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Bible History of the Old Testament |
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No. 39 The Last Five Plagues
(To read about the First Five Plagues, go to the Home Page above and then to Archives of Previous Texts, and then click on No. 38) The sixth plague was again made to descend by God using the instruments of Moses and Aaron. This was the third in the second series and it came without any warning to the king. Moses and Aaron were directed to take "ashes out of the furnace and sprinkle it up towards heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast." (Exodus 9: 10) The ashes of the furnace may have referred to the great buildings and pyramids in which Egypt took such pride. The boils that broke out upon the men were not uncommon in the valley of the Nile, but they had never seen them break out upon the animals also. It seems now that even the magicians knew that there was a force happening that was much too great for their power, but Pharaoh had already hardened his heart severely against Moses and Aaron. This sixth plague had not only struck the possessions of the Egyptians, but also their persons. This plague and the two which followed it were in quick succession and were far more terrible than any of the plagues that had preceded them. They indeed represented plagues that could only have happened by the hand of God, and it seemed that all the Egyptians knew it except Pharaoh. God chose not to destroy the Egyptians in one fell swoop because He wanted to show them His Great Power and He wanted His Name to be declared throughout the earth for the deeds that He had done. This is exactly what happened. The news spread first among the Arabs, and then for long afterwards among the Greek and Romans; then finally through the Gospel itself.
There was only one day given to Pharaoh for repentance before the seventh plague descended upon the people. It consisted of such hail as had never been seen in the land of Egypt. The hail was also mingled with thunder and fiery lightning. The cattle in Egypt are always left out to graze from January until April. The Egyptians who gave heed to the warning brought their cattle and servants in from the field and put them under shelter. The people who did that escaped the horrible disaster, but those who didn't lost all their servants and cattle. We know that many of the Egyptians heeded the warning because the Bible tells us that in chapter 9 verse 20. The event was so bad that by this time Pharaoh himself finally admitted that he had sinned and gone too far. But his remorse didn't last long, and it showed that he was only afraid of the consequences of his sin. Moses had said in verse 30 that Pharaoh would not yet fear Jehovah enough to let the people go.
With the eighth plague, there is a decided advance in things. Moses and Aaron once again went to Pharaoh and asked him how long he would refuse to humble himself before God. By now Pharaoh's servants and wise men were doing everything they could do to get him to let the people of Israel go. For a short time he seemed to changed his mind and told them that all the men were free to go and worship, but they had to leave their families and livestock behind. The king's heart was so hardened by this time that when Moses refused to do this, he burst out at him in anger and drove them away from his presence. Then "Moses stretched for his rod over the land of Egypt, Jehovah brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning the east wind brought the locusts." Once more, the locusts were natural means which God used. Plagues of locusts were common over Egypt, but by this time even the heathens knew that this was a special visitation from God. The locusts were looked upon by the people with much dread. Now they came from far-off Arabia in a much more grievous visitation than the people had ever seen before. They destroyed every green thing that was still left in Egypt that all the other plagues had not destroyed. The land of Goshen was exempted from the plague of locusts as always. Pharaoh definitely felt the utter destruction this time and for the first time confessed his sin, asked forgiveness, and asked that "this death" might be taken away from them. Again, it was not true repentance for Pharaoh, but he just wanted the locusts to leave Egypt. No sooner had the locusts left than his rebellious heart was hardened again.
Then unannounced came the ninth plague that was more terrible than any that had come before it. A thick darkness covered the whole land except Goshen. It was so dark that the people were unable to see each other. In fact, the Bible says that "neither rose any from his place for three days." It was literally a darkness that could be felt, such as a great sandstorm that suddenly came up and permeated into every crevice and crack. It was so dark that even artificial light did not help much to light up the rooms. In utter darkness, the people of Egypt spent three long and weary days and nights, with none of them even trying to move around. Now Pharaoh once more summoned Moses. This time he told him that he would let all the people go if they would just leave their flocks behind to insure that they would come back. When Moses refused this time, Pharaoh once again became furious and told Moses that if he ever saw his face again that he would surely kill him in an instant. God had already told Moses what would happen, so it was no surprise. God had also instructed Moses to tell the people to prepare to leave Egypt. Moses told Pharaoh that after the three terrible days of darkness, at midnight that very night, Jehovah would smite every firstborn man and beast in the whole country. At the appointed time, Pharaoh's only son would die along with all the other firstborns of the land. This was to be the tenth plague. In Goshen, though, all the same three days were full of light and joy because they had been told to get ready to leave Egypt. It was also the Passover time which was a time of rejoicing anyway for the Israelites. The next events in the lives of the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt will be covered in the next text. For more information from this book, go to the Archives Page at my site www.cathydeaton.com There are other articles of interest there also. This text has been taken from the book Bible History Old Testament written by Alfred Ederhseim. This book has been used by permission.
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