Lesson 53 - Senior

Memory Verse

"Happy is the man that feareth alway:  but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief"  (Proverbs 28:14).

Cross References

I The First Judgment: Water Changed to Blood

1. Moses is told to announce God's first judgment, sent that the Egyptians might know of the Lord Jehovah, Israel's God, [EXO:7:14-19]; [EXO:9:14-16]; [1SM:4:7-9]; [JOS:2:9-11]; [2CO:4:3, 4].

2. Moses and Aaron obey God and the plague is sent as Pharaoh and his servants watch, [EXO:7:20, 21]; [PS:78:44, 45]; [PS:105:29].

3. The magicians try to disprove the miracle, and Pharaoh again hardens his heart, [EXO:7:22, 23]; [MAT:24:24]; [DEU:13:1-3]; [2TS:2:7-12]; [REV:13:12-15].

4. The plague causes great suffering in Egypt, [EXO:7:24, 25]; [GEN:15:13, 14]; [REV:16:3, 4].

II The Second Judgment: A Plague of Frogs

1. Pharaoh is warned of another judgment, [EXO:8:1-4].

2. The judgment is pronounced and frogs are sent upon Egypt, [EXO:8:5, 6]; [PS:78:45]; [PS:105:30].

3. The magicians again do the same with their enchantments, [EXO:8:7].

4. Pharaoh appeals for deliverance and is given it on his own terms, [EXO:8:8-13].

5. When Pharaoh saw the respite he hardened his heart, [EXO:8:14, 15]; [ROM:1:28], [ROM:1:32].

III The Third Judgment: A Plague of Lice

1. The dust is turned to lice without a previous warning to Pharaoh, [EXO:8:16, 17]; [PS:105:31]; [JER:6:10]; [ZEC:7:12].

2. The magicians fail in their attempt to disprove the miracle, and they admit the supremacy of Israel's God, [EXO:8:18, 19].

3. Pharaoh hardens his heart again, [EXO:8:19].

Notes

"Who is the LORD?"

God heard the cries and groanings of the Israelites as they laboured as slaves in Egypt, and He sent Moses to lead them into a land that was promised to them many years before. Moses went before Pharaoh several times and requested that Israel be permitted to go into the wilderness to worship their God; but Pharaoh refused, being reluctant to let a group so profitable to Egypt slip from his control. He stated that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was not known to him, so he need not obey Jehovah's commands or favour His people. Instead, Pharaoh demanded that the Israelites work harder than ever before.

The contention between the Israelites and the Egyptians resolved itself to this one point: Was there such a God as Jehovah? and if so, what was the extent of His power? and what, if any, were the obligations that the Egyptians owed to Him? To prove His existence and power and to bring about a deliverance of His people, God sent a series of judgments upon the wicked, idolatrous Egyptians. These are known as the Ten Plagues of Egypt.

Egypt was a land of many gods. The people worshiped various things: the Nile river, the crocodiles and other living things in the river, land animals, insects, and even the sun. The Lord directed His judgments against those gods of the Egyptians, first of all to prove to Pharaoh and all Egypt that the God of Israel was the true God; and secondly, that there was no other God.

God first made Himself known to Moses, who repeated God's instructions to Aaron; and then the two men went before the elders of Israel. Through the miracles God performed in the sight of the Israelites He demonstrated that these men were sent by Him to lead the captives to freedom. One of these same miracles was performed in the sight of Pharaoh for this same purpose, but he hardened his heart against God and refused to believe in Him.

Water Turned to Blood

The first judgment, a plague where the water of the river was turned to blood, was announced prior to its being sent. Promptly, when Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, the water of their sacred river was rendered unfit for use. It was ordinarily pure and good for drinking and at all times, with the exception of the flood periods, was very clear and sparkling -- but now it was nothing but blood.

Since water was very necessary for human, animal, and vegetable life in this hot climate, the Egyptians considered the Nile among the greatest of the thousands of gods they worshiped. So the first plague was in itself a great test of their gods and their religion. If the God of Israel could turn the waters of the Nile into blood, it would be an obvious fact to the Egyptians that He was more powerful than their own highly revered god, the river.

But Satan, the great deceiver of men, had his emissaries present to try to discredit every supernatural demonstration sent to convince these people that Jehovah was the true God, the only God. The magicians of Egypt did a similar miracle with their enchantments; and, no doubt, because of their work the heart of haughty, stubborn Pharaoh was hardened. Perhaps he reasoned that since there was nothing unusual in the miracle sent to de-monstrate God's power, now that it had been duplicated by his own men, therefore there could be nothing unusual in Israel's God or His power.

Frogs from the River

The second plague was one that not only distressed the Egyptians but destroyed some of them as well ([PS:78:45]). Frogs came out of the river and were found in almost every conceivable place in the land. It is difficult to imagine the extent of this detestable plague or what nauseating suffering it brought.

The frog was also one of the gods of Egypt, and again we can see in this plague the hand of God directed against their idolatrous worship. Pharaoh pled with Moses to intercede that the plague might be removed -- tacitly conceding God of Israel was greater than any of the gods of Egypt. By the prayer of Moses the frogs died where they were, presenting a far more striking, vivid, and unforgettable confirmation of the miracle than if they had simply -- even though miraculously -- retired to their haunts.

The fact that Pharaoh was allowed to choose the time of the plague's removal was but another projected demonstration to him that none other than divine power could be back of it. The rotting of the dead frogs was not only an obnoxious reminder that their frog god was not omnipotent, as was the God of the Israelites, but also that he was subject in all ways to Israel's God.

Lice from the Dust

The plague of frogs was, like the plague of water that was turned to blood, sent only after a warning of its coming; but the third judgment -- the plague of lice -- was given without advance notice. It seems to have been sent as a sudden judgment upon the truce-breaking Pharaoh and his people. Lice came from the very earth itself and tortured man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. The Egyptians have been reported as being a very clean people who, unlike many other idolatrous nations, had rigorous standards of personal cleanliness in their idol worship, and the presence of lice on their persons rendered them unclean for their worship.

This was the end of Satan's attempts to disprove the miracles by duplicating the plagues. The magicians could not produce any such plague as the plague of lice, and admitted of their own will that it was nothing but the finger of God. Since their own magicians had said the plague was sent by none, but, the God of Israel; it again proved to the Egyptians and also to men of all ages the supremacy of that God. The offended gods could in no way interfere to put an end to or diminish in any way this plague that made it impossible for the idolaters to carry on their shameful and despicable devotions.

The Mercy of Present Judgments

God sent the plagues to deliver Israel but also permitted them in mercy to the Egyptians, that, they might see that their trusted gods were utterly incapable of saving them. It was thoroughly demonstrated that even though the magicians might duplicate in a small way two of the ten plagues, yet they could not undo or bring to a conclusion one of them. That this revelation was successful in accomplishing God's purpose, in a small degree at least, is borne out, first, by the fact that the magicians themselves testified that the plague of lice was sent by the finger of God ([EXO:8:19]); secondly, by the fact that the servants of Pharaoh who feared the Word of the Lord and acted in accord with that Word were spared the effects of the plague of hail ([EXO:9:20, 21]); and thirdly, in the fact that on at least one occasion the servants of Pharaoh pled with him to grant Moses' request because they feared the consequences of not doing so ([EXO:10:7]) .

Thus, God is known by His judgments, for in every operation of His hand during men's natural lives His purpose is to enlighten their minds that He might bring them from false dependencies to a trust in Himself alone; that they, being saved from error and sin, may become wise, holy, and happy. It has been said that when God's judgments are abroad in the land the inhabitants learn righteousness. How thankful we can be that God does thus deal with men and nations, striving to bring them all to Himself.

Questions

1. Describe the first two plagues.

2. Why did God strike Egypt with these particular plagues, and at what were they directed?

3. What was the third plague?

4. What is thought to be the reason for this particular plague, and what did it apparently prohibit the Egyptians from doing?

5. What satanic reaction was manifest at the performing of these three miracles?

6. Did Moses contend with, or attempt to expose, these satanic manifestations?

7. Were the magicians successful in their attempts to prove their contention?

8. What was Pharaoh's reaction to each of the three plagues?

9. In what way can we say that these judgments were given in mercy?

10. Are we taught in the Scriptures that these judgments had any effect on the Egyptians?