1 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
3 Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
4 And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.
Moses came to deliver God’s next promised plague to Pharaoh, and more than any of the previous it was going to cause real, irreparable harm. For the first time, God would bring a plague that would directly cause death. The death was not to be upon the people—that was still to come—but upon the Egyptian livestock. The death would come in the form of a “murrain,” which is an infectious disease. Many types of animals would be afflicted, but most notably the cattle and the sheep.
These, as has been previously discussed, were likely sacred animals to the Egyptians. So this plague was not only to destroy their beasts of burden and their meat supply, but also an assault against their very religion! God is a God of truth, and He does not show respect to the falsely “sacred” rituals that man invents. By destroying the cattle and the sheep God was not only emphasizing His superiority over the Egyptian people, but also over their gods. It might have been deeply offensive to the Egyptians, but what were they to do about it? It was up to their gods to defend themselves against other divinities, and apparently they could not!
Also note that God once again established a divide between the land of Egypt and Goshen. God promised that “there shall nothing die” of the Israelites. Thus, His people would be free to continue raising, sacrificing, and consuming the very same animals that the Egyptians held most dear!
In the middle of his mortal ministry Jesus Christ gave the following instruction:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
-Matthew 7:13-14
The last time I read this passage I was caught by this particular sequence of words: “few there be.”
“Few” would suggest less than half, probably significantly less than half, in any case a clear minority. And if a minority of people are finding the pathway to heaven then, by definition, the average goodness of man would be insufficient.
This makes me wonder…am I only of average goodness in my everyday dealings? Am I only of average zeal in my seeking and proclaiming of the truth? Or is my discipleship the sort of which one would say “few there be?”
Above Average)
I am also reminded of another declaration from Christ:
For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
-Luke 6:32-34
I believe that these verses describe the efforts that most people make to live good and wholesome lives. And while it certainly is not bad to love, do good, and lend to those that we are close to…once again, the default goodness is clearly not enough.
If “few there be” that find the path to eternal life, and most people are trying to be basically good, then we must aspire to be more than basically good. We must be extraordinarily good, uniquely valiant, and exceptionally virtuous. Christ says that we can find the strait and narrow way, but not by doing the status quo.
Perhaps this isn’t the comfiest of teachings, but at least Christ was good enough to forewarn us, to give us a chance to check ourselves and change our path. Pay close attention to how these words stir your heart, and give those feelings the heed and serious consideration that they are due. Don’t be going so fast that you can’t make the turn-off that takes you from where you are headed to where you need to be going. It’s a pretty narrow road, after all, and few there be that find it!
28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me.
29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.
31 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Pharaoh agreed to the demands being made, even for Israel to depart into the wilderness to perform their sacrifices. Now that Pharaoh had given his word, Moses assured him that he would entreat the Lord, but Moses already anticipated Pharaoh’s deceit and warned him against it. Pharaoh, however, went right ahead and betrayed his word for a second time.
I’m really not sure what Pharaoh expected to happen when he broke his word this time. He had already seen that God would return with greater affliction, so it should have been clear that he was only making his situation worse. And not just marginally worse, either. The curses were about to enter an entirely new tier of suffering. The turning of the staff to a snake and the river to blood can be considered as the first phase of God’s curses, transfigurations that were merely meant to frighten Pharaoh without causing lasting harm. The second phase was the irritation and annoyance of frogs, lice, and flies. Now, though, would begin the third phase, in which the curses would deal in actual death! I believe Moses’s warning that Pharaoh must not deal deceitfully was insinuating that if he tried to test God further, the Egyptians would enter into this new order of suffering, but Pharaoh chose to walk that path anyway.
And, according to verse 32, Pharaoh really did choose it. I’ve mentioned this verse before, but let’s take note of it one more time. In other passages it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but here it says that “Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.” The “also” suggests that Pharaoh was the one who hardened his heart in the previous instances as well, not God. As I’ve mentioned previously, I think it is this reading and interpretation that makes the most sense.
24 And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.
25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?
27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.
Pharaoh held out during the plague of lice, but not against the flies. After the frogs he had told Moses “take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.” This time he again approved of the Israelites making sacrifice, but he added the restriction that they remain “in the land,” rather than travelling away from Egypt.
The fact that Pharaoh was being more specific and asking the Israelites to compromise might mean that he was more sincere this time than the one before, but his restriction was not acceptable to the Lord. There seem to be three reasons why it was necessary that the Israelites journey three-days distance before making their sacrifices.
As Moses explained, the Israelites would be performing sacrifices that the Egyptians found abominable, likely because the animals were considered sacred to Pharaoh’s people. The Israelites would incur the wrath of the people, thus a separation was necessary to preserve their lives.
There is reason to believe that sacrifice and three-days’ distances had something to do with the law of the Hebrews. In the Dead Seas Scrolls there is a passage that states “You shall not slaughter clean cattle or sheep or goat in any of your towns, within a distance of three days’ journey from my sanctuary” (Dead Seas Scrolls translation, Page 254, bottom-left). This is saying that if an Israelite was within three days’ journey of the temple they needed to make their offerings there. But if they were more than three days’ journey away, they would be permitted to build an altar and sacrifice to the Lord elsewhere. It may well be that Jacob was three days’ journey from Isaac’s home when he made such an altar to the Lord in Genesis 28. Jacob also made a point of setting up his homestead three days’ journey from his father-in-law Laban, perhaps to have sufficient distance from Laban’s pagan gods for his offerings to the Lord to be pure. It therefore makes sense that the Lord would require Israel to be the same distance from the false gods of Egypt before making sacrifice.
We’re not actually told whether the Israelites did, in fact, perform rituals and sacrifice after leaving Egypt. My assumption is that they did not, as we are told that they marched forward day-and-night in great haste. But possibly they did, and thus this was a valid reason for them traveling at least three-days-distance into the wilderness. However, even if that was the case, it obviously was not the only reason for their departure. They were also going into the wilderness to run away from the Egyptians, and obviously this was better served by getting a head start.
Pharaoh would soon renege on his promise, and perhaps his reason was this three days’ distance requirement, but God was not here to compromise. He was not one to be dictated to. What He required must be met, and He would continue to afflict the Egyptians until Pharaoh agreed to all of His requirements.
22 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.
23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
I previously wondered whether the Israelites had been affected by the turning of the river to blood in the same way that the Egyptians had. And did the frogs come upon both sets of people? And the lice? Perhaps so, but now we are told that there would be a sharp divide between the people of Israel and the people of Egypt.
This is a recurring theme in the Bible, that of a divide being made between the faithful and the profane, of God’s chosen people being saved and the wicked being destroyed. We have seen it where a protection was put around Noah’s family in the form of an ark when all the world was flooded. We have seen it where heavenly messengers drew Lot’s family out to safety when Sodom and Gomorrah was bombarded. Now we see it where a clear line is made between two halves. In one land the curse runs rampant, but it is not allowed to pass over into the neighboring land.
Thus we see multiple different ways that God is able to protect His people. He can shield them in the eye of the storm, or lead them out to safety, or put up a wall that keeps the danger at bay. He can end the danger, preserve you through the danger, or get you out of the danger. One never know just how God will save him, only that God will if he prepares himself for it.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.
The priests of Pharaoh had also been able to summon frogs, just as they had turned water to blood and staffs into snakes. Somehow, they were able to do all of these things, but there was one thing that they apparently couldn’t do. They couldn’t undo what Moses and Aaron had already done. They could be just as destructive as the Lord—so far—but that really wasn’t what Pharaoh needed!
If the priests really had power over God they would have shown it by reverting His plagues. This was the difference between God and the priests. When God commanded a plague upon Egypt, only He could recall it. It seems that Pharaoh came to that same conclusion, and finally had to go to Moses for relief.
We often talk about the signs and wonders that took place in Egypt, but typically only mention the destructive side of them. Creation, restoration, and healing are far more difficult than destruction, though. More significant than God sending the frogs, the lice, the flies, the boils, and the locusts was when he miraculously cleansed Egypt of the frogs, the lice, the flies, the boils, and the locusts. This is the power that we truly ought to remember, the greater power that separated Him from any other, the power that proved to Pharaoh “that there is none like unto the Lord our God!”
5 And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
God instructs Moses what miracle to perform, Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh what it will be, and then it happens. The works of God typically follow this three-step process. He tells His servant, His servant tells the world at large, and then the fulfillment of the prophecy occurs. This establishes two principles that are largely consistent in God’s interactions with man.
1) God will speak to us indirectly, through His chosen prophet. 2) God will alert us to what He will do before He does it.
Thus we do not have to guess at what God will do next. It is knowable, though we do have to recognize who it is that speaks with his authority.
Presumably, the Egyptian magicians doing their enchantments to also bring up frogs was another attempt dispute who truly had that authority. Repeating the wonders of the staffs-to-snakes, water-to-blood, and summoning of frogs were likely meant as an argument that the Hebrew God was no more powerful than the Egyptian ones. It was to reassure Pharaoh so that he wouldn’t feel that he needed to give any regard to the words of Aaron and Moses.
This might have worked in the previous two instances, but as we will see in tomorrow’s verses, this wouldn’t be good enough for Pharaoh any longer. Whether by forces of darkness or subterfuge, the magicians were able to do some things, but they weren’t able to do the one thing Pharaoh actually needed. Only God could.
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Now begins the back-and-forth exchange between God and Pharaoh. There is a basic pattern that these discussions will follow:
God demands that Pharaoh let the Israelites go serve Him
Pharaoh refuses
God sends a plague upon the land
Pharaoh begs Moses to take the curse away, promising to let the Israelites go
Moses beseeches the Lord and the curse is removed
Pharaoh reneges on his promise
There might be some variations on that pattern here and there, but that’s generally how it will continue until Pharaoh finally relents. And this, of course, is the pattern that we so often see in our own lives. God calls us to live a better life, but we turn down those impulses to maintain our hedonistic pleasure or quiet complacency. Something goes wrong in our lives and we ask God to take it away, in the moment dedicating ourselves to Him, body and soul. God shows us grace, and we are grateful…but we don’t make good on our promise to better serve Him. We go back to our old ways and so it repeats. Our instinct might be to shake our heads at the strange actions of Pharaoh, but he is a representation of our own faithlessness.
I’ve spent the last week-and-a-half exploring this concept of why we believe the things that we do, and which justifications for our moral alignment are reasonable and which ones are not. Today I’ll wrap things up by reviewing all of the things that I’ve covered.
Our Basis for Right and Wrong)
After contemplating the different foundations people set their judgment of right and wrong upon, I concluded that there were three main bases. A person judges what is right and wrong based on what God has said, or what society has said, or what he, himself has said.
I observed that people in our society have adopted a principle that they must listen to their own heart, determining their own right and wrong to live by. I also noted that usually what we think comes from our own self, has actually come from the society we live in. We tend to absorb the ideas we are surrounded by osmosis and then have those ideas come out of us word-for-word the same as we heard in the public square. Thus, most people end up basing their morals on what society has said, but they think they have based it upon themselves.
But neither individual whim or society’s favor are reliable bases for determining what is right or wrong. Both of them have too much variance and transformation to reflect any sort of objective, universal truth. What is “right” in society today was wrong yesterday, and likely will be wrong again in the future. A cursory glance at history shows us that it’s not as if society only improves, either. Sometimes it gets better, but sometimes it gets worse. Things have been brighter since the dark ages, but things were also brighter before them. Who is to say whether society today is at a local maxima or minima? We might think we know, but some future generation somewhere will surely disagree.
Sooner or later, any who believes that truth is defined by the individual or the society and pursues that logic to its end must come to the only possible conclusion: there actually is no absolute truth, no ideal, no sacred or unchanging standard by which our actions can be judged. Morality is transient and subjective, and any attempt to censure another person as being “wrong” is both hypocritical and vain.
The Proper Basis)
The only logical and consistent basis for moral judgment is God. Only a being that exists outside of the individual or society, one that is constant through all ages, one that is greater than the created world could lay down a law and a morality and a truth that would be consistent and objectively right.
Of course, the identity and exact opinion of that God would still be up for debate, but at least we would accept that truth could only come from some sort of theology. Of course, it would be important to acknowledge that whatever god was the true God, our knowledge of His universal law must transcend from heaven itself. It cannot simply be the idea of some man that this is what God must want, God Himself needs to have dictated it to some persons, and those persons need to have written it down as directed. Again, if such a thing were to occur, it would still be a matter of opinion as to which sacred book actually represents the mind of God, but at least we would accept that the truth could only be read out of the scripture He had given us.
And then, once we felt that we had identified that true scripture, from that true God, describing that universal truth that we are all beholden to, then all competing ideas and philosophies would have to be discarded. Never mind if your loved ones thought you were crazy, or your friends reviled you, or society persecuted you, or the great enemy destroyed you. Because, as we have established, none of those other voices have any foundation to stand upon as they oppose you. Let them think, say, and do what they will, their logic and methods are self-defeating, and all of them will crumble in time.
You, however, will have made yourself an acolyte of genuine truth, and having laid hold of it, you will be united with the only thing that is permanent, the only thing that can stay with you through all of life, and even into the world that lies beyond. Whether you be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, or any other believer of divinely-inspired words, hold to that inspired truth above all others, and your existence will surely work out better for you than chasing the ever-changing goalposts of society’s latest fad.
I’ve seen a trend where people are incredulous that those who hold traditional, Christian values could follow and believe the principles that were common in our society until just recently. “How could you believe that outdated doctrine? It’s sexist, it’s homophobic, it’s discriminatory, it’s shaming!”
But people who say such things seem to be oblivious to the fact that we all consider one social behavior or another to be reprehensible. If we list out every controversial behavior, we will all find many things that we discriminate against. Child marriage, eating disorders, slavery, incestuous relationships, bestiality, animal sacrifice, cannibalism, the use of hallucinogenic drugs, polygamy, asceticism, and many, many more. Are there not at least some of these practices that you are staunchly opposed to?
Thus, to some extent, we all discriminate and judge between what is right and what is wrong. The only question, then, is on what basis do we judge the way that we do?
The Religious Basis for Judgment)
For the traditionally religious, the answer is simple. Our basis for moral judgment is that God is our creator. He made us according to a fashion and order that is consistent with His own principles of right and wrong, and He educates as to what morality we must live by to fulfill our design and purpose.
And, if these assertions are true, then what coherent argument could be brought against those who strive to live by the principles given by that creator God? Frankly, it wouldn’t matter what God asked of us, simply the fact that He did ask it would be justification to follow it. Our understanding isn’t necessary, compliance with the modern trends of the world isn’t necessary, and a public vote of approval isn’t necessary. As I have heard others state, if God were to tell me that the way for me to fulfill my design and purpose in life was to stand on my head from this moment on, then that would be what I needed to do. As a creation, living in a greater universe that I do not perfectly understand, I have no basis to disagree. What He says I must follow.
So if God pronounces certain behaviors evil, and other behaviors good, and asks me to live by these principles and testify of them, then that is what I need to do. No matter of social rejection should dissuade me, for society did not fashion my innermost being, nor know the core purpose for which I was made.
The World’s Basis for Judgment)
But what basis does modern society have for the things it condones and the things it condemns? What justification does it have for judging certain behaviors as worthy and others as unacceptable? If we have rejected the belief that we are creations of God, living according to His revealed precepts, then our basis for judgment must be derived from either the individual or the society.
If it is derived from the individual, then there can be no universal truth, for no one believes all the same things as another person. Every conviction that you hold, somewhere there is another person that feels just the opposite, and their “truth” would be just as valid as yours. Or, if you deem their disagreement to not be valid, then there must be something greater that your “truth” is anchored in that theirs is not, in which case what would that be? This line of logic quickly falls apart.
Correct judgment must be based in society then. Whatever the current society has decided is right, then for today that must be what is right. Truth is therefore a matter of popular vote, and no one who lives against the popular consensus can be right. Activists who seek to change society are in the wrong, until they are able to convince a majority of the people to agree with them, and then they are right.
Past generations must have been right in their time, but they have no vote today, so today we judge them to have been wrong. In the past, homosexual marriage was considered reprehensible, but today we are ready to accept it, so now the past generations were wrong in their views. So, too, we will be in the wrong once a future generation votes against the values that we hold today. Thus, if the future societies are willing to accept pedophilia, self-mutilation, or the killing of undesirables, then they will be right to do so, and we will then be wrong to have ever stood against such things.
Are you willing to accept this view? If not, what outer principle can you point to that would still make these behaviors and lifestyles wrong, and would condemn an entire future society that feels otherwise?
A Sandy Foundation)
If we reject the notion that God is our creator, that we are made according to a particular design, and that the principles or right and wrong come from a universal truth which is interwoven through our beings, then what better foundation could we tie our principles to? What universal anchor does the man who denies he is a creation of God have for decrying any of the practices he considers abominable?
None. Once we let go of the fundamental truths of who we are and what we have come from, then all morality is transient. Our principles are not set in stone, but in sand, an obscure outlier in the greater scheme of things.
Christ saw this very conundrum two thousand years ago. We will finish today with his famous illustration in Matthew 7:
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Spiritual Wanderings 