|
|
Israelite's, Quiter's or Winners?
Compiled and Written by Mark Flippo
This is more reading than normal! Thought it was God for our learning! Did you know these interesting facts? About 80%, did not leave according to many historical scholars! Many children of Israel who lived in Egypt under Pharaoh’s rule did not leave. Guided by the prophet Moses, 1907, the Providence Lithograph Company. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. The traditional answer to how many Israelites left Egypt is approximately 600,000 men of fighting age, not including women, children, and the elderly. This number comes primarily from the biblical book of Exodus (ncesc.com)
Typically, the adult men 20 years and older were able to go to war! This number does not include women, children, or the (non-Israelites) who were a mixed multitude that came with them!
According to the text, the fourth plague of flies (or swarms), the fifth plague of the death of livestock, the sixth plague of boils, the seventh plague of hail, the eighth plague of locusts, the ninth plague of darkness, and the tenth plague of the death of the firstborn did not affect the Israelites who resided in the region of Goshen.
Notice everything that happened in threes. That is a very important number to God! Three represents divine completeness in of the Bible.
God sent 10 plagues to teach Pharoah and the Egyptians lessons and ultimately as a means to rescue the children of Israel from slavery. The first 9 plagues came in three cycles of three:
1 – River Nile turns to Blood, 2 – Frogs, 3 – Lice
4 – Flies, 5 – Death of Livestock, 6 – Boils
7 – Hail, 8 – Locusts, 9 – Darkness
Finally, there is the 10th plague, the most terrible of all, the death of the firstborn.
Within each of the three cycles, Moses warns Pharoah of the first two plagues and gives him time to change his mind. Each time the third plague in each cycle comes without warning.
First Cycle – Blood, Frogs, Lice – God’s Supremacy
In this first cycle of plagues, God is clearly demonstrating his supremacy, over Pharoah, over the Egyptian magicians and over their false gods.
Before the first plague God’s message to Pharoah is ‘In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD ‘(Exodus 7:17), and there is a similar message with plagues 2 and 3 (see Exodus 8:10, 19).
From reading the descriptions of these plagues and also comparing them with some of the later plagues.
(see Exodus 8:22 and comments on cycle 2 below),
it seems clear that these must have affected the Israelites as well. Indeed, given the significance of the Nile to the Egyptian economy and way of life, when it turned to blood, this would have had an impact on everyone in Egypt. Note also that the land of Goshen (where the Israelites lived) is thought to have been in the Nile Delta region.
The simple teaching for Pharoah and for us in these first three plagues is that God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and can quite justly do whatever he pleases to whoever he pleases.
Second Cycle – Flies, Cattle, Boils – God Separates
In this second cycle of plagues God again shows his supremacy but also makes it clear that he will separate between the Egyptians and the Israelite.
‘And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.’ (Exodus 8:22). Exodus 9:4 states a similar thing regarding the cattle (Plague 5) and the implication of Exodus 9:11 is the same for the boils (Plague 6). Having shown Pharoah his power in plagues 1-3.
The simple teaching here is that in his judgements God does and will distinguish between those who are and are not his people.
As the first three plagues demonstrate, God’s people are not immune from his judgements, however, God is able to distinguish and ultimately on the final judgement day he will (Matthew 25:31-46).
It is interesting with the death of the cattle, that God gives an exact time that the plague will strike and it does so exactly (see Exodus 9:5-6).
Third Cycle – Hail, Locusts, Darkness – God Devastates
In this third cycle of plagues God is again showing his power and the separation between Israelite and Egyptian. However, each of these plagues also shows the extreme devastation God’s judgements can bring. We are told that:
The hail was ‘very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.’ (Exodus 9:25). However, the hail did not affect the children of Israel (Exodus 9:26).
The ‘locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.‘ (Exodus 10:14-15).
It would make sense, given that the hail and darkness were, and also, we’re told that the locust ate everything that the hail had not damaged (Exodus 10:15), which implies that the locust only came where that hail had been.
The darkness was ‘thick ‘(Exodus 10:22), could be ‘felt ‘(Exodus 10:21) and the Egyptians ‘saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. ‘(Exodus 10:23)
God is showing Pharoah that there is no limit to the level of destruction that he will bring on Egypt.
Interestingly, by this time, some of the Egyptians were on a different page to Pharoah. Some of them ‘feared the word of the Lord' and brought their cattle into shelter and stayed indoors themselves and so were spared from the hail (Exodus 9:20). When the warning was given about the locust, Pharoah’s servants urged him to let the Israelites go saying ‘knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? ‘(Exodus 10:7)
Tenth Plague – Death of the Firstborn
The account of the tenth plague and the Passover is well known. God would kill the firstborn in every house in Egypt. The Israelites were told that the only way to escape this plague was to sacrifice a lamb, paint the lamb’s blood on the doorposts and lintel of their houses and stay inside sheltering under the blood.
He brought The plague, to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt (although there was one final judgement against the Egyptian army a few days later at the Red Sea)
For us our lesson is! There needs to be an active turning to God in repentance, trusting in the Lord Jesus.
Info available on the internet. You just have to dig a lot.
http://moderndayparablesrcf.com
Compiled and Written by Mark Flippo
This is more reading than normal! Thought it was God for our learning! Did you know these interesting facts? About 80%, did not leave according to many historical scholars! Many children of Israel who lived in Egypt under Pharaoh’s rule did not leave. Guided by the prophet Moses, 1907, the Providence Lithograph Company. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. The traditional answer to how many Israelites left Egypt is approximately 600,000 men of fighting age, not including women, children, and the elderly. This number comes primarily from the biblical book of Exodus (ncesc.com)
Typically, the adult men 20 years and older were able to go to war! This number does not include women, children, or the (non-Israelites) who were a mixed multitude that came with them!
According to the text, the fourth plague of flies (or swarms), the fifth plague of the death of livestock, the sixth plague of boils, the seventh plague of hail, the eighth plague of locusts, the ninth plague of darkness, and the tenth plague of the death of the firstborn did not affect the Israelites who resided in the region of Goshen.
Notice everything that happened in threes. That is a very important number to God! Three represents divine completeness in of the Bible.
God sent 10 plagues to teach Pharoah and the Egyptians lessons and ultimately as a means to rescue the children of Israel from slavery. The first 9 plagues came in three cycles of three:
1 – River Nile turns to Blood, 2 – Frogs, 3 – Lice
4 – Flies, 5 – Death of Livestock, 6 – Boils
7 – Hail, 8 – Locusts, 9 – Darkness
Finally, there is the 10th plague, the most terrible of all, the death of the firstborn.
Within each of the three cycles, Moses warns Pharoah of the first two plagues and gives him time to change his mind. Each time the third plague in each cycle comes without warning.
First Cycle – Blood, Frogs, Lice – God’s Supremacy
In this first cycle of plagues, God is clearly demonstrating his supremacy, over Pharoah, over the Egyptian magicians and over their false gods.
Before the first plague God’s message to Pharoah is ‘In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD ‘(Exodus 7:17), and there is a similar message with plagues 2 and 3 (see Exodus 8:10, 19).
From reading the descriptions of these plagues and also comparing them with some of the later plagues.
(see Exodus 8:22 and comments on cycle 2 below),
it seems clear that these must have affected the Israelites as well. Indeed, given the significance of the Nile to the Egyptian economy and way of life, when it turned to blood, this would have had an impact on everyone in Egypt. Note also that the land of Goshen (where the Israelites lived) is thought to have been in the Nile Delta region.
The simple teaching for Pharoah and for us in these first three plagues is that God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and can quite justly do whatever he pleases to whoever he pleases.
Second Cycle – Flies, Cattle, Boils – God Separates
In this second cycle of plagues God again shows his supremacy but also makes it clear that he will separate between the Egyptians and the Israelite.
‘And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.’ (Exodus 8:22). Exodus 9:4 states a similar thing regarding the cattle (Plague 5) and the implication of Exodus 9:11 is the same for the boils (Plague 6). Having shown Pharoah his power in plagues 1-3.
The simple teaching here is that in his judgements God does and will distinguish between those who are and are not his people.
As the first three plagues demonstrate, God’s people are not immune from his judgements, however, God is able to distinguish and ultimately on the final judgement day he will (Matthew 25:31-46).
It is interesting with the death of the cattle, that God gives an exact time that the plague will strike and it does so exactly (see Exodus 9:5-6).
Third Cycle – Hail, Locusts, Darkness – God Devastates
In this third cycle of plagues God is again showing his power and the separation between Israelite and Egyptian. However, each of these plagues also shows the extreme devastation God’s judgements can bring. We are told that:
The hail was ‘very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.’ (Exodus 9:25). However, the hail did not affect the children of Israel (Exodus 9:26).
The ‘locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.‘ (Exodus 10:14-15).
It would make sense, given that the hail and darkness were, and also, we’re told that the locust ate everything that the hail had not damaged (Exodus 10:15), which implies that the locust only came where that hail had been.
The darkness was ‘thick ‘(Exodus 10:22), could be ‘felt ‘(Exodus 10:21) and the Egyptians ‘saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. ‘(Exodus 10:23)
God is showing Pharoah that there is no limit to the level of destruction that he will bring on Egypt.
Interestingly, by this time, some of the Egyptians were on a different page to Pharoah. Some of them ‘feared the word of the Lord' and brought their cattle into shelter and stayed indoors themselves and so were spared from the hail (Exodus 9:20). When the warning was given about the locust, Pharoah’s servants urged him to let the Israelites go saying ‘knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? ‘(Exodus 10:7)
Tenth Plague – Death of the Firstborn
The account of the tenth plague and the Passover is well known. God would kill the firstborn in every house in Egypt. The Israelites were told that the only way to escape this plague was to sacrifice a lamb, paint the lamb’s blood on the doorposts and lintel of their houses and stay inside sheltering under the blood.
He brought The plague, to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt (although there was one final judgement against the Egyptian army a few days later at the Red Sea)
For us our lesson is! There needs to be an active turning to God in repentance, trusting in the Lord Jesus.
Info available on the internet. You just have to dig a lot.
http://moderndayparablesrcf.com