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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? Moses was afraid, and said, Surely this thing is known-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"By faith (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the King" (<em><a href='B:650 11:27'>Heb 11:27</a></em>). But Moses did flee Egypt, because he feared the wrath of the King (<em><a href='B:20 2:14-15'>Exo 2:14-15</a></em>). It seems that Moses had at best a mixture of motives, or motives that changed over time; yet God sees through his human fear, and discerns an element of calm faith within Moses as he left Egypt. In similar vein, at the time of the burning bush, Moses seems to have forgotten God’s covenant name, he didn’t immediately take off his shoes in respect as he should have done, and it seems he feared to come close to God due to a bad conscience, and he resisted God’s invitation for him to go forth and do His work (<em><a href='B:20 3:5-7'>Exo 3:5-7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:10-11'>Exo 3:10-11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:1'>Exo 4:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:10-14'>Exo 4:10-14</a></em>). And yet at this very time, the New Testament says that Moses showed faith in the way he perceived God (<em><a href='B:490 20:37'>Luk 20:37</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses didn’t want Egypt to know that he was trying to save Israel; he thought he could do it secretly. Once he realized that people knew what he was trying to do, he was afraid. His fearfulness has similarities with that of spiritually weak Jacob, who fled from the face of Laban into the unknown, as Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh. Thus God encouraged him after forty years that he need no longer fear: "Return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought your life" (<em><a href='B:20 4:19'>Exo 4:19</a></em>). But then he rallied his faith and left Egypt, without (at the point of leaving) fearing the anger of Pharaoh. He so strongly believed, it was as if he physically saw God- as he asked (<em><a href='B:650 11:27'>Heb 11:27</a></em>).<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The loneliness of Moses as a type of Christ in showing this kind of&nbsp; love must surely represent that of our Lord. They went to a height which was generally beyond the appreciation of the men among whom they lived. The Spirit seems to highlight the loneliness of Moses by saying that at the same time as Moses <em>refused</em> to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, Israel <em>refused</em> him (the same Greek word is used; <em><a href='B:650 11:24'>Heb 11:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:35'>Act 7:35</a></em>). He was rejected by both the world and God’s people: for 40 long years. As Israel envied Moses for spiritual reasons (<em><a href='B:230 106:16'>Psa 106:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:9'>Act 7:9</a></em>), so they did Christ (<em><a href='B:470 27:18'>Mat 27:18</a></em>), after the pattern of the brothers' spiritual envy of Joseph (<em><a href='B:10 37:11'>Gen 37:11</a></em>). Spiritual envy leading to persecution is quite a common feature in Biblical history (Job, Jeremiah, Paul...). And it isn't absent from the Christian experience either.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The tragedy is that Israel's rejection of Moses is typical of the rejection of Christ by those in the new Israel who turn away. The same word used about Israel <em>refusing</em> Moses as their deliverer (<em><a href='B:510 7:35'>Act 7:35</a></em>) is used about those who <em>deny</em> (same word) the Lord (Jesus) that bought them (<em><a href='B:680 2:1'>2Pe 2:1</a></em>). This latter verse is prefaced by the information that as there were those who lost their faith in the ecclesia in the wilderness, so there will be among the new Israel (<em><a href='B:680 2:1'>2Pe 2:1</a></em>). Therefore "the Lord that bought them" is an allusion back to Moses as a type of Christ. The illogicality of Israel's rejection of Moses when he first appeared to them is so apparent. They were slaves in Egypt, and then one of the most senior of Pharaoh's officials reveals that he is their brother, and has been sent by God to deliver them. Yet they preferred the life of slavery in Egypt. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses is recorded as saying “People have found out what I have done!” – surely he said this within himself (<em><a href='B:20 2:14'>Exo 2:14</a></em> GNB). Samuel’s comment about Eliab was likewise presumably to himself (<em><a href='B:90 16:6'>1Sa 16:6</a></em>); Saul’s “I’ll strike (David) to the wall” was surely said to himself (<em><a href='B:90 18:11'>1Sa 18:11</a></em>); likewise his explanation of his plan to trap David via his daughter Michael was all hatched out within his own brain (<em><a href='B:90 18:21'>1Sa 18:21</a></em>); other examples in <em><a href='B:90 27:12'>1Sa 27:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 12:26'>1Ki 12:26</a></em> etc. Only God knew what those men ‘said in their heart’; and yet He has recorded it in His inspired word for all generations to see. In this alone we see how ultimately, nothing remains secret; at the day of judgment, what we spoke in darkness (i.e. In our own minds) will be heard in the light of God’s Kingdom (<em><a href='B:490 12:3'>Luk 12:3</a></em>). <em></em></p><p>Heb. 11:24 fills out what happened: "By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter". "When Moses was grown, he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens... when he was full forty years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren... by faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" (Ex. 2:11; Acts 7:23; Heb. 11:24). The implication seems to be that Moses reached a certain point of maturity, of readiness, and then he went to his brethren. We too have points of maturity we must reach before the Lord gives us our next task. </p><p>"(Moses) refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; having chosen rather (Gk.) to suffer affliction with the people of God" (Heb. 11:24,25) suggests that there was a struggle within the mind of Moses, between the reproach of Christ and the approbation of this world, and he then decisively came down on the right side. If we are truly saints, called out ones after the pattern of Moses, this struggle between present worldly advantage and the hope of the Kingdom must surely be seen in our minds. For this reason Moses is held up so highly as our example and pattern.</p><p>Moses could have been the next Pharaoh; according to Josephus, he was the commander of the Egyptian army. But he walked away from the possibility of being the richest man on earth, he "refused" it, because he valued "the reproach of Christ" and the recompense of the Kingdom to be greater riches. Yet what did he know about the sufferings of Christ? Presumably he had worked out from the promises of the seed in Eden and to the fathers that the future Saviour must be reproached and rejected; and he saw that his own life experience could have a close association with that of this unknown future Saviour who would surely come. And therefore, it seems, Moses counted the honour and wonder of this greater that the riches of Egypt. Both Paul and Moses rejected mammon for things which are abstract and intellectual (in the strict sense): the excellency of the understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ and His cross, and the Kingdom this would enable. Living when we do, with perhaps a greater knowledge of the Lord's victory and excellency, our motivation ought to be even stronger. He is our pattern; because we too could, should or might have had so much more than we have attained in this life, because we chose the excellency of the Christ who like Moses we only know in an outline sense.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 4:24'>Exo 4:24</a></em>. This happened when he was “Full forty years old” (<em><a href='B:510 7:23'>Act 7:23</a></em>). The Greek phrase could refer to Moses’ birthday, and one is tempted to speculate that it had been arranged that when Moses was 40, he would become Pharaoh. <em><a href='B:650 11:24'>Heb 11:24</a></em> says that he refused and chose- the Greek tense implying a one off choice- to suffer affliction with God’s people. It is tempting to imagine Moses at the ceremony when he should have been declared as Pharaoh, the most powerful man in his world…standing up and saying, to a suddenly hushed audience, voice cracking with shame and stress and yet some sort of proud relief that he was doing the right thing: “I, whom you know in Egyptian as Meses, am Moshe, yes, Moshe the Jew; and I decline to be Pharaoh”. Imagine his foster mother’s pain and anger. And then in the end, the wonderful honour would have been given to another man, who became Pharaoh. Perhaps he or his son was the one to whom Moses was to come, 40 years later. After a nervous breakdown, stuttering, speaking with a thick accent, clearly having forgotten Egyptian… walking through the mansions of glory, along the corridors of power, to meet that man, to whom he had given the throne 40 years earlier.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses forsook the possibilities of Egypt not just for "the reproach of Christ"; he was also motivated by the fact that "he endured (Gk. was vigorous), as seeing him who is invisible" (<em><a href='B:650 11:27'>Heb 11:27</a></em>). It was <em>as if</em> he had seen the invisible God, as he later asked to. But the fact he later asked to see God could be read as a step backwards for Moses, who at this point saw the invisible God by faith. His life was a very jagged graph of spirituality. When the disciples asked to see God, Christ said that the manifestation of His character which they had seen in him was the same thing (<em><a href='B:500 14:8'>Joh 14:8</a></em>). Our experience of seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, with unveiled face like Moses, ought to be a <em>wondrous</em> experience. When Moses asked to physically see God, the Angel proclaimed the characteristics of God before him. So when we read of Moses <em>as it were</em> seeing God at the time he decided to forsake Egypt, this must mean that he so appreciated God’s Name and character, he so had faith in the future Kingdom which this great Name and character promise, that he left Egypt. The Lord Jesus fed for strength on the <em>majesty </em>of the Name of Yahweh (<em><a href='B:400 5:4'>Mic 5:4</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"(Moses) refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; <em>having chosen rather</em> (Gk.) to suffer affliction with the people of God" (<em><a href='B:650 11:24-25'>Heb 11:24-25</a></em>) suggests that there was a struggle within the mind of Moses, between the reproach of Christ and the approbation of this world, and he then decisively came down on the right side. If we are truly saints, called out ones after the pattern of Moses, this struggle between present worldly advantage and the hope of the Kingdom must surely be seen in our minds. For this reason Moses is held up so highly as our example and pattern. He "forsook" Egypt uses the same word translated "leaving" when we read of a man leaving his parents to be joined to a wife, or of the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to find the lost one.<em></em></p><p>Heb. 11:27 comments that at this time, Moses "endured, because he saw Him who is invisible". Hupomone is generally translated "patience" or "endurance"; the idea is of the staying power that keeps a man going to the end. The meaning of hupomone grows as we experience more trials (Rom. 5:3; James 1:3). We find that the longer we endure in the Truth, the more we can echo the words of Peter, when the Lord asked him (surely with a lump in His throat) if he was going to turn back: "Lord, to whom shall we go?" (Jn. 6:68). There is no third road in the daily decisions we face. Over the months and years, hupomone becomes part of our essential character; keeping on keeping on is what life comes to be all about, no matter what short term blows and long term frustrations we face. The longer we endure, the stronger that force is, although we may not feel it. Moses is described as having it at the time he fled from Egypt, even though in the short term his faith failed him at the time and he fled in fear (Ex. 2:14,15). Yet God counted him as having that basic ability to endure, even to endure through his own failure and weakness. This is what God looks at, rather than our day-to-day acts of sin and righteousness. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We think of Jacob meeting his wife at a well, Isaac's servant likewise finding Isaac's wife at a well, and the Lord meeting the Samaritan woman at a well. Such connections within Biblical history become more apparent the more we read the Bible, and thus our faith is confirmed- that here, clearly, there was a higher hand at work over the centuries. Even if we cannot attach exact meaning to event, man is not alone. There are connections within our own lives, and between our lives and those of contemporary believers, as well as with Biblical characters. We through patience and comfort of the scriptures thus have hope (<em><a href='B:520 15:4'>Rom 15:4</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses helps and delivers (<em><a href='B:20 2:17'>Exo 2:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 2:19'>Exo 2:19</a></em>) the daughters of Jethro, just as God would help and deliver Israel (<em><a href='B:20 12:27'>Exo 12:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:13'>Exo 14:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:30'>Exo 14:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:2'>Exo 15:2</a></em>). He was being shown that his experiences were preparing him for something far greater. Note that at that time when Moses first met Jethro's daughters at the well, Moses was in depression. His plans and vision rejected by his own people, fallen from riches to rags, homeless and alone... and yet in that low moment he was chosen to be a manifestation of God! And this is the wonder of how God rejoices to work with the broken. However, Moses' desire to save others, his concern for the oppressed and helpless, shines through- he seeks to save the slave beaten by his Egyptian master; the neighbour wronged by his Hebrew brother; the unknown women deprived at the well by male nomads (<em><a href='B:20 2:11'>Exo 2:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 2:13'>Exo 2:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 2:17'>Exo 2:17</a></em>). In all this Moses was manifesting the concern and saving help of God. And when we do likewise, we show God’s face to this world. See on 2:11<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, How is it that you have returned so early today?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Abuse at the hand of the shepherds (:19) was a daily experience for them, just as the Israelites were daily abused- possibly at the hands of the 'shepherd kings' dynasty of Egypt. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses flees to Midian, where he helps some unknown shepherd women from being abused by some rough men; he did this without at first receiving any reward, and without the women wanting him to go with them; although they thought he was an Egyptian, showing that he still concealed his relationship with God. See on <em><a href='B:500 4:7-10'>Joh 4:7-10</a></em>. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The whole nature of being human means that we must live in&nbsp; this world, although we are not of it. Consider how Daniel’s friends wore turbans (<em><a href='B:340 3:21'>Dan 3:21</a></em> NIV), how Moses appeared externally to be an Egyptian (<em><a href='B:20 2:19'>Exo 2:19</a></em>), as did Joseph and his brothers when they went to Canaan to bury his father, and how the Lord Himself had strongly Jewish characteristics (<em><a href='B:500 4:9'>Joh 4:9</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Israel rejected Moses as their deliverer, they failed to see in that dead Egyptian the ability of Moses to save them completely from the life of slavery. And so Moses fled away from them, he came to Gentile, pagan Midian, and rescued a Gentile woman from the persecution of men, married her, and started a new life in the wilderness- to return many years later in the power of&nbsp; the Holy Spirit and redeem Israel when they were in truly desperate straits. All this naturally points ahead to the work of Jesus after Israel failed to respond to his work on the cross. The word used to describe Moses rescuing his future wife from the shepherds is the same used concerning God rescuing Israel from Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 2:19'>Exo 2:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 18:10'>Exo 18:10</a></em>). Thus Moses was manifesting the redemptive work of God when he saved his wife. But the marriage broke up, as it did between God and Israel- but was apparently restored.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said to his daughters, Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>To eat bread together was a sign of acceptance. The way the Lord Jesus broke His bread with sinners was likewise a message of open acceptance to any who wished to sit at His table. He did this, He explained, in order to win sinners to Him; eating His bread was not a sign that they had cleared some moral bar He had arbitrarily insisted upon. It is a strong argument for an open table amongst God’s people today. All who wish are to be welcomed. &nbsp;<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses "was content to dwell" with the father of the women. The Hebrew for "content" comes from a root which means weakness of mind; the implication is that he easily yielded to this man. She was not one of the covenant people; she was the daughter of a pagan priest (<em><a href='B:20 18:11'>Exo 18:11</a></em> implies Jethro thought Yahweh was only one of many gods); she did not circumcise their children. Should Moses have married her? The fact Moses did not bother circumcising his son shows he was not really serious about his relationship with God; God tried to kill him because of this. God tried to kill Moses because of this; this shows how serious this was in God’s eyes. Zipporah was a Midianite, a descendant of Abraham through Keturah (<em><a href='B:10 25:1-6'>Gen 25:1-6</a></em>). Circumcision was a sign of the covenant through Isaac, hence the resentment and bitterness of Zipporah over the circumcision issue; and it seems Moses capitulated to her on this. Their marriage is sure proof that fundamental spiritual differences at the start can only lead to anger and break up later on.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Positive self-talk will enable us to maintain our basic human dignity, as well as our faith and spiritual integrity, in the face of rejection, slander and breakup of human relationships. It’s all too easy to be negative. Moses said within himself “I am a foreigner in this land” – and his self-talk led to the very public ‘word’ of naming his son ‘Gershom’ (<em><a href='B:20 2:22'>Exo 2:22</a></em>). <em></em>We ask 'Which land was Moses feeling he had lived as a foreigner in? Midian, or Egypt?'. I suggest the record intentionally begs this question. Because the answer is, "Both"'. He felt he did not fit in where he was, had never fitted in where he grew up. And this is how all God's true Israel feel.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the abuse, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the abuse- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The whole description of Egypt's judgments in Ezekiel 29 is also full of links with those in store for Israel. <em>They</em> will cry unto Yahweh in their affliction (<em><a href='B:290 19:20'>Isa 19:20</a></em>), just as Israel did when Egypt persecuted them (<em><a href='B:20 2:23'>Exo 2:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:10'>Exo 14:10</a></em>). <em></em></p><p>The sighing came after the death of the Pharaoh, probably because they hoped that the new rules would change the persecution policy. But he did not and therefore their dashed hopes led them to cry to Yahweh. Perhaps we can deduce from Ex. 4:19 that Moses should have perceived this as the right time to return to Egypt, but he didn't.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Israel at this time were worshipping Egypt's idols, and took the tabernacles of false gods with them through the Red Sea and the wilderness (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em> etc.). But the wonder of the covenant with Abraham, which is made with all those who are baptized into the seed of Abraham (<em><a href='B:550 3:27-29'>Gal 3:27-29</a></em>), is that it is the covenant of grace. God honours it even when those within it are unrighteous and undeserving. And He pities them in their afflictions, even if they are self-inflicted.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses manifested / represented both God and Israel, superbly prefiguring the nature of the Lord's work and mission far later. As God "saw" the oppression of Israel (<em><a href='B:20 2:25'>Exo 2:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:9'>Exo 3:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:31'>Exo 4:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 5:19'>Exo 5:19</a></em>), so did Moses (<em><a href='B:20 2:11'>Exo 2:11</a></em>). He looked on God’s people with the eyes / perspective of God- just as we should. And our desire to save people should reflect God's desire.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This was where he would later lead God’s people, as a flock. Also for 40 years. It can be shown that much of Moses life, especially his Midian years, were lived in a spirit of semi-spirituality, aware of his responsibility to God, but being slack to rise up to what it really meant, being content, year after year, to live the life of a spiritual minimalist, ever making excuses for himself. Yet somehow God overruled this, as He did the fact that Moses sinned and was excluded from entering the land. The result was that Moses was able to enter exactly into the feelings of rejected, spiritually apathetic Israel in their 40 years wilderness wanderings. For 40 years he too had wandered in the same desert as a shepherd, with the same apathy. This points forward to how the Lord Jesus can enter into the feelings of active sinners, whilst himself being sinless.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses was a shepherd for 40 years, and then for 40 years he put this into practice by leading Israel as God’s shepherd for 40 years in the same wilderness (<em><a href='B:40 27:17'>Num 27:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 63:11'>Isa 63:11</a></em>). As Moses was willing to sacrifice his eternal life for the salvation of the sheep of Israel (<em><a href='B:20 32:30-32'>Exo 32:30-32</a></em>), so Christ gave his life for us. John's Gospel normally shows the supremacy of Christ over Moses. In this connection of them both being shepherds willing to die for the flock, Moses is not framed as being inferior to Christ- in that in his desire to die for Israel, he truly reached the fullness of the spirit of Christ. "The good shepherd" was a Rabbinical title for Moses; Christ was saying "I am Moses, in his love for your salvation; not better than him, but exactly like him in this". In a sense, Moses' prayer was heard, in that he was excluded from the land for their sakes (<em><a href='B:50 1:37'>Deu 1:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 3:26'>Deu 3:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 4:21'>Deu 4:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 106:33'>Psa 106:33</a></em>); they entered after his death. This was to symbolize how the spirit of his love for Israel was typical of Christ's for us. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>LXX "bramble bush", representing the thorns and thistles brought forth as a result of human sin. And yet within that, the flame of fire of God’s manifestation burned, and did not consume that frail, highly flammable, sin cursed bramble bush. It was all a message of how God would dwell within sinful people, and not consume them. Yahweh was likewise to dwell within Israel in the pillar of fire which never consumed them, despite their sins demanding this. This connects with how Moses' hand was made leprous (symbolic of sin), and how he used that hand to catch a snake (sin) by its tail.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The spiritual growth of Moses was a jagged graph. In the bigger picture of Moses' life, it's clear that God was working with him according to a pattern. His 120 years of life fall into three distinct periods of 40 years. His 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness were to prepare him for 40 years of shepherding God’s people in the same wilderness. The burning bush was to prepare him for the awesome meeting with God in the burning mountain- note how the unusual Hebrew word used for "bush", <em>seneh</em>, echoes the name of the mountain, Sinai. Everything was used by God in His personal development plan for Moses. It was likely an acacia bush, the wood of which was to be used for the construction of the tabernacle, over which the fire of God’s manifestation was to burn without consuming the sinful people. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses! Moses! He said, Here I am-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The double repetition "Moses, Moses" may be some kind of rebuke. "I <em>have</em>" seen the affliction of Israel could suggest that Moses felt God was not sensitive to the pain of His children; he had been living for 40 years feeling forgotten by God . Moses "wondered" at what he saw and heard at the burning bush (<em><a href='B:510 7:31'>Act 7:31</a></em>)- a Greek word which is often used in a negative sense concerning people lacking faith and insight when they should have had it.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Here I am" was to be matched by Yahweh's declaration that "(Here) I am" (:6). We see here the mutuality intended between God and man. Yahweh's manifestation was apparently predicated upon Moses ' turning aside to see' (<em><a href='B:20 3:3-4'>Exo 3:3-4</a></em>). And the same phrase is used later when God says He will 'turn aside' His hand, so that Moses may 'see' something of Him (<em><a href='B:20 33:23'>Exo 33:23</a></em>). Here again we see the mutuality between God and Moses. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Don’t come close. Take your sandals off from your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>God appeared to Moses in the flame of fire in the bush, but Moses had to be told to take off his shoes as a sign of respect- even though taking off shoes was understood as a token of respect and recognition of sin (see <em><a href='B:100 15:30'>2Sa 15:30</a></em>). It sounds as if Moses did not appreciate the holiness of God, and ought to have done this without being asked. Stephen will develop the thought of how a thorn bush in the desert could be made "holy ground"; and therefore the idea that the temple alone was "holy ground" was patently false. We don't need any sacred space or religious structure in order to meet God on holy ground. "Holy ground" is the same phrase translated "holy land" in <em><a href='B:450 2:12'>Zec 2:12</a></em>. The land of promise included the desert where Moses was then standing; he was being reminded that he was not in fact in exile, but was within the land of promise. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:490 20:37'>Luk 20:37</a></em>. Moses is one of the greatest types of the Lord Jesus, in whom the Father was supremely manifested. Because of this, it is fitting that we should see a very high level of God manifestation in Moses. Indeed it seems that God was manifest in Moses to a greater degree than in any other Old Testament character. God is His word (<em><a href='B:500 1:2'>Joh 1:2</a></em>). Moses is likewise spoken of as if he is his word (<em><a href='B:510 15:21'>Act 15:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 21:21'>Act 21:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 26:22'>Act 26:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:540 3:18'>2Co 3:18</a></em>), so close was his association with it. The words and commands of Moses were those of God. “In the bush God spoke unto (Moses), saying, I am the God of Abraham... Isaac and Jacob” (<em><a href='B:480 12:26'>Mar 12:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 22:31'>Mat 22:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:6'>Exo 3:6</a></em>). Yet <em><a href='B:490 20:37'>Luk 20:37</a></em> says that “that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham” etc. Yet this was what God said of Himself.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Clearly the Angel in the bush (<em><a href='B:510 7:30'>Act 7:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:35'>Act 7:35</a></em>) was functioning as God Himself to Moses, just as the Lord Jesus can function as God without being God. And just as Moses was to be made as God to Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 9:1'>Exo 9:1</a></em>). We note Moses' spiritual growth; for later he wanted to see God’s face.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>God looked on the sorrows of His people through the sensitivity of Moses, He saw and knew their struggles, their sense of being trapped, their desire to revive spiritually but their being tied down by the painful business of life and living; and He sent Moses to deliver them from this. But these very words are quoted about our deliverance through the 'coming down'&nbsp;of the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:31'>Exo 4:31</a></em> = <em><a href='B:490 1:68'>Luk 1:68</a></em>).&nbsp;Our heart can touch the heart of God. It's a priceless wonder to know and experience this. God saw Israel's depressed <em>minds</em> in Egypt and was moved to 'come down' to them in response (<em><a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a></em> - the word translated "affliction" is rendered by Strong as 'depression').<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Our guardian Angels are emotional beings, capable of changing their plans in accordance with how moved they are by our prayers, and to an extent they fellowship the sufferings they bring upon us- so the Angel in the burning bush could tell Moses "I have seen the affliction of My people (for whom I am guardian)... and have heard their cry... for I know their sorrows: and I am come down to deliver them. . and to bring them up out of that land (again, the work of the Angel)" (<em><a href='B:20 3:7-8'>Exo 3:7-8</a></em>). The purpose of God in Christ is to "bring together in one all things, which are in Heaven (Angels) and which are on earth (us their charges )", and in the day of judgement we will perhaps be united in some special spiritual sense to our Angel who has redeemed us through this life.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We know an Angel was physically sent in advance of the Israelites to drive out those tribes, and so the phrase "I am come down" used by the same Angel here may therefore be taken literally- He literally, physically "came down". Although this phrase "came down" is often used to describe God manifestation, it may be that when it is used in connection with the Angels, it does have a physical, literal application. It seems that great stress is placed in Scripture on the Angels physically moving through space, both on the earth and between Heaven and earth, in order to fulfil their tasks, rather than being static in Heaven or earth and bringing things about by just willing them to happen. See on <em><a href='B:10 18:10'>Gen 18:10</a></em>. We note that "bring them up out of" Egypt to Canaan was also literally true, in that Canaan is far higher than Egypt (this is stressed- <em><a href='B:10 12:10'>Gen 12:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 13:1'>Gen 13:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 37:25'>Gen 37:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 39:1'>Gen 39:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 42:2'>Gen 42:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 46:3-4'>Gen 46:3-4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 50:25'>Gen 50:25</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The promised land was only 'larger' than Egypt if we accept that it was God’s intention to give Israel the entire land promised to Abraham, from the Nile to the Euphrates. But in reality they lacked the faith to inherit it, and so He was willing to work with them to give them the area from around the Jordan to the Mediterranean. And they didn’t even possess all that. See on :17.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses manifested / represented both God and Israel, superbly prefiguring the nature of the Lord's work and mission far later. As God "saw" the oppression of Israel (<em><a href='B:20 2:25'>Exo 2:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:9'>Exo 3:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:31'>Exo 4:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 5:19'>Exo 5:19</a></em>), so did Moses (<em><a href='B:20 2:11'>Exo 2:11</a></em>). He looked on God’s people with the eyes / perspective of God- just as we should.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Isaiah realized his unworthiness: "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips". He felt he was going to be condemned. But then out of the same vision, the Angel comforted him: "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged". And then immediately he offered to go on a preaching mission to Israel, motivated by his own experience of forgiveness and with therefore an appropriate humility: "Here am I, send me" (<em><a href='B:290 6:5-8'>Isa 6:5-8</a></em>). This incident is full of allusion to the sending of an equally hesitant Moses. As God appears in the burning bush, so God appears to Isaiah among the seraphim, the burning ones. Moses is reluctant to bear God’s word because “I am a man of uncircumcised lips”, and Isaiah felt the same. Whom shall I send… who will go? (<em><a href='B:20 3:8-9'>Exo 3:8-9</a></em>) is matched by <em><a href='B:290 6:8-9'>Isa 6:8-9</a></em>. The willingness of Moses to go (<em><a href='B:20 3:4'>Exo 3:4</a></em>) is that of Isaiah. And it is to be our pattern, going forth in witness firstly convicted of our own utter unworthiness.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 4:10'>Exo 4:10</a></em>. Through Moses allowing himself to become part of God manifestation, he found a confidence to achieve that which felt impossible to him. He asks God: "Who am I...?" to do the great things God required... and the answer was "<em>I</em> will be who <em>I </em>will be" (<em><a href='B:20 3:11-13'>Exo 3:11-13</a></em>). Moses' sense of inadequacy was met by the principle of God’s manifestation in him; and so will ours be, if we participate in it. "Who am I?" is answered by "I am...". <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The more we enter into the depths of the Name, the more we will seek the Father; and in this sense, the Name is an endless inspiration to know the Father better and better, closer and closer, world without end. The whole declaration of God’s Name to Moses is actually part of a mutuality between God and Moses. Moses has just commented: "Who am I to bring Israel out?" (<em><a href='B:20 3:11'>Exo 3:11</a></em>). And God alludes to this in His answer, for His declaration of His Name hinges around the idea of "Who am I? I am...". The implication of the Name seems to be "I will be who I am / I am who I will be"- i.e. 'I will be God for you'. Surely the idea of the Name being declared in this way was to assure a doubting, depressed Moses that God will be God, will be true to Himself, and therefore will be God for us in all aspects, all places, situations. This is what the Name is really all about- assurance. For that was the context in which God declared it to Moses, as part of a relationship with that man<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:70 6:12'>Jdg 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:70 6:16'>Jdg 6:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>. It even seems that Moses had forgotten the significance of God’s Name, even though it had been revealed to Abraham (<em><a href='B:20 3:13'>Exo 3:13</a></em>). Moses' fear to look upon God suggests a bad conscience.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Note that the promise of Moses that God would not fail nor forsake Joshua, but would be with him (<em><a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a></em>) was similar to the very promise given to Moses which he had earlier doubted (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:12'>Exo 4:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:15'>Exo 4:15</a></em>). Such exhortation is so much the stronger from someone who has themselves doubted and then come to believe. Joshua was encouraged that "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you" (<em><a href='B:60 1:5'>Jos 1:5</a></em>). But these very words are quoted in <em><a href='B:650 13:5'>Heb 13:5</a></em> as the grounds of our matchless confidence that the Lord God will be with us too! As He was with Moses- not just in power, but in wondrous patience and gentleness- so He will be with us too. Not only did God encourage Joshua to see himself as in Moses' shoes; He inspired Jeremiah likewise (<em><a href='B:300 21:8'>Jer 21:8</a></em> = <em><a href='B:50 30:15'>Deu 30:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a></em>), and Ezekiel (<em><a href='B:330 2:3'>Eze 2:3</a></em> = <em><a href='B:50 31:27'>Deu 31:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:160 9:17'>Neh 9:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 17:10'>Num 17:10</a></em>); and He wishes us to also see Moses' God as our God. But if Moses' God is to be ours in truth in the daily round of life, we must rise up to the dedication of Moses; as he was a faithful steward, thoroughly dedicated to God’s ecclesia (<em><a href='B:650 3:5'>Heb 3:5</a></em>), so we are invited follow his example (<em><a href='B:530 4:2'>1Co 4:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:45'>Mat 24:45</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Gideon was bidden rise up to the example of Moses- for there were many similarities between his call by the Angel, and the Angelic calling which Moses received at the burning bush. Thus Gideon was called to follow the Angel in faith, "because Ehyeh is with you" (<em><a href='B:70 6:16'>Jdg 6:16</a></em>)- a direct quotation from the Angelic manifestation to Moses in <em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>, "I will be (<em>ehyeh</em>) with you"<em>.</em> And yet he responds: "Alas! For I have seen Yahweh's envoy face to face!" (<em><a href='B:70 6:22'>Jdg 6:22</a></em>). Gideon knew full well that Moses had seen the Angel "face to face" (<em><a href='B:50 34:10'>Deu 34:10</a></em>). Gideon's fear is therefore rooted in a sense that "No! I'm simply <em>not</em> Moses!". And it's the same with us. We can read of all these reasons to believe that Moses is really our pattern, and respond that "No! This ain't me...". But there, in the record of Gideon and his success, lies our challenge to rise up to the spirit of Moses.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>To the Semitic peoples, a name stands for the essential identity of a person; to know their name gives access to the power and authority which they have. This is why Moses is so urgent to know God’s Name (<em><a href='B:20 3:13-14'>Exo 3:13-14</a></em>). Insofar as we grasp and absorb into ourselves the principles of that Name, we likewise will be empowered by the Father. The Name of God is essentially an epitome of who God is. God declared His Name to Moses when He declared His attributes to Him. This means that all that God is, we must be. Our attitudes to God are therefore related to our views about God. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Lord Jesus in John’s Gospel describes Himself in terms of the “I am…” formula, alluding to the Name He carried. Each time, He was referring back to the burning bush revelation of Yahweh as the “I am”; and by implication, the Lord’s audience are thereby placed in the position of Moses, intended to rise up in response as he did.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Name speaks of the Father's desire to respond to His children. The root word <em>ehyeh</em> from which 'Yahweh' is derived occurs 50 times, mainly in the context of God’s help and comfort in real situations. This is the practical nature of the things expressed in the Name. The repeated references to God’s Name in Exodus 3, 6 had a very practical context. Israel needed to summon all their faith to believe that actually, they were not in a hopeless situation there in the concentration camps of Egypt. Even when they were given no straw and told to make the same number of bricks, the comfort they are given is to remember the <em>Name</em> of their God, who had acted according to that Name in the past, and would do so in the future for them- because He is and will be who He has been. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Whenever God speaks about His Name, it is in the context of His emphasizing His huge commitment to Israel as His people, often in the face of their weakness (<em><a href='B:20 12:12'>Exo 12:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:26'>Exo 15:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 20:2'>Exo 20:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 20:5-6'>Eze 20:5-6</a></em>). The very meaning of God’s Name is of itself encouraging- although it is somewhat masked in English translations. God 'is' not just in the sense that He exists, but in that He 'is' there with and for us. Von Rad puts this in more theological language when commenting upon <em><a href='B:20 3:14'>Exo 3:14</a></em>: "It is to be understand in the sense of 'being present', 'being there' and therefore precisely not in the sense of absolute, but of relative and efficacious, being- I will be there (for you)". The verb behind 'YHWH' was "originally causative", i.e. God not only 'is' but He causes things to happen. We aren't to understand Him as passive, just a stone cold Name... but rather passionately active and causative in our sometimes apparently static and repetitive lives.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>God said moreover to Moses, You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The idea is that God didn’t have a new Name. He was going to act according to the principles of His Name as He had acted with their fathers. Nothing had changed; and He had always been a God of salvation by grace. This was to continue; He was to be remembered for how He had articulated His Name in how He had historically acted in saving the patriarchs, and He would be remembered for how He was going to act to save His people from Egypt. What was to be memorialized was therefore His actions, rather than simply the letters YHWH. It was His wonderful works which were to be remembered (<em><a href='B:230 111:4'>Psa 111:4</a></em>, s.w. "My memorial"). By contrast, the sinful works and persons of the wicked would not be remembered / memorialized, be they Amalek (s.w. <em><a href='B:20 17:14'>Exo 17:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 25:19'>Deu 25:19</a></em>), or God’s apostate people (s.w. <em><a href='B:50 32:26'>Deu 32:26</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The pronouns stress how despite Moses' separation from His people over the last 80 years, he self identified as a Hebrew and God accepted that. Yahweh appeared "to <em>me</em>", with the new that He had "visited <em>you</em>", and was aware what had been "done to <em>you</em>". Moses indeed had felt for his own people there and identified with them, and God recognized that. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The ultimate visitation of Yahweh was in His plan to save His people eternally through the Lord Jesus, the greater than Moses (<em><a href='B:490 1:68'>Luk 1:68</a></em>; <em><a href='B:490 7:16'>Luk 7:16</a></em>). And we too are to look out of ourselves and visit the fatherless and widows (<em><a href='B:660 1:27'>Jas 1:27</a></em>), which is how Israel in Egypt are described in <em><a href='B:230 68:5'>Psa 68:5</a></em>.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note that only six nations are mentioned as living in the land, in contrast to the ten nations listed when the land was first promised (<em><a href='B:10 15:18-21'>Gen 15:18-21</a></em>). It was as if God had already started to scale back the extent of His potential operations with Israel and His grace toward them, foreseeing they would not be able to cope with it all at one time. See on :8.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They will listen to your voice- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>And yet there were various levels of possible obedience. Thus if the people don't believe the first sign, they may believe the second; if they don't believe either of them then there will be a third sign (<em><a href='B:20 4:8-9'>Exo 4:8-9</a></em>). Yet God states in <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em> that the people will listen; and yet <em><a href='B:20 4:8-9'>Exo 4:8-9</a></em> accepts the possibility that they may not. In this we see not only the essential hopefulness of God for human response to Him, but His willingness to go along with our continued weakness and blindness in an open-ended manner. There is, therefore, the possibility of living before God on different levels. See on <em><a href='B:20 4:1'>Exo 4:1</a></em>.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 6:12'>Exo 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:14-16'>Exo 33:14-16</a></em>. God had explained to Moses what He wished him to tell Pharaoh: "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, hath met with us: and now let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God" (<em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>). But Moses actually doesn't say those exact words. Instead he says: "Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness... The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Yahweh our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword" (<em><a href='B:20 5:1'>Exo 5:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 5:3'>Exo 5:3</a></em>). This seems perilously similar to the way in which Eve added to Yahweh's words when telling the serpent that actually, God had told Adam not to <em>even touch</em> the fruit. Moses appears to be painting Yahweh as somewhat draconian and threatening of him personally as well as Israel- as if to say 'Well sir, please do us this favour, or else our God is gonna get mad with us'. Perhaps this was actually how Moses misperceived Yahweh; or perhaps he added to Yahweh's words in order to make his appeal sound more plausible.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Thus we can as it were do the work of the Saviour Himself, if we truly live as in Him. In this spirit, <em>Moses’</em> faith in keeping the Passover led to <em>Israel’s </em>salvation, they left Egypt <em>by </em>him (<em><a href='B:650 3:16'>Heb 3:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 11:28'>Heb 11:28</a></em>); and when Aaron deserved death, he was redeemed by Moses’ prayer on his behalf (<em><a href='B:50 9:20'>Deu 9:20</a></em>)<em>. </em>Moses’ prayer, with uplifted hands, resulted in Israel’s victory over Amalek; without his prayer, and the intensity of it, there would have been no victory for them. However, he had to learn this lesson; for God first of all taught him that if he explained the power of God’s Name to Israel’s elders, then they would hearken unto him (<em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>). But they didn’t hearken unto Moses (5:20), because he didn’t bother expounding the Name to them. Therefore he did explain it to them (6:1-9 = 3:14-17); but then again they refused to hearken to him (6:9 cp. 3:18). He learnt that what was proclaimed by God as possible all the same depends on human effort. And this lead him on even further, to realize that through his spirituality, he could bring salvation for others.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The concepts of being God manifest and also being representative of a sinful Israel come together in Moses in a wonderful way. <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em> is an example of this. The elders of Israel were to tell Pharaoh that "the Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us". Yet Yahweh God of Israel had only met with Moses. Yet because he was representative of Israel and also because he himself manifested Yahweh God of Israel, the elders had met Yahweh when they met Moses. In this we see a superb prefigurement of the Lord Jesus. He was the supreme, faultless manifestation of God, and yet also the total, empathetic representative of sinful man.&nbsp;<em></em></p><p>Another reading is found in commentary on Ex. 5:1.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>And yet Pharaoh had the real possibility to let the people go, and therefore <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em> NRSV implies that God only therefore went ahead with the plan to kill Pharaoh's firstborn. The "mighty hand" speaks of God’s huge efforts to save Pharaoh by persuading him to submit to Yahweh. God did bring them out "by a mighty hand" (<em><a href='B:20 6:1'>Exo 6:1</a></em> s.w.), so the sense may be that it would require a "mighty hand" to bring them out, because the king of Egypt would not allow them to.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I will reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses "supposed his brethren would have understood how that God <em>by his hand</em> would deliver them" (<em><a href='B:510 7:25'>Act 7:25</a></em>); but God told Moses that "I will stretch out <em>my hand</em>, and smite Egypt...". Moses only slowly learned the meaning of God manifestation through men. The hand of Moses was to be that of God. But he doubted that. Hence he was given signs relating to his physical hand; it became leprous, and he used it to catch the snake which his rod had turned into. Both leprosy and snakes are associated with sin. So God is teaching him that despite his weakness, He was still able and willing to work with Him.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses was “sent forth” by God to do the work (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em> and frequently); yet the same Hebrew word is used to describe how God ‘sent out’ (“stretched forth”) the hand of God to do it (<em><a href='B:20 3:20'>Exo 3:20</a></em>). And Moses was taught this by being told to ‘stretch out’ (same Hebrew word) <em>his</em> hand (<em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>).&nbsp; But Moses, for some moments at least, just didn’t want to do this. Hence God’s anger when Moses comments: “Send (the same word translated “let go” or “put forth” used about Moses being asked to “put forth” &nbsp;his hand in <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>) by the hand of him whom thou wilt send” (<em><a href='B:20 4:13'>Exo 4:13</a></em>). It was Moses’ hand that God had asked to be ‘put forth’ or ‘sent’. But Moses refuses to play a part in God manifestation. He wanted God to send forth another hand, the hand of God personally perhaps; although God had asked him to put forth <em>his</em> hand. We too tend to assume that God cannot manifest Himself through <em>us</em>; but we all tend to assume someone else will do the job, when it is <em>we</em> who are called to it.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites at the end (<em><a href='B:20 11:3'>Exo 11:3</a></em>), and therefore wished themselves to give them their wealth in the hope that this would as it were buy off the threat of death. For after the death of the firstborn, they feared that the rest of them would be slain next. The same word for "empty-handed" is used of how Jacob likewise did not return to his land from his slavery "empty-handed" but wealthy (<em><a href='B:10 31:42'>Gen 31:42</a></em>). Constantly they were bidden see how they were being dealt with as their God had previously treated their fathers. And they were to remember this by not sending any slave away from them "empty-handed" (s.w. <em><a href='B:50 15:13'>Deu 15:13</a></em>). Always they were to live life under the deep impression of how they had been redeemed themselves, and were to reflect that grace to others in every context and situation of their lives. And the new Israel likewise.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We may well ask whether this is commandment or prophecy. It is both, in that so much prophecy is conditional prophecy, dependent upon human obedience to actualize it. The idea was that they would march toward their new land dressed up in the finest clothing and jewellery. And it was this which they were to then give for the work of the tabernacle (<em><a href='B:20 35:22'>Exo 35:22</a></em>).<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses answered, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This was a bald faced denial of the truth of God’s statement in <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em> that "They will listen to your voice". Moses' insistence that he doesn't want to partner with God is extreme, as is his disbelief. But God held on to him, and worked through him. This is the amazing encouragement from any reflection upon the life of Moses. Apart from a few flashes of devotion, it seems Moses only really came to a mature faith and commitment in the last part of his very long life.<em></em></p><p>Moses presents as disobedient and defiant of God's word, when he was to be one of the most major vehicles of that word. Why did Moses resist the call? Probably because of awareness of his own sin, represented by the serpent and leprosy. But the encouragement was that he could a handle on the tail of the serpent, and his leprosy could be healed. We saw that at the burning bush, Yahweh has insisted seven times that "I will..." bring salvation, the essence of the Yahweh Name, I will be / do. But Moses is in direct defiance of that when he says that the proposed salvation "will NOT" work. </p><p>Another reason Moses so strongly refused the call was because the mire of mediocrity is so strong for all men. Minding his father in law's sheep was not the greatest job nor situation. But it was something he could do and had felt secure in for forty years. The workaday life may be disliked by us, we may chafe at, but it suddenly feels so safe, so old and familiar, when we are confronted with the Lord's call to be His man in this world. In all this lies the significance of his shepherd's rod, his workaday tool, the symbol of his working life, becoming God's rod.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A rod- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses "supposed his brethren would have understood how that God <em>by his hand</em> would deliver them" (<em><a href='B:510 7:25'>Act 7:25</a></em>); but God told Moses that "I will stretch out <em>my hand</em>, and smite Egypt..." (<em><a href='B:20 3:20'>Exo 3:20</a></em>). Moses struggled to believe [as we all do] that if God works through us, then our hand is God's hand. Moses only slowly learned the meaning of God manifestation through men. The hand of Moses was to be that of God. But he doubted that. Hence he was given signs relating to his physical hand; it became leprous, and he used it to catch the snake which his rod had turned into. Both leprosy and snakes are associated with sin. So God is teaching him that despite his weakness, He was still able and willing to work with Him.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Throw it on the ground. He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Ran away" is the usual Hebrew word used for fleeing before enemies. Moses was where he was because he had fled from Pharaoh, with his snake / serpent head dress (<em><a href='B:20 2:15'>Exo 2:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:29'>Act 7:29</a></em>). He was being taught that he need not have done that. Whilst his reaction had been instinctive and natural, he was to do the counter instinctive, in faith- believing that his hand was God’s hand. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail. He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses is told to “stretch / put forth” his hand. It is the same word repeatedly translated “let go” in the context of God telling Pharaoh to let Israel go (e.g. <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em>). “Caught” is the same Hebrew word frequently translated “harden” in the context of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart (e.g. <em><a href='B:20 4:21'>Exo 4:21</a></em>). As the snake hardened in Moses’ hand into a rod, so this was how God would deal with Pharaoh through Moses. Thus God is showing Moses that what Moses will do with <em>his</em> hand to the snake- a symbol of Egypt- so the hand of God will do, working through Moses’ hand. Thus Moses’ rod (s.w. <em><a href='B:20 4:2'>Exo 4:2</a></em>, about his shepherd’s crook) was a symbol of Egypt and Pharaoh. But the throwing down of the shepherd’s rod surely also indicated that Moses was to cast down the shepherd’s life he had been living, and let God’s hand take hold of him, so that his hand became the hand of God. Moses would thus have perceived some sort of parallel between himself and Pharaoh; God was working in both their lives, and it would take as much courage to grab hold of his own serpent-like life, as it would to do battle with Egypt. <em><a href='B:20 4:23-24'>Exo 4:23-24</a></em> brings out the parallel between how God told Moses that He would slay the firstborn of Pharaoh; and then seeks to slay Moses and <em>his</em> firstborn. And we can see lessons for ourselves here, surely. We throw down our worldly lives, take hold of them in faith, and they are transformed into the rod of God through which He will work wonders. Moses had to perceive the serpent-like aspects of his life and grip them; just as the parallel second sign involved his hand becoming leprous, with all its associations with sin, and then being healed and made strong to be used as the hand of God. What all this shows is that God manifestation, our hand becoming the hand of God, God working through us to deliver His people, is predicated upon our own realization of sinfulness, and grasping it firmly. Ultimately, the hand of Yahweh was revealed through the hand of Moses. Moses was “sent forth” by God to do the work (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em> and frequently); yet the same Hebrew word is used to describe how God ‘sent out’ (“stretched forth”) the hand of God to do it (<em><a href='B:20 3:20'>Exo 3:20</a></em>). And Moses was taught this by being told to ‘stretch out’ (same Hebrew word) <em>his</em> hand (<em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>).&nbsp; But Moses, for some moments at least, just didn’t want to do this. Hence God’s anger when Moses comments: “Send (the same word translated “let go” or “put forth” used about Moses being asked to “put forth” &nbsp;his hand in <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>) by the hand of him whom thou wilt send” (<em><a href='B:20 4:13'>Exo 4:13</a></em>). It was Moses’ hand that God had asked to be ‘put forth’ or ‘sent’. But Moses refuses to play a part in God manifestation. He wanted God to send forth another hand, the hand of God personally perhaps; although God had asked him to put forth <em>his</em> hand. We too tend to assume that God cannot manifest Himself through <em>us</em>; but we all tend to assume someone else will do the job, when it is <em>we</em> who are called to it. The rabbis hold that Moses is not being weak here, rather he is referring to the Messiah- the hand whom Moses knew God would one day send forth to save His people. He would then be saying: ‘No, I don’t want to do this, let the Christ do it’. The same thought is maybe found in <em><a href='B:20 5:22'>Exo 5:22</a></em>, when Moses asks Yahweh: “Why is it that thou hast sent (s.w. “put forth” and “let go”) <em>me</em>?”- i.e., why don’t You use Messiah, the man of Your right hand? And this, subconsciously and unexpressed, is so often our view; He must do it, not me. I’m just a shepherd, God ought to leave me alone in the comfortable monotony of my working life. But He has called us to greater things, to realize as Moses finally did that <em>we</em>, you and me, are the ones through whom God truly will work in this world. The rod of Moses (“<em>thy</em> rod”) became the rod of God (<em><a href='B:20 4:20'>Exo 4:20</a></em>); the shepherd’s crook, the symbol of an obscure workaday life, became transformed to the rod and arm of God Almighty. &nbsp; There can be no doubt from all this that God was intensely manifest in Moses. The hand of God was manifested through the hand of Moses. Moses had many deep seated spiritual weakness, and also many traits which were not appropriate to leadership, and yet because of his willingness to participate in God’s desire to be manifest through him, he was able to be changed and used by God. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>That they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It is by taking hold of our own sin that we witness to others who are sinners; it was Moses' having his own sinful weakness transformed [leprosy, snake] which could lead Israel to believe. But they generally didn't believe". They <em>may</em> believe" shows the conditional nature of all this. For the people didn’t immediately believe Moses nor these signs. The whole narrative of the Divine- human encounter is about potentials being offered to me, which are often not perceived or realized.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said furthermore to him, Now put your hand inside your cloak. He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Leprosy was a symbol of sin. Moses was being again shown that human sin and weakness was not going to stop God’s purpose going forward. And we note that his sister Miriam was smitten suddenly with leprosy and quickly healed of it (<em><a href='B:40 12:10'>Num 12:10</a></em>). Moses would have been able to see her leprosy with the eye of faith, remembering his own experience; and Miriam likewise would have been encouraged by Moses' experience to believe that the affliction could quickly be healed. If she perceived the similarities between herself and her brother. And we likewise can take encouragement from others' experiences, insofar as we are thoughtful about life. And if we are familiar with the Biblical records and biographies of the lives of God’s previous servants. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Put your hand inside your cloak again. He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The hand of Moses was to be the hand of Yahweh (see on <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>). But like all of us, Moses sensed his moral inadequacy. And so God was showing him that He indeed recognized that Moses was indeed but sinful flesh; but He could deal with that, in a moment. Although it depended upon Moses' obedience to God’s plan and the simple command to use his hand as God told him. The same lesson is for us to learn. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Father is ever seeking for some positive response, and is highly sensitive to it. The God who knows the end from the beginning gives the impression that He is sure they will believe- even though they didn’t. He is so seeking for faith in His creatures (cp. “surely they will reverence My son”, <em><a href='B:470 21:37'>Mat 21:37</a></em>, and <em><a href='B:20 19:21'>Exo 19:21</a></em> cp. 20:18). In this, Isaiah says, He shows His matchless grace: “For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: <em>so</em> (therefore) he was their Saviour… but they rebelled, and vexed his holy (gracious) spirit” (<em><a href='B:290 63:8'>Isa 63:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 63:10'>Isa 63:10</a></em>). Our tendency is to notice the negative in others, and let it outweigh the positive. God works quite the other way. He hopes for positive response, and even speaks as if He will get it when He knows He won’t. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on :8. The Egyptians perhaps more than any believed in the waters, especially of the Nile, as the source of good and evil. And the Israelites were worshipping the gods of Egypt, so they too needed to see the gods of Egypt revealed as mythical and powerless before Yahweh. God powerfully deconstructed their ideas about the Nile by enabling Moses to turn those waters into blood – i.e. to effectively slay whatever deity was supposed to live in the Nile, and then to revert the water to how it had been. This was surely to demonstrate that whatever deities were associated with “the waters”, Yahweh was greater, and could slay and revive them at perfect ease. Later Scripture identified the Egyptians and not the sea itself as "Rahab... the dragon" (<em><a href='B:290 51:9'>Isa 51:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 89:9-10'>Psa 89:9-10</a></em>)- whereas the common view was that the sea itself was the Satan figure. Moses' stress was that the real adversaries / satans to Israel were people, and not some mythical dragon figure. Even if such a figure existed, then Yahweh had destroyed him at the Red Sea, in that He clearly could manipulate the Sea at His whim. The conflict was between Israel and Egypt, God and Pharaoh- and not God and some dragon in the Sea. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said to Yahweh, O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a stammering tongue-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Before now" is literally "yesterday", so "since yesterday" may refer to the burning bush incident . Moses is saying that although he had been called the day before, his speech impediment had not improved. God has not empowered him as he expected. And so we all reason; we expect empowerment to perform our commission when we are simply comforted that I will be will indeed be with us. Or he is saying that previously he had failed in persuading Pharaoh to let Israel go.</p><p>This is how Moses felt he would be perceived, although actually he was previously quite fluent when in the court of Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:510 7:22'>Act 7:22</a></em>). Paul would have remembered Stephen saying how Moses was formerly full of worldly wisdom and "mighty in words". Paul felt that he too had been through Moses' experience- once mighty in words as the rising star of the Jewish world, but now like Moses he had left all that behind in order to try to save a new Israel from Judaism and paganism. As Moses consciously rejected the opportunity for leading the 'world' of Egypt, so Paul probably turned down the chance to be High Priest. God maybe confirmed both him and Moses in their desire for humility by giving them a speech impediment (perhaps part of the "thorn in the flesh" which Paul was "given", <em><a href='B:540 12:7'>2Co 12:7</a></em>). Thus Moses no longer had the eloquence he once had. Paul clearly alludes to Moses in this in his self descriptions: "His letters, say they (Paul's detractors in the new Israel) are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible... though I be rude in speech... Christ sent me... to preach the Gospel: not with wisdom of words (mg. speech)" (<em><a href='B:540 10:10'>2Co 10:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:540 11:6'>2Co 11:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 1:17'>1Co 1:17</a></em>). Paul says he was "taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers" by Gamaliel, receiving the highest wisdom possible in the Jewish world; but he uses the same word as Stephen in <em><a href='B:510 7:22'>Act 7:22</a></em>, describing how Moses was "learned" in all the wisdom of Egypt.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Stammering tongue" could refer to a literal stammer, in which case we marvel at how so many of God’s words to His people were spoken through a mouth and tongue which stuttered. Truly God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. But the term can refer to speaking with a heavy accent or in another language (<em><a href='B:330 3:5-6'>Eze 3:5-6</a></em>). Moses might be arguing that he had forgotten Egyptian and Hebrew, as he had been speaking in the language of the Bedouin for the last 40 years. For "not eloquent", LXX has 'weak voiced', and again we marvel that a man who did so much public speaking of God’s word had a weak voice. And yet he was "powerful in speech" (<em><a href='B:510 7:22'>Act 7:22</a></em>). Exactly because he had a stutter and was weak voiced, God made him a powerful speaker through his message, rather than his presentation. And yet this could also be an excuse from Moses. "I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since You have spoken to Your servant" seems to be saying that Moses considered he had never been eloquent. This is in contradiction with <em><a href='B:510 7:22'>Act 7:22</a></em>, and would therefore appear to be him making desperate excuses for refusing God’s call.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>NEB "slow and hesitant of speech". It seems Moses was a far cry from the young man learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, mighty in words and works (Acts 7:22), set up to be the next Pharaoh, and set up by God to be just the right man to interface with Pharaoh and Egypt. We can conclude he had had a breakdown or stroke, resulting in his slow, hesitant, possibly stuttering speech. Or perhaps in the 40 years in Midian he just withdrew into himself and didn't want to come out of that shell. Alternatively, it has been observed that stuttering is largely genetic or from birth, and the fact Moses parents were aunty and nephew (Ex. 6:20) would explain it; and stuttering is common in those raised in bilingual, stressful environments. This would match Moses' upbringing as the adopted grandson of Pharaoh. The Songs of Moses at the Red Sea and at his death were sung by a stuttering man (Ex. 4:10). This shows for all time how God works through those who apparently are unsuited for His work. </p><p>Both Moses and Jeremiah reacted to their preaching commissions by saying that they weren’t the right person to do it. Moses wasn’t an eloquent speaker, nor (so he said) did he know Egyptian very well any more. His comment was: “Who am I...?” (<em><a href='B:20 3:11'>Exo 3:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:10'>Exo 4:10</a></em>). Jeremiah protested that he was simply far too young (<em><a href='B:300 1:6'>Jer 1:6</a></em>). But as Peter spoke <em>a-grammatos</em>, without grammar to an educated, erudite audience (<em><a href='B:510 4:13'>Act 4:13</a></em> Gk.), so did these men. And this was just the attitude of mind which God wanted to use as His mouthpiece. If you feel your inadequacy, then this is just when you are ready for God’s use. It’s the young sister who still fumbles for where books are in her Bible who is more likely to be the Lord’s agent for conversion, than the well versed and over-confident brother giving a Christian talk.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to him, Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses felt so humanly inadequate, not strong enough for the task before him- and he was encouraged by God to find courage from the simple fact that God had created Moses' mouth and senses- and therefore God was able to strengthen them for what He needed to be done. The fact God created us should encourage us to feel adequate for the tasks He gives us. We note that incapacity and sickness ultimately is from God and not a personal Satan. "<em>The Lord</em> will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt" (<em><a href='B:50 28:60'>Deu 28:60</a></em>); "an evil spirit <em>from the Lord</em> troubled (Saul)" (<em><a href='B:90 16:14'>1Sa 16:14</a></em>). <em></em></p><p>Moses had complained that his mouth and lips were heavy or uncircumcised. He may well have had a cleft palet, being the offspring of an aunty and her nephew. But God says that He has made the deformations as well. This certainly gives a window onto some theology of disability. God created all. His response is again "I will..." (:12), alluding to the Name as in Ex. 3. No cure is offered, just that God "will be" through all such human weakness.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a></em>. This is almost quoted in <em><a href='B:470 10:19-20'>Mat 10:19-20</a></em> and <em><a href='B:480 13:11'>Mar 13:11</a></em> concerning how we too will be taught what to say when we come before the rulers of our world. In such moments of crisis, Moses, even in weakness as he was at this time, really is our living example.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Because we're mere humans, we don't know what to ask of God as we should; and His very Name is the comfort that He will be for us as we need, with our eternal salvation in mind. God seemed to have encouraged Israel to understand this by going on to promise simply that "I shall be (<em>ehyeh</em>) present" (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:12'>Exo 4:12</a></em>). He wanted them to trust that He knew best how to bring them to salvation; He didn’t want them to invoke His Name in the primitive way the Egyptians did with their gods, hoping for a quick-fix miracle. God is only <em>ehyeh</em> for His people, not for others; and there came a terrible moment when He had to tell them through the prophets that "You are not my people and I am not <em>ehyeh</em> for you" (<em><a href='B:350 1:9'>Hos 1:9</a></em>). Israel lost this 'presence' of their God. And we know that we are His people by the constant sense we have of the hand of Providence in our lives, even through the unanswered prayers that reveal an altogether higher and ultimately Divine game plan in place in our lives. But like Israel before Moses, we wish for the quick fix, the waving of the wand to resolve the issues, the sense of the saving presence of God in our experiences, working out His ultimate plan of delivering us from Egypt / this world and from ourselves. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Oh, Lord, please send someone else- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Heb. "Send whom you will send". This appears a sarcastic allusion to Yahweh's Name, "I will be (and will do) who I will be (what I will do)". Yahweh has just alluded to His own Name as noted on :12. Moses sinks very low here. He has blasphemed the Name, hence the great anger of God against him in :14. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>If God’s wrath burns hot against people, it means death for them (s.w. <em><a href='B:20 22:24'>Exo 22:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 11:1'>Num 11:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 11:33'>Num 11:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 22:22'>Num 22:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 25:3'>Num 25:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 6:15'>Deu 6:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:17'>Deu 31:17</a></em>). But Moses averted this at the time of <em><a href='B:20 32:10'>Exo 32:10</a></em> by his intercession. He does so because God’s wrath had burned hot against him personally (<em><a href='B:20 4:14'>Exo 4:14</a></em> s.w.), but he had been saved from death by grace. And so he reflects this in appealing for he salvation of others, against whom God’s wrath burned hot (<em><a href='B:20 32:10-11'>Exo 32:10-11</a></em>). But Moses at the end of his life warns them not to make God’s wrath burn hot against them again- because he will not be around to intercede for them (<em><a href='B:50 6:15'>Deu 6:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 7:4'>Deu 7:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:17'>Deu 11:17</a></em>).<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>And He said, What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"I will send you unto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people... And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go?.... And God said... they shall hearken to your voice... And Moses answered... They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice (he didn’t seem to believe God’s promise to inspire him)... I am not eloquent, neither heretofore (i.e. in the past)... I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue (although this was untrue- earlier Moses had&nbsp; been an eloquent speaker in Egypt; actually he was just the right man to do what God wanted)... and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses". Remember that God is <em>very</em> slow to this kind of anger (<em><a href='B:20 34:6'>Exo 34:6</a></em>). Forty years earlier, Moses had understood, presumably from a direct revelation from God, that God would deliver Israel through him. But he had lost faith in that promise, and was arguing back against God. This was the outcome of many years of spiritual slipping. "Send... by the hand of him whom <em>You will</em> send" (alluding to God’s Name, I will be) can be seen as indifference; perhaps Moses was saying 'As you do what you will, your name is I will be, then if you send by me, send by men, I can't resist'.<em></em></p><p>Moses is assured that his older brother Aaron would be happy to be the spokesman for his younger brother; answering Moses' unspoken fear that Aaron would angrily resent having to have an inferior role. In this we see Aaron's humility, rejoicing to play a part even when another has the greater role. This too played a part in leading Moses to become the humblest man (Num. 12:3).  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses disbelieved these words when in Ex. 6:29 he repeats that Pharaoh will not listen to him because of his lips. God was equally with the mouths of both Aaron and Moses, even though Aaron could "speak well" in his own strength. God didn't cure Moses' speech defect but worked through it. Moses' impediment meant nothing to God and those without impediment likewise need God's work through them rather than their own strength .</p><p>The promise of Moses that God would not fail nor forsake Joshua, but would be with him (<em><a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a></em>) was similar to the very promise given to Moses here, which he had doubted at the time (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:12'>Exo 4:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:15'>Exo 4:15</a></em>). Such exhortation is so much the stronger from someone who has themselves doubted and then come to believe. Joshua was encouraged that "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you" (<em><a href='B:60 1:5'>Jos 1:5</a></em>). But these very words are quoted in <em><a href='B:650 13:5'>Heb 13:5</a></em> as the grounds of our matchless confidence that the Lord God will be with us too! As He was with Moses at such a point of Moses' personal weakness (see on :13,14)- not just in power, but in wondrous patience and gentleness- so He will be with us too. Not only did God encourage Joshua to see himself as in Moses' shoes; He inspired Jeremiah likewise (<em><a href='B:300 21:8'>Jer 21:8</a></em> = <em><a href='B:50 30:15'>Deu 30:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a></em>), and Ezekiel (<em><a href='B:330 2:3'>Eze 2:3</a></em> = <em><a href='B:50 31:27'>Deu 31:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:160 9:17'>Neh 9:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 17:10'>Num 17:10</a></em>); and He wishes us to also see Moses' God as our God. But if Moses' God is to be ours in truth in the daily round of life, we must rise up to the dedication of Moses; as he was a faithful steward, thoroughly dedicated to God’s ecclesia (<em><a href='B:650 3:5'>Heb 3:5</a></em>), so we are invited follow his example (<em><a href='B:530 4:2'>1Co 4:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 24:45'>Mat 24:45</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>In the last days, God’s faithful people will be given a mouth and wisdom which their persecutors will be unable to gainsay nor resist (<em><a href='B:490 21:15'>Luk 21:15</a></em>). This evidently alludes to how Moses before Pharaoh was given such a ‘mouth’. Moses at that time was a type of the faithful remnant of their last days although he was so weak (see on :13,14), in their witness against the world during the tribulation. Hence Revelation 11 describes their witness in terms of Moses doing miracles before Pharaoh. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>But the plans / intentions for Aaron seem not to have worked out- for Moses ended up doing everything in reality. “It shall come to pass that he shall be to thee a mouth” (RV)- but it didn’t so come to pass. Aaron flunked it. The statement was evidently conditional. It was evidently God’s plan that <em>Moses</em> should be His spokesman to Egypt. But when Moses refused, God didn’t just give up; He worked with what He had available, He didn’t totally reject Moses, but instead put a 'plan B' into operation by conceding to Moses' stubbornness and making Aaron the spokesman (<em><a href='B:20 4:10-17'>Exo 4:10-17</a></em>).<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The rod was to remind Moses that this was the rod which had become a serpent (associated with sin) and changed back to a rod. Although God would work through the rod, the reminder was that He worked through human sin and weakness, of which Moses was strongly afflicted as he began his ministry at this point. The rod was just random dead wood. Just like Moses. But the comfort was that God would use it, so Moses shouldn't doubt that God likewise could use him.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive. Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>He seems to make the excuse to Jethro that he is homesick for his family who are still in Egypt, rather than telling him his mission. Moses asks Jethro for permission to return to Egypt to see whether his Hebrew brethren are "still alive"- yet God had just told Moses that there were indeed Hebrews still alive there who he will lead out of Egypt. Of course Moses <em>may</em> have been referring to his literal family; but it's possible that his words to Jethro imply a lack of faith in God’s word, or at best an unwillingness to openly show his commitment to his new ministry from God. At the very least, he was shy to share God’s word to him with Jethro. In this context it may be significant that the words God tells Moses to say to Pharaoh at this time in <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em> are in fact never said by Moses throughout the dialogue with Pharaoh recorded in Exodus 11, 12.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note the repetition in :24; Pharaoh sought Moses' life, but then Yahweh seeks Moses' life, after telling him that all who were seeking his life in Egypt had died. Perhaps God is showing that although He has preserved Moses from those who sought his life, this was no automatically created position. Moses was worthy of death but was preserved from it by grace. Moses is also being taught that he is no essentially better than Pharaoh and the Egyptians, despite the judgment Moses was to bring upon them. We too have these kinds of incidents in life, to help us realize we too are saved by grace from God's wrath. This is why God reminds Moses in :23 that Pharaoh's firstborn is to be killed, and then moves to attempt to slay Moses' firstborn. Gershom, or Moses, are saved by touching the blood of the firstborn to his feet- just as the use of the Passover lamb's blood would save the firstborn.  </p><p>Moses didn’t want Egypt to know that he was trying to save Israel; he thought he could do it secretly. Once he realized that people knew what he was trying to do, he was afraid. His fearfulness has similarities with that of spiritually weak Jacob, who fled from the face of Laban into the unknown, as Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh. Thus God encouraged him after forty years that he need no longer fear: "Return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought your life" (<em><a href='B:20 4:19'>Exo 4:19</a></em>). But then he rallied his faith and left Egypt, without (at the point of leaving) fearing the anger of Pharaoh. He so strongly believed, it was as if he physically saw God- as he asked (<em><a href='B:650 11:27'>Heb 11:27</a></em>).<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>These words are clearly alluded to when the death of Herod, as of the Pharaoh, opens the way for the Lord Jesus to leave Egypt; just as Moses hereby has the way opened to return to Egypt (<em><a href='B:470 2:20'>Mat 2:20</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The personal rod of Moses (“<em>thy</em> rod”) became the rod of God; the shepherd’s crook, the symbol of an obscure workaday life, became transformed to the rod and arm of God Almighty.&nbsp;See on 4:4.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>. The wonders were done by the Angels, so we are told in Psalms 78 and other commentaries on the Exodus in Scripture. But Moses through obeying the Word of God had control over those Angels, they were in His hand, symbolized by the rod. And so with us too.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same Hebrew words used of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart occur in a positive context- for God also hardens or strengthens the hearts of the righteous (<em><a href='B:230 27:14'>Psa 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em>). Indeed, <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em> speaks of how the righteous shouldn’t have a weak or (Heb.) ‘fluid’ heart, but rather a hardened one. Clearly enough, God solidifies human attitudes, one way or the other, through the work of His Spirit upon our spirit. This is a sobering thought- for He is prepared to confirm a person in their weak thinking. But on the other hand, even the weakest basic intention towards righteousness is solidified by Him too. <em></em></p><p>This implies the three signs would be followed by the death of the firstborn. In reality God extended the plagues to give Egypt more chance to repent. He is so flexible because of His grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, Israel is My son, My firstborn- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It may be significant that the words God tells Moses to say to Pharaoh at this time in <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em> are in fact never said by Moses throughout the dialogue with Pharaoh recorded in Exodus 11, 12. His response to Divine commandment is often incomplete. But out of such weakness he was made strong. We note Israel were God's "firstborn"; the first nation to be His people, implying all the other nations would also become His children. Just as the Lord Jesus was the firstfruits, with promise that we also shall be the harvest, "at His coming". <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and I have said to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is the language used of Babylon's reason for destruction: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together (i.e. Jews taken out of the land of Israel plus others from the diaspora alike taken to concentration camps in Arab lands?): and all that took them captives held them fast;&nbsp; they refused to let them go" (<em><a href='B:300 50:33'>Jer 50:33</a></em>). Similarly Babylon is described as not opening "the house of the prisoners" (<em><a href='B:290 14:17'>Isa 14:17</a></em>). Biblical history continually interconnects, demonstrating that the same Divine hand has worked throughout history, and likewise works in our lives according to the same style. See on <em><a href='B:20 1:7'>Exo 1:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:21'>Exo 15:21</a></em>. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh had real possibility to let the people go, and therefore <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em> NRSV implies that God only therefore went ahead with the plan to kill Pharaoh's firstborn. Likewise if the Israelites don't believe the first sign, they may believe the second; if they don't believe either of them then there will be a third sign (<em><a href='B:20 4:8-9'>Exo 4:8-9</a></em>). Yet God states in <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em> that the people will listen; and yet <em><a href='B:20 4:8-9'>Exo 4:8-9</a></em> accepts the possibility that they may not. In all this we see not only the essential hopefulness of God for human response to Him, but His willingness to go along with our continued weakness and blindness in an open-ended manner. There is, therefore, the possibility of living before God on different levels.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>To be caught up in the downward spiral (as we all are at times) doesn't mean that there's no way out. The hearts of Pharaoh's servants were hardened (<em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet they did in fact soften when they beg Pharaoh to let Israel go (<em><a href='B:20 10:7'>Exo 10:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>). Yet each refusal of Pharaoh to soften his heart made it harder for him to soften it the next time the opportunity was presented. Conditional language is always used about Pharaoh-if he were to refuse to release Israel, more plagues would happen (<em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:4'>Exo 10:4</a></em> cp. 8:21; 4:23 RSV). In fact God wanted Pharaoh to come to realize that there is none like Yahweh in all the earth- and that was actually why He did not immediately kill Pharaoh, but rather appealed to him through the plagues. That's how I read the enigmatic <em><a href='B:20 9:15'>Exo 9:15</a></em>: "For now I should have put forth my hand, and smitten thee... and thou hadst been cut off from the earth". Fretheim paraphrases this: "If I had not had the intention of your knowing that there is none like me in all the earth... then I should have put forth my hand and cut you off from the earth. This is what you have deserved". The hardening of Pharaoh's heart didn’t mean that he was thereby bound to chose wrongly each time. Indeed, the plagues themselves were designed to warn Pharaoh and thereby appeal to him to change, in order to avoid worse plagues. <em></em></p><p>"Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn" provides the connection with the strange incident that follows. Whoever was not circumcised was to be cut off from God's people. Moses had not circumcised his own firstborn. So Moses is being shown that he and his son deserved death for this. But he was saved from it by Divine grace and the intervention of a third party, namely Zipporah, the wife whom Moses was to later divorce. So Moses is being taught that he himself is actually no better than Pharaoh. He had been circumcised by a faithful father, and I suggested in Ex. 2 that this was why Pharaoh's daughter recognized and saved him. But he had not circumcised his son. He had not reflected back the good upbringing he had had. His salvation by grace at this point was to inspire him to reflect the work of Zipporah in saving the uncircumcised Israelites. And to realize that he was essentially the same as the Gentile idolatrous daughter of a pagan priest, whom he likely now secretly despised. Just as much as her despite of him is revealed by her comment that Moses was a "bridegroom of blood" to her.</p><p>However the  pronoun is unclear; the Lord was seeking to kill "him", but who? It could be Moses or Gershom; and perhaps the ambiguity is because Gershom was uncircumcised, he was to be cut off from his people, and Moses also, for not circumcising him. We can retranslate this section as follows, bearing in mind that NEV is wrong on :24 "Yahweh met Moses"; the Hebrew is "Yahweh met him".</p><p>"And you will say to Pharoah, “Thus says YHWH, ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn. And I say to you, release my son that he may serve me.’ And he will refuse to release him. Behold, I will kill your son [Moses' son], your firstborn. And it happened on the way, in the lodging place, YHWH encountered him and sought to put him to death. And Zipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to his foot and said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!”. As if to say, when I married you as my groom it turned out you would cause the bloodshed of my firstborn son. This translation makes more sense, because it was the uncircumcised who were to be cut off from the people, not the parents who didn't circumcise them.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It happened on the way at a lodging place, that Yahweh met Moses and wanted to kill him-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 34:9'>Exo 34:9</a></em>. The way the Lord "tried to kill" Moses (<em><a href='B:20 4:24'>Exo 4:24</a></em> AV) indicates how God’s intentions can be changed by human actions; and it also reflects the limitation of power experienced by the Angel, who presumably was the one who 'tried' to do this but was thwarted by a woman. However in our context of Moses' weakness we need to reflect how this incident echoes how Pharaoh sought to kill Moses in <em><a href='B:20 2:15'>Exo 2:15</a></em>. Even through his weakness, Moses was being taught that his personal salvation and continuation in life was by grace. Moses was saved on this occasion by a Gentile woman, Zipporah- just as he had been saved as a baby by another Gentile woman- as well as by the quick-wittedness of his own mother and sister. As Zipporah mediated with the Angel and saved Moses by touching his son with blood, so Moses would save Israel through his mediation with God and through the Passover ritual (<em><a href='B:20 12:13'>Exo 12:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 12:22-23'>Exo 12:22-23</a></em>), as well as later throwing blood upon the people (<em><a href='B:20 24:8'>Exo 24:8</a></em>). What are we to make of all these echoes and connections of thought? Perhaps that Moses was indeed weak at this time, was saved by grace alone, and yet on that basis he was called to in his turn also save the weak through appealing to God’s grace. We also see reflected how Moses had seen an Egyptian about to kill a Hebrew, and had intervened and saved the Hebrew. Zipporah now plays the role of Moses. She is being set up to Moses as an example to be followed, rather than a pagan woman to be separated from, as he was to do. Indeed the way Zipporah saves Moses [or at least her son] fits with a theme in Exodus, of women saving- we think of the midwives, Moses' mother and sister, Pharaoh's daughter. The Bible was way ahead of its time in reflecting the value God places on every human person regardless of gender; and so any claim that the Bible merely reflects the societal views of the day is falsified. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The way conditions are not stated within the actual prophecy is similar to how blanket statements are made in Scripture, and yet there are exceptions to them. Thus here the Lord sought to kill Moses. If He had done so, all His previous statements about delivering Israel by the hand of Moses would not have come true. God only didn’t kill Moses because Zipporah intervened. She did this purely of her own freewill and according to the depth of her spiritual vision. Thus the earlier prophecies about delivering Israel by the hand of Moses actually had at least one major, though unspoken, condition: If Moses himself remained faithful. “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue” (<em><a href='B:20 11:7'>Exo 11:7</a></em>) was in fact conditional on Israel remaining indoors. But that condition isn’t then stated. Even the old covenant, which was in a sense “eternal”, was made with Israel “upon all these conditions” (<em><a href='B:20 24:8'>Exo 24:8</a></em> RVmg.). It was eternal, potentially, because it had conditions. But the conditionality of it isn’t always brought to the fore when, e.g., we read of the Sabbath as being an eternal ordinance.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:370 4:12'>Amo 4:12</a></em> sums up the idea of conditional prophecy: “Therefore thus will I do unto you, O Israel: and because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel”. Thus God <em>will</em> do- but therefore, repent so that it won’t happen. There is an allusion here to God in an Angel coming to meet Moses to slay him, but he repented and thereby changed the purpose / will / intention of God. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Time and again, the Jewish apocryphal literature wrongly sought to distance God from doing anything negative in human life. <em><a href='B:10 22:1'>Gen 22:1</a></em> clearly states that it was <em>God </em>who put Abraham to the test by asking him to kill his son Isaac; Jubilees retells the story with "Prince Mastema", the Satan figure, telling Abraham to do this (Jub. 17:15-18). Likewise <em><a href='B:20 4:24'>Exo 4:24</a></em> recounts how "the Lord", presumably as an Angel, met Moses and tried to kill him for not circumcising his son; but Jubilees again claims that Mastema / Satan did this (Jub. 48:1-3). The Biblical record highlights the sin of Aaron and the people; the Jewish myths excuse it by blaming it on Satan. Indeed, several times the Hebrew word <em>mastema</em> ('hostility, enmity') occurs, it is in the context of urging Israel to see that <em>they</em> and their internal desires to sin are the true <em>mastema</em>. <em><a href='B:350 9:7'>Hos 9:7</a></em> is an example: "Because your sins are so many and your hostility (<em>mastema</em>) so great".<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses' marriage was weak. After 40 years, Zipporah's frustration boiled over: "Surely a bloody husband art thou to me... then she said (again), A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision" (AV). As a descendant of Ishmael she was angry at Isaac's choice and circumcision. This is probably the closest the Bible gets to recording the real life use of taboo language. "Because of the circumcision" suggests she despised Moses' religion. Moses&nbsp;divorced her.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>A read through the records will indicate that Moses was somewhat temperamental in his faith. For the first forty years of his life, he scarcely let his light show. Yet all the time his conscience was active, enabling him to build up towards heights of spiritual achievement few of us can achieve. At the age of 40, he had a flash of spiritual devotion; he rejected the opportunity for greatness in Egypt, possibly the opportunity to become king of Egypt (as Christ had the opportunity to become king of the world in his wilderness temptations). Yet after that, he went into 40 years of decline. In the eyes of men, he was a finished man. He had gone away from God’s people, he was living in a family of idolaters, and had married one of them. His marriage went wrong, he divorced his wife, and picked up some other woman. He didn’t circumcise his children, and thus he despised his covenant relationship with God. Eighty years is a long time. They were eighty years of at best mediocre commitment to the God of Israel, with only the occasional flash of spiritual brilliance. Yet this man Moses went on to become one of the greatest spiritual men there has ever been, a man who came closer to God than all others except the Lord Jesus. "There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" (<em><a href='B:50 34:10'>Deu 34:10</a></em>). The Lord Jesus was "like unto" Moses (<em><a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a></em>)- a high enough commendation for Moses. <em></em></p><p>"Cast it at his feet" could as well be translated "touced it on his legs", Biblical Hebrew making no distinction between legs and feet as in several languages today. It was therefore very similar to the salvation of the firstborn by the painting of blood on the doorposts. We wonder why it was Zipporah and not Moses who perceived the problem and acted upon it? For this is the only Biblical example of a woman performing circumcision. Again we are left with the impression that Moses is uncommitted, switched off and not at all spiritually perceptive at this point. And yet he is used by God to save His people and is, bit by bit, dramatically transformed. When Moses appealed to Pharaoh and threatened the death of the firstborn, he would have made the appeal with the humility and intensity of a man who almost lost his own firstborn, had it not been for repentance and intercession. And he would have seen the judgment carried out with awed humility, realizing that he had not responded to the same situation as he should, but rather Zipporah had.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>So He let him alone- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Let him alone" is Heb. 'released his hold '. This would explain why Moses was unable to perform the circumcision. It would be another connection with the Angel holding Jacob and changing his intention to murder him. The same word is in 1 Chron. 21:15 where the Angel intending to kill all Israel 'releases his hand' once sacrifice is offered by David. Another example if Divine intention being changed by human action or intercession. </p><p>We think of how God apparently went out to kill Jacob, but was 'foiled' by Jacob's prayer; He went out to kill Balaam, but was stopped by the donkey helping Balaam; and now, He goes out to kill Moses and his son, but is apparently foiled by Zipporah's zippy action. Of course, God is not foiled nor defeated; instead we are invited to see how He is so open to intercession and to changing His intentions in response to human prayer or third party mediation. We likewise deserve to be cut off from God's people, but are saved by the Lord's blood and intervention and initiative of the greater than Zipporah.</p><p>Martin Buber, one of academic Judaism's finest minds, coined the term "Yahweh's demonism". He perceived in, e.g., the record of the Angel meeting Moses at night, seeking to slay him and then 'letting him go', all the language which was typically applied to demons- meeting and seeking to slay a man of God (<em><a href='B:20 4:24'>Exo 4:24</a></em>). But the point is, it is not a demon who did this, but a righteous Angel of God, to the extent that it was possible for the record to state that it was Yahweh who sought to slay Moses, and yet changed His purpose because of Moses' repentance and the intercession of a woman. Buber's point was that the text is an allusion to the local beliefs about demons, but the Biblical record deconstructs these beliefs by showing that it is Yahweh and His Angels responsible for those situations which pagans would otherwise attribute to supposed 'demons'. Other examples include how the bull cherubim were understood in the surrounding cultures as the abode or throne of a demon; but it is Yahweh who is enthroned upon the bull cherubim; or how the record of Balaam would've lead the contemporary hearers to expect him to receive inspiration from a demon- but instead the inspiration comes from Yahweh, and is <em>against </em>those who believed in demons and pagan gods. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It seems from this that the Angel also intended to slay Moses' son. The connection with <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em> would mean that God tried to kill Moses’ son because Moses was not fully believing that God would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn. We note that Moses was saved here by a Gentile woman; just as his life had been saved in babyhood by women (his faithful mother, his sister and the Gentile princess). <em></em></p><p>LXX "and he departed from him, because she said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched". This suggests that the blood of the firstborn saved Moses and Gershom from death, thanks to the intercession of Zipporah. In this case we see God not in fact cutting off the man who was not circumcised on the eighth day; for Gershom was far older than eight days old at this point. As ever, He by grace accepted the spirit rather than the letter of obedience.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The wilderness would have been that between Egypt and Horeb, or Sinai, which was now "God’s mountain" (<em><a href='B:20 3:1'>Exo 3:1</a></em>). It was quite some obedience by Aaron to escape from Egypt and travel alone in the wilderness to meet Moses, his brother whom he hardly knew and had not heard from for 40 years. Aaron's obedience should be recognized by us. He could easily have turned down this calling as bizarre.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had instructed him-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Aaron's faith would have been buoyed up by actually meeting his long absent brother Moses, his faith in the apparently bizarre word of Yahweh to him would have been rewarded. And so he was the more inclined surely to believe the message Moses now shared with him. Aaron was initially more obedient to the call than Moses was; but that changed over time.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Jews thought that as Moses hid himself and then re-emerged from obscurity, so Messiah would. Rabbi Berekiah said: “As the first deliverer (Moses) was revealed, then hidden and afterwards appeared again, so will it also be with the last deliverer (Messiah)” (Quoted in J. Klausner, <em>The Messianic Idea In Israel </em>(London: Macmillan, 1956) p. 17.). John’s record is clearly presenting the Lord as Moses in this sense. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The fact Moses had to do all the signs shows that they did not believe the first and second signs. Their faith is consistently shown to be weak and superficial from the very start of their relationship with Yahweh; and later prophets will lament his from Egypt onwards, their faith was very weak indeed. Like us at times, they were saved almost against their will, by grace alone.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"When Moses <em>was grown</em>, he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens... when he was <em>full forty years old</em> it came into his heart to visit his brethren... by faith Moses, <em>when he was come to years</em>, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" (<em><a href='B:20 2:11'>Exo 2:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:23'>Act 7:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 11:24'>Heb 11:24</a></em>). The implication seems to be that Moses reached a certain point of maturity, of readiness, and then he went to his brethren. But then he stepped back from that apparent maturity, and spent 40 years building up to it again. We can have similar experiences. God looked on the sorrows of His people through the sensitivity of Moses, He <em>saw and knew</em> their struggles, their sense of being trapped, their desire to revive spiritually but their being tied down by the painful business of life and living; and He sent Moses to deliver them from this. But these very words are quoted about our deliverance through the 'coming down'&nbsp; of the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:31'>Exo 4:31</a></em> = <em><a href='B:490 1:68'>Luk 1:68</a></em>).&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses manifested / represented both God and Israel, superbly prefiguring the nature of the Lord's work and mission far later. As God "saw" the oppression of Israel (<em><a href='B:20 2:25'>Exo 2:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:9'>Exo 3:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:31'>Exo 4:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 5:19'>Exo 5:19</a></em>), so did Moses (<em><a href='B:20 2:11'>Exo 2:11</a></em>). He looked on God’s people with the eyes / perspective of God- just as we should.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The people asked the Lord Jesus "What sign do you show unto us?" (<em><a href='B:500 2:18'>Joh 2:18</a></em>). Cynical Israel asked exactly the same of Moses, in effect; and superficially, "the people believed" (<em><a href='B:20 4:31'>Exo 4:31</a></em>) after they saw the signs. The hollowness of Israel's 'belief' in Moses was matched by the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet they still both loved Israel.<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>. The commandment had been that the elders should go with them (<em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>); but it seems that only Moses and Aaron go. So this suggests that Moses was pretty much single handed in saving the people; the people and their elders were unenthusiastic and passive, as many in the body of the new Israel. And this is a theme in so many lives. Whilst fellowship with others is indeed a comfort, anyone who seriously does God's work will at many points stand alone- but alone with God. Those who long for more fellowship, for a nearby church and other believers... need to bear this in mind.<em></em></p><pYahweh had asked Pharaoh to let Israel go that they might serve Him. "Let My people go that they may serve Me" is parallel with "Let My people go that they may sacrifice / keep a feast to Me". That "service" was specifically to keep a feast; but that feast was to celebrate their deliverance from Egypt. God's intention was that their journey to Canaan should begin with a feast. If we enquire 'What was Yahweh asking Pharaoh to do?', the answer is that He asked him to let Israel go and "serve" Him through keeping a feast. They were to ob-serve a feast to Him; to keep a feast was to "serve" God. This is why Moses later says that Israel must take all their animals with them, because they don't know with what they are to "serve" Yahweh, i.e. which animals He might ask them to sacrifice. It is why He asks Pharaoh to let Israel go to"sacrifice" (Ex. 8:26-29), to "serve Me in the wildernesss", paralleled in Ex. 5:1 by "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness". The "service" was a specific act at a specific time in a specific place- a "feast", which is a term also used of the Passover. Pharaoh refused, and so the intended feast was kept in the form of the Passover, resulting in the death of his firstborn. For there is no record that Israel did keep a feast after they left Egypt. Here we see God's flexibility in the outworking of His plans. We note that the Passover is called both a "sacrifice" ["It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's passover", Ex. 12:27] and a "service" ["You shall keep this service... you shall keep this service", Ex. 12:25,26; 13:5]. Pharaoh was finally told that he must provide Israel with the sacrifices for their feast (Ex. 10:25); and he did so through the death of his firstborn. Finally, Egypt themselves begged Israel to totally leave them, not just temporarily. K.A. Kitchen has documented evidence from Egypt that brick production was indeed done by slave labour, and there were meticulous records kept of the number of bricks produced each day; but he noted that there were allowances for days off, in order to perform religious rituals. So God was asking  Pharaoh to allow the Hebrews to have some days off to serve their God. This initially relatively small demand became ever more demanding, resulting in Egypt thrusting Israel out completely. This is typical of how God works. Israel were God's firstborn and therefore must be released to Him. Their release was to involve the sacrifice of firstborns- initially, firstborn animals were in view. But Egypt refused, and so it was their literal firstborns who became the sacrifice. I think this is the thinking here. God has total claim upon man. If we refuse that in apparently small ways, the demand becomes greater, and finally we will in any case forfeit our lives in death. Whereas if we willingly surrender, we receive life eternal. Yet God wanted to save Pharaoh. This is why He initially only asked Pharaoh to let His people go for a three day worship ceremony in the wilderness: "Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God" (Ex. 3:18). Egypt refused, and so Pharaoh and his followers had their hearts hardened until they begged Israel to leave Egypt totally, and "thrust" them out. The initial request, as K.A. Kitchen showed, was not unreasonable. But Pharaoh's repeated refusal led to him being hardened until he himself wanted Israel to leave permanent. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I don’t recognize Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Who is" could mean that Pharaoh despised Yahweh (<em><a href='B:70 9:28'>Jdg 9:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:90 17:26'>1Sa 17:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:90 25:10'>1Sa 25:10</a></em>). But it may have been a genuine request, seeing that he didn’t "know" Joseph (<em><a href='B:20 1:8'>Exo 1:8</a></em>) and the people hardly evangelized their God to the Egyptians, and had largely forgotten about Him. And this would explain Yahweh's revelation of Himself to Pharaoh through the plagues, so that he might indeed "know" Yahweh.<em></em></p><p>Yahweh claimed to be He who was, is and shall be; but this was what the Pharaohs claimed. An inscription on a temple gives the idea: “I am that which was, and is, and shall be, and no man has lifted my veil".</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest He fall on us with plague, or with the sword-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This last phrase is an addition to what Yahweh had told Moses to say in <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>. Moses may be adding a human argument in the name of God’s word, which wasn't what he should have done. For his idea was 'We're your workforce, we won't be much use to you if our God slays us, will we! So let us go and serve Him!'. This doesn't exactly present Moses as totally loyal to Yahweh. It also misrepresents Yahweh as capricious and likely to lash out and punish His people with death if they don't perform a certain ritual. Moses doesn't come over well here.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Perhaps God’s initial intention was that Pharaoh would allow the request to go and sacrifice. And slowly come to thereby accept the religion of the Hebrews. For the request was not initially that he allow Israel to leave Egypt permanently and totally. It was ultimately the Egyptians themselves who were to beg Israel to leave immediately.<em></em></p><p>We may well ask why God would fall on Israel with plague and the sword unless they sacrificed to Him. Perhaps the idea is that they had sinned, and knew that only sacrifice could bring atonement and the aversion of judgment upon them. But there is no record of them offering sacrifices, and yet by grace therefore the judgment for their sins was averted. Alternatively, the idea may be that the "us" is Israel and the Egyptians; the sword and plague could have been averted for them all if Israel had been allowed to make an atoning sacrifice. For this is the intention of Israel, to be the saviours of the world. We can likewise save others from just judgment through the Lord's sacrifice. The Passover lamb and the Passover feast was the feast Israel had to keep; and this was for the forgiveness of their sins and to avert judgment. The Egyptians who didn't keep it indeed suffered the judgment of the sword upon their firstborn.  </p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>He reasons as if Moses and Aaron were also supposed to be working. Perhaps indeed Moses, like the Lord Jesus, shared in the experience of the people he had come to deliver. We wonder whether the king realized who Moses actually was. <em><a href='B:230 81:6'>Psa 81:6</a></em> uses the same word for "burdens" in saying that Yahweh "removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the baskets". We get the picture of the Israelites carrying the burdens on their shoulders, and carrying baskets of bricks with their hands.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This fact was clearly dominant in his mind; and he reasoned that by stopping so many people from working, they were seriously damaging the kingdom. We note Pharaoh doesn't at all engage with the request. His comment is also a tacit reflection of the fact that the genocide of baby male Hebrews had failed to stop Hebrew population growth. He ought to have reflected that man's most concerted plans cannot thwart Yahweh's will for His people.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>And you make them rest from their burdens- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Perhaps the Lord alluded to this when saying that His burden was easy and light compared to the heavy burden of legalistic Judaism, which He thereby compared to Egyptian bondage (<em><a href='B:470 11:29-30'>Mat 11:29-30</a></em>). And His allusion presents Moses as representing Himself; although in the short term, the way to escape from that heavy burden was going to appear heavy. But the point is, that Israel suffering in Egypt, bearing heavy burdens, are every man.<em></em></p><p>"Rest" is shabath, inviting us to imagine that the Egyptians were angry that the Hebrews were refusing to work on the Sabbath. The Egyptian complaint was that Moses and Aaron were making the Hebrews rest or 'sabbath' from their work. Perhaps indeed Moses and Aaron were encouraging the Hebrews to return to their God and keep Sabbath, although the Sabbath had not been formally instituted. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The taskmasters were presumably Egyptians. "Officers" is the usual word for 'scribe', the idea being that these people kept a careful record of how many bricks were made. Egyptologists have uncovered such records.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>As explained on :12, this resulted in the people being scattered throughout Egypt, which was part of God’s way of appealing to the entire nation.<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The number of the bricks, which they made before, you are to still require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh's behaviour here is a classic case of "blame the victim", and accords exactly with the psychology of an abuser who has great power. There is a consistent psychological veracity and credibility in the records. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labour therein; and don’t let them pay any attention to lying words- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We see here Pharaoh's blasphemy against God’s word, calling it "vain" (AV), or lies. "Heavier work laid on men" is the very phrase only elsewhere used in <em><a href='B:160 5:18'>Neh 5:18</a></em>, of how the people of God later abused each other. They were treating each other like the Egyptians had done. And all such laying of heavy burdens upon our brethren is making us like the Egyptians, to face a similar judgment. The Lord interpreted this as making unreasonable spiritual demands of our fellow believers (<em><a href='B:470 23:4'>Mat 23:4</a></em>).&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>They "went out" the same day (:6). The immediacy and extremity of the behaviour reflects how a raw nerve had been touched within Pharaoh. He had a conscience, which God sought to work with towards his eventual conversion.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh had insisted that nothing should be "diminished" from the quota of bricks he had set (<em><a href='B:20 5:11'>Exo 5:11</a></em>), and the same word is later used of how Israel were not to "diminish" from obeying Yahweh's commandments (<em><a href='B:50 4:2'>Deu 4:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:32'>Deu 12:32</a></em>). They were being reminded that they had changed masters when they crossed the Red Sea, just as Paul says happens when we are baptized (Romans 6). And the Red Sea crossing represented baptism into Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a></em>). Like us, Israel were not radically free to do as they pleased. What happened was that they changed masters; hence the appeal to Pharaoh to let God’s people go, that they may serve Him rather than Pharaoh. We too will only find ultimate freedom through this servitude to God’s ways, and will finally emerge into the radical liberty of the children of God in the Kingdom age (<em><a href='B:520 8:21'>Rom 8:21</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This may have been a way of making a witness to the entire land of Egypt. Hebrew slaves foraging for straw, pulling up stubble... would have made all Egypt aware of the abuse of God’s people, and thereby responsible to judgment. The language of mud bricks and people spread throughout the land recalls the account of Babel in Gen. 11:34. Thus the hint is given that all Pharaoh builds is to be destroyed. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The taskmasters were urgent saying, Fulfil your work quota daily, as when there was straw!-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:20 5:13'>Exo 5:13</a></em> speaks of the 'daily work quota' of Israel under Egyptian abuse. But the phrase is used of their daily work for Yahweh, in collecting manna (<em><a href='B:20 16:4'>Exo 16:4</a></em>) and serving in the tabernacle (<em><a href='B:30 23:37'>Lev 23:37</a></em>). They had changed masters, but still there was a requirement for daily service; see on :11.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and questioned: Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Yesterday and today" could mean that this happened just two days after the command was given, and it was given the very day Moses and Aaron had asked Pharaoh to release the people. This situation would have made Sabbath observance very difficult (<em><a href='B:20 31:15'>Exo 31:15</a></em>). Those who were sensitive to God’s ways would have seen that they faced death for Sabbath breaking, or death at the hands of the Egyptians. They would have been desperate for release from this situation, so that they could serve God acceptably.<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, Why do you deal this way with your servants?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Their question of course begged the response from Pharaoh: 'Because of your desire to be loyal to your God, as this Moses is teaching you'. The whole thing was set up in order to elicit their solid commitment to Yahweh, or to turn back to accepting their lot in Egypt. They failed in this choice- but still God saved them, by grace. The Hebrew officers of Ex. 5:15 refused to beat their brethren and so were beaten. In Num. 11:16, a point soon after the time of the exodus in Ex. 5:15, there is the assumption that there was already a group of 70 elders or officers over Israel. Presumably these 70 were the 70 Hebrew officers who were placed over the Israeli team slaves. So their taking beating for their brethren became the qualification for eldership in the new Israel who emerged from the Red Sea. This is the real qualification for leadership...<em></em></p><p>In their desperation, the people cried to Pharaoh to help them, just as the Egyptians cried to Pharaoh during the famine years [s.w.]. They acted like Egyptians; they didn't cry to Yahweh. But still Yahweh saved them; Ex. 2:23 summarizes: "the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and the cried out; and their cry came up to God because of their bondage". Yahweh saw their cry to Pharaoh as a cry to Him. Moses liked to perceive their cry in this positive way: "When we cried to Yahweh, He heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt" (Num. 20:16); "we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression" (Dt. 26:7; also Neh. 9:27). But this is really how God sees 'prayer'; our crying out is graciously seen by Him as a cry out to Him.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Hebrew grammar here is apparently wrong, so we would go with LXX "and thou sinnest against thine own people". This was a protestation of loyalty to Pharaoh, asking him to remember that they were<em> his</em> people, and considered themselves like this. It is unlikely that they would have come asking a favour from Pharaoh, and then criticized his people. It was a tacit statement that they rejected the teaching of Moses, that they were Yahweh's people and therefore Yahweh was going to save them. They sinned against Him from Egypt onwards, as the prophets lament; they wanted to be Egypt's people, not His.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But he said, You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh refuses to accept their protestation of loyalty to Pharaoh as "his people" (:16 LXX). See on :16. He claims that they were loyal to Yahweh, although they have just effectively denied that, as explained on :16.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>At Tell el-Maskhuta, the site of Pithom (<em><a href='B:20 1:11'>Exo 1:11</a></em>), Egyptologists have found bricks, some made with chopped straw or reed, and some without it.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh had probably ordered straw not to be given to the Israelites without realizing quite what that meant in practice. As he saw men with wheal marks standing before him, the appeal to conscience would surely have been to somehow reduce his demand. But he didn’t. We see here God’s appeal to his conscience yet again, and how he so persistently resists it. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came out from Pharaoh-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Perhaps Moses and Aaron had gone again with the people to ask Pharaoh to reduce the brick quota. God first of all taught Moses that if he explained the power of God’s Name to Israel’s elders, then they would hearken unto him (<em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>). But they didn’t hearken unto Moses (<em><a href='B:20 5:20'>Exo 5:20</a></em>), perhaps because he didn’t bother expounding the Name to them, or perhaps because he did but they refused to believe it. Therefore he did explain it to them again (<em><a href='B:20 6:1-9'>Exo 6:1-9</a></em> = <em><a href='B:20 3:14-17'>Exo 3:14-17</a></em>); but then again they refused to hearken to him (<em><a href='B:20 6:9'>Exo 6:9</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>). He learnt that what was proclaimed by God as possible all the same depends on human effort to believe. And this lead him on even further, to realize that through his spirituality, he could bring salvation for others.&nbsp; In this spirit, <em>Moses’</em> faith in keeping the Passover led to <em>Israel’s </em>salvation, they left Egypt <em>by </em>him (<em><a href='B:650 3:16'>Heb 3:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 11:28'>Heb 11:28</a></em>); and when Aaron deserved death, he was redeemed by Moses’ prayer on his behalf (<em><a href='B:50 9:20'>Deu 9:20</a></em>)<em>. </em>Moses’ prayer, with uplifted hands, resulted in Israel’s victory over Amalek; without his prayer, and the intensity of it, there would have been no victory for them. However, he had to learn this lesson at this early stage. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and they said to them, May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>They are quoting the words of Jacob in <em><a href='B:10 34:30'>Gen 34:30</a></em>, perhaps unconsciously. Yet by grace Jacob was saved out of the position of having been made a stench to the Gentiles. If they were familiar with the Biblical text of their own history, they would have perceived this encouragement. If they weren't, then the potential encouragement wouldn't have been received. And so it is true for us. <em></em></p><p>Moses' attempts to save Israel have apparently failed. His initial request to Pharaoh to release Israel was refused. He then offers a compromise- Israel will go three days' journey to worship and then return. This is turned down. And then this request to worship leads to the accusation that the Israelites are lazy, no straw is given to make bricks but the quota must still be met. The foremen appeal against the unreasonable demand, but are refused; and then the foremen are beaten, and they turn against Moses. Indeed, the Hebrews conclude that Moses has "put a sword in their hand to kill us" rather than to deliver them. It seemed all abject failure. Just like his nervous attempt to save Israel 40 years previously had failed. Just as Paul's first missionary journey to Cyprus seems to have failed initially. He went around the island and made no converts until the day he left the island, it seems. Initial failure, when we were expecting success, is an experience built in to most human lives. I recall pacing the halls of the first two churches I opened in Latvia when nobody turned up. This experience is to develop our humility and our trust / faith. And above all this principle came to full term in the magnificent defeat of the Lord upon the cross, through which came the ultimate victory. Temporary failure will not thwart nor ultimately foil the "I will..." of the Yahweh who "will" save us. But the people had to be brought to this utter nadir of desperation before God can say "Now [when they were at their depth of despondency] will I deliver..." (Ex. 6:1). </p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>To put a sword in their hand to kill us- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>They were so wrong, as we are in our moments of desperation. The very opposite works out to be the case. The same phrase is used of how finally God was to put a sword into the hand of Babylon to slay Egypt (<em><a href='B:330 30:25'>Eze 30:25</a></em>). <em></em></p><p>The Israelites are presented as being in an absolutely awful situation. Perhaps this is to help us appreciate how awful were their later pleas to return to Egypt because all had been so good there (Ex. 16:3 very soon afterwards; Ex. 17:3 "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us", as if there was no threat of death in Egypt; Num. 11:4,5). And in their hearts, they did return to Egypt. We see for all time how human memory is so biased by present circumstances. And how strong is the sense that the former days are better than these; the past was better than the present and our projected future. The way of faith sees the past for what it was, slavery and suffering in Egypt / the world; the present is far better, and the future is eternally glorious. This difference in worldview is profound.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses returned to Yahweh and said- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Moses returned to the Lord"- the Angel of the bush? It sounds as if he went to a specific place to meet the Lord- i.e. the Angel.&nbsp; Moses asks why He had sent him- and it was the Angel at the bush who had sent him. Moses complained about the Angel, and so God reminded him that 'Yahweh personally will be your Elohim Angels', and that because of his questioning of the Angels he was in fact doubting God Himself personally.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Lord, why have You brought evil on this people?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note that "evil" is seen as always coming from God in the Hebrew Bible. This was a deconstruction of the popular misconception that only good comes from God, and "evil" comes from a supernatural 'Satan' being. But the Bible carefully teaches the very opposite. There is no such 'Satan' in that sense. And Yahweh is all powerful.As discussed on :21, Moses' attempts appeared to have failed; instead of delivering the people, his efforts had resulted in evil coming upon them. But he attributes his own failures to God. He cannot see that there must be initial failure before victory. Yet it was exactly because he and Israel were at such low ebb, that God could say that "Now" He would deliver them (Ex. 6:1).<em></em></p><p>Moses uses the same word at the end of his life, in saying that the Egyptians "brought evil" on Israel (Dt. 26:6). As if in maturity, he recalled the sins and failures of 40 years ago and puts the matter right. We ought to live like this, rather than assuming that time somehow automatically atones for sin.</p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Why is it that You have sent me?-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>“Why is it that thou hast sent (s.w. “put forth” and “let go”) <em>me</em>?”- i.e., why don’t You use Messiah, the man of Your right hand? And this, subconsciously and unexpressed, is so often our view; He must do it, not me. I’m just a shepherd, God ought to leave me alone in the comfortable monotony of my working life. But He has called us to greater things, to realize as Moses finally did that <em>we</em>, you and me, are the ones through whom God truly will work in this world. See on <em><a href='B:20 4:4'>Exo 4:4</a></em>.<em></em></p><p>Moses repeats the same question in Num. 11:11. He struggled with God not doing what He promised straight away. He wanted it right away, and failed to see that any delay which allowed evil to continue could be legitimate. This question lurked within Moses, and it seems at times he only wanted to be part of God's plan if it was going to work out when and how he expected and assumed. This is why Israel rejected a suffering Messiah, and why so many stumble at God today. Because they lack the humility to trust in God and accept their own assumptions of how things should be may be very wrong and short termist.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses was weak and discouraged, accusing God of wanting to do them evil rather than save them. This was what the people concluded in the desert, when they complained Yahweh had brought them into the desert to slay them. Moses would have found patience with them, because he would have realized that this same desperate conclusion, in the heat of desperation, was what he too had been guilty of. It is awareness of our own failures which provides the basis for others in theirs. God is without that aspect; His patience with human sin is therefore the more wonderful than ours.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 5:22-23'>Exo 5:22-23</a></em><em>.</em> God doesn't give up with Moses' pathetic loss of faith in <em><a href='B:20 5:23'>Exo 5:23</a></em>. He assures him that His saving purpose will indeed work out. Because He is Yahweh, the saviour God, and His purpose "will" work out, because "I will be who I will be". See on :2. The point is that "now", now both Moses and Israel were at rock bottom in faith, God would act to save. It was not that He turned away from them because of their poor response to Him, thinking 'OK then, well I won't do it then'. We see here His saving grace. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>God spoke to Moses, and said to him, I am Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Name speaks of the Father's desire to respond to His children, despite their weakness of faith; see on :1. The root word <em>ehyeh</em> from which 'Yahweh' is derived occurs 50 times, mainly in the context of God’s help and comfort in real situations. This is the practical nature of the things expressed in the Name. The repeated references to God’s Name in Exodus 3, 6 had a very practical context. Israel needed to summon all their faith to believe that actually, they were not in a hopeless situation there in the concentration camps of Egypt. Even when they were given no straw and told to make the same number of bricks, the comfort they are given is to remember the <em>Name</em> of their God, who had acted according to that Name in the past, and would do so in the future for them- because He is and will be who He has been. <em></em></p><p>God's answer to Moses' complaint [that He was not saving Israel] is that His Name means "I will...". And now again seven times in the next verses we will read of how He "will" save. YHWH essentially means that God "will" save, as He did historically, as He does, and will eternally do. And so Yahoshua, "Jesus", is the quintessence of His Name- 'Yah saves'. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by My name Yahweh was I not known to them?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 5:22-23'>Exo 5:22-23</a></em>. The idea may be that "I am" is also "I was". The Yahweh who had come through for the fathers, was just as much going to come through for Israel in abusive slavery in Egypt. </p><p>At the time of the burning bush, the people knew Yahweh's Name as a word- because "By My name Yahweh was I not known?" (<em><a href='B:20 6:3'>Exo 6:3</a></em>), and clearly enough the patriarchs had been aware of the Yahweh Name. But the point was that they didn’t see from His Name, just as a word, what He was really like, and what He could do for them. The Egyptians and others with whom Israel had had contact invoked their gods by pronouncing their name, and expected a miracle to happen. Presumably Israel had tried doing this with the word 'Yahweh'- and nothing happened. Moses put the problem to God in Exodus 6, and the response was "<em>Ehyeh asher ehyeh</em>". "I am that I am" isn't a purely correct translation, because the Hebrew verb used doesn't mean simply existence in an abstract sense. It refers rather to being there / present / being someone or something for someone. Martin Buber, in my judgment one of the finest of the many fine Jewish minds to have engaged with this matter of the Name, concluded: "'I am that I am' could only be understood as an avoiding of the question, as a statement which withholds any information". I would put it somewhat more gently, in saying that God was saying that He will be present with us, will be what Israel ultimately needs, without defining precisely in what sense. Because we're mere humans, we don't know what to ask of God as we should; and His very Name is the comfort that He will be for us as we need, with our eternal salvation in mind. God seemed to have encouraged Israel to understand this by going on to promise simply that "I shall be (<em>ehyeh</em>) present" (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:12'>Exo 4:12</a></em>). At this point it seemed Israel were doomed to make bricks without straw, and to be worked to death literally. But through the revelation of His Name, He wanted them to trust that He knew best how to bring them to salvation; He didn’t want them to invoke His Name in the primitive way the Egyptians did with their gods, hoping for a quick-fix miracle. God is only <em>ehyeh</em> for His people; and there came a terrible moment when He had to tell them through the prophets that "You are not my people and I am not <em>ehyeh</em> for you" (<em><a href='B:350 1:9'>Hos 1:9</a></em>). Israel lost this 'presence' of their God. And we know that we are His people by the constant sense we have of the hand of Providence in our lives, even through the unanswered prayers that reveal an altogether higher and ultimately Divine game plan in place in our lives. But like Israel before Moses, we wish for the quick fix, the waving of the wand to resolve the issues, the sense of the saving presence of God in our experiences, working out His ultimate plan of delivering us from Egypt / this world and from ourselves. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>God had revealed Himself as Jehovah previously (thus Abraham could speak of 'Jehovah Jireh' in <em><a href='B:10 22:14'>Gen 22:14</a></em>), and God clearly tells Abraham and Jacob "I am Yahweh...", Gen. 15:7; 28:13). One take on this is that but the patriarchs conceived of God as a singular Angel- "God&nbsp; Almighty" (as Jacob: "The Angel that redeemed me from all evil"). Now Yahweh says "you shall know that I am Yahweh your Elohim which brings you out from under the burden of the Egyptians" (<em><a href='B:20 6:7'>Exo 6:7</a></em>). God is saying, 'I will be Elohim; I will be manifested not in just one Angel, but in many'.<em></em></p><p>Another reading is to accept the AV translation "But by My Name Yahweh I was not known to them", but to enquire what it means to "know Yahweh". Verse 7 states that Israel would "know Yahweh" through their experience of the Exodus from Egypt [cp. "My people shall know My Name", Is. 52:5 and often]. So to "know Yahweh" is to have relationship and experience with Him. The idea may therefore be that even Abraham did not "know Yahweh" to the extent that Israel were to "know Yahweh" through what they were about to experience. The intimacy of relationship that He was offering them far surpasses even the experience of the patriarchs. So the idea would be "I was not known to them [compared to the extent to which I shall be known to you]". They had perceived Yahweh as El Shaddai, a powerful God. But now God was offering intimate relationship. This is the same development seen in those who in immaturity see God as merely a powerful source of answered prayer, to give them something, to sort out life for them. But these should lead to relationship.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"I am that I am" can equally mean 'I was who I was', and implies that He will be who He was historically. And historically, He had been their saviour God. And although with the cry of the slave drivers fresh in their ears it seemed this was all irrelevant, the point was that the God of historical salvation was going to come through for them now. Because that was what His Name was all about.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The "groaning" was that just described at the end of Exodus 5, where the Israelites groan because of having to now make bricks without straw. To try to alleviate the burden, they even plead with Pharaoh that they are his people and not Yahweh's (see on <em><a href='B:20 5:16'>Exo 5:16</a></em>). But despite that, God’s grace was such that He simply felt sorry for them in their affliction. He likewise saved them at the time of the judges, not because they had repented or were suddenly faithful to Him- but simply because of His pity for them in their sufferings (<em><a href='B:70 2:18'>Jdg 2:18</a></em>).<em></em>God's pity was because of His covenant relationship with them, even though they were bitter with Him, wanted to stay in Egypt, worshipped Egyptian gods, and carried the star of Remphan and tabernacle of Moloch with them through the Red Sea. We are in that same covenant and know that same grace.</p><p>But we can also understand from the context that their groanings were against God. But in His love and understanding,  He even pitied them that they felt that way about Him, and wanted to save them rather than turn away from them because of their groaning.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The three "I will"s clearly allude to 'I will be who I will be / who I was and have been'. This assurance of salvation was and is part of God’s most essential characteristics bound up with the very essence of His Name. Those who bear that Name should therefore be able to say that they are assured, at this moment, of final salvation. For this is so much part of God’s purpose and essence. The Divine assurance "I will... [save, deliver, redeem, take you out, free] is found seven times, completely, in :6-8. Seven sentences, with seven verbs in the first person ["I will..."]. This is the significance and comfort of baptism into that Name. For in this sense the Name of the Father is the name of the Son, in functional terms. We note the large number of personal pronouns used in these verses: "I... My...". We sense the very personal essence of God, bound up in His Name, very intensely articulated. This is God's insistence that He will save, despite our lack of qualification and in the face of every apparent impossibility of that plan. Hence Yah-hoshua, 'Yah Saves', was the name of His Son, 'Jesus'. For in Him we see the supreme articulation of all that God is- a saviour God. Our doubts about our personal salvation are therefore pitted, pitifully, against the absolute essence of who Yahweh is. "Redeem" is the word used of what a relative does to save another relative, the word of the kinsman redeemer, who 'redeemed' a relative who had fallen into slavery, debt or hard times, or who had died without seed. Israel, like us, were being told that this Divine "I will..." was on the basis that we are His very own kith and kin; and we now understand that the more because of the work of the Lord Jesus. We are no longer merely servants, but actual sons; through the Spirit sent forth into our hearts, we cry "Abba, Father", a relationship far beyond being adopted children. We are His actual children if we are in His Son (Gal. 4:4-6). And it was well understood that an adopted child could never be disowned by the adoptive Father. This is the force of "You shall know [Me]" (:7, unlike Pharaoh who refused to know Yahweh, Ex. 5:2); to know, in the Hebraic sense, means to have a relationship with. And that relationship is one of family, because Yahweh will be our redeemer, the kinsman redeemer. This is why the ten commandments begin with the command to accept that "I am Yahweh your God". All this is really true. "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:2,3). This is so much more than 'You must believe that God is one'. It is a command to accept the wonder of the fact that this one God is our God. And so to achieve this, God would bring them out from under the burdens of Egypt, just as His Son saves those who are under heavy burdens. On a spiritual level, we are even now freed from the ties that bind; we have changed masters and are no longer slaves to sin (Rom. 6). We are to respond to this gracious salvation, by doing to others what God did to us. And so these ideas are alluded to later in the law: “If a resident alien among you has prospered, and your brother, being in straits, comes under his authority... he shall have the right of redemption... One of his brothers shall redeem him” (Lev. 25:47,48). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Israel were brought out by "great judgments" (<em><a href='B:20 6:6'>Exo 6:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 7:4'>Exo 7:4</a></em>), i.e. by God’s stretched out arm (<em><a href='B:20 6:6'>Exo 6:6</a></em>). The way He acted with His “arm” was a manifestation of His judgment principles which are part of His Name. Therefore the Red Sea deliverance is described as the judgment of God, the day of the Lord etc. because God’s people exited from the world whilst judgments came upon it; the Name of God was revealed through this process (<em><a href='B:230 76:6-9'>Psa 76:6-9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 103:6-7'>Psa 103:6-7</a></em>). For "redeem" see on :7.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Yahweh "purchased" His people from Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 15:16'>Exo 15:16</a></em>) in the sense that He "redeemed" them (<em><a href='B:20 6:6'>Exo 6:6</a></em>), alluding to the idea of buying a close relative out of slavery to a Gentile. God’s people were in slavery to Egypt and wished to remain like that (<em><a href='B:20 14:12'>Exo 14:12</a></em>); and had accepted their idols, rather than Yahweh (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em>). Yet God bought them out of that slavery, He redeemed them only thanks to His love and pity (s.w. <em><a href='B:290 63:9'>Isa 63:9</a></em>); so earnest was He to have them as His own. We cannot push the metaphors too far, but the price paid was perhaps represented by the blood of the Passover lamb. For this finally was the price He was willing to pay to redeem us, similarly weak as they were. For we are redeemed (s.w.) by Him from the power of sin and death (<em><a href='B:350 13:14'>Hos 13:14</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Literally, 'I will take you unto Myself as a people', as in <em><a href='B:20 19:4'>Exo 19:4</a></em>. This is similar to the formulae used for adoption of children into a family. This could continue the family allusion of :6, where we read that God would redeem / act as a family redeemer, a <em>ga'al</em>, for His people. The idea may not be that they became His people at the point of the exodus, but rather that He took them to Himself "as a people", they received a collective redemption, not one of them was left behind, not even the most faithless. But the collective nature of Yahweh's salvation, in our times seen in Jesus, Yehoshua, Yah's salvation, must be responded to on an individual level.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p>But "to take", especially when followed by "to know...", is the language commonly used in the Bible for how a man takes a wife and then knows her and they bring forth fruit. The conception of intimacy is amazing. The sex act, when a man knows a woman, is alluded to in seeking to reflect the intended intensity between Yahweh and His people. The ideas alone make slavery in Egypt / the world of such little moment, compared to such intimacy with God Almighty. We note the absence of conditions. God "will" do all these things. It is the image of the man who wants to force through his relationship with a woman until marriage, in the spirit of Boaz having no rest until he had made Ruth his own, and redeemed her.  God likewise is not at rest until He has redeemed His Israel. All we have to do is say yes; that, from one viewpoint, is the only condition. The marriage allusions are continued in :8; having taken and known Israel, "I will bring you..." is also a marriage allusion. A man desired a woman, then took her and brought out her into his house: “[If] you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her and would take her to wife, you shall bring her into your house...” (Dt. 21:11,12).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an inheritance: I am Yahweh’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This promise was solemnly made, with uplifted hand as it were (<em><a href='B:40 14:30'>Num 14:30</a></em>), to that generation who left Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a></em>). But they did not enter the land, as <em><a href='B:40 14:30'>Num 14:30</a></em> makes clear. This was because Israel broke their side of the covenant, and did not in fact want to enter the land; and continued serving the idols of Egypt, which they took with them through the Red Sea (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em>). But that promise was guaranteed by the fact that "I will bring you into the land... I am Yahweh" (<em><a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a></em>). The very essence of Yahweh, that 'I will' save, as surely as 'I will be who I will be', a saviour God, was fought against by Israel's idolatry and unfaithfulness to the covenant. And because 'Yahweh' involves His character, which includes His judgment of sin and not turning a blind eye to it (<em><a href='B:20 34:4-6'>Exo 34:4-6</a></em>), human intransigence and faithlessness was allowed to as it were even counteract His most essential 'being' a saviour God for His beloved people.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p><p>God lifted up His hand, as men lift up their hand towards Heaven to swear by God that they telling the truth. And so as Paul notes, God swore by Himself as He could swear by no greater. We feel His almost desperation, certainly His zeal, in seeking to persuade man that He will perform His promise of the Kingdom. But despite the sevenfold "I will..." save you, the generation that heard these words did not enter into Canaan. They thwarted even God's "I will" by their extreme refusal to accept His word of sovereign promise. Likewise God had told Pharaoh to 'let My people go" as if they were His people. But they were still worshipping Egyptian idols and did not fulfil the conditions of Ex. 19 to be His people. But God presents here as the lover who so wants it to work out and dreams of entering marriage covenant with them at Sinai and taking them to live with Him in a new land. But they spurned such live in their hearts returned to Egypt.  </p><p>The following verses are an intentional anticlimax to this intense protestation of saving love by Almighty God. Israel were too narrow minded and obsessed by their immediate horizon (:9), to believe it or feel it. And Moses still felt a failure because of his uncircumcised lips. And in countless millions of cases, God's love and desire to 'make it work' has been spurned by short sighted people. We have the genealogy of Moses and Aaron as if to highlight their weakness; and as well as the genealogy of their tribe Levi, we have that of Reuben and Simeon as well. These were the three tribes cursed by Jacob on his deathbed. We are given the overall impression of human weakness.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Literally, from shortness of breath. We imagine them panting under their burdens. But "anguish of spirit" is literally 'narrow spirited / minded'. Like so many, they only saw the narrow cllimits defined by what we are seeing and experiencing at this moment. </p><p>Yet still they later thought Egypt was better than the path to the Kingdom. In Ex. 4:31 we read that the people believed Moses, but now they disbelieve. The Lord's challenge "DO you now believe?" comes down to us all. Fickleness in faith has so often characterised God's people. </p><p>The Hebrew behind "cruel bondage" has a numerical value of 430, the number of years Israel were to be in Egypt (Ex. 12:40,41). This is a good example of how implicit deep within the experience of suffering is the certainty of ultimate deliverance. The cloud truly has within it a silver lining.</p><p>
This appears to be God, through the inspired narrative, being generous to them. Rather like the sleeping disciples in Gethsemane being excused because they supposedly 'slept for sorrow'. The good news of the Gospel is for those afflicted by bondage and anguish of Spirit, as the Lord makes clear in the beatitudes. But here, the weight of the bondage is used as an excuse for their disbelief and disobedience- which later the prophets were to deeply lament. We marvel at God’s grace.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It seems that Yahweh now tells Moses to speak directly himself to Pharaoh; although He does take account of Moses' excuses about his stammer and poor knowledge of Egyptian. And He provides Aaron as a concession to that weakness. But His ideal intention was that Moses should speak to Pharaoh; because He loves to use the stammering, nervous tongue through which to speak His word.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is no contradiction here with the requests to let them go and keep a feast to Yahweh for three days (<em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:23'>Exo 4:23</a></em>). For that still required the people to "go out of his land". But it could also be that once Pharaoh turned down that initial request, for the men to go and keep a feast and return, then the demands upon Pharaoh got progressively larger- not just the men, but all Israel, along with their children and animals, and not for three days but permanently. God clearly was working according to a carefully devised program with Pharaoh. Those who refuse God’s requests likewise find that to avoid condemnation, the requests become larger and larger. <em></em></p><p>Initially, God had told Moses to take the elders with him and speak to Pharaoh (Ex. 3:18). Then, He had told Moses to take Aaron with him as his spokesman to Pharaoh. Now, He tells Moses to go and talk directly himself with Pharaoh- leading to Moses' outburst about his speech impediment in :12. We see the same God working in our lives; making concessions to our weakness, but ever seeking for us to live up to our personal callings, stripping us of all our crutches and excuses.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, Behold, the children of Israel haven’t listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?- </em></p>We noted earlier that Pharaoh's daughter immediately knew that the baby Moses was a Hebrew boy because she noticed he had been circumcised. But here, Moses argues as if he is uncircumcised. He means "I am a man of impeded speech, with a speech impediment", but he expresses this in terms of being uncircumcised of lips. This is Moses at a weak point.</p><p>Uncircumcised lips may imply he had superfluous skin on his lips, another hint that Moses had a cleft palat. And yet through that came the words of Yahweh. This is typical of the God who ever seeks to hide pride from man. And yet Moses concludes that Israel hadn't listened to him because of his lips- assuming that if he were a better spokesman, then they would have listened to him. He is tacitly criticizing God's choice of him, and overlooking how God had used Aaron in deference to Moses' complaint about his lips. And he is failing to believe that God stands for "I will...". Moses is also assuming that the only way Israel can get out of Egypt is if Pharaoh listens to him. But God had said that Pharaoh would not listen- and that was to be the basis of their salvation. Moses is still fixated on his own plans and assumptions about how Israel could be saved. Again forgetting the "I will..." implicit in Yahweh.</p><p style='margin-left:1em'>God had explained that His Name means "I will...", and Moses is effectively denying the power of the Name. God had promised Moses earlier that Israel <em>would</em> hear him (<em><a href='B:20 3:18'>Exo 3:18</a></em>). God solemnly told him to go and speak to Pharaoh, because God had told him to do so. But Moses has the nerve to say exactly the same words to God a second time. In a chapter which speaks much of Moses' reluctance, the record encourages us: "These are that Aaron and Moses... these are they which spake to Pharaoh... these are that Moses and Aaron" (<em><a href='B:20 6:26-27'>Exo 6:26-27</a></em>). They who were so weak, full of excuses, incomplete fulfilment of what they were commanded to do...<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This summary statement appears to be reminding us that they were given a commandment and potential power to bring Israel out of Egypt. But Moses made every excuse not to, and railed against this command. And thus this section concludes in :26,27 that these are that Moses and Aaron. This was the extremely weak moral material which God used to save His people; and out of their weakness they were indeed made strong. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Hanoch (s.w. Enoch) was named after the son of Cain (<em><a href='B:10 4:17'>Gen 4:17</a></em>) and means "initiated", rather hinting at unspirituality and paganism.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>But <em><a href='B:130 4:24'>1Ch 4:24</a></em> simply has "The sons of Simeon were Nemuel, Jamin... and Shaul"; but here and <em><a href='B:10 46:10'>Gen 46:10</a></em> shows that Shaul was Simeon's son by a wrong, casual relationship. Yet this is not recorded in Chronicles, even though so many other weaknesses are. Surely this is to demonstrate how if God imputes righteousness for a repented of sin, there really is no record of this kept by Him. This and other such lessons from Chronicles only come from digging under the surface. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Gershon" means 'expelled', maybe meaning that like Reuben he was expelled from the role of firstborn (he is mentioned first as if he was the firstborn). This is a theme of the Genesis record. But perhaps because of these weaknesses, the line to the high priest ran through Kohath. See on :20.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note that both Moses and Aaron had sons called Gershon (<em><a href='B:20 2:22'>Exo 2:22</a></em>). Such repetition of names within families and in the same generation was quite common, and is one thing which makes the study of the genealogies difficult in places. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note the lack of emphasis upon the children of Moses and Miriam, the great wilderness leaders of Israel. There was to be no cult of personality nor nepotism, no riding on the name of a forefather in order to be a leader of God’s people. Spiritual leadership in the Bible was intended to be based upon spiritual qualification. The sons and relatives of Aaron all feature at various points in the narrative. Those of Moses don't. He divorced with his wife and she took the kids back home to her father. Moses married again but with no record as to how their children turned out. "This is that Moses..." may require us to assume that he had a failed family life. But still God used him. His family life contrasts with Aaron, who married well, into the kingly line of Judah, and whose children and descendants appear again in the record as serving God.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Mahli" and "Mushi" mean 'sickly' and 'sensitive' respectively.&nbsp; This confirms the suggestion I have often made, that names were given in response to later character and life experience. Sometimes in these genealogies we read the birth names, at others, the names they were given later in life. And therefore the same person can have more than one name. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Amram lived to the same age as Levi (:16). Numbers and ages are used in Semitic literature often in a non literal sense, in order to make some point. Perhaps the idea here is that Amram was indeed a true son of Levi; despite Israel's general apostacy in Egypt, he married within his own tribe, as if seeking to keep the spirit of the later legislation to this effect.&nbsp; <em></em>We note that Moses' father Amram married his own aunty, a relationship Moses was later to define as incestuous [Ex. 6:20 "Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses"]. Moses' beginnings were therefore rooted in weakness and his survival as a healthy child was spiritually and physically against all odds.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The theme of this section, as explained on :13,26,27, is how the leaders of Israel, Moses and Aaron, were so weak. And with the benefit of our knowledge of Korah's later apostacy, we see the theme repeated here. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The recording of four generations is surely to prove how the prediction of <em><a href='B:10 15:16'>Gen 15:16</a></em> came true- in the fourth generation they were to return to Canaan.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The theme of this section, as explained on :13,26,27, is how the leaders of Israel, Moses and Aaron, were so weak. And with the benefit of our knowledge of Nadab and Abihu's later apostacy (<em><a href='B:30 10:1-4'>Lev 10:1-4</a></em>), we see the theme repeated here. <em></em></p><p>We also see here how Aaron married a woman from the tribe of Judah. The connection between the kingly and priestly lines was made right at the start of Israelite history.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:130 6:22-23'>1Ch 6:22-23</a></em> defines the relationships more closely; , Elkanah was the son of Assir, and only a "son of Korah" in the sense of being a descendant of him. The sons of Korah didn’t perish with their father (<em><a href='B:40 16:32'>Num 16:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 26:11'>Num 26:11</a></em>), and became authors of some of the Psalms, working as gate keepers in the temple (<em><a href='B:130 9:19'>1Ch 9:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:130 26:1-19'>1Ch 26:1-19</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Putiel isn't mentioned elsewhere, but it appears to be a common Egyptian name, “He whom God gave”. This continues the theme of spiritual weakness (see on :23)- even the mother of Phinehas was an Egyptian, whom his father ought not to have married. Although we could argue the other way- that for an Egyptian to marry one of the slave Hebrews could be a reflection of this woman's acceptance of Yahweh as her God, even though most of His people were very far from Him. Just as it seems the daughter of Pharaoh who adopted Moses married into the Israelites.&nbsp;<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This summary statement appears to be reminding us that they were given a commandment and potential power to bring Israel out of Egypt. But Moses made every excuse not to, and railed against this command. And thus this section concludes in :26,27 that these are that Moses and Aaron. This was the extremely weak moral material which God used to save His people; and out of their weakness they were indeed made strong. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The point of :26 is laboured here a second time- that "these are those...", these weak ones, stubbornly not wanting to be used by God, initially little better than Pharaoh, resistant to His word of salvation... who were used, and out of their weakness they were indeed made strong. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is solemn emphasis in :28,29, stating the same thing twice, that Yahweh really spoke to Moses. And he had resisted this Divine calling. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>As explained on :1-4, the Yahweh Name promised that "I will..." redeem Israel, and yet Moses refused to believe that. And a comparison of what God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, and what he is recorded as telling Pharaoh, would suggest Moses was not fully obedient to this solemn calling. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said before Yahweh, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?</em>-<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Because of his weakness, we are able to relate to Moses, and see him as our example. It is possible that Moses was not circumcised (<em><a href='B:20 6:12'>Exo 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 6:30'>Exo 6:30</a></em>); which would make him even closer to us. As noted on :26,27, this refusal of Moses to respond to God’s word, and his making of pathetic excuses, is being laboured. For "these are those" (:27) who were used. That we might glorify God for His patience, and soften ourselves to work with Him without resistance. <em></em>The genealogy just provided shows that Moses was the offspring of an aunty and her nephew; and I have suggested that this made it likely that Moses had a cleft palate. Hence his description of himself as of uncircumcised lips, as if he had superfluous flesh that needed cutting off. And this is how we all feel, that we have flesh that ought to have been cut off by now. And yet God still speaks and works through us. This is His style and way with men.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>A prophet is thus defined as someone who is as a mouth for someone else (as in <em><a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a></em>). Here we have another window into the meaning of the Divine inspiration of the scriptures. His prophets were as His mouth to their audiences. And we note that Moses, a man, can function as God. And yet he was not God. There should therefore be no reason for thinking that the Lord Jesus is "God" in the misguided Trinitarian sense. Like Moses, He could bear the Name of God and function as God, without being God Himself. <em></em></p><p>The amazing promise that Moses had been made as God to Pharaoh comes as response to his feeling he was unable to engage with Pharaoh, because of his cleft palet or speech impediment. But Yahweh is manifested through that. And that is the answer to Moses' inadequacy. His impediment was not healed. But God was manifest through it. However the point may be that Pharaoh perceived Moses as an incarnation of a God- which explains why Pharaoh doesn't simply have Moses executed.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>And yet throughout the record of the plagues, Aaron says nothing. This concession to Moses' weakness was not in fact required. Or it could be that God’s 'plan B' didn’t work out because Aaron failed to speak as required. And so Moses did the speaking, despite his concerns about his stuttering. These kinds of chops and changes between possible potential plans fill the entire Divine - human interaction which we are part of.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Hardening isn't a negative, bad idea of itself. The same word is used of how God "strengthens" the hearts of the righteous. Idea is that we are confirmed in the psychological attitudes we ourselves choose to adopt. It is Israel who were to later be often described as of hard hearts. They ended up acting as the Egypt which they loved. And this went too for their most religiously fanatical people. The Lord Jesus grieved for the hardened hearts of the Pharisees (<em><a href='B:480 3:5'>Mar 3:5</a></em>), and we note the similarity between the Greek words <em>Pharao </em>and <em>Pharisaios</em>. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Hebrew tends to reason through placing 'blocks' of ideas are put in opposition to each other, or 'dialectic', in order to come to conclusions. That's why we can read of God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardening his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:3'>Exo 7:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>). To Greek, step-logic thinkers, that's a worrying contradiction- only because they don't pick up the way that Hebrew reasoning involves these kinds of statements being put in opposition to each other, so that through the dialectic process we come to understand what is meant. Summing up, our covenant relationship with God is a "living intercourse" as Abraham Heschel put it; it's not merely knowing a set of doctrines and information about the covenant promises, the terms of the covenant etc. In that case the covenant would be a tether or chain; but instead it is a relationship. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay My hand on Egypt, and bring out My armies and My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>He will not, but I will... is an allusion to the "I will be who I will be" theme of Yahweh's Name just explained to Moses. In Ex. 6, Moses has lamented that Pharaoh will not listen to him, because he has uncircumcised lips, he had flesh that had not been cut off. He was missing the point; that Yahweh, "I will be who I will be", would release Israel exactly because Pharaoh would not listen to him. This is in response to Moses complaining that Pharaoh wouldn't hearken to him because of his speech impediment. God is saying that exactly because Pharaoh would not hearken, He would deliver Israel. And so no persuasive eloquence was required from Moses. </p><p>It would appear that all the people of Israel had a guardian Angel- this seems to be implied by <em><a href='B:20 7:4'>Exo 7:4</a></em> "(I will) bring forth Mine armies (of Angels), and My people the children of Israel", implying that there were two armies leaving Egypt- one of Angels, another of their charges. Thus we read in <em><a href='B:20 12:41'>Exo 12:41</a></em> "it came to pass that <em>all</em> the hosts of the LORD (a phrase often used about the Angels- but here concerning the Israelites too) went out from the land of Egypt". In the same way as the Angels were especially Israel's guardians in guiding them out of Egypt, it may be that the Angels minister in a guardian capacity to us especially in leading us out of the world to baptism (cp. the Red Sea). <em><a href='B:650 1:14'>Heb 1:14</a></em> offers tentative support in that the Angels are said to "minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation". At baptism we become heirs of salvation (<em><a href='B:520 4:13'>Rom 4:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:550 3:27-29'>Gal 3:27-29</a></em>)- those who "shall be heirs" are those as yet outside the promises of salvation. Confirmation of all this is provided by a careful reading of <em><a href='B:50 33:2-3'>Deu 33:2-3</a></em>. This describes God coming "unto them" (Israel) "with ten thousands of saints"- i.e. Angels- and giving them "a fiery Law". The next verse records: "Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy Hand (Angelic language)... every one shall receive of Thy words". Here the saints appear to be the people, thus showing that God’s love to Israel was shown by each of them having an Angel (thousands of saints for thousands of people), who individually taught them the word of God, albeit all at the same time. The Angels in the court of Heaven are watching us, almost with baited breath. We are made a theatre unto the Angels, as if they are in the audience as we act out our lives (<em><a href='B:530 4:9'>1Co 4:9</a></em> RVmg.).<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Israel were brought out by "great judgments" (<em><a href='B:20 6:6'>Exo 6:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 7:4'>Exo 7:4</a></em>), i.e. by God’s stretched out arm (<em><a href='B:20 6:6'>Exo 6:6</a></em>). The way He acted with His “arm” was a manifestation of His judgment principles. Therefore the Red Sea deliverance is described as the judgment of God, the day of the Lord etc. because God’s people exited from the world whilst judgments came upon it; the Name of God was revealed through this process (<em><a href='B:230 76:6-9'>Psa 76:6-9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 103:6-7'>Psa 103:6-7</a></em>).<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This could continue the theme of God’s hopeful intention that Egypt would be converted to Him by the whole process of Israel's redemption from Egypt. Just as the prophetic hope was that the surrounding Gentiles would be converted by Judah's redemption from the lands of their exile. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Or we could read this as meaning that all too late, having received God’s judgments, the Egyptians would know Yahweh. The rejected will not only see how they could have been in the Kingdom; judgment results in men knowing God’s Name / character. When God’s judgments had been poured out on Egypt, then they knew God’s Name. The rejected will come to appreciate true spirituality- but tragically all too late. <em></em></p><p>God remembers mercy in wrath, and His judgments are always creative. The plagues soon stopped applying to the Israelites; as evidence that they could be avoided by identification with Israel. And the later plagues included pleas to the Egyptians to avoid experiencing them, e.g. by bringing in their cattle from the field. Yet there was no warning in the third plague in the three cycles of 3 plagues [which preceded the killing of the firstborn]. The message was that they indeed deserved judgment and God could afflict them legitimately. The endings of the plagues often teaches that God can intervene and end judgment in response to human desire ['Please say the time when the plague shall end?'- again, a nudge towards Egyptian repentance]. The penultimate plague of darkness simply gave the Egyptians some time to reflect, to sit at home and think. And the final plague was completely avoidable if they shared in the Passover lamb.     </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses and Aaron agreed to continue speaking to Pharaoh and Israel; they "did as the Lord commanded them, so did they". This is saying the same thing twice- stressing their obedience. This could be a notice inserted to make the point that Moses had previously not been at all obedient. Now he was, and indeed fr.now on he would be. It's as if he has gone a rung up the ladder. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Aaron would have been only say seven years old at the most when Moses disappeared into the court of Pharaoh. He hardly knew Moses, so his obedience to the Divine call to make a long desert journey to meet his brother at a remote mountain was therefore the more commendable.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The trumpets of Revelation 8-11 are clearly based upon the plagues of Exodus 7-12. Yet those plagues were each one designed to induce repentance in Egypt; there were various possible futures and outcomes related to each of them. If, e.g., after plague eight, Pharaoh had truly repented- then the other plagues wouldn't have happened. And perhaps it will be the same with the trumpets of the last days. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is no mention here of the serpent turning back into a rod. A man's rod was his personal possession and indicative of his power and standing; we recall Judah giving his rod as a guarantee to Tamar and being humiliated by losing it. It is significant that the rods of Pharaoh's courtiers were gobbled up by Aaron's rod / serpent- and they were left, as it were, without their symbols of power. Even if the snakes produced by the magicians were just let out of a bag, all the same, the courtiers could not then suddenly claim their rods had returned to them. They would have had to at least conceal them. <em></em></p><p>There was serpent imagery on Pharaoh's head dress and crown. Serpents bend and twist (and Ez. 29:3 uses the term to describe Egypt as a serpent of the waters), so he was being warned in this sign that God could both harden and unharden him. And that is to be our take away lesson.  The word for "sign" also means "portent". This was a portent of what would be if he didn't repent.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Despite the stress upon the impudence of Moses and his refusal to obey his Divine commission, the record now emphasizes his obedience to God’s commands. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Surely they used trickery, releasing serpents out of a bag. But it is recorded here and in :12 as if they really succeeded in doing this 'miracle' (:9). Likewise the language of demons is used in the New Testament, as if they really existed as radically evil spirits, and were responsible for sickness; when the rest of the Bible denies this.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This was to warn the perceptive Egyptians that Yahweh could easily swallow them up if He wished; and He did so at the Red Sea, to those who refused to learn this lesson (<em><a href='B:20 15:12'>Exo 15:12</a></em>). This is the only other usage of "swallowed". The account of the plagues starts and finishes with this idea of 'swallowed'. There is no record that their 'serpents' turned back into rods. They were left without their rods; and perhaps Aaron's rod / serpent literally gobbled up their rods, thus taking their symbols of power and authority away from them.<em></em></p><p>We don't read that Aaron's serpent swallowed their serpents, but that his rod sowed their rods. After they had supposedly turned back into rods. Rods symbolising power, this was a statement of dominance over them. Seeing they used their rods as wands, the magicians were effectively rendered powerless.  These were all nudges intended to lead them and all Egypt to repentance. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same Hebrew words used of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart occur in a positive context- for God also hardens or strengthens the hearts of the righteous (<em><a href='B:230 27:14'>Psa 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em>). Indeed, <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em> speaks of how the righteous shouldn’t have a weak or (Heb.) ‘fluid’ heart, but rather a hardened one. Clearly enough, God solidifies human attitudes, one way or the other, through the work of His Spirit upon our spirit. This is a sobering thought- for He is prepared to confirm a person in their weak thinking. But on the other hand, even the weakest basic intention towards righteousness is solidified by Him too. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Stubborn" is used of how ears of hearing are dull (s.w. stubborn; <em><a href='B:290 6:10'>Isa 6:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 59:1'>Isa 59:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:450 7:11'>Zec 7:11</a></em>). He was consciously refusing to hear God’s word.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The idea was that God, the "I will be who I will be", can change things; a rod to a serpent, and now water into blood. He can and will change things on earth; that is part of the declaration of His Name and the salvation and redemption which are the lead characteristics of His Name. Pharaoh likely went to the Nile to worship the gods he believed to be there. And the changing of water into blood was therefore a&nbsp; judgment of his gods. Seeing that Pharaoh considered himself a divine figure, and related to the gods, this was therefore a judgment upon himself personally.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p>Pharaoh would be alone by the river, without pressure to maintain appearances before his courtiers. Moses was to meet him there privately. We see here God's desire to convert even Pharaoh and His sensitivity to the role of peer pressure on men.   </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness, and behold, until now you haven’t listened-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on <em><a href='B:20 34:27'>Exo 34:27</a></em>. <em><a href='B:20 7:16'>Exo 7:16</a></em> brings out the unity between Moses and Israel by a play on words: “The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me (lit. ‘let me go’) unto thee, saying, Let my people go”. “Let go” translates the same Hebrew word as “sent me”. Just as Moses had been let go by Yahweh, so Israel were to be. Likewise, both the Lord Jesus and Israel are called "the elect" (<em><a href='B:290 42:1'>Isa 42:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 45:4'>Isa 45:4</a></em>); both are fulfillments of the servant songs in Isaiah.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Serve Me" could refer specifically to the initial request to keep a feast to Yahweh. But the call was for Israel to be allowed to change masters, from Pharaoh to Yahweh. They changed masters when they crossed the Red Sea, just as Paul says happens when we are baptized (Romans 6). And the Red Sea crossing represented baptism into Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a></em>). Like us, Israel were not radically free to do as they pleased. What happened was that they changed masters; hence the appeal to Pharaoh to let God’s people go, that they may serve Him rather than Pharaoh. We too will only find ultimate freedom through this servitude to God’s ways, and will finally emerge into the radical liberty of the children of God in the Kingdom age (<em><a href='B:520 8:21'>Rom 8:21</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Thus says Yahweh, In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in My hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The signs done by Moses before Pharaoh have evident connection with the later plagues brought upon him- they were all "that you may know" (<em><a href='B:20 7:17'>Exo 7:17</a></em> etc.). The staff, stretched out right hand, snakes, the rod "swallowing" the serpent rods of Egypt (symbols of Pharaoh- <em><a href='B:330 29:3-5'>Eze 29:3-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 32:2'>Eze 32:2</a></em>) just as the Egyptians were to be swallowed at the Red Sea (<em><a href='B:20 15:12'>Exo 15:12</a></em>), leprosy / boils, water / blood all repeat. The signs were thus both an encouragement to believe as well as a warning of judgment to come. Pharaoh was presented with the possibility of either faith, or destruction. Note in passing that God’s hardening of that man's heart didn’t mean that He made no effort to save him nor appeal to him. It was God’s desire that he repent. I suggest the Lord Jesus had God’s intentions with Pharaoh in view when He said that He was doing miracles "that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins" (<em><a href='B:480 2:10'>Mar 2:10</a></em>).&nbsp; <em></em></p><p>"My hand..." again shows how Yahweh's hand is that of Moses, his rod, the symbol of an obscure workaday life working for his father in law, like a paintbrush or roller for a house painter, becomes God's instrument and the path to salvation.</p><p>"You shall know" can be read as a command more than a prediction. It parallels "that you may know that I am Yahweh" (Ex. 9:14). It is even a plea for their repentance and entering relationship with Yahweh along with Israel. For Yahweh has said in Ex. 6 that His people would "know" Him in relationship. His intention was that Egypt and Pharaoh came to relationship with Him. This is certainly how the idea of 'Egyptians coming to know Yahweh' is used in Isaiah: "When they [the Egyptians] cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior, and will defend and deliver them. The LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day… The LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the LORD" (Is. 19:20-22). To "know Yahweh" is to repent, to "return to Yahweh". Yahweh revealed in Ex. 3 and 6 that He wanted His people to "know" Him, to be in relationship with Him, and the plagues show that He wished this for Egypt and even Pharaoh too.</p><p>The magicians and surely all Egypt got to a point of recognizing that "this is the finger [power] of God" (Ex. 8:19), but they generally did not come from that to know Yahweh. This recalls how God said in Ex. 6 that He was previously known as God Almighty, El Shaddai, the God of power- but now He was revealing Himself as Yahweh, the God who could be intimately known. The plagues were intended to make Pharaoh know Yahweh (Ex. 8:22); as if God wanted the persecutor of His children to become a repentant member of the family and enter covenant relationship with Him. And there was an overall increase in the gradation of the plagues. Striking with death is used in the death of the livestock [plague 5] and then plague 6 brings boils on men, as if to show that people can also be judged. Egypt are being set up to expect that soon the plagues will mean striking people dead, and not just animals. But the increasing gradation of the plagues appears to stop with the penultimate plague of darkness- because that was in order to make the Egyptians stop and sit at home in darkness and meditate, before the final slaying of the firstborn. All through, God wanted their repentance.</p><p>So we can read the plagues as the articulation of the Yahweh Name, which seeks to save as well as uphold integrity. Grace and desire to save is seen all through the plagues, because that is what God's Name is all about. The plagues destroyed all the harvests of the Egyptians. But Goshen wasn't affected, and so when the Israelites left, the Egyptians would have gone to the place of the Hebrews for food. In this we see God's grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Foul" has the sense of being morally obnoxious. The use of this word, with its moral overtones, is appropriate once we perceive that the god represented by the river was being targetted. The intention of the plagues was to turn the people against their own gods, and to Yahweh. The god of the Nile became odious to them, and it was seen to have failed to provide them with water.  We see the power of selective memory in that Israel later lamented how they had eaten fish in Egypt, and so wished to return there.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Ponds of water" is NIV "reservoirs". The destruction of the water was a case of "Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Yahweh” (<em><a href='B:20 12:12'>Exo 12:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:11'>Exo 15:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 33:4'>Num 33:4</a></em>). The “gods” are spoken of for a moment as real and existing, in order to show Yahweh’s total superiority over them to the point that they didn’t exist. Note how it was the Egyptian people who were judged (<em><a href='B:10 15:14'>Gen 15:14</a></em>); their idols (“gods”) are used by metonymy to stand for those who believed in them. Likewise “demons” is sometimes put by metonymy for those who believed in them (e.g. <em><a href='B:480 1:32'>Mar 1:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 1:34'>Mar 1:34</a></em>). The judgment upon Egypt’s gods is brought out by an otherwise obscure reference in <em><a href='B:20 7:19'>Exo 7:19</a></em> to how “there shall be blood in all the land of Egypt on wood and in stone”. “Wood and stone” is a term usually used in the Bible for idols; and “the Egyptian priests used to wash the images of their gods in water every day early in the morning”. Thus the gods were shown to be effectively dead and bleeding. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Blood implies death, and the idea was that the gods associated with the Nile had been effectively slain. All the plagues were intended to lea the Egyptians to ditch their faith in their gods, and accept Yahweh. There is always ultimate spiritual purpose in all God’s judgments; they are never to be seen as the lashing out of an offended deity. Yet without doubt this was to remind the Egyptians of their policy 40 years previously of murdering the Hebrew babies in the Nile. They were being shown that effectively, they had turned the river into blood by what they had done. They were being shown what their sins of 40 years ago really looked like. And so God works with men to this day.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>As noted on :18, "foul" has the sense of being morally obnoxious. The use of this word, with its moral overtones, is appropriate once we perceive that the god represented by the river was being targetted. The spiritually perceptive were intended to realize that if God could manipulate the Nile as He wished, He could do so with the Red Sea. Those who charged into it pursuing the Israelites had refused to learn this obvious lesson. The drying up of waters and death of fish is the language of Babylon's destruction; Judah were asked to believe that as God had acted with Egypt in order to release God’s people, so He could do so with Babylon (<em><a href='B:290 50:2'>Isa 50:2</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Pharaoh's heart was hardened,” is linked grammatically with the previous clause, “the magicians did so”. The fake miracles by the magicians were laughable. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened because he thought that at least something had been said or done in response to Yahweh's claims. And that is the mentality today. It is vaguely hoped or thought that "science" has some answer to theism. The fact that there is some counter argument, no matter how pathetic, hardens unbelievers. So the Biblical account is so absolutely psychologically credible and true to experience today.  </p><p>Their claims would have been almost comical; because <em>all</em> the Nile water was made blood, it was impossible for them to take some of it and turn it to blood. But the record does not record a word of this <em>explicitly</em>. Their false claims are recorded uncorrected – to bring home (to the sensitive reader) the power of Yahweh’s triumph over them. It's the same with the language of demons in the NT. And the miracle was clearly aimed at showing that the gods of the Nile had been slain by Yahweh; for the magicians to seek to replicate this was therefore driving them to as it were slay their own gods.&nbsp;<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There were so many similarities between Elijah and Moses; Dale Allison points out:<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Confronted Ahab (<em><a href='B:110 17:1'>1Ki 17:1</a></em>) = Confronted Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 5:1'>Exo 5:1</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Fled into the wilderness fearing for his life (<em><a href='B:110 19:3'>1Ki 19:3</a></em>) = Fled into the wilderness fearing for his life (<em><a href='B:20 2:15'>Exo 2:15</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Miraculously fed “...bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening...” (<em><a href='B:110 17:6'>1Ki 17:6</a></em>) = Miraculously fed “...meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning...” (<em><a href='B:20 16:8'>Exo 16:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 16:12'>Exo 16:12</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Gathered all Israel to Mount Carmel (<em><a href='B:110 18:19'>1Ki 18:19</a></em>)=Gathered all Israel to Mount Sinai (<em><a href='B:20 19:17'>Exo 19:17</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Combated the prophets of Baal (<em><a href='B:110 18:20-40'>1Ki 18:20-40</a></em>) = Combated the magicians of Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 7:8-13'>Exo 7:8-13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 7:20-22'>Exo 7:20-22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:1-7'>Exo 8:1-7</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Successful in his intercession for Israel to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel (<em><a href='B:110 18:36-39'>1Ki 18:36-39</a></em>) = Successful in his intercession for Israel to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel (<em><a href='B:20 32:11-14'>Exo 32:11-14</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Elijah took twelve stones at Carmel “...according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob...” (<em><a href='B:110 18:30-32'>1Ki 18:30-32</a></em>) = Moses had twelve pillars set up at Sinai “...corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel...” (<em><a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Lord accepted Elijah’s offering by sending fire from heaven and consuming it completely. The people threw themselves down on their faces. (<em><a href='B:110 18:36-39'>1Ki 18:36-39</a></em>) = The Lord accepted Moses and Aaron’s offering by sending fire from heaven and consuming it completely. The people threw themselves down on their faces. (<em><a href='B:30 9:22-24'>Lev 9:22-24</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>By Elijah’s authority 3000 idolatrous prophets were slain (<em><a href='B:110 18:40'>1Ki 18:40</a></em>) = By Moses’ authority 3000 idolaters were slain (<em><a href='B:20 32:25-29'>Exo 32:25-29</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>After killing the prophets of Baal Elijah climbed Carmel to pray. (<em><a href='B:110 18:42'>1Ki 18:42</a></em>) = After killing the idolaters Moses climbed Sinai to pray (<em><a href='B:20 32:30'>Exo 32:30</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Went without food for forty days and forty nights (<em><a href='B:110 19:8'>1Ki 19:8</a></em>) = Went without food for forty days and forty nights (<em><a href='B:20 34:28'>Exo 34:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 9:9'>Deu 9:9</a></em>) <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Elijah was in “the cave” on Horeb (=Sinai) when the Lord “passed by” (<em><a href='B:110 19:9-11'>1Ki 19:9-11</a></em>) = Moses was hidden “in the cleft of the rock” when the Lord passed by Sinai (<em><a href='B:20 33:21-23'>Exo 33:21-23</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Elijah saw storm, wind, an earthquake and fire upon Horeb (=Sinai). (<em><a href='B:110 19:11-12'>1Ki 19:11-12</a></em>) = Moses saw storm, wind, an earthquake and fire upon Sinai (<em><a href='B:20 19:16-20'>Exo 19:16-20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 20:18'>Exo 20:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 4:11'>Deu 4:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 5:22-27'>Deu 5:22-27</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Prayed that he might die (<em><a href='B:110 19:1-4'>1Ki 19:1-4</a></em>) = Prayed that he might die. (<em><a href='B:40 11:10-15'>Num 11:10-15</a></em>).<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Lord brought down fire from heaven upon his enemies (<em><a href='B:120 1:9-12'>2Ki 1:9-12</a></em>) = The Lord brought down fire from heaven upon those who rebelled against him (Numbers 16; cf. <em><a href='B:30 10:1-3'>Lev 10:1-3</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Elijah parted the waters of the Jordan by striking the waters with his cloak and passed over on dry ground. (<em><a href='B:120 2:8'>2Ki 2:8</a></em>) = Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea by stretching out his staff and passed over on dry ground (<em><a href='B:20 14:16'>Exo 14:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:21-22'>Exo 14:21-22</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>His successor was one who had served him and came to resemble him in many ways, parting the waters of the Jordan as he had ( 2 Kings 2) = His successor was one who had served him and came to resemble him in many ways, parting the waters of the Jordan as he had the Red Sea. (Joshua 3)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Was taken away in the Transjordan (<em><a href='B:120 2:9-11'>2Ki 2:9-11</a></em>) = Died in the Transjordan (<em><a href='B:50 34:5'>Deu 34:5</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Mysteriously translated (2 Kings 9-18) = Died mysteriously and buried in a valley, but his burial place was unknown. (<em><a href='B:50 34:6'>Deu 34:6</a></em>)<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The point of these similarities was that the Angel wanted Elijah to be like Moses; to pray for the peoples’ salvation, to return to the people and lead them and teach them. Moses had begged for God’s mercy for His people; but Elijah was so full of self-justification that he prayed against Israel. And so with us, we are potentially led into situations where we are to discern the similarities between us and Bible characters; we are set up with opportunities to respond in a way that reflects how we have learnt the lessons from them. The way the Lord Jesus perceived this in His wilderness temptations is a great example. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Because God had hardened his heart (:22), meaning He had removed sensitivity from his conscience. His heart was turned by God, because that was the direction he himself wanted (<em><a href='B:230 105:25'>Psa 105:25</a></em>). Pharaoh's response gets increasingly better, confessing sinfulness, asking for prayer, etc. And yet we have to read this as his conscience being increasingly touched, and yet he refused to act upon it. The movement of conscience within him was overcome by the movement of hardness; and as hardness was his dominant desire, it was that which Yahweh confirmed. <em></em></p><p>The first plagues were intense forms of what was well known in Egypt. At times the Nile did appear reddish because of sediment colorization after flooding. But now it turned to actual blood so that the fish died. After the flood season, frogs appeared around the Nile every year. But now they appeared in huge numbers. God was nudging Egypt to accept Him, although testing Pharaoh as to whether he would just explain away the first plagues as mere natural phenomena. He does the same today. But if ignored or rationalised away, the nudges get louder, harder and more intrusive and painful. Like Pharaoh, they refuse to "fix his attention even on this thing" (:23 LXX). Spiritual focus is in short supply in the natural man. But if we do make the effort to focus, and that is one purpose of the breaking of bread, then the message is clear and powerful.   </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink of the water of the river-</em></p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh was condemned and Egypt overthrown because of his hard heart- but the very word is used to describe the hardness of Israel's heart at the time (<em><a href='B:20 32:9'>Exo 32:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:3-5'>Exo 33:3-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 34:9'>Exo 34:9</a></em>). Israel were really no better than Egypt- just as Egypt was plagued "so that they could not drink the water" (<em><a href='B:20 7:24'>Exo 7:24</a></em>), so we find Israel in the same situation right after leaving Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 15:23'>Exo 15:23</a></em>). As the Egyptians were stripped of their jewellery, so Israel stripped themselves of it before the golden calf (<em><a href='B:20 12:36'>Exo 12:36</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:6'>Exo 33:6</a></em>). The God who knows the future knew all this. So we see that He didn't save Israel because they were soft hearted, and Egypt were hard hearted. Most were hard hearted, but God therefore saved Israel by grace.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This period was intended to allow the Egyptians to meditate upon what had been done. The language of Yahweh striking is appropriate to the striking of a person; the idea was consistently that the gods supposedly behind the Nile had been slain.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, This is what Yahweh says, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Serve Me" could refer specifically to the initial request to keep a feast to Yahweh. But the call was for Israel to be allowed to change masters, from Pharaoh to Yahweh. They changed masters when they crossed the Red Sea, just as Paul says happens when we are baptized (Romans 6). And the Red Sea crossing represented baptism into Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a></em>). Like us, Israel were not radically free to do as they pleased. What happened was that they changed masters; hence the appeal to Pharaoh to let God’s people go, that they may serve Him rather than Pharaoh. We too will only find ultimate freedom through this servitude to God’s ways, and will finally emerge into the radical liberty of the children of God in the Kingdom age (<em><a href='B:520 8:21'>Rom 8:21</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The land was 'smitten' in <em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em> as a foretaste of the 'smiting' of the Egyptian firstborn (<em><a href='B:20 12:23'>Exo 12:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 12:27'>Exo 12:27</a></em>). It was an appeal for Pharaoh's repentance, in the hope that the final smiting of the firstborn would not be necessary. It was God’s intention and hope to save Pharaoh, but he would not.<em></em></p><p>The Nile floods, with reddish sediment brought from as far south as Uganda- but instead the water was turned to actual blood and the fish died. After the annual flooding, frogs come out of the river. But now there was a plague of frogs, throughout the land. The mounds of dead frogs led to the plague of gnats [plague three]; and gnats grow into flies [plague four]. But the scale was unprecedented, and from plague four onwards, the Israelites were not affected. Gnats and flies bite animals and humans, leading to plague five [disease of cattle] and plague six, boils breaking out on people. This is typical of how God works- exaggerating natural process to an extreme point. He works through us, and above all through the Lord and His human nature; through the words and deeds of a man with the larynx of a Palestinian Jew, whose body sweated and secreted and excreted just like any other human being. And with us too. We are of human nature and appear as one of the herd of humanity; but He works powerfully through us and above all in His very human Son. </p><p>In Robert Roberts' terms, the hand of providence as it were turned into the visible hand of God in the plagues which followed- hail [plague seven] that killed people and animals unless they were brought under cover. The first six plagues could therefore have been written off as just bad luck, extreme natural events. But this was the temptation to the Egyptians- to desperately try to rationalize the visible hand of God. We see the same in those who try to rationalize obvious miracles like the crossing of the Red Sea as mere freak natural events. And this is our temptation, for Pharaoh's mind can easily be in us too. We tend to want to rationalize God's hand- maybe that meeting with an 'Angel' was just because I was tired and imagined it, it was my subconscious. Like Pharaoh we have moments of spiritual reality, but we slump back into rationalizing things instead of the total surrender required. In all the plagues, there was something clearly of the Divine- e.g. heavy rain occurs before  the Nile floods and turns slightly reddish. But the hail comes well after that in God's sequence of plagues. And seeing the last plague was at Passover time, Easter, the timing of the sequence was not at the right time. Plague eight, the locusts, is a clear example- the Nile floods in Spring and locusts come to Egypt in Summer, but the plague of locusts came soon after the 'flooding' of the Nile, when it turned red as blood. And then the plague of darkness was, I suggest, totally unnatural and was to give Egypt pause to sit at home and consider. The death of the firstborn, the family priest, was then totally beyond any natural explanation. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>What God did at creation, He can do at any time. As He made the waters “swarm” in <em><a href='B:10 1:20'>Gen 1:20</a></em>, so He made the waters of the Nile “swarm” with frogs in order to save His people from a no-hope, chaotic, disordered, hopeless situation. The language of creation is here used about judgment; but the idea is that God's judgments are creative, not destructive in the way that human judgment is destructive. From judgment He brings new life. <em></em></p><p>Heqt, the Egyptian god symbolized as a frog, abounded to such an extent that the Egyptians wanted no more of him. And then he died and stunk. Truly "I will bring judgment upon all the gods of Egypt" (Ex. 12:12). Egyptian priests weren't allowed to do their work with any lice or gnats on their bodies; frogs were sacred and not to be stepped on. But inevitably every Egyptian trod on a frog during the plague. All the way through, the Egyptians found their religious system targetted. The Nile was supposed to be the God who blessed Egypt. But now from the Nile, from their god, comes the cursed plague of frogs. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"On you" shows how the plagues were specifically aimed at Pharaoh. We marvel at God’s repeated efforts to bring this man to accept Him. It is a parade example to us of how we should never give up with anyone, not even the most apparently unlikely candidate for the Kingdom. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>All these water courses were part of the Nile system. Again, the gods supposed to be associated with the Nile are being targetted, as well as the god associated with the frog. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The 'covering' of Egypt with frogs in <em><a href='B:20 8:6'>Exo 8:6</a></em> and locusts in <em><a href='B:20 10:5'>Exo 10:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:15'>Exo 10:15</a></em> looked ahead to the 'covering' of the Egyptians at the Red Sea (<em><a href='B:20 14:28'>Exo 14:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:5'>Exo 15:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:10'>Exo 15:10</a></em>). It was an appeal for repentance, in the hope that the final smiting would not be necessary. It was God’s intention and hope to save the Egyptians, but they would not. Only the very short sighted and superficial reader will read the Red Sea destruction of the Egyptians, and indeed all the sufferings caused by the plagues, as the actions of a hard God. Every opportunity was given for people not to die. But they chose otherwise.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Their claims would have been almost comical; because <em>all</em> the country was full of frogs anyway. The obvious miracle that Pharaoh wanted was to take the frogs away, but they couldn't do that. But the record does not record a word of this <em>explicitly</em>. Their false claims are recorded uncorrected – to bring home (to the sensitive reader) the power of Yahweh’s triumph over them. It's the same with the language of demons in the NT. The miracle was clearly aimed at showing that the gods of the Nile had been slain by Yahweh, and their frog god was actually turned into a curse for them; for the magicians to seek to replicate this was therefore driving them to as it were slay and disparage their own gods.&nbsp;<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat Yahweh, that He take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The frogs "destroyed them" (<em><a href='B:230 78:45'>Psa 78:45</a></em>), and they even appeared in the bedroom of the king (<em><a href='B:230 105:30'>Psa 105:30</a></em>). Pharaoh had made no response to the first plague, but now he is forced to make some response. He freely uses the Yahweh Name; he was being led to "know" Him. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said to Pharaoh, I give you the honour of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only-</em></p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1em'>The record of the miracles is framed to show God commanding Moses to do certain things to bring and end the plagues, and him obedient to this. But <em><a href='B:20 8:9'>Exo 8:9</a></em> RV contains a strange sentence: “Have thou this glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee... to destroy the frogs?”. It could be that, in the words of Bro. Mark Vincent, “Moses with an excessive and sarcastic politeness, is asking, ‘And (pray tell me!) when exactly would you like the frogs to be gone?’, as though Pharaoh might miss them and fondly wish them to stay around for a couple more days”. This sarcasm on Moses' part surely doesn’t score very highly in spiritual terms; and neither does Elijah's mockery of Baal's absence as being because he was going to the toilet. And yet God worked through him. 'Glory over me' could be read as Moses sarcastically saying that if Pharaoh is really his superior, then he can glory over Moses by commanding him when to remove the frogs. In this case, we see Moses at this point still had some travelling left to do to get to the point where he would be the meekest man on earth.<em></em></p><p>Moses offers Pharaoh the destruction of the frogs. Pharaoh likely didn't realize that his agreement with Moses' offer would mean huge mounds of stinking frogs everywhere, underscoring Yahweh's supremacy over the frog god.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said, Tomorrow. He said, Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our God- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh naturally wanted to say "Right now!". But he was given the chance to define a time in order to coax him toward repentance, and the realization that God was in absolute control of all this.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The whole situation here shows the development of Moses. He had departed from the Divine script by asking Pharaoh sarcastically when he wanted the plague removed. And Moses had given him a time. But he had to pray for this to happen (:12), and so his confident statement was made in faith. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had brought on Pharaoh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is the language of intense prayer. This crying to God is significant. It's the only time that his prayers for the plagues to be removed are described in this way. Perhaps he had to pray this intensely because of the pride and over confidence that had crept into him, as noted on :9. Again we have an example of where the Bible is so psychologically credible.  The removal of the frogs was far from automatic. As noted on :11, although Moses gave way to inappropriate sarcasm and over confidence in :10, he is starting to flourish spiritually. No longer is he the unsure, unwilling participant in the coalition with Yahweh which he had felt almost railroaded into. He is taking initiative, and stating things which can only come about through his own intense prayer. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The frogs were being slain by the word of Moses which was as it were a command to Yahweh. The Egyptians saw their frog god being slain by Yahweh, at the word of His servant Moses. And Moses in turn was being led to understand the power of prayer, how our words can become a word of command to Yahweh; such is His earnest, even humble desire to respond to the words of men to Him.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The smell of the death of their frog god would have been an abiding testimony to the idea that their god was totally dead- and they had buried him. "Heaps" is s.w. clay or mud. There is no record that the water turned to blood was reversed, so perhaps the land was still covered in "blood", now with heaps of putrid frogs in it. It would have been a terrible scene and experience. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Hebrew tends to reason through placing 'blocks' of ideas are put in opposition to each other, or 'dialectic', in order to come to conclusions. That's why we can read of God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardening his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:3'>Exo 7:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>). To Greek, step-logic thinkers, that's a worrying contradiction- only because they don't pick up the way that Hebrew reasoning involves these kinds of statements being put in opposition to each other, so that through the dialectic process we come to understand what is meant. Summing up, our covenant relationship with God is a "living intercourse" as Abraham Heschel put it; it's not merely knowing a set of doctrines and information about the covenant promises, the terms of the covenant etc. In that case the covenant would be a tether or chain; but instead it is a relationship. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is a case of "Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness" (<em><a href='B:290 26:10'>Isa 26:10</a></em>). People like this "despise the riches of God’s goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads them to repentance". And so they "treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (<em><a href='B:520 2:4-5'>Rom 2:4-5</a></em>). Paul surely wrote this in conscious allusion to Pharaoh, as a representative of all who will ultimately fail of God’s grace. <em></em></p><p>Moses had complained that Pharaoh would not hearken to him because of his speech impediment. Yahweh's reply was that it was through Pharaoh not hearkening, that He would save Israel. We see how His plan of salvation is so different from ours. He revels to work through human weakness. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>LXX "mosquitoes". The plagues and miracles often involve a transformation of one thing to another, in this case, dust to lice. Man is made of "the dust of the ground" (<em><a href='B:10 2:7'>Gen 2:7</a></em>). God can transform man, in all his lowliness and earthiness, as He wishes. That is the simple take away.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"They did so" shows again the careful obedience now manifest in these men. Moses spoke to Aaron just as commanded, and Aaron did exactly what he was told. This is all a far cry from Moses' grudging struggle to be obedient when he was first commissioned.<em></em></p><p>This too was a hit at the Egyptian priests, who shaved their bodies closely lest they have any lice, which made their service unacceptable. So Egypt were left unable to serve their gods, without a priesthood. But they didn't learn, and so all their firstborn were slain. Only firstborn sons could be priests, and now they were all slain. God seeks to remove all our excuses, our religion, our attempts to rationalize His hand, our partial surrenders to Him... but even so, He will not totally force us.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Their previous attempts to replicate the plagues had been apparently successful. But apparently something went wrong with their usual trickery, and they failed to replicate this one. And it would only have been creating yet more judgment and suffering for themselves if they had succeeded. The folly of trying to mock Yahweh was increasingly apparent.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Grammatically this implies a singular God, whereas the Egyptians were polytheists. But they were being led toward monotheism; Yahweh alone could do such things, and all their gods were being systematically deconstructed. <em></em></p><p>We note God's response to their comment that this was the finger of God, elohim. It was that the entire hand of Yahweh was upon them now, Ex. 9:1. We see here the continual upping of the tempo. And so it is with every man who resists God's call and only partially surrenders to it.</p><p>It was the plague using the smallest, tiniest elements, dust and lice, that was to persuade the Egyptians that this was the finger of God, i.e. done by Him. And this is indeed God's style.</p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh hardened his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:22'>Exo 7:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:19'>Exo 8:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:32'>Exo 8:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:7'>Exo 9:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:34-35'>Exo 9:34-35</a></em>). And yet God hardened his heart (<em><a href='B:20 9:12'>Exo 9:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:20'>Exo 10:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:27'>Exo 10:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:10'>Exo 11:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:8'>Exo 14:8</a></em>). The references to God hardening Pharaoh's heart generally occur after Pharaoh had first hardened his own heart. The fact Pharaoh hardened his heart was a sin (<em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet God encouraged him in this. God offered Pharaoh a way of escape after each of the plagues; all he had to do was to agree to let Israel go. But the conditions got tougher the longer he resisted God’s demand: he finally had to not only let Israel go, but also provide them with sacrifices (<em><a href='B:20 10:25'>Exo 10:25</a></em>). Likewise when Nebuchadnezzar lifted his heart up, God hardened it (<em><a href='B:340 5:20'>Dan 5:20</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, Let My people go, that they may serve Me- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>See on :1. Pharaoh was still going to worship at the Nile, despite the effective destruction of all the gods associated with it.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is a much repeated characteristic of God’s servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God’s work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<em><a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a></em>); Jacob (<em><a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a></em>); Job (1:5); Moses (<em><a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a></em>); Joshua (<em><a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a></em>); Gideon (<em><a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a></em>; <em><a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a></em>). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<em><a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a></em>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people (<em><a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a></em>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of beetles on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of beetles, and also the ground whereon they are- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The beetle god was now to be deconstructed. This god was presented as effectively the destruction rather than the salvation of Egypt. They were to have so much of their 'god' that they came to detest him. Just as men become tired of sin, it never satisfies; and some deliver themselves to satan [the flesh] for the destruction of the flesh. Again, the whole exercise was to lead them to ditch their gods and accept Yahweh. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of beetles shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The 'setting apart' of Israel from Egypt is a major theme (<em><a href='B:20 8:22'>Exo 8:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:4'>Exo 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:7'>Exo 11:7</a></em> "put a difference"). It was part of a 'sanctifying' of Israel for priestly service to Yahweh as a nation, as well as a lesson for Egypt that the only way to salvation was through separation from their own people and culture, and joining the people of God. We marvel at the multi functional way in which God works. The same word is used to describe how God "has set apart him that is Godly for Himself" (<em><a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a></em>); even though Israel were far from being Godly. Their setting apart was by grace; and so Paul in Romans uses the calling of Israel as the parade example of God's grace. Our own calling is another example; for we were not called because we were better than the man next to us. And it is used of God’s special grace, 'set apart', a grace known by no other people (<em><a href='B:230 17:7'>Psa 17:7</a></em>). The word is used in this sense in <em><a href='B:20 33:16'>Exo 33:16</a></em>, where Moses reasons that it is God’s grace and the visible presence of that grace which is what sets apart Israel from all other peoples. And that is true to this day. God’s grace is what is the lead and distinguishing characteristic of His way from all other religions. It is the experience of that grace which makes us distinct from all others who have not claimed it for themselves. And it all began with God 'setting apart' a sinful, idolatrous Israel from the Egyptians around them, all by grace, seeing they were largely no better than Egypt.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I will put a division between My people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This implies that outside Goshen, when an Egyptian and Hebrew were together, the Hebrew would not be hurt by the beetles. It was all another nudge to join the people of God. Ps. 78:48 says that the swarms of flies "devoured them", so we can imagine some Egyptians dying. </p><p>This "division" was the setting apart of God’s people for Himself, by grace; see on :23. Egypt were being led to realize that salvation was through identifying with Yahweh's people. And the fact a mixed multitude left Egypt with Israel is evidence that some did respond to this. The Hebrew for "division" is elsewhere always translated "redemption". In the exodus context, "He sent redemption unto His people" (<em><a href='B:230 111:9'>Psa 111:9</a></em>). Our redemption involves our separation from our 'Egypt'. Separation, holiness, being separated both from the world and unto the things of God, is therefore part and parcel of our redemption process. It is this which is the basis of our separation from the world. Not simply in a negative sense, of being separated from the world, but more importantly, separated unto the things of the new life and redemption.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of beetles into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of beetles- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Corrupted" has a moral sense. The same word means both morally corrupt, and destroyed. Thus the land / earth was "corrupt" before God at the time of the flood, and was "destroyed"; the same word is used (<em><a href='B:10 6:11'>Gen 6:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 6:13'>Gen 6:13</a></em>). The religious sense of the word is relevant here- for the plague was to show that Egypt's beetle god had corrupted the land of Egypt unto destruction. Their gods were the cause of their destruction; they needed to quit those gods and accept Yahweh.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go, sacrifice to your God within the land!- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh again has to make some concession here, but he struggles with all his might against the total capitulation to Yahweh which is required. And we do the same. We sense the parallel movements within him- of conscience toward God, finally admitting he has sinned and asking for forgiveness; and yet hardening of heart. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said, It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won’t they stone us?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Cows were sacred to Apsis, rams to Jupiter, goats to Bacchus, heifers to Juno. Indeed all animals were likewise thought to be sacred to various other deities. Clearly there were principles of sacrifice established for Yahweh's people well before they were codified in the Mosaic law. To sacrifice those animals to any other god apart from the deity of those animals was considered blasphemy by the Egyptians. And stoning was the punishment for religious apostacy. They considered that offering e.g. a cow to a deity other than Apsis meant a rejection of Apsis as unworthy to accept sacrifice. And that indeed was the message being taught to the Egyptians- that their gods were dead and to be rejected, and Moses is now manipulating Pharaoh to a position whereby he had to accept the blasphemous dismantling of his entire religious system.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as He shall command us-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The three days connects with the time the Lord was dead before His resurrection. The people of Israel as a body were going through the death and resurrection experience of the Lord Jesus, through the process of the Passover and Exodus through the Red Sea. Israel ate Passover (<em><a href='B:20 12:6'>Exo 12:6</a></em>) (14th Abib), as the Lord died on the cross as the Passover lambs were slain; Israel left Egypt the next day (<em><a href='B:40 33:3'>Num 33:3</a></em>) (15th Abib) and journeyed three days (<em><a href='B:20 8:27'>Exo 8:27</a></em>) (15th-17th Abib), and the Lord Jesus was three days in the tomb. Israel then came through the Red Sea (17th Abib), connecting with the Lord's being resurrected. As we come out of the baptismal water, we really are united with the resurrected Lord- a new creation. His newness of life, His deliverance and successful exodus from the world- all this becomes ours. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh is clearly no longer in control of the situation. No longer is this the man who barked out the order that the Israelites should be given no straw for their bricks. "Pray for me" is pregnant with possible meaning. For it is not simply a request to pray that the beetles be removed. It sounds like he realizes his own moral need. The probing and prodding of his conscience was partly succeeding, but he keeps going back from where he is being led. Just as so many do. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said, Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of beetles may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses emphasizes that it is his own prayers to Yahweh which are critical in saving Egypt. We note again that the beetles specifically targetted Pharaoh personally. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The plagues were not removed by a mere wave of a rod, or some other formalism. They required Moses to sincerely pray for them to be removed. This was both to teach Pharaoh the power of Moses' prayers; and also to teach Moses that prayer changes things, and he really had the power to change things through his prayers. He learned that lesson to its ultimate term when he successfully prayed that God would not destroy Israel as He intended. But faith in prayer is developed through experiences, and we see this happening with Moses.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and He removed the swarms of beetles from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"There remained not one" beetle (<em><a href='B:20 8:31'>Exo 8:31</a></em>), locust (<em><a href='B:20 10:19'>Exo 10:19</a></em>) nor Egyptian who pursued the Israelites (<em><a href='B:20 14:28'>Exo 14:28</a></em>). The same phrase is used. Again we see how both Egyptians and Israelites were intended to learn from the plagues, and how this came to full term when "not one" of their enemies was left- thanks to the prayer of Moses.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Because God had hardened his heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:22'>Exo 7:22</a></em>), meaning He had removed sensitivity from his conscience. His heart was turned by God, because that was the direction he himself wanted (<em><a href='B:230 105:25'>Psa 105:25</a></em>). Pharaoh's response gets increasingly better, confessing sinfulness, asking for prayer, etc. And yet we have to read this as his conscience being increasingly touched, and yet he refused to act upon it. The movement of conscience within him was overcome by the movement of hardness; and as hardness was his dominant desire, it was that which Yahweh confirmed. The final question of self examination must always be: What is my dominant desire?<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then Yahweh said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, that they may serve Me- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Yahweh is now fully defined as the God of the Hebrews. It was His intention that Pharaoh should come to know Him, in relationship with Him. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:4'>Exo 10:4</a></em> emphasize the real choice before Pharaoh; he was refusing to let Israel go and "held" them. Babylon was warned that no nation could "hold them fast (and) refuse to let (Israel) go (because) their redeemer is strong" (<em><a href='B:300 50:33-34'>Jer 50:33-34</a></em>). The Hebrew for "strong" is that translated "hold". God had a stronger grip and claim on them than did Pharaoh. They were Yahweh's, not Pharaoh's. And it could be argued that Babylon-Persia did listen to this message, and allowed and encouraged the exiles to return. We too are to learn from all this historical precedent; that our hand is not stronger than God’s. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>behold, the hand of Yahweh is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We see here how God works. His hand was already on their animals- but the destruction didn't need to happen. It was conditional upon their disobedience. The "pestilence" which was the plague upon Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 9:3'>Exo 9:3</a></em>) was to come upon a hard hearted Israel (s.w. <em><a href='B:30 26:25'>Lev 26:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 14:12'>Num 14:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:21'>Deu 28:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 21:6'>Jer 21:6</a></em>). The plagues upon Egypt form the basis for the vials and seals of Revelation, which speak of judgment to come upon the land of Israel. It is a theme with God that His apostate people are "condemned with the world" (<em><a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a></em>). If their hearts are really with Egypt / the world, then they will share the judgments of this world. The time for separation is now, just as the Egyptians had to identify with Israel if they wished to escape the plagues.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The 'setting apart' of Israel from Egypt is a major theme (<em><a href='B:20 8:22'>Exo 8:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:4'>Exo 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:7'>Exo 11:7</a></em> "put a difference"). It was part of a 'sanctifying' of Israel for priestly service to Yahweh as a nation, as well as a lesson for Egypt that the only way to salvation was through separation from their own people and culture, and joining the people of God. We marvel at the multi functional way in which God works. The same word is used to describe how God "has set apart him that is Godly for Himself" (<em><a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a></em>); even though Israel were far from being Godly. And it is used of God’s special grace, 'set apart', a grace known by no other people (<em><a href='B:230 17:7'>Psa 17:7</a></em>). The word is used in this sense in <em><a href='B:20 33:16'>Exo 33:16</a></em>, where Moses reasons that it is God’s grace and the visible presence of that grace which is what sets apart Israel from all other peoples. And that is true to this day. God’s grace is what is the lead and distinguishing characteristic of His way from all other religions. It is the experience of that grace which makes us distinct from all others who have not claimed it for themselves. And it all began with God 'setting apart' a sinful, idolatrous Israel from the Egyptians around them, all by grace, seeing they were largely no better than Egypt.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The plague upon cattle was clearly prophesied as going to happen at a specified time: “The Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing”; but it was conditional upon Pharaoh refusing to let Israel go (<em><a href='B:20 9:1-2'>Exo 9:1-2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:5'>Exo 9:5</a></em>). He <em>could</em> have complied, and therefore the plague wouldn’t have happened. And yet the prophecy is so specific that it would seem that this conditionality just didn’t exist. But it did. Pharaoh had a real choice whether or not to obey God’s word.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Clearly not all Egyptian cattle died because there were still some alive in the next plague (:19). So I suggest going with the translation of Adam Clarke: "All the cattle that did die belonged to the Egyptians".<em></em></p><p>This plague was avoidable, preparing them for the possibility to escape the death of the firstborn. God's hand was upon the animals left in the field but they need not have died if the Egyptians had obeyed the command to bring them under cover. All "the cattle of Egypt died" suggests that whoever was obedient to Yahweh was not "of Egypt ". Disobedient Israelites were "of Egypt". A new people was being formed.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh hardened his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:22'>Exo 7:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:19'>Exo 8:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:32'>Exo 8:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:7'>Exo 9:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:34-35'>Exo 9:34-35</a></em>). And yet God hardened his heart (<em><a href='B:20 9:12'>Exo 9:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:20'>Exo 10:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:27'>Exo 10:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:10'>Exo 11:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:8'>Exo 14:8</a></em>). The references to God hardening Pharaoh's heart generally occur after Pharaoh had first hardened his own heart. The fact Pharaoh hardened his heart was a sin (<em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet God encouraged him in this. God offered Pharaoh a way of escape after each of the plagues; all he had to do was to agree to let Israel go. But the conditions got tougher the longer he resisted God’s demand: he finally had to not only let Israel go, but also provide them with sacrifices (<em><a href='B:20 10:25'>Exo 10:25</a></em>). Likewise when Nebuchadnezzar lifted his heart up, God hardened it (<em><a href='B:340 5:20'>Dan 5:20</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"The ashes of the furnace" which created the plague of boils (<em><a href='B:20 9:8'>Exo 9:8</a></em>) may have been a reference to the furnaces used for the brick kilns, where the Hebrews were made to slave away making bricks. The result of this abuse was to come down upon the Egyptians as boils (<em><a href='B:20 9:9'>Exo 9:9</a></em>). Egypt is therefore likened to a furnace of oppression to Israel (<em><a href='B:50 4:20'>Deu 4:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 11:4'>Jer 11:4</a></em>). The Lord describes condemnation as being cast into a furnace (<em><a href='B:470 13:42'>Mat 13:42</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 13:50'>Mat 13:50</a></em>). He is not speaking literally, but rather using the figure of Egypt as a furnace- for the condemnation of the unworthy in God’s Israel is to be sent back into Egypt / the world (<em><a href='B:350 8:13'>Hos 8:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:350 9:3'>Hos 9:3</a></em>), and share their judgments. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking out with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This affliction was so terrible that it became known as "the boil of Egypt" (<em><a href='B:50 28:27'>Deu 28:27</a></em>). Apostate Israel were to be punished with the judgments of Egypt. It is a theme with God that His apostate people are "condemned with the world" (<em><a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a></em>). If their hearts are really with Egypt / the world, then they will share the judgments of this world. The time for separation is now, just as the Egyptians had to identify with Israel if they wished to escape the plagues. In terms of the progressive nature of the plagues, we note that boils were intensely personal. Pharaoh and the Egyptians felt this intimately; it was God touching their bodies and most private parts. The Egyptians again would have been tempted to rationalize this plague as being a skin anthrax which had come from the piles of dead frogs and livestock, or from the plague of flies. Always there was this and is this temptation to rationalize God's hand. And this was what hardened Pharaoh's heart. We must beware of it, and accept miracle as miracle. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking out with boils on man and on animal- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The plagues upon Egypt form the basis for the vials and seals of Revelation, which speak of judgment to come upon the land of Israel, and feature a furnace with ascending smoke turning into judgments upon the land. See on :9.<em></em></p><p>The plagues often reflect how the apparently total destruction  of the previous plagues was in fact not total. All Egyptian animals were killed but then the plague of sores breaks out upon their animals. In wrath God remembers mercy. A remnant was preserved by grace alone. That was the message.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:50 28:27'>Deu 28:27</a></em> describes this plague in more detail when we read of how it would come upon an apostate Israel, who identified with Egypt in their hearts and ways: "Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt and with the tumours, the scurvy and the itch, from which you cannot be healed".  The magicians hardly wanted to bring yet more boils on themselves. We see again how the religious structure of Egypt was being destroyed; and the vacuum left was to prepare them to accept Yahweh.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same Hebrew words used of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart occur in a positive context- for God also hardens or strengthens the hearts of the righteous (<em><a href='B:230 27:14'>Psa 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em>). Indeed, <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em> speaks of how the righteous shouldn’t have a weak or (Heb.) ‘fluid’ heart, but rather a hardened one. Clearly enough, God solidifies human attitudes, one way or the other, through the work of His Spirit upon our spirit. This is a sobering thought- for He is prepared to confirm a person in their weak thinking. But on the other hand, even the weakest basic intention towards righteousness is solidified by Him too.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>When Paul insists that God hardened Pharaoh's heart (<em><a href='B:520 9:14-18'>Rom 9:14-18</a></em>), he is not only repeating the Biblical record (<em><a href='B:20 9:12'>Exo 9:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:16'>Exo 9:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:19'>Exo 33:19</a></em>), but he is alluding to the way that the Jewish <em>Book of Jubilees</em> claimed that Mastema (the supposed personal Satan) and not God hardened Pharaoh's heart. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, that they may serve Me- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Serve Me" could refer specifically to the initial request to keep a feast to Yahweh. But the call was for Israel to be allowed to change masters, from Pharaoh to Yahweh. They changed masters when they crossed the Red Sea, just as Paul says happens when we are baptized (Romans 6). And the Red Sea crossing represented baptism into Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a></em>). Like us, Israel were not radically free to do as they pleased. What happened was that they changed masters; hence the appeal to Pharaoh to let God’s people go, that they may serve Him rather than Pharaoh. We too will only find ultimate freedom through this servitude to God’s ways, and will finally emerge into the radical liberty of the children of God in the Kingdom age (<em><a href='B:520 8:21'>Rom 8:21</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is a much repeated characteristic of God’s servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God’s work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<em><a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a></em>); Jacob (<em><a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a></em>); Job (1:5); Moses (<em><a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a></em>); Joshua (<em><a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a></em>); Gideon (<em><a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a></em>; <em><a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a></em>). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<em><a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a></em>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people (<em><a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a></em>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Heb. "I will send all My plagues upon your person". Again we see the focus on Pharaoh personally. To 'know Yahweh', to have a relationship with Him, is God's greatest desire. And it was His desire even for Pharaoh. "You may know" suggests this was potentially true. When God earlier said that Israel "will know" Him, this doesn't mean they would; it is rather a statement of potential, of God's wish. Just as God told that generation that they would enter Canaan; but they effectively chose not to. The idea of knowing Yahweh as a result of the plagues is found in Ex. 10:2 in relation to Israel: "... that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh". </p><p>As Pharaoh’s heart was plagued (<em><a href='B:20 9:14'>Exo 9:14</a></em>), so was Israel’s (<em><a href='B:110 8:38'>1Ki 8:38</a></em>); as Egypt was a reed, so were Israel (<em><a href='B:110 14:15'>1Ki 14:15</a></em>). As Pharaoh-hophra was given into the hand of his enemies, so would Israel be (<em><a href='B:300 44:30'>Jer 44:30</a></em>). She would be&nbsp; “Condemned with the world...”. Time and again the prophets describe the judgments to fall upon Israel in the same terms as they speak of the condemnations of the surrounding nations. The message was clear: rejected Israel would be treated as Gentiles. Thus Joel describes the locust invasion of Israel in the language of locusts covering the face of Egypt (<em><a href='B:360 2:2'>Joe 2:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:20'>Joe 2:20</a></em> = <em><a href='B:20 10:14-15'>Exo 10:14-15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:19'>Exo 10:19</a></em>). Israel’s hardness of heart is explicitly likened to that of Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:90 6:6'>1Sa 6:6</a></em>); as the Egyptians were drowned, so would Israel be (<em><a href='B:370 9:5-8'>Amo 9:5-8</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The plagues upon Pharaoh were to bring him to repentance, although his lack of response to them led him to only harden his heart. Consider how carefully they were planned- these were not random acts of wrath from an offended Deity. They are in three cycles. First: Blood, frogs, gnats; second cycle: Flies, pest, boils; third cycle: Hail, locusts, darkness, and each cycle begins in the same way- the first plague of each cycle has Moses standing before Pharaoh in the morning, and warning him; the second plague of each cycle has Moses simply coming to Pharaoh and warning him; and the third plague in each cycle has no warning.&nbsp; My simple point is that a huge amount of thought went into the plagues, and the careful planning behind them was surely intended to appeal to Pharaoh and convict him that a God far mightier than himself or his deities was at work in his life.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For now I would have stretched out My hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The argument is that God could have destroyed Pharaoh immediately, but He didn't. And this ought to have humbled Pharaoh. This is a powerful argument. The fact God keeps us alive should  mean that every moment we are attentive to Him and appreciative of Him, and never hard. Thus Belshazzar was told: "the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified" (Dan. 5:23). David's  Psalms likewise reflect his awareness that every breath and heartbeat is a conscious gift from God. The reason Pharaoh was not immediately destroyed was because God wanted Pharaoh to perceive His power, and to declare His Name in all the earth (:16). God wanted him to "know that there is none like Me in all the earth" (:14), which would mean Pharaoh declaring God's Name in all the earth. The intention was that Pharaoh would come to know "that the earth / land is Yahweh's" (:29); it did not belong to Pharaoh, as had been arranged in Joseph's time, but Yahweh. And so Pharaoh was intended to declare this throughout that land. But instead, Pharaoh exalted himself, declaring his own name, rather than Yahweh's (:17). In other words, God didn't kill him outright because God so wanted his repentance. Just as He delays judgment of this world so that more may have a chance to repent. </p><p>This seems to imply that the only reason God had not immediately "cut off" Pharaoh was because He so wished him to repent (:14). Finally at the Red Sea, the unbaptized Egyptians were "cut off" (<em><a href='B:20 9:15'>Exo 9:15</a></em>); "all flesh" that was not baptized into the Christ-ark was "cut off" (<em><a href='B:10 9:15'>Gen 9:15</a></em>). "The uncircumcised man child... that soul shall be cut off" (<em><a href='B:10 17:14'>Gen 17:14</a></em>). The New Testament matches this by the oft repeated teaching that outside of Christ, there can be no salvation.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>To be caught up in the downward spiral (as we all are at times) doesn't mean that there's no way out. The hearts of Pharaoh's servants were hardened (<em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet they did in fact soften when they beg Pharaoh to let Israel go (<em><a href='B:20 10:7'>Exo 10:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>). Yet each refusal of Pharaoh to soften his heart made it harder for him to soften it the next time the opportunity was presented. Conditional language is always used about Pharaoh-if he were to refuse to release Israel, more plagues would happen (<em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:4'>Exo 10:4</a></em> cp. 8:21; 4:23 RSV). In fact God wanted Pharaoh to come to realize that there is none like Yahweh in all the earth- and that was actually why He did not immediately kill Pharaoh, but rather appealed to him through the plagues. That's how I read the enigmatic <em><a href='B:20 9:15'>Exo 9:15</a></em>: "For now I should have put forth my hand, and smitten thee... and thou hadst been cut off from the earth". Fretheim paraphrases this: "If I had not had the intention of your knowing that there is none like me in all the earth... then I should have put forth my hand and cut you off from the earth. This is what you have deserved". The hardening of Pharaoh's heart didn’t mean that he was thereby bound to chose wrongly each time. Indeed, the plagues themselves were designed to warn Pharaoh and thereby appeal to him to change, in order to avoid worse plagues. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>but indeed for this cause I have raised you up: to show in you My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"The earth" specifically refers to the land / <em>eretz </em>promised to Abraham. Abraham’s seed were brought out of Egypt in order to inherit the earth / land promised to them. Thus the Name was declared in all the earth due to the exodus- i.e. throughout the whole land promised to Abraham. Rahab etc. heard about it, but not the whole planet (<em><a href='B:60 4:23-24'>Jos 4:23-24</a></em>). They were brought into the land, but reminded in <em><a href='B:20 19:5'>Exo 19:5</a></em> that “all the earth is mine”. This may refer to the whole planet, but surely it has special reference to the land? In one sense, all nations are Yahweh’s, and yet He has also chosen Israel as His special people. And so it is with the earth / land of Israel. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>These words are cited in <em><a href='B:520 9:17'>Rom 9:17</a></em> to explain how even in the lives of those who will not ultimately be saved, there is a saving purpose- that the Name might be declared in all the earth. And that phrase is associated with descriptions of the future Kingdom of God upon earth (<em><a href='B:50 28:10'>Deu 28:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 8:43'>1Ki 8:43</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 66:4'>Psa 66:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 83:18'>Psa 83:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 102:15'>Psa 102:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:450 14:9'>Zec 14:9</a></em>). Yahweh's Name was declared to Moses in terms of a declaration of His attributes, and in a sense it was declared throughout the earth / land of Egypt through the plagues and judgments. But ultimately the condemnation of sinners will lead to this happening on a global scale. Again we learn that God’s judgments are always intended to ultimately save someone, even if those experiencing the judgments will not themselves be saved (<em><a href='B:290 26:9'>Isa 26:9</a></em>).<em></em></p><p>The essence of the Yahweh Name was His desire to save, coming to full term in His Son, Yah-Hoshua, 'Yah saves'. The whole 'thing' with Pharaoh was to declare for all time that Yahweh wants to save- especially Pharaoh, even abusive Egypt, and certainly His people. "To show you My power" (GNB), as He later did to Moses on Sinai. The Hebrew hiph'il here is definitely causative; God raised up Pharaoh to cause him to know His power, and to declare the Yahweh Name which is all about saving people, even those like Pharaoh. But Pharaoh refused. Just as men are called and set up to know God, but refuse. "To show in you My power" could mean that Pharaoh in his heart was to know God's power. Yahweh wanted to reveal Himself to Pharaoh in that same way. It was God's vision that Pharaoh repent and made a declaration of God's Name throughout the world. The great commission is alluding to this. That is God's intention and we have Him totally behind us when we try to fulfil it. Rom. 9:16-18 appears to interpret these words as a parade example of God's mercy to Pharaoh: "It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. For [in demonstration of mercy] the scripture says of Pharaoh: For this very purpose did I raise you up, that I might show in you My power, and that My Name might be published abroad in all the earth. So then He has mercy on whom He wishes to, and hardens who He wishes". </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>as you still exalt yourself against My people, that you won’t let them go- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh was exalting himself against God, but attitudes to God’s people are taken as attitudes to Him. It's why we can't claim to love God if we don't love His people. "Won't let them go" is the language used of Babylon's reason for destruction: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast;&nbsp; they refused to let them go" (<em><a href='B:300 50:33'>Jer 50:33</a></em>). Similarly Babylon is described as not opening "the house of the prisoners" (<em><a href='B:290 14:17'>Isa 14:17</a></em>). Biblical history continually interconnects, demonstrating that the same Divine hand has worked throughout history, and likewise works in our lives according to the same style. See on <em><a href='B:20 1:7'>Exo 1:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:21'>Exo 15:21</a></em>. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The specification of the time was surely in order to give Pharaoh and his courtiers a chance to repent. The word hail occurs 14 times in the record here. And the Hebrew word for hail has a numerical value of 14. Surely the beauty is in the detail.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is increasing opportunity given for response to God’s word of judgment. They had time to repent (:18), and now the opportunity to show their faith in Yahweh's word. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Those who feared the word of Yahweh among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Fearing the word of Yahweh is associated with entering covenant with Him (<em><a href='B:50 4:10'>Deu 4:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 17:19'>Deu 17:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:58'>Deu 28:58</a></em>). The hint may be that these people then showed their commitment to the covenant by leaving Egypt with Israel. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Whoever didn’t respect the word of Yahweh left his servants and his livestock in the field-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:450 6:12'>Zec 6:12</a></em> says that later God’s people hardened their hearts and didn’t respect Yahweh's word (s.w.). Their apostacy is so often described in the language of Egypt. For that was where their hearts were. God’s apostate people act as Egypt / the world and are judged as the world / Egypt.. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The exceeding great plague of hail was one of the plagues which lead to Israel’s Passover deliverance (<em><a href='B:20 9:22'>Exo 9:22</a></em>), and yet this is the language of the last days (<em><a class='bible' href='#b66:16:21'>Rev 16:21</a></em>)- as if there will again be a Passover deliverance for God’s people, heralded by the pouring out of plagues upon those who persecute them. The plagues of Revelation upon the land of Israel are based upon those upon Egypt. See on :21.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same word for "stretched out" is used of how Yahweh would stretch forth His hand upon His land of Israel (<em><a href='B:330 14:13'>Eze 14:13</a></em>). As noted on :21,22, the language of Egypt's judgment is used about that of an apostate Israel, because they acted as Egypt and returned there in their hearts. This is why the rejected of the new Israel will simply be sent back into the world which they loved, and be "condemned with the world" (<em><a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is the language of the cherubim in <em><a href='B:330 1:4'>Eze 1:4</a></em>, where the same words are used for the "great cloud, with a fire taking hold of itself". The visible sight of this would have been terrifying, and yet it was to be seen as a manifestation of the cherubim to save Israel and deliver them from captivity- which is the very context of the vision of <em><a href='B:330 1:4'>Eze 1:4</a></em> which uses identical language.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The breaking of trees is a phrase which appears to refer to the breaking of twigs and branches, meaning there would be no fruit on them. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The 'setting apart' of Israel from Egypt is a major theme (<em><a href='B:20 8:22'>Exo 8:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:4'>Exo 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:7'>Exo 11:7</a></em> "put a difference"). It was part of a 'sanctifying' of Israel for priestly service to Yahweh as a nation, as well as a lesson for Egypt that the only way to salvation was through separation from their own people and culture, and joining the people of God. We marvel at the multi functional way in which God works. The same word is used to describe how God "has set apart him that is Godly for Himself" (<em><a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a></em>); even though Israel were far from being Godly. And it is used of God’s special grace, 'set apart', a grace known by no other people (<em><a href='B:230 17:7'>Psa 17:7</a></em>). The word is used in this sense in <em><a href='B:20 33:16'>Exo 33:16</a></em>, where Moses reasons that it is God’s grace and the visible presence of that grace which is what sets apart Israel from all other peoples. And that is true to this day. God’s grace is what is the lead and distinguishing characteristic of His way from all other religions. It is the experience of that grace which makes us distinct from all others who have not claimed it for themselves. And it all began with God 'setting apart' a sinful, idolatrous Israel from the Egyptians around them, all by grace, seeing they were largely no better than Egypt.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Confession of sin requires the appreciation that not only have we sinned, but that "Yahweh is righteous". Pharaoh really seems to 'get there' with these words. But he slipped back into the hardness of heart and spiritual insensitivity which was to be his condemnation.  The movement of progressive hardness of heart occurred along with a progressive sense of sin and desire to repent. But the hardness was stronger, in Pharaoh's case.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Although Pharaoh has come to a very fine expression of repentance (:27), he still asks Moses to pray for him to Yahweh- rather than praying himself. This desire to have someone else as an interface between us and God is a major abiding theme. Israel themselves wanted Moses as an intercessor, rather than to forge an independent relationship with God. The Egyptians had conflict with other nations around them; and along with other such situations in the ancient near East, the people being attacked were threatened with curses if they did not surrender. Evidence of this has been discovered not only regarding Egypt, but also the Hittites and Assyrians. Some lists of such Egyptian curses upon their enemies and opponents are exactly the ten plagues threatened and brought upon Egypt. Pharaoah was being called upon to surrender. And at this point, he apparently does. But his surrender was not total, and this is the huge lesson- total surrender, as the Lord taught in His parable of the man faced by a larger army coming towards him. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Let's not read these records as implying that Moses simply uttered a few words to God, waved a wand- and then each of the plagues was lifted. There was an element of real fervency in Moses' prayers- which may well be lacking in ours. This is surely an example of genuinely praying for our enemies (perhaps it is the Old Testament source of Christ's words in <em><a href='B:470 5:44'>Mat 5:44</a></em>?). The intention as ever was to that Pharaoh might realize that the earth / land, specifically of Egypt, was Yahweh's- not Pharaoh's, and not the territory of the gods he worshipped.<em></em></p><p>Moses only prayed when he was outside the city. Perhaps the idea was for the Egyptians to see him walking through the deadly hail without being hurt. Just as they could if they identified with Israel's God.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear Yahweh God- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Despite his fine expression of repentance, Moses knew that this was surface level. There is apparent repentance, and real repentance. We too are tempted by mere surface level repentance, partial surrender, hiding behind forms of words like "we're all sinners".  But he lived in hope of Pharaoh's repentance- "you don't <em>yet </em>fear Yahweh". Here for all time we are set an example of hopefulness in witness. If Yahweh and Moses could hope for Pharaoh's conversion, so can we towards all those we witness to.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Some time, read through the book of Deuteronomy in one or two sessions. You'll see many themes of Moses in Deuteronomy. It really shows how Moses felt towards Israel, and how the Lord Jesus feels towards us, and especially how he felt towards us just before his death. For this is what the whole book prefigures. "Love" and the idea of love occurs far more in Deuteronomy than in the other books of the Law. "Fear the Lord your God" of <em><a href='B:20 9:30'>Exo 9:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:14'>Lev 19:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:32'>Lev 19:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 25:17'>Lev 25:17</a></em> becomes "love the Lord your God" in Deuteronomy (<em><a href='B:50 6:5'>Deu 6:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 7:9'>Deu 7:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 10:12'>Deu 10:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:1'>Deu 11:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 19:9'>Deu 19:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:6'>Deu 30:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:20'>Deu 30:20</a></em>). There are 23 references to not hating in Deuteronomy, compared to only 5 in Ex. - Num.; Moses saw the danger of bitterness and lack of love. He saw these things as the spiritual cancer they are, in his time of maturity he warned his beloved people against them. His mind was full of them. The LXX uses the word <em>ekklesia</em> eight times in Deuteronomy, but not once in Moses' other words (<em><a href='B:50 4:10'>Deu 4:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 9:10'>Deu 9:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 18:16'>Deu 18:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 23:1-3'>Deu 23:1-3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 23:8'>Deu 23:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:1'>Deu 32:1</a></em>). Responsibility for the whole family God had redeemed was a mark of Moses; maturity at the end of his life, at the time of Deuteronomy. It is observable that both as a community and as individuals, this will be a sign of our maturity too. <em></em></p><p>The statement that Pharaoh didn't fear Yahweh (Ex. 9:30) is alluded to in Ex. 20:20: "God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, that you won’t sin". Israel were warned to fear Yahweh all the time and not just at a few points in life [as Pharaoh] and not to be hardened in sin; hence their judgments were expressed in terms allusive to the plagues upon Egypt. The point is that Pharaoh stands as the classicized warning to all God's people for all time. The implication here is that true fear of God is what happens after the immediate situation or crisis of need has passed. True spirituality is shown in who we are outside times of urgent need for God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Flax was used to make the linen which was so widely used in Egyptian religious practices, and barley was used to make beer and alcoholic drinks used in those practices. So again this was a judgment upon Egypt's gods.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>These were apparently the crops grown in Goshen, where the Israelites were. See on :26. Egypt were being led to realize that salvation was through identifying with Yahweh's people. And the fact a mixed multitude left Egypt with Israel is evidence that some did respond to this.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Again we see the intensity of prayer required for the plagues to be removed. It was far from automatic. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is a case of "Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness" (<em><a href='B:290 26:10'>Isa 26:10</a></em>). People like this "despise the riches of God’s goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads them to repentance". And so they "treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (<em><a href='B:520 2:4-5'>Rom 2:4-5</a></em>). Paul surely wrote this in conscious allusion to Pharaoh, as a representative of all who will ultimately fail of God’s grace.  The Lord understood a hardened heart as a mindset which refuses to understand: "Do you not yet see or understand? Have you still hardened your heart?" (Mk. 8:17). This is clearly an allusion to Pharaoh ["not yet see..."], and again we see Pharaoh being used as a warning to all of us. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Hebrew tends to reason through placing 'blocks' of ideas are put in opposition to each other, or 'dialectic', in order to come to conclusions. That's why we can read of God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardening his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:3'>Exo 7:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>). To Greek, step-logic thinkers, that's a worrying contradiction- only because they don't pick up the way that Hebrew reasoning involves these kinds of statements being put in opposition to each other, so that through the dialectic process we come to understand what is meant.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The phrase "let go" is often used of how God let Israel go from Egypt, overruling how the wicked Pharaoh refused to let the people go. The term is used later in the Mosaic legislation; the way Israel had been "let go" from Egypt was to determine how they "let go" others from slavery (<em><a href='B:50 15:12-13'>Deu 15:12-13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 15:18'>Deu 15:18</a></em>); their own experience of redemption was to influence how they released others. Just as ours should. The letting go of the scapegoat into the wilderness was likewise to remind them of how they had been let go from Egypt into the wilderness without being slain for their sins- all by grace (<em><a href='B:30 14:7'>Lev 14:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 14:53'>Lev 14:53</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 16:10'>Lev 16:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 16:21-22'>Lev 16:21-22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 16:26'>Lev 16:26</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may show these My signs in their midst- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>To be caught up in the downward spiral (as we all are at times) doesn't mean that there's no way out. The hearts of Pharaoh's servants were hardened (<em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet they did in fact soften when they beg Pharaoh to let Israel go (<em><a href='B:20 10:7'>Exo 10:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>). Yet each refusal of Pharaoh to soften his heart made it harder for him to soften it the next time the opportunity was presented. And so it is with us. Conditional language is always used about Pharaoh-if he were to refuse to release Israel, more plagues would happen (<em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:4'>Exo 10:4</a></em> cp. 8:21; 4:23 RSV). In fact God wanted Pharaoh to come to realize that there is none like Yahweh in all the earth- and that was actually why He did not immediately kill Pharaoh, but rather appealed to him through the plagues. That's how I read the enigmatic <em><a href='B:20 9:24'>Exo 9:24</a></em>: "For now I should have put forth my hand, and smitten thee... and thou hadst been cut off from the earth". Fretheim paraphrases this: "If I had not had the intention of your knowing that there is none like me in all the earth... then I should have put forth my hand and cut you off from the earth. This is what you have deserved". The hardening of Pharaoh's heart didn’t mean that he was thereby bound to chose wrongly each time. Indeed, the plagues themselves were designed to warn Pharaoh and thereby appeal to him to change, in order to avoid worse plagues. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same Hebrew words used of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart occur in a positive context- for God also hardens or strengthens the hearts of the righteous (<em><a href='B:230 27:14'>Psa 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em>). Indeed, <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em> speaks of how the righteous shouldn’t have a weak or (Heb.) ‘fluid’ heart, but rather a hardened one. Clearly enough, God solidifies human attitudes, one way or the other, through the work of His Spirit upon our spirit. This is a sobering thought- for He is prepared to confirm a person in their weak thinking. But on the other hand, even the weakest basic intention towards righteousness is solidified by Him too. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Repeatedly God has held out hope that Pharaoh would "know that I am Yahweh". But he had refused this, and it was God’s hope now that His own people would perceive the truths He had tried to teach Pharaoh, and come to the required repentance and humility. For to know Yahweh, in the Hebraic sense, is not so much to know facts about Him; but to be in relationship with Him.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Humble yourself" is the word used for how the Egyptians had afflicted or humbled the Hebrews (<em><a href='B:20 1:11-12'>Exo 1:11-12</a></em>). The only way Pharaoh could undo that was by afflicting / humbling himself before God. What was (and is) required was not the desperate repentance of a moment, in the face of urgent personal need, but humility as a permanent characteristic.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Serve Me" could refer specifically to the initial request to keep a feast to Yahweh. But the call was for Israel to be allowed to change masters, from Pharaoh to Yahweh. They changed masters when they crossed the Red Sea, just as Paul says happens when we are baptized (Romans 6). And the Red Sea crossing represented baptism into Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a></em>). Like us, Israel were not radically free to do as they pleased. What happened was that they changed masters; hence the appeal to Pharaoh to let God’s people go, that they may serve Him rather than Pharaoh. We too will only find ultimate freedom through this servitude to God’s ways, and will finally emerge into the radical liberty of the children of God in the Kingdom age (<em><a href='B:520 8:21'>Rom 8:21</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:4'>Exo 10:4</a></em> emphasize the real choice before Pharaoh; he was refusing to let Israel go and "held" them. Babylon was warned that no nation could "hold them fast (and) refuse to let (Israel) go (because) their redeemer is strong" (<em><a href='B:300 50:33-34'>Jer 50:33-34</a></em>). The Hebrew for "strong" is that translated "hold". God had a stronger grip and claim on them than did Pharaoh. They were Yahweh's, not Pharaoh's. And it could be argued that Babylon-Persia did listen to this message, and allowed and encouraged the exiles to return. We too are to learn from all this historical precedent; that our hand is not stronger than God’s. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The defining of a specific time, "tomorrow", was again in order to give Pharaoh the opportunity for repentance.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The 'covering' of Egypt with frogs in <em><a href='B:20 8:6'>Exo 8:6</a></em> and locusts in <em><a href='B:20 10:5'>Exo 10:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:15'>Exo 10:15</a></em> looked ahead to the 'covering' of the Egyptians at the Red Sea (<em><a href='B:20 14:28'>Exo 14:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:5'>Exo 15:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:10'>Exo 15:10</a></em>). It was an appeal for repentance, in the hope that the final smiting would not be necessary. It was God’s intention and hope to save the Egyptians, but they would not. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day’-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The language of the locust plague here is alluded to throughout Joel, where the invaders of Israel are likened to an unprecedented locust invasion. Thus the filling of houses with locusts is repeated in <em><a href='B:360 2:9'>Joe 2:9</a></em>. The idea was that an apostate Israel were to be treated as the Egyptians. It is a theme with God that His apostate people are "condemned with the world" (<em><a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a></em>). If their hearts are really with Egypt / the world, then they will share the judgments of this world. The time for separation is now, just as the Egyptians had to identify with Israel if they wished to escape the plagues. The Egyptians were likewise tempted to understand the locusts as symbolizing an invading army- of Israelites. They would destroy Egypt- unless they let them go. See on :26.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He turned himself about, and went out from Pharaoh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Being easily provoked was one of Moses' characteristics; consider how he turned himself and stormed out from Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 10:6'>Exo 10:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>); how his anger waxed hot when he returned from the mount, how he went out from Pharaoh in great anger, how he first of all feared the wrath of Pharaoh and then stopped fearing it; how Moses was "very wroth" at Israel's suggestion that he was appropriating the sacrifices for himself; how he was "angry" with Eleazer (<em><a href='B:20 32:19'>Exo 32:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 16:15'>Num 16:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 10:16-17'>Lev 10:16-17</a></em>). This temperament explains his swings of faith. Was the Lord Jesus likewise afflicted? And yet Moses went on to become the most humble of all men. It came to full term when Moses' faith slipped for a moment; because his spirit was provoked by Israel, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips and was therefore barred from entering the land (although maybe such an apparently temporary slip was the reflection of deeper problems?). Yet it does seem uncharacteristic, a tragic slip down the graph of ever rising spirituality. There must have almost been tears in Heaven. <em></em></p><p>Moses turned and left Pharaoh without asking for permission to leave. He didnt retreat from the King's presence by stepping backwards facing the king, but turned his back on him and walked out. He was showing total disrespect to Pharaoh as monarch. He was indeed acting as God to Pharaoh.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh’s servants said to him, How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The magicians had earlier admitted "This is the finger of God" (<em><a href='B:20 8:19'>Exo 8:19</a></em>); but the courtiers had "hardened their hearts" like Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>). But now they are realizing the power of Yahweh. They were the landowner class. But they had now lost their cattle and crops, and the land was ruined.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p>"Not yet" suggests they sensed God had an intended point of realisation for Pharaoh and he needed to hurry up and get there. Likewise in :3 "How long will you refuse..".  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh surely originally intended to tell them to leave immediately; but his lack of total capitulation to Yahweh meant that at the last minute, he still brings in a proviso- 'Who will go?'. We have in him an example of what happens when we offer God anything less than total capitulation. Sinless perfection is not what's required- but total capitulation to Him is.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>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 to Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This was an argument back against the idea that religion was just a male preserve. Yahweh's covenant was with all His people, including women and children. It was no mere hobby or external religious ritual.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He said to them, Yahweh be with you if I will let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The greatest Egyptian god was the sun–god Ra, and the Pharaoh was seen as his manifestation on earth. It may be that Pharaoh alludes to this when he threatens Moses: “Look, for there is evil (<em>ra’a</em>) before you” (<em><a href='B:20 10:10'>Exo 10:10</a></em>). And Yahweh’s response was to darken the sun and create a darkness which could be felt (<em><a href='B:20 10:21'>Exo 10:21</a></em>). The AV brings out the strong but indirect threat: "Look to it". We wonder why Pharaoh didn’t just slay Moses and Aaron out of hand. For he was so angry with them. But this is the closest he gets to threatening them personally. I suggest it was only his conscience and subconscious fear of Yahweh which stopped him from killing them as they stood before him. For that, surely, was the logical way out of all these plagues which these troublesome brothers kept bringing upon him.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire! They were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh clearly saw that he was going to have to allow the entire nation leave. But his rage increases as he realizes this, and desperately clings on to his petty power. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The continual destruction of what had remained from the previous plagues was a carefully calculated way of trying to bring the Egyptians progressively towards repentance.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It was the east wind which was to open the Red Sea (<em><a href='B:20 14:21'>Exo 14:21</a></em>). The people were being taught that God could control the winds as He wished; and "wind",<em> ruach</em>, is the word also used for God’s Spirit<em>-</em>Angels. But the east wind was to judge an apostate people of God (<em><a href='B:290 27:8'>Isa 27:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 18:17'>Jer 18:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 17:10'>Eze 17:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 19:12'>Eze 19:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:350 13:15'>Hos 13:15</a></em>). The idea was that an apostate Israel were to be treated as the Egyptians. It is a theme with God that His apostate people are "condemned with the world" (<em><a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a></em>). If their hearts are really with Egypt / the world, then they will share the judgments of this world. The time for separation is now, just as the Egyptians had to identify with Israel if they wished to escape the plagues. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Egypt at the time was 520 miles from north to south, and about 20 miles wide apart from at the Nile delta. This was a huge number of locusts. The "locusts" appear to have been a special creation, never seen before nor afterwards.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Time and again the prophets describe the judgments to fall upon Israel in the same terms as they speak of the condemnations of the surrounding nations. The message was clear: rejected Israel would be treated as Gentiles. Thus Joel describes the locust invasion of Israel in the language of locusts covering the face of Egypt (<em><a href='B:360 2:2'>Joe 2:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:20'>Joe 2:20</a></em> = <em><a href='B:20 10:14-15'>Exo 10:14-15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:19'>Exo 10:19</a></em>). Israel’s hardness of heart is explicitly likened to that of Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:90 6:6'>1Sa 6:6</a></em>); as the Egyptians were drowned, so would Israel be (<em><a href='B:370 9:5-8'>Amo 9:5-8</a></em>). As Pharaoh’s heart was plagued (<em><a href='B:20 9:14'>Exo 9:14</a></em>), so was Israel’s (<em><a href='B:110 8:38'>1Ki 8:38</a></em>); as Egypt was a reed, so were Israel (<em><a href='B:110 14:15'>1Ki 14:15</a></em>). As Pharaoh-hophra was given into the hand of his enemies, so would Israel be (<em><a href='B:300 44:30'>Jer 44:30</a></em>). She would be&nbsp; “Condemned with the world...”. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The darkening of the land could refer to the locust clouds blotting out the light of the sun. But it's likely a reference to the way that their brown bodies and wings literally darkened the ground after settling (:5). The destruction described would have been felt particularly by the landowner class who surrounded Pharaoh.&nbsp;<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>His previous summonings of Moses and Aaron in <em><a href='B:20 8:8'>Exo 8:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:25'>Exo 8:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em> had lacked this element of haste. We see a man increasingly desperate, being forced to repentance. And his repentance has greater depth to it than before in <em><a href='B:20 9:27'>Exo 9:27</a></em>; for he realizes he has sinned also against Moses and Aaron personally. The Lord puts his words in the mouth of the repentant prodigal son. He had the right form of words, and probably the right attitude of heart- at that moment. But the lesson is that repentance is not a passing realization of sin, but a permanent change of attitude and behaviour. And that is a critical lesson for all of us, for all time.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that He may also take away from me this death-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh asked Moses to pardon his sin, rather than asking Yahweh directly. By contrast, David asks God directly to "pardon my sin" (<em><a href='B:230 25:18'>Psa 25:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 32:5'>Psa 32:5</a></em>). Likewise Saul's mere religiosity is reflected by the way in which he asks Samuel to "pardon my sin", when he ought instead to have been asking this of God. For Yahweh is the God who delights to pardon sin (s.w. <em><a href='B:20 34:7'>Exo 34:7</a></em>). But whilst Saul uses the correct vocabulary, he misdirects it- to Samuel and not to God. And he ends up using the very phrase of Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 10:17'>Exo 10:17</a></em>), also without ultimate sincerity. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>What Moses prayed for isn't recorded. It is left purposefully ambiguous as to whether he simply prayed for the locusts to be removed, or for Pharaoh's forgiveness. There are many such intentional ambiguities in the Biblical narrative- to provoke our imagination and questions, so that we might enter more fully into the narrative. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The wind which blew the locusts in and then to blow them away again, until "not a single locust was left" (<em><a href='B:20 10:19'>Exo 10:19</a></em>) is just what happened to the Egyptians- the wind blew the waters to and fro, and left not a single Egyptian soldier alive (<em><a href='B:20 14:21'>Exo 14:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:28'>Exo 14:28</a></em>). The locust plague was an appeal for their repentance, and an encouragement for them to perceive what Yahweh could do again. The plagues began by affecting everyone, but then focus in on the Egyptians and then zoom closer in upon the personal possessions of Pharaoh. In Pharaoh's case, it would be true to say that God’s hardening activities gather momentum, like a swimmer sucked closer and closer towards the waterfall. There has to come a moment when the pull is now too strong, and the plunge is inevitable. It is that moment which perhaps we need to fear more than anything else in human experience.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"There remained not one" beetle (<em><a href='B:20 8:31'>Exo 8:31</a></em>), locust (<em><a href='B:20 10:19'>Exo 10:19</a></em>) nor Egyptian who pursued the Israelites (<em><a href='B:20 14:28'>Exo 14:28</a></em>). The same phrase is used. Again we see how both Egyptians and Israelites were intended to learn from the plagues, and how this came to full term when "not one" of their enemies was left- thanks to the prayer of Moses.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Hebrew tends to reason through placing 'blocks' of ideas are put in opposition to each other, or 'dialectic', in order to come to conclusions. That's why we can read of God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardening his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:3'>Exo 7:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>). To Greek, step-logic thinkers, that's a worrying contradiction- only because they don't pick up the way that Hebrew reasoning involves these kinds of statements being put in opposition to each other, so that through the dialectic process we come to understand what is meant. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is a case of "Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness" (<em><a href='B:290 26:10'>Isa 26:10</a></em>). People like this "despise the riches of God’s goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads them to repentance". And so they "treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (<em><a href='B:520 2:4-5'>Rom 2:4-5</a></em>). Paul surely wrote this in conscious allusion to Pharaoh, as a representative of all who will ultimately fail of God’s grace. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The rejected will be sent to a mist of darkness (<em><a href='B:680 2:17'>2Pe 2:17</a></em>). Thick darkness is associated with God’s judgment (<em><a href='B:290 8:22'>Isa 8:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:360 2:2'>Joe 2:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:430 1:15'>Zep 1:15</a></em>)- and recall how the judgment of darkness upon Egypt was so severe that human movement required 'groping' (<em><a href='B:20 10:21'>Exo 10:21</a></em>). Perhaps there will be a literal element to this in the experience of the rejected. Be that as it may, the utter <em>pointlessness </em>of life without God will be so bitterly apparent. And yet they would not face up to it in their day of opportunity. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The plagues upon Egypt recorded in Exodus 7-10 are frequently alluded to in later Scripture concerning the judgments upon the apostate people of God. The judgment of darkness is a case in point. Quite simply, God’s rejected people suffer the judgments of this world. All this has a powerful imperative for us. If we love the world, we will be sent back into it. The Lord will effectively tell the rejected: 'Go back and watch telly. That's what you liked doing. Go back and sail your pleasure boat, take a holiday to Spain, go back to the guys at the bar and have another drink with them... that's what you always liked, compared to the things of My people and My Kingdom'. And the last thing, the very last thing, that the rejected will want is to go back to all that. But they will have to. For in their lives, they made their answer. The pointlessness of the life of the world will then be only too apparent to them. As Adam was made to realize he was made of dust and must tend that dust and then return to it, living a pointless existence, so the rejected whom he typified will realize all too late the vanity of life in the flesh. Rejected Israel in the wilderness had their years of prolonged existence "consumed with vanity" (<em><a href='B:230 78:33'>Psa 78:33</a></em>). The faithless of the new Israel will go through the same. <em>So let us, while we have opportunity, learn the utter vanity of all else apart from the things of the Lord, His people and His Kingdom.</em><em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The darkness would have been "felt" in that it may have been associated with a sandstorm which blotted out the sun's light.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Three days was the period associated with death and mourning. We think of the Lord's death for three days. They were being taught that God could bring about intense mourning and death- and they would all feel it, as they felt this darkness (:21). The death of the firstborn was therefore avoidable, and was only God’s most desperate attempt, as it were, to bring about their repentance. The plague of darkness was intended to help them realize that He could slay them, and to elicit their repentance before He did. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They didn’t see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Israel in Egypt had light, but Egypt was in darkness. And yet later, at the time of the Exodus, it was the Angel in the pillar of cloud and fire that gave light to the Israelites and darkness to the Egyptian pursuers. One possible conclusion could be that the guardian Angel of each Israelite was physically with them at the time of the plague of darkness, giving them light and yet darkness to the Egyptians. It seems that great stress is placed in Scripture on the Angels physically moving through space, both on the earth and between Heaven and earth, in order to fulfil their tasks, rather than being static in Heaven or earth and bringing things about by just willing them to happen. See on <em><a href='B:10 18:10'>Gen 18:10</a></em><em></em></p><p>Again we see how the plagues were designed to teach. If Egyptians wanted light, they must go into the house of Israelites. This was to prepare then to go into their houses for salvation from the final plague. And Israelites only had light in their homes. They were taught to see their homes as the place of safety, to prepare them to abide in their homes during the death of the firstborn. It is only when we refuse to accept meaning in event that we fall into the sense that life is random and pointless, and we are held captive by the winds of fortune. And the many associations between death and darkness were to encourage them all to see that escape from death was only through association with God's people within their homes. And we have here the basis for house churches, light and escape from death for the world.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Again we see Pharaoh capitulating- and then putting on the brakes, by trying to make some proviso. He agreed now that their women and children could leave- but their animals must stay behind. Most of the animals of the Egyptians had been slain, and so Pharaoh was desperate for animals. But again we see the lesson- that anything less than total capitulation to God is the same as resisting Him. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said, You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Pharaoh hardened his own heart (<em><a href='B:20 7:22'>Exo 7:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:15'>Exo 8:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:19'>Exo 8:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 8:32'>Exo 8:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:7'>Exo 9:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:34-35'>Exo 9:34-35</a></em>). And yet God hardened his heart (<em><a href='B:20 9:12'>Exo 9:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:20'>Exo 10:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:27'>Exo 10:27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:10'>Exo 11:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 14:8'>Exo 14:8</a></em>). The references to God hardening Pharaoh's heart generally occur after Pharaoh had first hardened his own heart. The fact Pharaoh hardened his heart was a sin (<em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet God encouraged him in this. God offered Pharaoh a way of escape after each of the plagues; all he had to do was to agree to let Israel go. But the conditions got tougher the longer he resisted God’s demand: he finally had to not only let Israel go, along with their animals, but also provide them with sacrifices (<em><a href='B:20 10:25'>Exo 10:25</a></em>). Likewise when Nebuchadnezzar lifted his heart up, God hardened it (<em><a href='B:340 5:20'>Dan 5:20</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Serve" is used in the sense of sacrifice. "Left behind" is the word just used for how not a single locust "remained" in Egypt (:19). I suggested on :6 that the Egyptians saw the locust invasion as representing the swarming multitudes of Hebrews which had come into their land. And Moses goes along with this parallel; he says that just as not a single locust remained, so neither would a single Israelite animal. Just as Egypt wanted the locusts to totally leave their land, so they had to let all Israel leave.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>When Paul insists that God hardened Pharaoh's heart (<em><a href='B:520 9:14-18'>Rom 9:14-18</a></em>), he is not only repeating the Biblical record (<em><a href='B:20 9:12'>Exo 9:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:16'>Exo 9:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:19'>Exo 33:19</a></em>), but he is alluding to the way that the Jewish <em>Book of Jubilees</em> claimed that Mastema (the supposed personal Satan) and not God hardened Pharaoh's heart. He is deconstructing this wrong idea. See on :25.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh said to him, Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>I discussed on :10 how Pharaoh could easily have apparently rid himself of these plagues by slaying Moses and Aaron. The only reason I can see for not doing so was his subconscious awareness that they were of God, and he would suffer terribly if he did so. This is the tragedy of it all- that Pharaoh had a conscience. But he refused to be led to follow it.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said, You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The LXX makes this sound as if Pharaoh was as it were being judged out of his own mouth: "And Moses says, Thou hast said, I will not appear in thy presence again". Pharaoh had said that he wouldn't see Moses again, and indeed he wouldn't- for he would soon be slain. That is the implication of Moses' words. And yet according to <em><a href='B:20 12:31'>Exo 12:31</a></em>, there was one last brief meeting between them. So the idea may be that Moses would not again appear before God’s face again in intercession for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Pharaoh and Egypt were now beyond Moses' intercession and prayer. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We can read this and :4 as that God "had said"... and Moses said these things to Pharaoh. This would explain the apparent contradiction with Moses having said in Ex. 10 that Pharaoh would not see his face again. </p><p>"Altogether" can mean 'all of you'. Previously Pharaoh had argued about whether men, women or children could leave. But they were all to be thrust out. And yet there is evidence that many of them remained or did not keep the Passover. Just as God's efforts to bring men out of the world are resisted by man's love of his miserable world. "When Israel conducted their census of the Levites and the firstborn from the rest of the tribes (Numbers 3:39, 46), the number of firstborn males is recorded as just over twenty thousand. Using the traditional interpretation of 600,000 adult males implies that firstborns made up only 1 out of every 30 men. If that were the case, the average Israelite family would have about 60 children, boys and girls combined". Israel were typically disobedient to God [think of how they tried to gather manna when told not to], so it is unlikely they were all obedient to the Passover regulations. Ex. 13:18 "the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt" can be translated "went up as a fifth", as if only a fifth of Israel left Egypt. The rest remained from fear of the unknown, from connection with the Egypt which they hated. In the wilderness, the people often suggest that Israel never actually wanted to leave Egypt anyway and that is why they wanted to return. </p><p> The number of firstborn males after Israel left Egypt was remarkably small (around 20,000, Num. 3:43). Women in most primitive societies have an average of 7 births. This would mean that given a total population of around 2,800,000 on leaving Egypt (Ex. 12:37), there should have been around 400,000 firstborn males. But instead, there is only a fraction of this number. Why? Did Israel eat the Passover?  </p><p>My suggestion- and this is well in the category of things you will never know for sure and can only ponder- is that many Hebrew firstborns died on Passover night. Israel were warned that if they did not properly keep the Passover, “the Destroyer” Angel would kill their firstborn (Ex. 12:23). “The Destroyer” is mentioned in 1 Cor. 10:10: “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the Destroyer” (olothreutes; this is a proper noun in the Greek). Who was the Destroyer? If Scripture interprets Scripture, it was the ‘Destroyer’ Angel of Passover night. In similar vein Heb. 11:28 speaks of “He (the Angel) that destroyed (Gk. olothreuo) the firstborn”.  </p><p>Israel were side-tracked from what should have been the central object of their attention: the blood of the lamb. They were disobedient from the day God knew them, i.e. Passover night (Dt. 9:24). Very soon afterwards, the people reminded Moses of this incident: “Would to God we (maybe this is the emphasis) had (also) died by the hand of the Lord (a phrase often associated with Angel’s work at passover: Josh. 4;24; Is. 11:11; 19:16; Dan. 9:15; Heb. 8:9) in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pot (Young’s Literal) and when we did eat bread” (Ex. 16:3). They weren’t just saying they wished they had died in Egypt; they wished they had died by the hand of the Lord. Sitting by the flesh pot and eating bread is perhaps a reference to eating Passover that night, when in (perhaps) 90% of Hebrew families the firstborn had slumped down in death. They wished they too had died that Passover night. They felt Moses was going to kill them as, by implication, they blamed him for killing the firstborn.  </p><p>God’s purpose will be achieved. His desire was that Pharaoh should let Israel go. He refused, but in the end, he and his people begged them to leave and hasted them to get out, loading them with their wealth, desperate that they should leave immediately. The lesson is that we will as it were be forced to be obedient to God’s will; but we will not be saved unless we willingly do this. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same phrase "of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass" is used of the vessels taken from the Gentile world and dedicated to the tabernacle (<em><a href='B:20 11:2'>Exo 11:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 12:35'>Exo 12:35</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 6:19'>Jos 6:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:100 8:10'>2Sa 8:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 7:51'>1Ki 7:51</a></em>). The generosity of others in Biblical history, their right perspective on the wealth taken from this world, was to inspire other believers in later history. And this is how the body of Christ should function today, with members inspiring others to spirituality.But the whole idea was that they gave what they took from Egypt / the world to the work of the tabernacle. And that is the principle for us.</p><p>Egyptians are defined as Israel's neighbours from whom they were to ask gold etc. (Ex. 11:2), so we can assume the neighbours with whom Passover was to be shared included Egyptians (Ex. 12:3). The first passover was open to Egyptians and there were no commands about being clean or ritually pure in order to eat it. It could be argued that taking the lamb on the 10th day of the month and keeping it carefully until the 14th was itself a witness to Egypt, and an invitation to them to join in. Lambs were seen as deities in Egypt; they had to accept that salvation involved the slaying of their gods and a total resignation from their religious system. </p><p> This request for high value material goods was playing on the basic human tendency to think that we can buy salvation. And in times of desperation, that sense is all the stronger. And God played on that aspect of human nature. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Again we see God’s power through His Spirit to give attitudes to people, to work directly upon the human heart.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Note that God’s comment on Moses was: “the man Moses was very great” (<em><a href='B:20 11:3'>Exo 11:3</a></em>). Yet it is also written that “the man Moses was very meek” (<em><a href='B:40 12:3'>Num 12:3</a></em>). Putting the two passages together we have the clear lesson that he who humbles himself is made great; and in this, Moses was not only a type of Christ but also a pattern for all who would go through the pattern which the Lord Jesus set before us: of humbling ourselves now that we might be made great in due time. Moses our example is really a challenge in this.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses said, This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It is stressed that Israel were taken out from the "midst of Egypt" (<em><a href='B:50 4:34'>Deu 4:34</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 8:51'>1Ki 8:51</a></em>). The plagues and wonders were done in "the midst of Egypt" (<em><a href='B:20 3:20'>Exo 3:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:3'>Deu 11:3</a></em>). The midst of Egypt appears to be defined in <em><a href='B:230 135:9'>Psa 135:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 19:3'>Isa 19:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 29:3'>Eze 29:3</a></em> as being Pharaoh and his servants. The narrative therefore stresses so much his response to the plagues. God’s especial focus had been upon his conversion, and yet he refused. Israel were taken out right from under his nose, from the very heart of Egypt. <em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em> reveals what is not recorded in the historical record; that because the Israelites were so devoted to Egyptian idolatry still, His thought had been to destroy them "in the midst of the land of Egypt" (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em>). But God’s pole of grace overcame the pole of necessary judgment. He tolerated them and saved them, with enthusiasm, by the grace which comes from love- love taken to its ultimate, saving term. The whole narrative speaks as if the Hebrews were all at one place at one time and left "the midst of Egypt" together. Although unrecorded in the historical narrative, this would have meant that they gathered together "in the midst of Egypt" with Moses, who was not in Goshen but in the locality and presence of Pharaoh.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; His Name is all about saving by grace. He went out to slay them, but saved them, working for His Name's sake, struggling within Himself, as He said in Hosea "My repentings are kindled together".<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of livestock-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"That sits upon his throne" is superfluous or out of place unless it means to tell us that the Pharaohs placed their firstborn upon their thrown as co regents. Which implies what Egyptologists tell us, that the firstborn son became Pharaoh. Which means Pharaoh himself was a firstborn and indeed firstborn of the gods was a title of Pharaoh. His life was preserved by grace. God really wanted to save him. Just as the Lord gave the sop, the favoured piece, to Judas as a desperate attempt to win him by His grace at the last moment. And the Father and Son likewise seek that their goodness and grace lead us to a repentance that is not repented of. The comment that Pharaoh's servants would bow down to Moses after the death of the firstborn could be read as intimating that Pharaoh their Lord was to be slain. We marvel at how this gem about Pharaoh being a firstborn is hidden, to be discovered by those who reflect on a few inspired words. The connection between the firstborn and taking the throne is made clear in 2 Chron. 21:3, which implies Jehoram automatically became king because he was the firstborn: "the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn". Likewise Ps. 89:27 implies that to be made firstborn means to be made king: "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth". </p><p>  Women grinding at the mill therefore refer to the lowest class in society (<em><a href='B:290 47:2'>Isa 47:2</a></em>; Jdg. 14:21; <em><a href='B:310 5:13'>Lam 5:13</a></em>). Yet from amongst them will some be snatched away to meet their Lord at His return, just as those with the leisure to be lounging in bed will be called away (<em><a href='B:490 17:34-35'>Luk 17:34-35</a></em>). Animals were worshipped in Egypt as representatives of the various gods, especially the firstborn of animals; and we recall therefore that the plagues were judgments against the gods of Egypt.  The firstborn of domestic animals were often worshipped. Just as the firstborn whether of man or woman was the family priest. Again we see the dismantling of Egypt's religion. The vacuum was intended to be filled by a turning to Yahweh.<em></em></p><p>How did the firstborn feel? They would have left the house and looked at the blood and remembered the slain lamb they had eaten. It would have felt incredible that just because of faith in that, they were saved. We are the church of firstborns (Heb. 12:23 Gk.), just as all Israel were God's firstborn. Israel is My firstborn, God had told Pharaoh. We have the same feeling at the breaking of bread. What we ate and associated with has saved us. And therefore the firstborns were to be dedicated to Yahweh's service as we are. We are His. And they would have reflected on all the firstborns who did die, and God's grace to them through having obedient family. Perhaps only the great cry of the Egyptians and seeeing the carcases of firstborn animals everywhere would have made them appreciate what had happened. </p><p>The Passover deliverance was to be the beginning of months for Israel (Ex. 12:2); time and history, and our sense of where we are in time and history, were to be constantly governed by this experience of great salvation. Yet people tend to live without this sense of their place in history, never learning from history and never seeing the long term horizon, just living life as it is experienced right in front of their eyes and ears. Hence the Hebrew months are called just the second month, the third month etc. The names of the Hebrew months were picked up only in Babylonian exile. And this is how radically our great salvation should affect our lives. It could be argued that Israel's entire wilderness experience was lived in the shadow of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They were in an envelope of Divine protection and their sense of day and night was governed by these things, rather than their sight of the sun or moon. Likewise the arrival of the quail and manna gave them their sense of "morning" and of the sixth day, when double manna was given, and the Sabbath when there was no manna. They lived without any way of telling the time as we do. We likewise are to live in a total environment of awareness of God's salvation, that I have been redeemed and am on my path to the Kingdom. And yet even whilst living in this total environment of salvation, Israel rebelled and wanted to return to Egypt.  </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This "great cry" is described with the same phrase used in <em><a href='B:10 27:34'>Gen 27:34</a></em>, when Esau cries with a great cry- realizing that he had been rejected from God’s purpose and that could not now be put right. Whilst the great cry was indeed because of their loss, the connection with Esau is to make the point that despite all God’s efforts, they had turned down His invitation to have a part in His purpose- and realized that all too late.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>But against any of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The way conditions are not stated within the actual prophecy is similar to how blanket statements are made in Scripture, and yet there are exceptions to them. “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue” (<em><a href='B:20 11:7'>Exo 11:7</a></em>) was in fact conditional on Israel remaining indoors. But that condition isn’t then stated. Even the old covenant, which was in a sense “eternal”, was made with Israel “upon all these conditions” (<em><a href='B:20 24:8'>Exo 24:8</a></em> RVmg.). It was eternal, potentially, because it had conditions. But the conditionality of it isn’t always brought to the fore when, e.g., we read of the Sabbath as being an eternal ordinance.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The 'setting apart' of Israel from Egypt is a major theme (<em><a href='B:20 8:22'>Exo 8:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:4'>Exo 9:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:7'>Exo 11:7</a></em> "put a difference"). It was part of a 'sanctifying' of Israel for priestly service to Yahweh as a nation, as well as a lesson for Egypt that the only way to salvation was through separation from their own people and culture, and joining the people of God. We marvel at the multi functional way in which God works. The same word is used to describe how God "has set apart him that is Godly for Himself" (<em><a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a></em>); even though Israel were far from being Godly. And it is used of God’s special grace, 'set apart', a grace known by no other people (<em><a href='B:230 17:7'>Psa 17:7</a></em>). The word is used in this sense in <em><a href='B:20 33:16'>Exo 33:16</a></em>, where Moses reasons that it is God’s grace and the visible presence of that grace which is what sets apart Israel from all other peoples. And that is true to this day. God’s grace is what is the lead and distinguishing characteristic of His way from all other religions. It is the experience of that grace which makes us distinct from all others who have not claimed it for themselves. And it all began with God 'setting apart' a sinful, idolatrous Israel from the Egyptians around them, all by grace, seeing they were largely no better than Egypt.<em></em></p><p>This promise was of course conditional- upon obeying the Passover legislation. When the Destroyer angel saw the blood, then it passed over; or, the Passover protective angel hovered over the homes identified with the blood [s.w. Is. 31:5 "As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it"], so that the Destroyer Angel didn't slay anyone there. There is good reason to think that not all Israel kept the Passover. The small number of firstborns recorded in the census after leaving Eypt would rather suggest that. The simple requirement was identification with the blood of the lamb. We do this through taking the wine at the breaking bread, through life lived in identity with Him. And our sins are thereby passed over. Possibly Rom. 3:24,25 alludes to this: "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past [passed over]".</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, Get out, with all the people who follow you; and after that I will go out’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>GNB tries to make better sense here: "Moses concluded by saying, "All your officials will come to me and bow down before me, and they will beg me to take all my people and go away. After that, I will leave." Then in great anger Moses left the king". <em></em></p><p>Bowing down to Moses rather than Pharaoh suggests that the servants of Pharaoh would now become servants of Moses. They would change master. Just as developed by Paul in Romans 6, that the crossing of the Red Sea was Israel changing masters. From Pharaoh to God. But not "all" Pharaoh's servants did this; probably many of them were themselves firstborns and were slain. Just as not "all" Israel followed Moses out of Egypt and not all Israelite firstborn were saved. The whole record is one of missed possibilities and unrealized potentials, which is really the story of God's gracious project with man.</p><p style='margin-left:1em'>To be caught up in the downward spiral (as we all are at times) doesn't mean that there's no way out. The hearts of Pharaoh's servants were hardened (<em><a href='B:20 10:1'>Exo 10:1</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:20 9:34'>Exo 9:34</a></em>), and yet they did in fact soften when they beg Pharaoh to let Israel go (<em><a href='B:20 10:7'>Exo 10:7</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>). Yet each refusal of Pharaoh to soften his heart made it harder for him to soften it the next time the opportunity was presented. Conditional language is always used about Pharaoh-if he were to refuse to release Israel, more plagues would happen (<em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:2'>Exo 9:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 10:4'>Exo 10:4</a></em> cp. 8:21; 4:23 RSV). In fact God wanted Pharaoh to come to realize that there is none like Yahweh in all the earth- and that was actually why He did not immediately kill Pharaoh, but rather appealed to him through the plagues. That's how I read the enigmatic <em><a href='B:20 9:15'>Exo 9:15</a></em>: "For now I should have put forth my hand, and smitten thee... and thou hadst been cut off from the earth". Fretheim paraphrases this: "If I had not had the intention of your knowing that there is none like me in all the earth... then I should have put forth my hand and cut you off from the earth. This is what you have deserved". The hardening of Pharaoh's heart didn’t mean that he was thereby bound to chose wrongly each time. Indeed, the plagues themselves were designed to warn Pharaoh and thereby appeal to him to change, in order to avoid worse plagues. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses' faith slipped for a moment; because his spirit was provoked by Israel, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips and was therefore barred from entering the land (although maybe such an apparently temporary slip was the reflection of deeper problems?). Yet it does seem uncharacteristic, a tragic slip down the graph of ever rising spirituality. There must have almost been tears in Heaven. Being easily provoked was one of Moses' characteristics; consider how he turned himself and stormed out from Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 10:6'>Exo 10:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>); how his anger waxed hot when he returned from the mount, how he went out from Pharaoh in great anger, how he first of all feared the wrath of Pharaoh and then stopped fearing it; how Moses was "very wroth" at Israel's suggestion that he was appropriating the sacrifices for himself; how he was "angry" with Eleazer (<em><a href='B:20 32:19'>Exo 32:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 11:8'>Exo 11:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 16:15'>Num 16:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 10:16-17'>Lev 10:16-17</a></em>). This temperament explains his swings of faith. Was the Lord Jesus likewise afflicted? Yet despite this characteristic, he was the meekest man on earth. This gives an insight into what it is to be humble. It doesn't mean being passive or passionless. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>God is never ultimately defeated by human intransigence and lack of response to Him. Pharaoh's refusal to listen would result in God’s wonders being multiplied, and thereby more glory being given to Him. The multiplication of wonders could be a form of saying (as an intensive plural) that there would be a multiplied wonder, a very great wonder, performed- in the events of the Red Sea. <em></em></p><p>Again it is stressed that God's glory would be achieved through God not hearkening to Pharaoh. Whereas Moses had earlier reasoned that their salvation was only possible if Pharaoh hearkened to him. Which Moses considered impossible due to his speech impediment. He is reminded of this so many times as we need to be; that God works in a counter instinctive way, through our inadequacy, and destroys and counter points our assumptions that our imagined way is the only way out. And anyone who thinks God treated Pharaoh harshly has just never really thought carefully but rather rushed to a desired conclusion. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of his land- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The same Hebrew words used of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart occur in a positive context- for God also hardens or strengthens the hearts of the righteous (<em><a href='B:230 27:14'>Psa 27:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em>). Indeed, <em><a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a></em> speaks of how the righteous shouldn’t have a weak or (Heb.) ‘fluid’ heart, but rather a hardened one. Clearly enough, God solidifies human attitudes, one way or the other, through the work of His Spirit upon our spirit. This is a sobering thought- for He is prepared to confirm a person in their weak thinking. But on the other hand, even the weakest basic intention towards righteousness is solidified by Him too. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>God hardened his heart, meaning He had removed sensitivity from his conscience. His heart was turned by God, because that was the direction he himself wanted (<em><a href='B:230 105:25'>Psa 105:25</a></em>). Pharaoh's response gets increasingly better, confessing sinfulness, asking for prayer, etc. And yet we have to read this as his conscience being increasingly touched, and yet he refused to act upon it. The movement of conscience within him was overcome by the movement of hardness; and as hardness was his dominant desire, it was that which Yahweh confirmed. <em></em></p><p>The phrase "let go" is often used of how God let Israel go from Egypt, overruling how the wicked Pharaoh refused to let the people go. The term is used later in the Mosaic legislation; the way Israel had been "let go" from Egypt was to determine how they "let go" others from slavery (Dt. 15:12,13,18); their own experience of redemption was to influence how they released others. Just as ours should. The letting go of the scapegoat into the wilderness was likewise to remind them of how they had been let go from Egypt into the wilderness without being slain for their sins- all by grace (Lev. 14:7,53; 16:10,21,22,26). </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The idea is that He had spoken to them in Egypt, before they left. For what we read now is partly retelling what had been told them before.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Seeing they had been 430 years in Egypt, they would previously have followed the Egyptian beginning of the year- which commenced with the overflowing of the Nile at the summer solstice. But Israel were to begin their year by celebrating the overflowing of the Red Sea which destroyed the Egyptians.The Passover deliverance was to be the beginning of months (Ex. 12:2) for Israel; time and history, and our sense of where we are in time and history, were to be constantly governed by this experience of great salvation. Hence the Hebrew months are called just the second month, the third month etc. The names of the Hebrew months were picked up only in Babylonian exile. And this is how radically our great salvation should affect our lives. It could be argued that Israel's entire wilderness experience was lived in the shadow of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They were in an envelope of Divine protection and their sense of day and night was governed by these things, rather than their sight of the sun or moon. Likewise the arrival of the quail and manna gave them their sense of "morning" and of the sixth day, when double manna was given, and the Sabbath when there was no manna. They lived without any way of telling the time as we do. We likewise are to live in a total environment of awareness of God's salvation, that I have been redeemed and am on my path to the Kingdom. And yet even whilst living in this total environment of salvation, Israel rebelled and wanted to return to Egypt.  &nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household- </em><em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Every man a lamb" is purposefully ambiguous. The idea is that the heads of households should do this, but it is phrased in such a way as to imply that every Israelite was to do this. They were to each see in the lamb the source of their personal redemption. The Passover, like the breaking of bread service which it anticipated, has both a collective and a personal aspect. We note God’s method of salvation by households, with those without families apparently taken in to existing household units (<em><a href='B:230 68:6'>Psa 68:6</a></em>). And we wonder whether there is not an element of that within His present economy of working, through the lamb which represents the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 5:7'>1Co 5:7</a></em>). <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbour next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The implication was that the slain lamb was to be totally consumed, and therefore there needed to be enough people present to ensure this would happen. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Mosaic command to give, every man according to the blessing with which God had blessed him (<em><a href='B:50 16:17'>Deu 16:17</a></em>), is purposely similar in phrasing to the command to eat of the Passover lamb, every man according to his need; and to partake of the manna (cp. the Lord Jesus), every man according to his need (<em><a href='B:20 12:4'>Exo 12:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 16:6'>Exo 16:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 16:16'>Exo 16:16</a></em>). According to the desperation of our need, so we partake of Christ; and in response, according to our blessing, we give, in response to the grace of His giving. &nbsp; <em></em></p><p>Egyptians are defined as Israel's neighbours from whom they were to ask gold etc. (Ex. 11:2), so we can assume the neighbours with whom Passover was to be shared included Egyptians (Ex. 12:3). The first passover was open to Egyptians and there were no commands about being clean or ritually pure in order to eat it. It could be argued that taking the lamb on the 10th day of the month and keeping it carefully until the 14th was itself a witness to Egypt, and an invitation to them to join in. Lambs were seen as deities in Egypt; they had to accept that salvation involved the slaying of their gods and a total resignation from their religious system. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Your lamb shall be without blemish- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This looked ahead to the unblemished character of the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:530 5:7'>1Co 5:7</a></em>). The offering of sacrifices "without blemish" uses a word which is used about Abraham and Noah being "without blemish" (AV "perfect") before God (<em><a href='B:10 6:9'>Gen 6:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 17:1'>Gen 17:1</a></em>). Although the word is used about the sacrifices, it is really more appropriate to persons- "you shall be perfect with Yahweh your God" (<em><a href='B:50 18:13'>Deu 18:13</a></em>), "serve Him in sincerity (s.w. "without blemish")" (<em><a href='B:60 24:14'>Jos 24:14</a></em>). The idea, therefore, was that the offerer was invited to see the animal as representative of himself. Our lives too are to be as "living sacrifices" (<em><a href='B:520 12:1'>Rom 12:1</a></em>). And yet in practical terms, no animal is without blemish. They were to give the best they could, and God would count it as without blemish; as He does with us. David frequently uses the term in the Psalms about himself and the "upright", even though he was far from unblemished in moral terms. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>A male a year old- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Male not only because it looked forward to the Lord Jesus, but also because it represented the firstborn males who were to be saved from death by the death of the lamb. We note therefore that the lamb died as a representative of those redeemed, rather that a substitute for them.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall take it out from the sheep- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Take it out" implies that it was not to be kept aside specially, but was to be one of the flock. This eloquently points forward to the Lord Jesus as taken out of the flock of humanity. He was of our nature, and not God Himself. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Or from the goats- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We get the impression that God was very strict about the offerings. He was. But He made concession to the man who couldn't bring what he ought to: "If he be poor, and cannot get much... two young pigeons, such as he is able to get" (<em><a href='B:30 14:22'>Lev 14:22</a></em>). If they were blemished in some way, and even though they were not the animal God desired, God would accept such as the man was able to get. Likewise the offerings had to involve the shedding of blood; but God was prepared to accept a food offering if a man really couldn't get an animal. The eagerness of God to accept what a man can do rather than the insistence on legal principles really comes over. He recognized the Israelites would be living on different levels. Such an eagerness involved accepting a lower standard of adherence to God’s ideal principles. In harmony with this, the Passover ‘lamb’ (:3) could be either a sheep, or if necessary, a goat (<em><a href='B:20 12:5'>Exo 12:5</a></em>), even though the use of a goat would somewhat spoil the foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>and you shall keep it-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>LXX "it shall be kept by you". The idea may be that the lamb was to be kept in their homes from the 10th to the 14th day. The family would become fond of the lamb, it was even more one of them that was to be sacrificed for the salvation of the family. And this again speaks of the Lord's absolute sharing of human nature, as our representative, truly 'one of us'.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Why was the lamb or kid kept for four days (<em><a href='B:20 12:2'>Exo 12:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 12:6'>Exo 12:6</a></em>)? If the effects of circumcision take three days to wear off (<em><a href='B:10 34:25'>Gen 34:25</a></em>), it could be that the uncircumcised males were intended to circumcise themselves, chose the lamb, and then keep the Passover four days later. Some Jewish commentators claim that God fell in love with Israel whilst she was still in her blood (<em><a href='B:330 16:6'>Eze 16:6</a></em>) in that some Jews circumcised themselves at the time of the first Passover- hence one Rabbi speaks of the blood of circumcision and the blood of the first Passover running together. See on <em><a href='B:20 12:48'>Exo 12:48</a></em>.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The people of Israel as a body were going through the death and resurrection experience of the Lord Jesus, through the process of the Passover and Exodus through the Red Sea. Israel ate Passover (<em><a href='B:20 12:6'>Exo 12:6</a></em>) (14th Abib), as the Lord died on the cross as the Passover lambs were slain; Israel left Egypt the next day (<em><a href='B:40 33:3'>Num 33:3</a></em>) (15th Abib) and journeyed three days (<em><a href='B:20 8:27'>Exo 8:27</a></em>) (15th-17th Abib), and the Lord Jesus was three days in the tomb. Israel then came through the Red Sea (17th Abib), connecting with the Lord's being resurrected. As we come out of the baptismal water, we really are united with the resurrected Lord- a new creation. His newness of life, His deliverance and successful exodus from the world- all this becomes ours. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Time and again we find that the local pagan myths about Satan are alluded to and deconstructed by Moses. It has been observed that the Passover ritual of smearing the blood of the sacrifice on the doorposts was very similar to what Bedouin tribes have been doing in the Middle East for millennia- they smear the blood on their tent poles and tent entrances when they erect a new home or tent, in order to keep 'satan' figures away (Roland De Vaux, <em>Studies In Old Testament Sacrifice</em> (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1961) p. 7). But the Exodus record is at pains to point out that the 'Destroyer' was one of Yahweh's Angels; and thus it was ultimately Yahweh Himself who slew the firstborn in those homes without the daubed blood. Again- yet again- we see a pagan idea concerning 'satan' being taken up and reinterpreted in light of the fact that the 'satan' figures don't really exist, and God is the ultimate and unrivalled source of disaster. See on <em><a href='B:20 21:6'>Exo 21:6</a></em>.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note that the blood was not to be placed on the threshold, lest it be trodden under foot in disrespect (<em><a href='B:650 10:29'>Heb 10:29</a></em>). It clearly looked forward to the blood of the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:670 1:2'>1Pe 1:2</a></em>). This seems one of many things in the Passover commandments which was relevant only for that first Passover, and was not an abiding part of the later Passover ritual; for the lambs were slain at the sanctuary and the blood put on the altar, not on the individual homes of the Israelites. Thus the command not to allow Gentiles to participate was only for the first Passover, whereas in the later Passover legislation they were allowed to. See on :9,11.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Grandparents would have nervously eyed their firstborn, who would likewise have watched or cuddled their firstborn, summoning all their faith to believe in the power of that blood which they had publicly associated themselves with.&nbsp;Such should be the pattern of our ecclesial life on the eve of the Lord's coming, which was prefigured by Passover night. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Passover, as the prototype breaking of bread, featured bitter herbs to remind Israel of their bitter experience in Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 1:14'>Exo 1:14</a></em>). The breaking of bread should likewise focus our attention on the fact that return to the world is a return to bondage and bitterness, not freedom. Israel didn’t learn this lesson, they forgot the bitterness of Egypt, and longed to return to it. The idea was that the sweetness of the lamb's roasted meat was to assuage the bitterness of the herbs; and we see here prefigured the intended effect of the Lord's sacrifice.<em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Israel were told specifically that the Passover lamb must be roasted and not boiled (<em><a href='B:20 12:9'>Exo 12:9</a></em> uses two distinct words for 'boiled' and 'roasted'.). But the word used in <em><a href='B:20 12:9'>Exo 12:9</a></em> for "boiled" is that used in <em><a href='B:50 16:7'>Deu 16:7</a></em> of how the Passover could be boiled, although many Bible versions misleadingly translate the word there as "roast". The translators need not have feared such contradiction. For it is the contradiction of grace. Moses in <em><a href='B:50 16:2'>Deu 16:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 16:7'>Deu 16:7</a></em> was allowing a less strict observation of the Passover than originally intended, typical of the way Deuteronomy, 'the second law', seems to make concessions to Israel's weaknesses. Or it could be that here we have another example of where the Passover regulations given in Exodus were specific only to that time at the exodus. Thus a foreigner was not allowed to eat of that sacrifice, but foreigners were welcome to eat of the Passover later.&nbsp;&nbsp;See on :7,11.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The prohibition against boiling may have been because of the desire that no bone of the lamb be broken. It was to be roasted on a spit, whereas a lamb would never have fitted into a pot as required for boiling. It would have had to be cut up into parts.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is the possibility of living before God on different levels. Hence nothing was to remain, but God foresaw that some would allow part of the sacrifice to remain. This was a concession to human weakness, and reflects God’s awareness of human liability to failure. <em></em></p>


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<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Here we have another example of where the Passover regulations given in Exodus were specific only to that time at the exodus. Thus a foreigner was not allowed to eat of that sacrifice, but foreigners were welcome to eat of the Passover later.&nbsp; See on :7,9.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This captures the spirit of expectancy and readiness to leave at any moment- which we should have, as we, too, await the coming of the angel.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"The angel of death" is an idea picked up by Moses in his account of the Passover deliverance, to show that the Angel of death is not in fact Mot but an Angel of Yahweh, completely under His control. For it was none less than Yahweh Himself who slew the firstborn of Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 12:11-12'>Exo 12:11-12</a></em>). Likewise it was Yahweh's Angel who played the role of the 'Angel of death' in smiting the Assyrian army dead (<em><a href='B:290 37:36'>Isa 37:36</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The plagues specifically targetted Egyptian gods: Nile water turned to blood = HAPI – the god of the spirit of the Nile; Frogs = HEKOT – the goddess of magic who had a frog’s head; “The dust of the land” turned to lice or gnats (<em><a href='B:20 8:16'>Exo 8:16</a></em>) = SEB – god of the dust of the earth; “Swarms of beetles” (<em><a href='B:20 8:21'>Exo 8:21</a></em> Hebrew) = RA and the forerunner of BEELZEBUB were likened to beetles; much pagan Egyptian jewellery features beetles; Murrain of cattle = APIS – the sacred bull god; Boils (<em><a href='B:20 9:8-9'>Exo 9:8-9</a></em>) = NEIT – the queen of the heavens; Thunder and hail = SHU – god of the atmosphere; Darkness = RA – the sun god; Locusts = SERAIJA – protector of Egypt from locusts.<em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The “gods” are spoken of for a moment as real and existing, in order to show Yahweh’s total superiority over them to the point that they didn’t exist. Note how it was the Egyptian people who were judged (<em><a href='B:10 15:14'>Gen 15:14</a></em>); their idols (“gods”) are used by metonymy to stand for those who believed in them. Likewise “demons” is sometimes put by metonymy for those who believed in them (e.g. <em><a href='B:480 1:32'>Mar 1:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 1:34'>Mar 1:34</a></em>). The judgment upon Egypt’s gods is brought out by an otherwise obscure reference in <em><a href='B:20 7:19'>Exo 7:19</a></em> to how “there shall be blood in all the land of Egypt on wood and in stone”. “Wood and stone” is a term usually used in the Bible for idols; and “the Egyptian priests used to wash the images of their gods in water every day early in the morning”. Thus the gods were shown to be effectively dead and bleeding. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>I am Yahweh- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Whenever God speaks about His Name, it is in the context of His emphasizing His huge commitment to Israel as His people, often in the face of their weakness (<em><a href='B:20 12:12'>Exo 12:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 15:26'>Exo 15:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 20:2'>Exo 20:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 20:5-6'>Eze 20:5-6</a></em>). The very meaning of God’s Name is of itself encouraging- although it is somewhat masked in English translations. God 'is' not just in the sense that He exists, but in that He 'is' there with and for us. The verb behind 'YHWH' was "originally causative", i.e. God not only 'is' but He causes things to happen. We aren't to understand Him as passive, just a stone cold Name... but rather passionately active and causative in our sometimes apparently static and repetitive lives.<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Pass over" is literally 'hover over'. The angel of death, "the destroyer", went out to slay all the firstborn. But the Passover Angel hovered over the doors of the Israelites who had daubed blood on their door posts, and stopped the Destroyer from slaying in that house. We see here an example of Angelic cooperation. The slaying of the Egyptians apparently happened in a moment, so this is representing things from a human point of view. We are invited to imagine the Destroyer going from house to house, and the Passover Angel hovering over Israelite houses. But the whole thing happened in a moment of time as we understand time. The meaning of time was collapsed, just as will happen at the time of the Lord's second coming- which Passover night typified. This collapsing of time would involve the collapsing of space as well, if Einstein indeed got it right about the space-time relationship. This helps us to better cope with the apparent logistic problems which arise when considering the nature of the judgment seat, with millions of people having a personal interview with the Lord Jesus at one place on earth.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Token" is the word used for the "mark" set upon Cain which preserved him from being slain (<em><a href='B:10 4:15'>Gen 4:15</a></em>). The similarity is intended; Israel were being presented as sinful Cain, but they as sinners were being saved by grace. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The feasts of Yahweh have now been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. "<em>Olahm</em>", "forever", literally means 'to the vanishing point', the point where time can no longer be perceived. Of itself it doesn't mean 'infinity'. Indeed it could be argued that there is no Biblical Hebrew word for literal eternity. And this is why "forever" doesn't have to mean literal eternity, but a period, the end of which isn't in view at the time. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The leaven or yeast in our context is to be understood as the leaven of malice and wickedness (<em><a href='B:530 5:8'>1Co 5:8</a></em>). The search for leaven at the time of the Passover would therefore look ahead to our self examination at the breaking of bread.&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Being "cut off from Israel" may not mean that the person must be slain. For then the phrase "cut off from the earth" would have been used (as in <em><a href='B:240 2:22'>Pro 2:22</a></em> and often). The idea is that the person who ate leaven (<em><a href='B:20 12:15'>Exo 12:15</a></em>) or was not circumcised (<em><a href='B:10 17:14'>Gen 17:14</a></em>) was excluded from the community of God’s people because they had broken or despised the covenant which made them His people. But there is no record of Israel keeping a list of 'cut off from Israel' Israelites and excluding them from keeping the feasts. So we conclude this means that God would consider such persons as cut off from His people. He would do the cutting off, and not men. In His book, they were "cut off". But there was no legal nor practical mechanism provided to Israel to manage the 'cutting off from Israel' of those who despised the covenant. The cutting off was done in God’s eyes, in Heaven's record, and the Israelites were intended to continue to fellowship with such persons at the feasts. This is a strong argument for an open table, and for not seeking to make church excommunication the equivalent of this cutting off of the disobedient from the people of Israel. This explains why being "cut off from Israel" is the punishment stated for doing things which man could not see and judge- secretly breaking the Sabbath (<em><a href='B:20 31:14'>Exo 31:14</a></em>), eating peace offerings whilst being unclean (<em><a href='B:30 7:20'>Lev 7:20</a></em> - for how were others to know whether someone had touched the unclean, or was experiencing an unclean bodily emission), eating meat with blood still in it (<em><a href='B:30 17:10'>Lev 17:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 17:14'>Lev 17:14</a></em>), not adequately humbling the soul (<em><a href='B:30 23:29'>Lev 23:29</a></em>), not keeping Passover (<em><a href='B:40 9:13'>Num 9:13</a></em>), being presumptuous (<em><a href='B:40 15:30-31'>Num 15:30-31</a></em> - only God can judge that), not washing after touching a dead body (<em><a href='B:40 19:13'>Num 19:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 19:20'>Num 19:20</a></em>). This is why <em><a href='B:30 20:6'>Lev 20:6</a></em> makes it explicit that "I (Yahweh personally) will set My face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people". It is Yahweh who does the cutting off and not men (also <em><a href='B:90 2:33'>1Sa 2:33</a></em>). <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This is the first time we read of "convocations". "Convocation" is LXX <em>ekklesia</em>. This is the word rendered "church" in the New Testament. We could reason from this therefore that "church" specifically refers to a gathering of God’s people. At that time and during those moments, they are a church. When the entire community of believers is referred to as "church", this is how God views them- as if they are all gathered together at a gathering or convocation before Him. The word in its Biblical usage therefore doesn't refer to what we might call a denomination or fellowship. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em>No kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>In the lead up to the feast (cp. our Lord's return), "no manner of work shall be done, save that which ever man must (do to) eat", or "that which every man must necessarily do" (LXX; <em><a href='B:20 12:16'>Exo 12:16</a></em>). Thus in our lives now, having food and clothing we should be content, not working any more than necessary, so that "the loins of our mind" will be girded, looking forward to the Passover feast. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>They were to see their own redemption in the historical redemption of Israel. And indeed, David and later believers continually alluded to the Red Sea deliverance, as if it had happened to them personally. And we can likewise. Our membership of the body of believers gives us connection with all other believers, not just those alive today, but also historically.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>These seven days were to recall the seven days of creation; for the exodus was a new creation of Israel, out of the water of the Red Sea. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The run-up to Passover was to feature a business-like searching of the house for leaven, reflecting the close self-examination which we should undertake individually and ecclesially ("your houses") in this prelude to the Passover-coming of our Lord. See on :21,42. The picture of Israel in their family units huddled together around the Lamb, desperately focusing their attention on that saving blood, watching and praying, examining themselves- this is us, right now. For there can be no serious doubt that the second coming is almost upon our generation. The run up to the final tribulation will provoke a "praying always, that ye may be accounted worthy... to stand before the Son of man" (<em><a href='B:490 21:36'>Luk 21:36</a></em>). <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven...of malice and wickedness" (<em><a href='B:530 5:8'>1Co 5:8</a></em>). The disciples’ question at the first breaking of bread, “Lord, is it I?” is another prototype of the command to examine ourselves at the feast (<em><a href='B:470 26:22'>Mat 26:22</a></em>). Combining Paul's command to examine ourselves that we are really focusing upon our Lord's sacrifice, and the Exodus allusion which implies that we should examine our own lives for wickedness, we conclude that if we properly reflect upon Christ and His victory for us, then we will inevitably be aware of our own specific failures which Christ really has vanquished. But this will come as a by-product of truly grasping the fullness of the Lord's victory. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The prohibition is repeated so often. "Leaven" literally means that which is sour, and is translated "cruel" (<em><a href='B:230 51:4'>Psa 51:4</a></em>) and "grievous" (<em><a href='B:230 73:21'>Psa 73:21</a></em>). Paul therefore sees leaven as a symbol of malice and wickedness, which we must purge out (<em><a href='B:530 5:8'>1Co 5:8</a></em>).<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The focus of the Passover feast was the lamb, and this should be the centre of our thinking in these last days. Some very intense Hebrew words are used to describe their association of themselves with it: "Draw out (to seize) and take you a lamb... strike ('lay the hand on', a word used about rape) the lintel... with the blood" (<em><a href='B:20 12:21-22'>Exo 12:21-22</a></em>).<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'><em><a href='B:650 10:25'>Heb 10:25</a></em> may refer to this; we are not to forsake assembling ourselves together in Christ, on pain of spiritual and eternal death. We note the association of hyssop with the Lord's death on the cross (<em><a href='B:500 19:29'>Joh 19:29</a></em>). That hyssop had been dipped in red wine, representing blood, and the Lord surely saw the relevance to Himself. "I am that hyssop", He would have thought. On the cross, He was the door (<em><a href='B:500 10:9'>Joh 10:9</a></em>), and He experienced hyssop with red wine (representing blood) brushed against Him. Just as the doors at Passover had blood brushed onto them using a hyssop plant, and this was the basis of Israel's salvation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the Destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The Passover Angel would "pass (hover) over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you". 'The destroyer' refers to an Angel- Psalms 78 speaks of the "Angels of evil" who brought the plagues, and as the plague of the firstborn was one of them, it follows that this too must have been brought about by an Angel. The same Angel i referred to in <em><a href='B:300 51:1'>Jer 51:1</a></em> - the “destroying spirit” (“wind”, AV) who was sent forth by God to smite Babylon; note how Revelation also describes Babylon as being destroyed by a singular Angel. In another Angelic context we read: “O Lord my Lord; will you be the destroyer of the remnant of Israel?” (<em><a href='B:330 9:8'>Eze 9:8</a></em> Heb.). “Let the Angel of the Lord persecute them” (<em><a href='B:230 35:5-6'>Psa 35:5-6</a></em>) has the same Angel in mind. The destroyer Angel is perhaps alluded to in <em><a href='B:220 18:13'>Job 18:13</a></em>: “The firstborn of death”. <em><a href='B:220 33:23'>Job 33:23</a></em> LXX certainly is relevant: “Though there should be one thousand Angels of death…”. This same 'destroyer' Angel is referred to again in the context of being present with Israel to punish them if they disobeyed in <em><a href='B:530 10:10'>1Co 10:10</a></em> -"they were destroyed of the destroyer". So we have here on this first Passover night the situation where one Angel is commissioned to do a certain task- in this case kill all firstborn in Egypt- and goes ahead with this task blind to any other consideration, e. g. whether the people concerned were obedient Israelites or not. Therefore another Angel was needed, presumably more powerful or senior to the 'destroyer', to stop the faithful Israelites being killed. Of course God could have given the 'destroyer' additional instructions about not killing the Jews; but it seems to be God’s way of working both amongst us and among the Angels to assign each a specific role in the execution of His purpose, and to take pleasure in seeing each Angel or saint working in loving co-operation with another, after the pattern of the Angelic co-operation. <em><a href='B:330 20:8-14'>Eze 20:8-14</a></em> talks more about this destroyer Angel: "Neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out My fury upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I wrought for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted among the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. Wherefore&nbsp; I&nbsp; caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes. . My Sabbaths. . the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. . but I wrought for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted" . The destroyer Angel went out through the midst of the land of Egypt to kill the firstborn. He wanted to kill the Jews too because they were not forsaking the idols of Egypt- i. e. they were preparing to take them out of Egypt with them (<em><a href='B:20 13:17'>Exo 13:17</a></em> and <em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em> lend support here). "I"- God manifest now in the Passover Angel- "wrought for My name's sake" (v. 9) against the Destroyer that this should not be done. He remembered how He had "made myself known unto them" in the burning bush, by saying there "I am the Lord your God "(v. 5). "Mine eye (the Passover Angel) spared them from destroying them ",v. 17; i. e. from the work of the Destroyer Angel, both in Egypt at the night of Passover and also in the wilderness. Notice&nbsp; how God is spoken of as both wanting to destroy them and also striving for His Name's sake (born by the Angels) so this should not happen. It seems sensible to interpret this by reference to the two powerful Angels &nbsp;active at this time, perhaps representing the groups of Angels of good and Angels of evil (i. e. disaster bringing) which appear to be in Heaven. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There is such repeated emphasis upon the need to celebrate this redemption. Salvation was achieved for us in the death of the Lord Jesus on both a collective and personal level. Our personal salvation is on account of our participation in the collective redemption of God’s children which He achieved on the cross. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>It could be that the "you" refers to the people of God in a collective sense. But the more comfortable application is to that generation to whom Moses was then speaking. This promise of entering the land was solemnly made, with uplifted hand as it were, to that generation who left Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 14:30'>Num 14:30</a></em>). But they did not enter the land, as <em><a href='B:40 14:30'>Num 14:30</a></em> makes clear. This was because Israel broke their side of the covenant, and did not in fact want to enter the land; and continued serving the idols of Egypt, which they took with them through the Red Sea (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em>). But that promise was guaranteed by the fact that "I will bring you into the land... I am Yahweh" (<em><a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a></em>). The very essence of Yahweh, that 'I will' save, as surely as 'I will be who I will be', a saviour God, was fought against by Israel's idolatry and unfaithfulness to the covenant. And because 'Yahweh' involves His character, which includes His judgment of sin and not turning a blind eye to it (<em><a href='B:20 34:4-6'>Exo 34:4-6</a></em>), human intransigence and faithlessness was allowed to as it were even counteract His most essential 'being' a saviour God for His beloved people. But that salvation was recalculated and reinterpreted with reference to another generation, and to the people of God generally rather than to the initially intended audience.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>A striking difference between the Pentateuch and other contemporary legal codes is that those codes are straight codices of statutes; whereas God’s law isn't like that. It is commandment interspersed between historical documents and incidents. We read of some incident in the wilderness journey, then we have some commandments recounted, then another incident, some more commandments, etc. This surely reflects how God intended obedience to His law to not be a legalistic exercise- it was a code for real human life, which should affect the very spirit of human existence in a way which no dry legal code really could. It was to set a rhythm of life, revealing how that law was "for our good always, that God might preserve us" (<em><a href='B:50 6:24'>Deu 6:24</a></em>)- the person who obeyed the law was to live in it (<em><a href='B:420 2:4'>Hab 2:4</a></em> etc.). The motive for obedience to the law was not so that God might give them salvation or status as His people- it was precisely because He had done that, by grace, that they were to respond in obedience (<em><a href='B:20 12:26'>Exo 12:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 13:8'>Exo 13:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 13:14'>Exo 13:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 6:20'>Deu 6:20</a></em>). <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses’. The people bowed their heads and worshiped- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>The land was 'smitten' in <em><a href='B:20 8:2'>Exo 8:2</a></em> as a foretaste of the 'striking / smiting' of the Egyptian firstborn (<em><a href='B:20 12:23'>Exo 12:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 12:27'>Exo 12:27</a></em> s.w.). It was an appeal for Pharaoh's repentance, in the hope that the final smiting of the firstborn would not be necessary. It was God’s intention and hope to save Pharaoh, but he would not. God "delivered" or "spared" (s.w.) His people from Egypt and Pharaoh, just as He delivered Moses personally from the sword of Pharaoh (<em><a href='B:20 18:4'>Exo 18:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 18:8'>Exo 18:8</a></em> s.w.). Moses was the representative of his people, they were saved "in" him, and baptized into him (<em><a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a></em>). They were apostate idolaters (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em>), and were in a way only saved "in" Moses, just as we are saved "in Christ". They were "spared" or delivered not only from Egypt, but also from the wrath of God which was upon them (<em><a href='B:330 20:8'>Eze 20:8</a></em>).<em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Their obedience is presented as total, but I will suggest on :37 that they were not all obedient, and many Israelite firstborn died that night. The prophets will later lament that Israel were disobedient to Yahweh from Egypt onwards. But He had decided to save them by grace, and so their limited obedience is counted as total.&nbsp; <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock-</em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>We note that Egypt had a system of prisons and dungeons, as we know from the story of Joseph. This begs the question as to why Moses was not slain or imprisoned by Pharaoh- for that would have been the logical way to stop this troublesome man from bringing plagues upon Egypt. The answer seems to be that Pharaoh had a conscience, and he feared to lay hands on Moses. His failure to follow that strong conscience was therefore the more culpable and tragic. <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>Moses was the foremost intercessor for Israel, and is actually called ‘the Paraclete’ in the Midrash here on <em><a href='B:20 12:29'>Exo 12:29</a></em>. <em></em></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1em'><em>Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead- </em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>This "great cry" is described with the same phrase used in <em><a href='B:10 27:34'>Gen 27:34</a></em>, when Esau cries with a great cry- realizing that he had been rejected from God’s purpose and that could not now be put right. Whilst the great cry was indeed because of their loss, the connection with Esau is to make the point that despite all God’s efforts, they had turned down His invitation to have a part in His purpose- and realized that all too late.&nbsp; <em></em></p><p style='margin-left:1em'>There may have been some literal houses where there were no firstborns present. So I suggest that "house" here refers to a family unity rather than houses as in buildings.<em></em></p>


