Tuesday, July 10 2007

Exodus 10-12

Seven plagues had come upon Egypt so far: waters turned to blood, frogs upon the land, gnats, flies, disease upon livestock, boils upon man and beast and a great hail storm. Then, locusts that devoured what remained of the crops and trees.

"So Moses [see also The Education Of Moses] stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and The Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night [see also Is This How The Red Sea Parted?]; and when it was morning the east wind had brought the locusts. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt, and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever shall be again. For they covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt." (Exodus 10:13-15 RSV)

There were times when the Pharaoh's stubbornness weakened somewhat, but it nevertheless continued - as did the plagues. Next, darkness, "but all the people of Israel had light where they dwelt."

"Then The Lord [see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD] said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt."

So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; they did not see one another, nor did any rise from his place for three days; but all the people of Israel had light where they dwelt." (Exodus 10:21-23 RSV)

Exodus Chapter 11

Then, the preparation, and final warning, for the last plague - the death of the firstborn.

"The Lord said to Moses, "Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence; when he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, jewelry of silver and of gold." And The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. 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.

And Moses said, "Thus says The Lord: About midnight I will go forth in the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to the first-born of the maidservant who is behind the mill; and all the first-born of the cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever shall be again. But against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, not a dog shall growl; that you may know that The Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel." (Exodus 11:1-7 RSV)

The Pharaoh's last chance:

"Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land." (Exodus 11:10 RSV)

Exodus Chapter 12

The Passover occurred in spring, according to The Lord's calendar i.e. the calendar is God's creation, not the Israelites as a whole, or Jews in particular (see Bible Calendar and Bible Months; also Do We Have The Original Calendar?).

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you." (Exodus 12:1-2 RSV)

Passover and Unleavened Bread were instituted together (see the Fact Finder question below).

"Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is The Lord's passover." (Exodus 12:7-11 RSV)

"And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for if any one eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land." (Exodus 12:17-19 RSV)

Then, the Exodus (notice that the Exodus wasn't just for the people of Israel; a "mixed multitude also went up with them" - the Exodus, like salvation, was open to anyone who would repent).

"And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very many cattle, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any provisions.

The time that the people of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of The Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by The Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to The Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations." (Exodus 12:37-42 RSV)

Fact Finder: How is Passover applied to Christianity? Why is "coming out of sin" a vital part of true Christianity?
See Christian Passover and The First Day of Unleavened Bread
See also the full-length sermons for Passover and The Days of Unleavened Bread on our Sermons Page e.g. How To Observe Passover and First Day of Passover / Unleavened Bread)

Today's Word
The Holy Bible was primarily written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Today's Word examines the pronunciation and literal meaning of one of those actual words of the Holy Scriptures and how it is usually translated into English-language Bibles.

The Hebrew word pronounced mooth means to die or to kill. It is most often translated for use in English language Bibles as die, slay or death.

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This Day In History, July 10

1460: During the Wars of the Roses, Richard of York defeated King Henry VI at the battle of Northampton.

1553: Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England after the death of Edward VI; she ruled for only 10 days before being imprisoned and replaced by Mary I.

1609: The Catholic states in Germany set up a league under the leadership of Maximillian of Bavaria.

1925: The famous "Scopes Monkey Trial" began in Dayton, Tennessee, after high school biology teacher John T. Scopes, 24, was charged with teaching evolution to his students.

1940: During the Second World War, the 114-day "Battle of Britain" air war began when at over 70 German bombers attacked the docks in south Wales.

1943: U.S., British, and Canadian forces invaded Sicily in "Operation Husky."

1953: The Israeli freighter Haifa took aboard its first consignment of iron in Bremen. As part of the reparations agreed to be paid to Israel for Nazi war crimes, along with hard currency payments, shipments of goods would continue without interruption for 12 years.

1960: 7 year old Roger Woodward became the first human to fall accidentally over Niagara Falls and survive.

1962: Telstar, the first television telecommunications satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, making possible the first relaying of television programs across the Atlantic Ocean.

1992: Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison by a Miami, Florida, court for drug dealing in Panama.