25...A Plague On All Your Houses

Based on EX Chs. 4 - 10...Read more there

In an effort to postpone the evil day of having to front the Pharaoh, Moses tries telling God he's too halting a speaker to be able to do that. Perhaps surprisingly, God suggests that Moses' brother Aaron become the spokesman to actually present God's commands [4:10+]. YHWH God, though, warns that He will 'harden the Pharaoh's heart' so he'll learn the hard way that YHWH is not to be trifled with! How we're to understand this after all these years is far from clear, but at least it gives the story-tellers of old scope to build on what will perhaps become the most important story in their repertoire! At Moses' & Aaron's first approach, the Pharaoh is dismissive & orders that the Hebrews work even harder by withdrawing the straw previously supplied to them for their brick-making, thus forcing them to gather their own straw, but without diminishing their work output! No wonder the Hebrews aren't impressed at Moses' & Aaron's role in having them still further oppressed. Nor are they keen to take notice of Moses' claims he's been chosen by YHWH to lead them to freedom! The 'plagues of Egypt' which are to follow are introduced by a preliminary skirmishing in the form of a puzzling conjuring competition (reminiscent of 4:1+) in which Aaron & Moses & the Egyptian magicians trade tricks! But what will follow will have nothing to do with entertainment & everything do with carrying out YHWH God's will! A battle royal between the Pharaoh & God is brewing, & the Pharaoh will disobey God at his & his people's peril! As the Pharaoh's stubbornness of heart continues, plague after plague inflicts the Egyptians. 'Blood' in the Nile, frogs, mosquitoes, flies, animal diseases, boils, hail, locusts, darkness over the land, & then, lastly, the death of the Egyptians' firstborn will step by step reveal God's determination that the Hebrews shall be freed. The plagues all specifically target the Egyptians & avoid the Hebrews. A bit like the way in today's warfare drones home in on targets with, supposedly, pin point accuracy in current war zones? After more than 3000 years no one can readily understand all that's going on in Egypt here. It's clear, though, that an epic, dramatic, & symbolic, to say the least, battle is being waged between God & Evil represented by the Pharaoh, as what he's doing to the Hebrews is clearly evil. Jumping far ahead we might reflect on the battle between good & evil, light & dark in S.John's Gospel. Perhaps we can best come to terms with all this by having faith to enjoy it all as story, make what we can of it, & imagine what God is bringing to birth, & setting in motion in what we're told is happening. What happens next is another story...26: Passing Out Parade.

(1) The title is a play on Shakespeare's, 'A plague on both your houses', from 'Romeo & Juliet'. (2) We're often dealing with accounts 'cobbled' together from different sources & points of view not always matching seamlessly! Do consider this when reading Biblical text & BTLTL.

Question: Are we aware of any epic battles being waged between God & Evil today - on our little patch inside God's big one?