The Bible’s descriptions of the final days have struck fear into the hearts of many people. Even those who are otherwise unacquainted with the stories and messages of the Bible are still familiar with its visions of fire and brimstone raining down upon the world, destroying all the wicked, administering God’s judgment before the return of Christ. The passages also describe the terrible persecution that will first afflict the faithful, and that the world will ultimately reject the gospel message before they feel the wrath of heaven.
Given all this, it can be easy to feel pessimistic about ministry efforts in the world today. We’ve skipped ahead and read the end of the story and we already know that the world as a whole does not become convinced by the missionary efforts of the righteous. So why bother protesting evil? Why speak against the ways that society is moving towards its own destruction? The world is just going there anyway, so why not just separate yourself from it and live as a faithful hermit?
The Many and the One)
If, indeed, we are in the last days, there is a sort of logic to all those cynical, nihilistic questions. If we are fast approaching Armageddon, then no matter what we do the world is still doomed to fail, and so any effort on our part to save it are also doomed to fail.
But saving the world or abandoning it aren’t our only options.
Maintaining the light of hope and optimism, even in the midst of a world falling apart, only requires us to shift our perspective from the many to the one. I have made this point previously, that anyone who is focused on saving the whole world will be disappointed, but anyone who is focused on saving the individual may yet find success.
We could see ourselves as firefighters standing before a blazing building. Perhaps the fire has spread through too much of the structure to save it. Perhaps the whole thing is coming down no matter what we do. But what about the individuals that are trapped inside? There may yet be time to rush in and get as many of some of them as possible out to safety before it all comes crashing down!
Even if the earth is going to hell in a handbasket there is still a work for us to do, a challenge for us to meet, and a success for us to achieve. We can follow Christ’s admonition to stop fixating on the ninety-and-nine, and to go in search of the one, bringing it back with great rejoicing!
The fate of the world is already known, but the fate of you, your loved ones, and your neighbors still hangs in the balance.
7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.
God had sworn to slay all of the Egyptian firstborn, but as with the previous curses, He would set a division between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The phrase “shall not a dog move his tongue” must be an old expression, and most scholars agree that it meant that things would be so peaceful that not even a dog would bark in the streets. Thus it not only illustrated safety from physical harm, but even from anything alarming or distressing.
God also prophesied that this curse would be the one that finally broke Egypt. “These thy servants” appears to be referencing the Egyptian leadership, who would demand that the Israelites go. God further foretold that Pharaoh wouldn’t go back on his word this time, as given by “and after that I will go out.”
There is one other sentence at the end of verse 8 that I have omitted. “And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.” This doesn’t make a lot of sense in the current setting of Moses describing the coming curse to the Israelites, and I believe that this last sentence actually belongs with the next two verses. I will therefore include it in tomorrow’s study.
Carl Jung is known for his quote “The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.” By this he meant that the more a person fixated on trying to be better, the more the darkness inside of him would lash out in defiance, leading to a pendulum swinging back-and-forth between periods of extreme good and extreme evil. Jung therefore recommended a sort of gray area, a place where a person could embrace both his vices and virtues, letting neither get out of balance.
The first time I heard this perspective I was struck by how it contradicted some of the most sacred experiences I have ever been witness to. In the twelve step group I attend we frequently express how good it feels to finally shine a light on the darkness and feel it dissipate from us. Men come to the meetings and confess all manner of temptation and unholy desire, and then tearfully express gratitude that the darkness is leaving their hearts even in the telling of it. There is no sense of the shadow growing darker, for the light is permeating all the way through and coming out the other side.
But as I gave Jung’s words a second consideration, I realized that I knew a few instances where I would agree with his assessment. I think that Jung’s perspective does have value, but that it is incomplete. In my experience, there are three types of shining a light on a problem, each with different degrees of usefulness.
Outer Light)
The first kind of light is one that one person shines on another. An example of this would be getting caught in a lie, or with incriminating evidence, anything that exposes one’s secret wrongs. There was no intention in the guilty to expose his secrets, but exposed they have been!
This light could be useful, depending on how the exposed person reacts to it. Ideally he would turn this embarrassing exposure into a wake-up call. Maybe he was horrified when he first got caught, but later on he says that he is so grateful that it happened. Having been seen at his worst, he could finally begin the work of becoming his best.
Alternatively, though, he might be resentful at being caught. Perhaps his exposer gives him an ultimatum and he does recovery work, but only begrudgingly. In this case he will have no gratitude for the light that shone upon him, and he will take the first opportunity to recede back into the darkness. He will pretend that he is cured, but all that he really learned was to be more careful in his lying. This therefore leaves him worse off than before.
The Light in the Cave)
The second kind of light is when a person fixates on his own problems. He is still in denial towards the rest of the world, but not towards himself. Silently, in his own head, he continually berates himself for failing to live in harmony with his conscience. He launches many campaigns against the darkness, trying to force himself to be better by sheer force of will, but these efforts always end in failure.
A person can white-knuckle his way to some length of acceptable behavior, but he hasn’t actually destroyed the darkness inside. Sooner or later it comes back, and this time with a vengeance. Inevitably the person slips back into his old ways, and usually delves deeper into them than before.
This is the sort of light that Jung was able to observe, and he was correct to be skeptical of it. However, his conclusion that there was no appropriate way to change one’s life was incorrect. A better conclusion would be that repentance was never meant to be an isolated experience.
Bringing Into the Light of Others)
The third kind of light is the one that I mentioned at the start. This is when the guilty freely confesses his wrongs to another. The key difference between this light and the first is that the person wasn’t caught against his will. This time the person is bringing his shame to trusted friends of his own volition, not trying to face the darkness on his own.
All throughout the scriptures we are told that we must confess. Confession is only confession when it involves another. We do not confess to ourselves, or by being found out. We confess by taking the initiative and sharing the darkest parts of our soul with another trusted person. Because of our shame, most of us would suffer in silence for years rather than take this step. Some will suffer in silence for their entire lives, feeling in their hearts as though being truly honest would kill them!
And in some sense it would. It would kill the dark self and replace it with the light. This effect might be difficult to accept by a modern psychologist, but only because it isn’t a natural, measurable thing. It is a miracle. It is absolutely real, but it defies intellectual explanation because God is in it. God is the light that dissipates the darkness, where our own light often only hardens it.
Exactly why God’s light shows up when we confess to one another could be a topic of study in-and-of-itself. For now, let us content ourselves with the fact that one reason why God shows up in these moments is simply because He promised that He would:
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. -James 5:16, Matthew 18:20
I have mentioned before how I lived many years under the power of an addiction to lust. Though I hated myself for it, I did things that I felt ashamed of, that I knew were wrong. I never was under the delusion that my objectification of women was an okay thing, yet I did it anyway. Because of my guilt, I would try to compensate in other areas. I would try to balance out my evil with extra kindness and devotion in my community and church.
But I never felt satisfied. In fact, I believe I was experiencing what it means to be cursed. To me this means that all of your actions, no matter how good on the surface, simply do not count. You may strive and flail, but it is as if you are running on a treadmill, all your energy leaving you in the same place. Like Cain, I tried to bring my fruits to the Lord, but He just would not accept my offering.
All of this changed, though, when I finally made confession. I told my wife what was going on in my secret life, I told my church authorities, I joined a recovery program, I went through a process of repentance, and I truly felt the atonement of Christ wash away my uncleanness.
And then I felt a sudden change. I felt the reality of God’s words to Cain: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” I felt the curse lifted, and now anything good that I did actually felt like it mattered.
Surrendered to Christ)
Sin is one thing that can keep our good works from reaching their full potential, but so, too, can refusing to surrender to the Lord. During my study of Pharaoh’s interactions with God and Moses, I have been thinking about this concept of surrender. Genuine surrender to the Lord is the first and fundamental basis of any true discipleship. Trying to do good while still holding back a part of your heart will always lessen the value of that good.
I know many who want to be basically good people, but who resent any notion of surrendering their will to another. In their desire to retain autonomy, to be their own master, they refuse to give themselves fully to God. They expect God to be content with the gifts that they decide to give Him, never seeking to understand what gifts He actually wants them to give. As a result, they live uninspired lives. They never experience the joy of being moved by the spirit to approach someone they normally never would have approached and saying to that person what they normally never would have said. They live according to their assumptions, not according to His genuine knowledge.
Surrendering ourselves, heart and soul to God, is necessary to be a part of His kingdom. And being part of His kingdom is necessary to having our good works sanctified for the building up of that kingdom. Trying to do good autonomously is like a swirl in an ocean, not necessarily worthless, but ultimately dissipating before it can accomplish much. Trying to do good as a pure vessel of the Lord is like being part of a flowing current, permanently and meaningfully changing the world for the better.
It is good to do good, but it is best to do the best good. And the best good can only be done by one who has repented of sin and fully surrendered to the Lord.
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
At the start of this conversation Pharaoh had seemed quiet and subdued, but his follow-up in today’s verses makes me wonder if that quietness had actually been stifled rage. As soon as Moses reiterates his demands, that all of the Israelites must leave with all of their animals, Pharaoh drops all pretense of compliance and compromise. He gives a vicious threat: “Get thee from me…in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die!” Moses was now banished from the Pharaoh’s court on pain of death!
But Moses was not alarmed. Instead he approved Pharaoh’s words, foretelling that the two men would indeed no longer look one another in the face. There was only one curse yet to come upon Egypt, and this time Moses would not forewarn Pharaoh of its coming nor repeat God’s demands to Pharaoh. Pharaoh already knew everything he needed to know. There was nothing more to be understood, promised, or threatened. All that remained was for the breaking to occur.
12 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
Once again, the Lord instructed Moses to begin the plague by stretching his hand over the land. In response to Moses’s action, an east wind blew across the land. It blew all day and night, and on the next day a swarm of locusts arrived with it. This seems to be proof that the locusts did not spontaneously pop into existence. They were gathered from some distant place, having been grown and cultivated by the Lord for some time in preparation of this curse. Thus, when Moses pronounced the plague it was already long in the making, all that remained was for it to be delivered.
It is also worth noting that this is not the first time that the east wind had been used as an ill omen for Egypt. Once before, Joseph had interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream of an east wind blasting the grain and withering it in the stalk. The east wind will also be used a third time as an instrument of destruction on the Egyptian people, when Moses parts the Red Sea and then drowns their armies in the midst of it.
Because of these accounts, the east wind has since been seen as a symbol of death and devastation. The question naturally arises, though, what was the significance of the wind being from the east? Though we are not given a definitive answer in the Bible, a brief examination of a map suggests two interesting possibilities.
First, nearly the entire eastern edge of Egypt is bordered the Red Sea. This sea is notable for its deep-red hue and for being one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth. It has long been considered a symbol of death, both for its blood-like appearance and because its water will kill any plant. Thus, one can see how an east wind that blew to Egypt from the Red Sea could be used as an omen for impending destruction.
There is also a second possible meaning for the east wind. We are told that the Israelites lived in the land of Goshen, which is high in the northern regions of Egypt. If the Egyptians resided nearby, such as in the valley of Ramses, then they also would be in that northern region. And the north part of Egypt is the only part that does not border the Red Sea to the east. It borders the land of Canaan, including the region where Jerusalem would one day be established! Thus it might have been that the east wind had blown in from the land of the Lord. The wind might have represented the hand of God, and if so, then it makes sense that while the east wind only brought death and destruction upon the Egyptians, it always elevated and supported the people of Israel. It empowered Joseph to be a prince of Egypt, it helped convince the Pharaoh to let the enslaved Israelites go, and we will soon read of it covering the retreat of the fleeing Israelites.
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?
9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.
10 And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
I mentioned yesterday how Pharaoh’s question “…but who are they that shall go?” sounded to me like he felt a need to deny the Israelites something. Perhaps he couldn’t let them get away with everything that they wanted. Perhaps he had to find some lingering piece that he could hold onto to maintain his sense of pride and control.
And so when Moses responded that all of them would go: the young and the old, the sons and the daughters, even the flocks and the herds, Pharaoh might have felt compelled to limit that somehow. “Not so: go now ye that are men,” he told them, reducing it to the smallest demographic possible. None of the women, none of the children, none of the livestock, only the men. And then there was no further discussion. Moses and Aaron ware promptly “driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.”
Of course, Pharaoh might have seen this restriction as necessary to make sure that the slaves wouldn’t try to escape into the wilderness. Which, of course, was exactly what they planned to do, and what Pharaoh would ultimately have to submit to if he wanted the curses to end.
Pharaoh’s servants had pleaded with him to comply with the Israelites so that they could have relief from the plagues. Pharaoh had made an initial show of submitting to God, but couldn’t fully surrender himself in the end. He was still trying to restrict and control. I have to assume that he knew exactly what would follow: the Lord would refuse Pharaoh’s terms and send the promised plague. Pharaoh may not have wanted to fight, but he wasn’t ready to surrender, so he had to be broken even further.
7 And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?
In yesterday’s verses we discussed how the noose was growing ever tighter on Egypt. The Lord was taking away all of their food sources, one at a time, with little remaining now for them to rely upon, and today we see something new come as a result. Previously, both Pharaoh and his servants had hardened their hearts, but now the servants stubbornness had been broken. They had become desperate, and they urged Pharaoh to let the people go.
Thus, Pharaoh was now being pressured from both sides: without and within. His kingdom had been being whittled away by the Lord, made more meager day-by-day, yet he had remained its undisputed leader. Now, though, dissent in the court could be the first signs of losing that control.
As a result, we see something else that is new in verse 8. For the first time, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron back after they had prophesied of the new curse, but before they had actually summoned it. Pharaoh had interrupted his previously-established pattern and he told them to “Go, serve the Lord your God.” This is a very good sign. Pharaoh’s perpetual committing to let Israel go and then changing his mind reminds me of the behavior of an addict. Addicts are always swearing off their evil behavior, even thinking in their heart that they really mean it, but perpetually going back on their word. Breaking the pattern is the first sign that true repentance might finally be at hand.
However, even as Pharaoh was trying to change his old script…he could not leave well enough alone. We can see how Pharaoh’s mind and heart begins to turn back in the last sentence of verse 8. His reservations cannot help but make themselves manifest. “Go, serve the Lord your God…but…who are they that shall go?” As we will see in the following verses, this question of who will go is Pharaoh already looking for a way to impose a restriction on Israel’s departure.
This venomous question speaks deeply to me because it reflects the pride in my own heart. I see in it the desire to only partially comply with the word of the Lord, to look for some sliver of rebellion that can be held onto, even while ostensibly giving in to His will. Sometimes we are beaten and defeated, we have no alternative but to surrender, but we still try to hold something back, just so that we can tell ourselves that we are still our own true master. We will see how this plays out for Pharaoh tomorrow.
3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
At first a plague of locusts might sound like a step backward from the previous curses. God had just slain the Egyptians’ cattle with a plague, and their servants with fire and hail. There had been a real loss of life just recently, but locusts seem to be more of the caliber of the frogs, lice, and flies several curses ago.
But on closer examination, this is not the case at all. The previous animal nuisances may have been able to spread mild diseases or irritation, but the locusts would do far worse: they would eat all of the Egyptians’ grain! We had heard during the previous plague that the hailstorm had destroyed the flax and the barley, but not the edible crops like the wheat and the rye. God had been willing to leave Pharaoh the most important crops if he would let the Israelites go, and Pharaoh had initially agreed to this, but now Pharaoh went back on his word and so now the locusts were here to finish the job.
No more meat and no more grain, the Egyptians were drawing nearer and nearer to starvation! If God had taken just one source of food they could have relied upon the other, but piece-by-piece, He was taking it all. We can build up all manner of securities and contingencies against the powers of man, but no place is safe and no insurance is reliable when God comes calling.
1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:
2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.
Once again, I’ve made my case for why I believe the verses that suggest Pharaoh exercised his self-will to harden his own heart over the ones where God says that He is responsible for Pharaoh’s stubbornness. Obviously, these verses support the latter perspective, as they have God detailing exactly why He would be hardening Pharaoh’s heart, so that he “might shew these signs” and that Moses “mayest tell in the ears of thy son…what things I have wrought…that ye may know how that I am the Lord.”
I will say that while I still dispute that God hardened Pharaoh’s hearts, I have absolutely no qualms with the idea that God positioned the Egyptians and Pharaoh in a position of power for the express purpose of breaking their pride and sending a message to the world. And not only to the world, but most especially to the Israelite people that would forever rely upon Him.
God’s liberation of Israel in Egypt is an absolute seminal moment in the story of that people. It establishes the pattern and the surety that all future generations look back to. The covenant people may have at times fallen into disbelief, they may have entered into terrible afflictions, they may have been under the power of others for a time, but God has always come through, destroying any power of devil or world that held them bondage. This was true with the Egyptians, this was true with the Romans, and this was true with Nazi Germany. This is the legacy of Abraham’s people, that they will be tried by fire, but God will ultimately prevail and redeem them. It is a hard legacy, but an encouraging one. A trying story, but one with a hopeful ending.
Spiritual Wanderings 