History of Israel: Plagues of Egypt - Part 2

In the previous episode of Bible Backdrop, we looked at plagues 1-3. In this episode, we look at plagues 4-9. What was different about the plague of hail? Why was the plague of darkness the worst of the 9? Why was Pharaoh continually obstinate in not letting the Hebrews go?

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Transcript

Opening his eyes, the Egyptian rolled over on his bed. As he did so, he drew in a sharp breath struggling to stifle a cry. His skin burned like fire from the boils and sores. It had been weeks since they broke out on his body and there was no relief. He tried to stand up, but collapsed back down. His wife had a few sores, but seemed to have healed quicker. She took some medicinal oil from a shelf and put it on the open lesions. This helped a little, but he still couldn’t move.

A knock came on the door. It was the overseer, checking to see who was available to work in the fields today. So many people had been struck with this illness, that the work was falling way behind. The Egyptian and his wife looked at each other. They had heard the Hebrew, Moses, advising everyone to stay inside today. They couldn’t understand why, but given what had been happening, it didn’t seem like a bad idea. Everything Moses had said had come to pass...why should they tempt fate?

The overseer growled. He didn’t care about the babbling of some foolish Hebrew. Their gods would protect them against these accursed plagues. He looked at the wife and told her to get out in the fields, or there would be no pay and no food.

She nodded hesitantly and told him she would be out after tending to their son. The overseer left and the husband immediately protested. They could figure things out; why should she go risk her life? But she shook her head; she would be fine, she said. After tending to their son, she grabbed some bread to eat later and left to go to the fields.

Not long after she left, the sky darkened and the air turned bitterly cold. He immediately knew what was happening. This is what Moses had warned them about. He went to the door, hoping to catch sight of her. He was about to step out when a chunk of ice, the size of a man’s hand, fell in front of him. This was followed by an even larger piece and then another. Soon it was a torrent of hail such as he’d never seen. He couldn’t step out beyond his door or he’d have instantly been killed. He called out for his wife, but was only answered by the howling wind.

Later, as if by a miracle, the clouds rolled away and the sun shone again. Ignoring his pain, he immediately went to the fields to see if he could find his wife. What he saw horrified him. The field of barley had been stripped bare by the hail. Nothing was left. He called out her name, but got no answer. Others joined him looking for loved ones. As they went through the fields, cries and screams went up as bodies were found. He hoped and prayed to the gods that she had been protected. But the prayers were in vain. He found her about 100 paces into the field lying face down in the earth. A huge hail stone had hit her on the side of the head and she had died instantly. He collapsed to his knees and cried out in a loud, sobbing wail. He was so confused. When would all this end?

Hello again everyone and welcome to another episode of Bible Backdrop. We’re continuing our series on the History of Israel with a look at the fourth to ninth plagues that God used to strike Egypt and to set the Israelites free from their bondage.

As we discussed in the previous episode, the plagues came in sets of three and we discussed the first set. At this point, we’ve seen the Nile turn to blood; millions of frogs come up out of the Nile; and a plague of lice. The Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his heart each time and would not let Israel go.

Now we move to the fourth plague...the plague of flies. As this is the first plague in the second set of three, it comes with a warning to Pharaoh. There is something different about this plague though. Moses tells Pharaoh that God will set apart the land of Goshen where the Israelites live. The reason is two-fold. First, God is proving to Pharaoh that these aren’t just natural occurrences, but are divine judgment. By leaving Israel out of the plague, it will be obvious that this is a miraculous work. Second, God is showing his favor on the Israelites as His chosen people. The Egyptians believed they were the pinnacle of humanity and descended from gods. By keeping Israel isolated from the plague, it becomes obvious that the Egyptians are not quite as special as they thought and should be humbled. 

Like previously, Pharaoh ignores the warning and the plague commences. Again, each plague is meant to go against a particular Egyptian god and there are differing opinions about which gods were targeted. One commentary says that it was against the god Khepri who was the god of creation and rebirth and was represented by the scarab beetle. Another says it was the goddess Uatchit who was shown with wings and may have been the fly god. She could have also been the goddess of marshes and the sun’s heat. It’s hard to say which one but it’s always possible that it could be against both gods. The Hebrew word used here for swarm is awrob which is also used in Psalm 78:45 that says: “He sent swarms of flies that devoured them…” This shows that these were probably biting insects so it could be flies, sandflies, fleas or even mosquitoes. If it was against the god Kepri, it could have also been beetles. It was likely a number of different insects. The swarm would prevent people from working in the fields or going to market, so commerce came to an end. If it was mosquitoes, they may have brought malaria with them. Similar to the plague of lice, the flies brought uncleanness and Exodus says “the land was corrupted because of the swarm of flies.” So the economy and sacrificial system were both brought to a standstill.

Pharaoh then tries to negotiate with Moses by asking for them to sacrifice in the land of Egypt. Moses replies that this won’t work as the Israelites would sacrifice animals that were holy to the Egyptians and they would be stoned. Then he says that he will let them go but not to go too far away. Moses agrees to intercede but warns Pharaoh not to go back on his word. Moses does so and God removes the swarm of flies.

Spoiler alert: Pharaoh goes back on his word.

Another hardened heart means another plague.

The fifth plague is announced and Pharaoh has yet another chance to repent. At this point, he must have dreaded every time he saw Moses and Aaron. You have to wonder if Pharaoh is being guided by a demonic presence or maybe even Satan himself, trying to thwart God’s plan. It’s hard to believe that anyone, no matter how obstinate, could handle the stress of the plagues being thrown their way.

This next plague is a plague on livestock. This would be in opposition to the goddess Hathor who was the goddess of love and protection and was depicted as a cow. Because of this, the cow was considered a sacred animal and would not be sacrificed. Since this is the second of the next set of three, there is a warning and a call for Pharaoh to change his heart. He either refuses or does not answer, so now the plague moves ahead. The Bible calls it a “very severe pestilence.” What this is is unknown. Likely, it was some sort of virus or disease. However, like the plague, the livestock of Israel was untouched.

So after 5 plagues, here is the score so far. We’ve seen, one, the Nile turn to blood; two, Egypt be overrun with frogs; three, a massive lice infestation; four, a swarm of flying, likely biting, bugs; and, five, the death of the Egyptian livestock. This should have been enough for Pharaoh, but it apparently was not.

Which leads us to the sixth plague...a plague of boils. This being the third in the second set of three, it comes without warning. Moses is instructed to get some ashes or soot from a furnace and scatter it to the heavens in front of Pharaoh. Ashes may have been used from a brick drying furnace. Even though most of the bricks were sun dried (which required straw), some may have also been dried in an oven. The Egyptians were going to receive a plague from an instrument of bondage upon the Israelites. When the soot is released, a plague of boils would break out on man and animal. Wait...didn’t all the animals die in the livestock plague? It’s probable that the Bible doesn’t literally mean all the animals died. Similar to when it says “all Israel turned out” in the later books of the Bible, we understand this to be that a majority of people were involved. It could be the same here. The vast majority of the livestock died and very few were left. It’s also possible that the Egyptians may have had to buy some from the Israelites. Either way, this plague is the first one where people are targeted directly. The word for boil here is a swelling, painful skin inflammation. It is similar to the boils and sores we see on Job. If it burst open and became a sore, it could have opened the body to other diseases. This plague went against the god Imhotep, who was the god of medicine. The Bible also points out that the magicians could not stand before Moses due to the boils. The magicians were believed to be closest to the gods and even they could not avoid the plague. One commentary mentions that the magicians are singled out here because they were complicit in helping harden Pharaoh’s heart against letting Israel go. Now they too share in the plague in the understanding that they are complicit in Pharaoh’s sin. 

Pharaoh, of course, is still unrelenting which leads us to the next plague. One thing about this timeline is that it never says if Egypt got relief. People may have eventually gotten well after a period of suffering, but there is no mention of God stopping the consequences of the plague. So now we move to the next plague which is a plague of hail and is the first in the last set of three. Again, Moses approaches Pharaoh and tells him to let the Israelites go or the next plague would come. This one is interesting because not only does he set a time to it, which was done for the previous plagues, but he even shows mercy by telling them how to escape the plague: “Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” This is fascinating and speaks, I think, to how horrible the plague will be along with God’s mercy. Even though Pharaoh was hardening his heart, there were those that feared God and could see what was happening even if Pharaoh didn’t. God allowed these Egyptians to save themselves, their families, their servants and their livelihood. However, those that didn’t, perished. As the story shows, the hail came down along with thunder and lightening. Depending on the translation, there may even have been fire mixed in with the hail. This had to be utterly frightening to behold, even for the Israelites who were kept safe from the plague. The Egyptians must have thought that it was the end of the world. This was a direct attack against the Egyptian god Nut who was god of the sky and Seth who was god of storms. Pharaoh soon after calls in Moses and appears to repent and asks for the plague to stop. Moses, who is becoming more and more discerning, warns Pharaoh that he knows he doesn’t fear God, but he will pray anyway. Moses does so and God stops the plague. Unfortunately, the damage was done and it had to be heart wrenching. The fields themselves were stripped bare causing economic devastation and maybe even led to famine. Prices for commodities had to skyrocket, so people may have gone hungry. On top of that, anyone who didn’t listen and worked in the field was killed along with the livestock. The human and economic toll must have been utterly horrific. Yet, Pharaoh hardens his heart again and won’t let the Israelites go.

So, once again, Moses comes to challenge Pharaoh and warn him of the next plague. He tells him “Let My people go that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field.” 

Locusts were a well known scourge to farmers and they traveled in swarms devouring crops. From the description that Moses tells Pharaoh, this won’t be a regular sized swarm: “They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians – which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.” At this point, Pharaoh’s servants have had enough: “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” Pharaoh tries again to bargain with Moses and only let the men go and keep the women and children as hostages, but Moses does not accept and they are driven from Pharaoh’s presence. So God commands Moses to “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land – all that the hail has left.” When the locusts show up, it is beyond anything anyone has ever seen: “For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the tree which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plans of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.” This plague was against the god Osiris who was the god of agriculture and protector of crops. 

Again, the economic and human toll had to be staggering. What little was left after the hail storm was now eaten by the locusts. Unless there was an emergency supply of grain similar to when Joseph was in charge, prices for food must have gone up even more. Egypt was quickly becoming a shell of itself and it wasn’t getting better anytime soon. They also may have been buying food from the only place that had any: the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. If there was enough time in between plagues, they may have been able to have some shipped in; like Joseph’s famine but in reverse. Pharaoh again asks Moses to pray for the locusts to go and Moses does so, but Pharaoh goes back on his word…again.

The ninth and last of the three is a plague of darkness. Being the third one in the group, it comes without warning. Moses is simply told to “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.” When I first read about this plague, I thought “Darkness? Really? What’s the big deal in that?” Once I started studying it, though, I came to understand that this wasn’t just nighttime. This was a look into hell. If there is a comparison to this plague, it is probably when Jesus was on the cross and darkness fell on the land as God turned away from the sin being put on the Son. The darkness was so extensive that they couldn’t make any fires or light any candles. It may have been a very damp, fog like darkness which they could feel. Jewish tradition even suggests that the darkness was populated by demons who’s presence made it even more terrifying. And it continued for 3 days so it was like 6 nights in one. The Bible says: “No one could see anyone else or move about for three days.” People couldn’t leave their houses but they also couldn’t light the interiors. They couldn’t rely on their neighbors for comfort. They certainly couldn’t cook anything and the economy, what was left of it, ground to a half. This was truly the worst of the first 9 plagues. The only people that had light were the Israelites. And we can think that some of them lived among the Egyptians outside the land of Goshen who were probably amazed and envious. Of course, this was a direct attack against the main deity in the Egyptian religion...the sun god, Ra. 

One thing to keep in mind that, during these plagues, Egypt is probably still trading so it is almost certain that the stories are getting out to other countries. Especially the city-states in Canaan who will become very fearful when the nation of Israel is on the move.

So ends the 9 plagues and there is one more yet to come as Pharaoh continues to remain steadfast in his refusal. In this time, we’ve seen, in no particular order: the Nile turn to blood, plagues of frogs, lice, flies or some sort of biting insects, and then locusts; death of livestock; boils and sores; a huge hail storm that killed people and animals and stripped fields bare; and a plague of darkness that may have resembled hell itself. And we wonder why God doesn’t speak directly to us. Even when He does, I get the feeling that no matter how clear He is, we simply won’t listen. And that is just one of the lessons from Exodus.

On that note, we will leave it here for now. Next episode, the ultimate and most devastating plague will hit Egypt and the Israelites will finally be free, but the cost will be massive for the Egyptians. If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please subscribe and leave a 5 star rating and review. If you want to get in touch with the show, you can e-mail me at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Word of mouth is still the best way for this show to get around, so tell a friend and have them subscribe. You can find Bible Backdrop on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere podcasts are found. Thank you again for listening and have a great week!