Exodus 5:1-2, 22-23 NRSV
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
22 Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.”
Exodus 7 1-7 NRSV
The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Two weeks ago, we talked about the birth of Moses. Long before anyone knew, we discovered that God had a plan.
Last week, we talked about the call of Moses. We explored the prophets and were reminded that when God calls, God goes with us.
Today we will explore these moments where Moses, Pharaoh, and God interact. And out of this exchange we will realize with the Egyptians AND the Hebrews, that God is powerful enough to do what he says.
Before we start, we need to be reminded a bit about what has gone on before.
The Israelites have been enslaved for four hundred years. They do not remember ever being free. Their priests still hold worship and ceremonies, but no one really believes that God can save them, much less will save them.
Moses, himself, raised in the court of Pharaoh made an aborted attempt many years before when he saw an Egyptian guard beating an Israelite. But after killing the guard and hiding the body, Moses ends up going on the run, hiding from the consequences of this action.
In the background, we have Pharaoh, and the gods of Egypt. Here are a few that the Israelites were surrounded with, and whom they felt had more power than the god the priests wanted them to worship.
It is obvious in these passages the Pharaoh himself believes that this “god” whom Moses speaks of has no power whatsoever. As it says in 5:2, Pharaoh does not know this God and will not let the people go.
Pharaoh and the gods worshiped by the people of Egypt are placed against the God of creation. The Egyptians will watch. The Hebrews will watch. And only as one after another is defeated will all people come to recognize that this is not some god created by people, that this is the God who created all people.
1) About the Plagues and the gods they defeated:
Let’s have a rundown of some of the Gods that will be defeated – because you can’t understand the plagues unless you understand these Gods.
There are many gods and goddesses as well as plagues I won’t mention, all have a direct relationship in freeing the people, not only from slavery, but also from worship of other gods. Because God will present them with a covenant, that He alone will be the one they worship.
First of all, we have the god Hapi. He was believed to control the Nile, bringing the flooding each spring that spread the fertile soil over the area, allowing for the crops to be sown. While not seen as a major God, he was the one most celebrated, because without his protection, no crops could be grown.
Contrast that with the first plague – when the Nile is turned from a river of life into a river of death. Hapi cannot intervene. God is more powerful than the Nile itself. It is HIS hand that brings the nourishment to the land of the Egyptians.
Another God that comes into play early on is the goddess Heqet. She is the goddess of fertility and is often portrayed with the head of a frog. When her husband Horus creates people on his potters wheel, she breathed life into them before placing them in the womb of the mother. Women often wore amulets with her depiction for fertility.
So, picture this revered Goddess not providing fertility for people, rather becoming a nightmare. Imagine trying to sleep in a bed, or put on your shoes, or even walk down the street, unable to do so because the frogs were everywhere. Only when Moses speaks, do the frogs die, but even then, a stench is left upon the land.
God is more powerful than Heqet, and God alone is the one who breathes life into the unborn.
Another god that the Egyptians (and thus the Israelites) felt was powerful was Set, or some say the pronunciation is Seth. It is he who is in charge of storms and the desert.
As long as the Hebrews believed that there was an entity out there who would control their path, other than the King of Kings, they would not leave Egypt. From the gnats brought in by the desert wind, to the hail and the storms at the end, the people were reminded. There is no God like God. God alone can control their weather and their destiny. This is the God they can follow. This is a God they can trust.
Two other gods that particularly impacted Pharaoh and the plagues were the Sun God Re – believed to represent Pharaoh and his own power over the people, and Isis, his mother, Goddess of resurrection.
As you know, the days of darkness over Egypt brought Egypt to a state of terror. God was more powerful than Pharaoh himself, and nothing Pharaoh or his people could do would bring the sun back.
And yet, as we know, the one plague that was still to come would speak to the people and to us. It is the plague of the killing of the firstborn.
Isis was said to have resurrected her own first son from death. And yet she had no power over the dead that impacted every family in Egypt.
Even more, through the killing of the Lamb, God spoke to the Hebrew people, setting up an understanding – that God was more powerful than death, but that at some point in the future, there would be a price to be paid, when his own son would become the Passover lamb – shedding his blood to protect them.
Isis could not resurrect the dead. God could spare and God could resurrect.
2) Who are the gods we worship today?:
While there are many other nations who have their own issues, I thought I would point out some of our fallacies, here in the United States, the things we trust in instead of God.
First – we in the United States believe in the concept of self-reliance. We believe that if we are good enough, and save up the right amount of income, and do everything right, nothing bad will happen to us.
Now, there is nothing wrong with doing these things – what is wrong is when we trust in them instead of trusting in God.
The Oak Ridge Boys released a new album out a few weeks ago, and one of the songs really hit me. It is called “Pray to Jesus.” But it emphasizes what I am trying to say. This is the chorus:
“So we pray to Jesus and we play the lotto,
'Cause there ain't but two ways we can change tomorrow
And there ain't no genie and there ain't no bottle
So we pray to Jesus and we play the lotto"
One of two things can change our lives according to the song. Enough money (as in play the Lotto) or praying to Jesus.
The thing is, there is only one thing that can change our lives, and that is Jesus.
No amount of money will ever give us our health. No amount of money will ever make us happy. No amount of money will ever protect us. Because we don’t need money, we need Jesus.
Second, we think that if we just elect the right people, everything will be OK.
Now, as easy as it is to blame congress, the president, the courts, the schools, or others for the problems in our nation, the issues go much deeper.
Yes, it is good to elect people we can respect who will do their best. It is good when our leaders are good examples. But there are only a small handful of leaders compared to the millions of citizens. It is up to US to provide leadership to the children and the people who follow. Our leaders can influence, but real change has to happen in the hearts of people.
And here in the church, it is up to us to teach our youth what the schools don’t. That there is a God, That God loves them, that they have a purpose, and that these three facts should guide how they act. It is these things, the knowledge that they were created for a purpose, they are loved, that there is a right and wrong that will change their hearts.
Finally, we in America tend to think patriotism will save us. We put flags in our churches, flags at sporting events, flags over our schools and court houses. We believe that real Americans say the pledge of allegiance and sing the national anthem.
And there is nothing wrong with patriotism – until it replaces our faith. Today in Communist China, in North Korea, even a short way away in Cuba, in big countries and small nations, in order to be a good citizen, country must always be higher in the hearts of people than their faith.
3) What is the solution?:
Christians across the centuries have echoed something different.
There is no God of our lives, God of our hearts, God of our behavior that is higher than Yahweh, the King of Kings. He is the ruler over nations and the ruler over the rulers who rule those nations.
It began with Christians in the days of the Roman Empire choosing torture over giving up their belief in God.
It continues today.
God is more powerful than all things.
Romans 8:38 (NRSV) puts it this way and is a promise we can claim in all things:
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God has a plan.
We are called to be a part of God’s Plan.
God has the power to carry through His plan and is the only one in whom we can place our trust.
God is indeed more powerful than all things. It is exciting and terrifying, but it is also the greatest source of our peace. Let us pray.
