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Signs and Wonders In Exodus 7:8–13, Pharaoh demands a miracle to prove that Moses and Aaron are emissaries of God. Aaron throws down his staff, and it becomes a crocodile. Many English translations say “serpent,” but the Hebrew word used here, tannin, is different from the one used for the serpent in the garden and the serpent into which Moses’ staff was earlier transformed. The Egyptian god Sobek was often represented as a great crocodile that could swallow anything. He patrolled the Nile and protected Pharaoh and Egypt. Later in the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel will speak of the tannin as a beast that prowls along the Nile (Ez 29:3, where it is often translated “dragon”). Pharaoh identified himself with this god because of its strength and power. Pharaoh’s priestly magicians also conjure up tanninim (crocodiles) by their secret arts, but these are swallowed up by Aaron’s staff, leaving the magicians without their staffs and the authority they represent. The God of the Hebrews defeats the god Sobek, whom Pharaoh trusted to defend and protect him and Egypt. This is more than special effects or a simple display of power; it is a judgment against the gods of Egypt. That Pharaoh’s magicians are also able to conjure up power to transform their own staffs is a reminder of the reality that “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). While Pharaoh’s priests are initially able to mimic Moses’ and Aaron’s mighty signs, soon they will be unable to imitate the omnipotent God of the Hebrews. As a result of Pharaoh’s prideful refusal to allow Israel to serve ( avad) Yahweh, God sends the ten plagues. The first plague turns the Nile to blood, a sign that recalls the drowning of Israel’s innocent children; justice is coming to Egypt for its infanticide. But the ultimate purpose of the plagues is to teach a powerful message: the God of Israel is the one true God of all. God’s instructions to Moses bear this out: “By this you shall know that I am the L ORD ” (Ex 7:17; emphasis added). The Egyptians, who were both very religious and very conscious of symbols, would see the Nile’s transformation into blood as an ominous portent. The Nile, the linchpin of Egyptian economy and life, was worshiped as the god p 69 Hapi. To see the Nile, a constant source of life, now running with blood would signify death, and the conclusion drawn would be that the God of the Hebrews had struck a mortal blow to the Egyptians’ beloved god Hapi. Seven days pass between the plague upon the Nile and the unleashing of the second plague (Ex 7:25). This detail is vitally important for grasping an additional lesson of the plagues. Every seventh day was the Sabbath. Thus, the seven-day intermission between plagues suggests that the plague on the Nile, the plague of frogs, and all the plagues, occur every seventh day on the Sabbath, the day Israel was to rest and worship. It is precisely rest “for worship” that Pharaoh refuses to give Israel (Ex 5:5). God upsets Egypt’s economy on the Sabbath to teach both Israel and Egypt the importance of putting worship ( avad) before work (avad). The second plague, the multiplication of frogs, brings judgment on the goddess Heqt, the goddess of life and fertility who was represented as a woman from the waist down and a frog from the waist up. Pharaoh begs Moses to take away the frogs. Moses obliges, and the next day Egypt is filled with the stench of the rotting bodies of the goddess of life. After the next plagues of gnats, flies, disease on cattle, boils, hail, and locusts, the Lord tells Moses to stretch out his hand “that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt” (Ex 10:21). The God who created light takes it away for three days. The God of the Hebrews blows out the sun god Re like a candle. Each of the plagues follows a similar formula: Moses tells Pharaoh that the plague will occur “that they may know” that the Lord is God, and then God sends a particular plague striking down a god of Egypt. Each time it appears Pharaoh will finally relent and let Israel go, but as the plague passes, he hardens his heart and refuses. Throughout, the themes of “knowing” and “serving” are repeated. Scripture describes the repeated lesson of the plagues this way: In return for their foolish and wicked thoughts, which led them astray to worship irrational serpents and worthless animals, you sent upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them, that they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which he sins. (Wis 11:15–16) The plagues point out the emptiness of the entire Egyptian belief system, as p 70 the gods of Egypt are at the mercy of the Hebrew God. This is why God tells Moses during the final plague that the gods of Egypt stand utterly defeated. “And on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the L ORD ” (Ex 12:12). After the fourth plague, Pharaoh unexpectedly relents long enough to offer a compromise. “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land” (Ex 8:25). Pharaoh will now give the people rest that they may worship, but only within the land of Egypt. But Moses points out a significant problem: It would not be right to do so; for we shall sacrifice to the L ORD our God offerings abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the L ORD our God as he will command us. (Ex 8:26–27) Israel must worship the Lord by sacrificing animals that the Egyptians themselves worship. Such sacrifices would be seen as an act of deicide and would be punishable by death. For this reason, Moses requests a journey at three days’ distance from Egypt. Worship is at the heart of the conflict between Pharaoh and Moses. Israelite worship turns Egyptian idolatry on its head, proving that what Egyptians consider gods are really not gods at all. tải về 6.33 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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