Thoughts on the Exodus
April 8, 2001
Dear Friends,
As the Passover has just passed (no pun intended), I thought it would be appropriate to make a few observations and ask a few questions about the exodus. If you are like me, you probably have a hard time tuning out the Charlton Heston version from your mind. Nevertheless, here are things that I have been thinking about for a few years that you might find interesting.
When they left Egypt, did the children of Israel think they were leaving for good? In Exodus 8:25-32 and Exodus 10:7-11; 24-29, Moses goes through a series of negotiations with Pharaoh. The question at hand does not seem to be the question of whether the Israelites can leave for good, but under what circumstances can they go into the wilderness, sacrifice to God and return to Egypt. For example, notice Moses says in Ex. 8:27, "We must go a three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he commands us." (NRSV) This does not sound like they are planning on leaving for good. If this is true, this begs the question of whether Moses knew they were leaving for good or not. It also causes us to ask an unanswerable question of whether or not the Israelites would have returned to Egypt if Pharaoh had not impetuously chased after the children of Israel to destroy them.
On another front, we always refer to the actions in Egypt as the Ten Plagues. Is it how they are presented? I have always wondered if it is not the Thirteen Signs rather than the Ten Plagues. Notice in Exodus 4 it says "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land." This gives some indication that the signs are numbered. The signs start with rod turning into a snake, Moses' hand becoming leprous and turning a small portion of river into blood. Of course, there is no record of Moses' ever doing anything but the rod to a snake sign in front of Pharaoh. In the record, Moses' goes straight to turning the whole river (not just a portion to be poured on dry land) into blood. If Moses' did perform the other two signs, did that make the first plague more appropriately the fourth sign?
We always have this mental image of Moses with his staff. However, in Exodus 7:12, the rod that becomes a snake is referred to as "Aaron's rod." This makes sense to me that the rod that becomes plays such an integral role in the story is, in fact, not Moses' rod at all, but Aaron's rod that budded. (Also see Ex. 7:19, 8:5, 8:16) In Exodus 4, God says speaking about Aaron that "he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs." Notice that "this rod" is in direct context to Aaron. It also makes for beautiful lessons. When Aaron's rod swallowed Pharaoh's serpents, does it not foreshadow Christ (Aaron's everlasting rod) becoming sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21 – the serpent) to destroy sin in the flesh (Heb. 2:14 – Pharaoh's serpent)? It is interesting that the rod is called the "rod of God" twice also (Ex. 4:20, 17:9).
If you haven't already thought about these things for yourself, hopefully it will give you a little more to ponder this week which is so full of Biblical significance.
Have a great week!
Comments»
No comments yet.