Signs and Wonders

Exodus chapters 7 to 11 (not the convenience place)

Much has already been written on this subject by scholars and people far more versed in the history than me. This is a list of the plagues and their effects. Any of the plagues can be explained by natural causes, from volcanic eruptions and the literally fallout from that to proper sanitation and hygiene practices to the possibility of a deadly fungus that could have infected the Egyptian emergency grain stores.

The 10 plagues

1 Blood -The waters were turned to blood – the fish in the river died and the Egyptians couldn’t drink the foul water.

2 Frogs - Frogs swarmed forth, covering every inch of land, and entering houses and bedrooms.

3 Lice - All over Egypt, bugs crawled forth from the dust to cover the land.

4 Flies – swarms of lies on people, in homes, all over the ground.

5 Pestilence - A fatal pestilence killed most of the domestic animals of the Egyptians.

6 Boils - The Pharaoh, his servants, the Egyptians and even their animals developed painful boils all over their bodies.

7 Fiery hail - Hail struck down all the crops in the fields and shattered every tree.

8 Locusts - The locusts covered the face of the land and swallowed up every crop and all the fruits of the trees.

9 Darkness -A thick darkness over the land of Egypt, so total that the Egyptians had to feel their way around.

10 Death of the first-born - All firstborn Egyptian sons (and firstborn cattle) died. Israelites marked lamb's blood above their door and were passed over.

Even though all these things have natural causes, we catch glimpses of this when Pharaoh’s magicians can mimic some of the wonders that Moses performs. Which makes Pharaoh think it is just a bunch of tricks and manipulations. Where things get tricky, pardon the pun, is when GOD makes a division between his people and the Egyptians in the swarm of flies and everything that happens next. All these plagues are polemic attacks on the gods of Egypt without a doubt. Whether or not everything can be explained by natural causes is up for debate, one undeniable thing cannot be refuted is GOD speaking through Aaron and Moses dictates the exact time for each event. I have mentioned "In the beginning" that time works for GOD because he created it, GOD literally has all the time in creation. 

The underlying reason for all this GOD tells us in Exodus 9 verse 16 – GOD placed this Pharaoh there for that purpose to show GOD’s great power and that the “Name” would be declared throughout all the earth.

After all these things happen and Israel leaves Egypt, these events will get told far and wide, they hear about them in Jericho, in Canaan and all the surrounding areas. They also know that a reckoning is coming, GOD will keep his word. They have had 400 years and because of Israel’s unbelief they get another 40 years reprieve. GOD gave the people of Canaan a tremendous gift of grace and they squandered it. They knew he was coming; the land is his to do with as he pleases, they had been given an eviction notice and they chose to stay and fight. Keep this in mind when we get to the book of Joshua. More to the point in the here and now, when he returns again, have you chosen to be part of GOD's family or are you waiting for the eviction notice?

Next – New calendar, save the Date

Addendum

Recently going back through Exodus a friend of my pointed out a very interesting thought that was definitely worth sharing. 

Through the process of Moses and Aaron appearing before Pharaoh and requesting that he let the Israelites go and worship their God. Each time the request was denied, was that a failure? What I mean by that is from the external perspective, being on the outside looking in and not knowing what was GOD's end game, it could look like failure. After the initial request from Moses was requested Pharaoh made the Israelites labour even more difficult for them to accomplish. Was this a failure on GOD part, failure for his prophet, his people? My friend made a very good point in that sometimes GOD's perceived failures, weaknesses or our failures, this could be just part of GOD's plan for us that's not fully revealed. So take heart, learn from your failures, GOD has a plan and he will see it and you through to completion.