of Abib, falls during March-April) the Jews were to eat no leaven. On the last night of the feast they were to take a lamb, kill and eat it. They were to eat the Passover meal standing, with their traveling clothing on, and their walking staffs in their hands. And each year when the children asked, “ What do you mean by this service?” the father was to respond, “ It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:27). Israel was never to forget her origin. Israel was never to forget she was a people delivered from slavery, exempted from death. Israel was to remember, and yearly make the sacrifices which looked back to Egypt — and forward to the suffering Messiah. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Today the Christian Communion service has a similar function in our faith. The Jewish people were to see Passover as a reenactment of history; as an experience in which each Jewish family actually would participate. When we take the cup and the bread of Communion we too remember history. We remember the Cross of Christ, and we participate by faith in His death. A study of the Passover and the call of each Israelite generation to participate in the historic deliverance each year can help you communicate the significance of the Communion service to Christians. So after studying the Passover, why not hold Communion with your group. Do it gravely, asking each person to close his or her eyes and imagine as he tastes each element that he is there, with Jesus, at the cross. Forgotten. It’ s fascinating to trace through the Old Testament and note what happened to the Passover remembrance. *Numbers 9:1-23 tells us of the first anniversary experience, and of the special relaxation of ritual rules that made it possible for all of God’ s people to keep this unique feast. *Deuteronomy 16:1-22 repeats the command to keep Passover, and adds that when Israel comes into the Promised Land, Passover is to be kept at the place where God’ s temple will be established. All the families of Israel are to come there and, if necessary, live in tents Passover week. *2 Kings 23:1-37 tells of a revival under King Josiah, some 800 years after the Exodus, during which the Passover is reinstituted. After a 400-year lapse! Israel had forgotten redemption. In neglecting their beginning, the Hebrews had strayed from God into a series of deep spiritual and moral declines. *In New Testament times Passover was carefully kept. In fact, Passover week is the focal point of each of the four Gospels. Matthew 21-28 report the events of Pass over week culminating in Good Friday and Easter. Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; and John 12-20 (a good half of that Gospel!) all focus on that same Passover week. Why? Because it is here that the shadow cast by the first Passover is replaced by the solid reality it foretold. During this week, Christ our Passover Lamb was sacrificed, for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). It is here that our freedom, and our new life, must begin. Redemption’ s work is done. By the blood of Jesus Christ you and I are set free forever.

Teaching Guide Prepare Read the Passover remembrance instructions (Exodus 12:24-27). Which of God’ s acts for you would you want to celebrate annually?

Explore

1. You may wish to cover the large amount of material in this unit by a lecture. Why not prepare your group by giving a “ quiz.” Then use the questions on it as an outline for your talk. Use such questions as: (1) List 5 of the 10 plagues. (2) Give two reasons why Israel needed to see God’ s power exhibited at this point in history. (3) What is the significance of the name Yahweh? (4) How do we know that Passover is a very significant event? (5) What relationship exists between the Passover and Jesus?
2. Ask your group members to look up how the judgments on Egypt affected various peoples. They should read Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 7:19; Joshua 24:5; 1 Samuel 4:8; Psalms 78:43-51; Psalms 135:8-9; Jeremiah 32:21. After reading and reporting, discuss: “ Why did these events have such an impact? What impact does God intend them to have on our lives?”

Expand

1. Read in class Exodus 6:2-3, Exodus 6:6-8. Ask each person to quietly imagine that God is speaking to him or her personally. Then say, “ God was speaking to Israel about deliverance from slavery. What would God be speaking about in your life? Where do you need to know deliverance?”
2. Or, discuss how looking back on the Exodus and reliving it each year at the Passover service helped to keep Israel’ s vision of God as One Who Is Always Present fresh and new. What personal spiritual experiences with God could your group members commemorate that would remind them of this truth? After all have had the chance to share, go around the circle and let each tell something he or she might do as an annual reminder. Perhaps it’ s revisiting a place. Or reading a special passage of Scripture. Or calling a friend who shared the experience. How important that we remember the wonders God does for us!

Apply Why not hold a group Communion service, as suggested in the “ link-to-life” activity above. Enjoy the sense of Jesus Christ’ s presence with you as you remember Him at Calvary — and by faith participate in His great sacrifice.