(The History of Ancient Israel)
After the family of Israel (Jacob) settled in the lower part of Egypt called Goshen to survive the horrible famine ravaging the Middle East, Joseph and all his brothers and sisters finally grew old in Egypt and died and their children [like Joseph’s children Manasseh and Ephraim] also grew old and died as well.
Exodus 1:6-7
“Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,…”
100’s of years had now passed since Israel and all his family had originally moved from the promised land of Canaan to Egypt. After 100’s of years of living, working, and prospering in their new home in Goshen they were now no longer a relatively small rich family of 70 or so people: their descendants were now 1,000’s (if not 1,000,000’s) of very wealthy people with a bunch of individual families that were forming their own nation of people very fast!
Exodus 1:6-7
“…the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.”
This was fulfilling God’s promise to Israel (as well as Isaac and Abraham) that his descendants would become a huge uncountable multitude! Though 1,000’s (and possibly 1,000,000’s) of people from 70 is massive growth, 1,000’s (or 1,000,000’s) is still a countable number, but it’s a great start!
The descendants of these 12 brothers or Israel (Jacob) formed 12 tribes named from the original 12 sons of Israel, just like Israel had said (like a descendant of the 1st son of Israel: Reuben ,was a called a Reubenite and belonged to the tribe [which is all other people descending from him as well] of Reuben) together the descendants of these 12 sons (12 tribes) formed a new nation in their temporary homeland called Israel After their main chosen forefather Israel (Jacob) and all the descendants of Israel through his 12 sons (now tribes) were known as Israelites (descendants of Israel).
This was also a fulfillment of a promise and prophecy that was given to Israel (Jacob) that he would become a great nation in Egypt this was the same great nation that was promised to Isaac and ultimately Abraham: and this was finally it: Israel was that great nation finally formed after 100’s of years!
But not everyone was happy about the Israelites’ blessings from God and massive growth:
This was beginning to bother the native Egyptians who used to see these foreign Israelites living in their land as the family of the hero Joseph who had saved their parents/ancestors from starvation were now beginning to see them as a growing powerful threat to their people and nation:
Something had to be done before they turned on them and left them a conquered people or completely destroyed their powerful nation!
So, one day an Egyptian pharaoh had finally had enough of what he saw was invasive Hebrew foreigners and decided to take action to save his people before it was too late.
This pharaoh didn’t care about what the Hebrews, and especially Joseph, had done for them in the past and how the pharaoh of their generation had accepted them with open arms to live in the best part of Egypt. Despite all the good intentions the foreigners had for them in the past, and how the pharaohs of the past had blessed them, this was now: and now the Israelites were taking more and more wealth of Egypt and looking more and more like a threat to the natives.
Exodus 1:8-10
“Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ‘Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.’”
So this pharaoh presents the more and more obvious problem these foreigners could bring to Egypt and then gives his solution to keep them from becoming a threat and to help the native Egyptians instead:
Instead of kicking them out of their land or even killing them all, the pharaoh gives a clever idea to his people that would not totally destroy the foreigners or leave them homeless: they could stay in their ancestral home given to them by the past pharaoh of Egypt and still own their property and homes BUT they were to become slaves to Egypt in return for a home in Egypt; this way the Egyptians would be able to take control of the foreigners growing population and power and they could serve the native Egyptians and make Egypt stronger while they kept their ancestral home: it was brilliant!
So, they made the Israelites submit to slavery and put Egyptian slave watchers over them to give them work and to make sure they did the work and did not rebel against them.
Exodus 1:11
“So, they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor,…”
So for many years, they made the new Israelite nation (formed in their nation) their personal slave people: their work included forcing them to make new structures: they eventually built entire cities as food storage cities for the pharaoh: Pithom and Rameses.
Exodus 1:11
“…and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.”
Though the Egyptians succeeded in dominating the nation of Israel and oppressing them for their use their plan did not fully work: despite the oppressive hard work and conditions the Israelites population was still growing exponentially through these years even more now that they were being oppressed!
Exodus 1:12
“But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread;…”
So, their plan did not fully work: so many of the Egyptians hated the Israelites even more as they saw them not only as a threat but like vermin; constantly multiplying in number: in returned they tortured them with outrageous work and conditions and hated them as the scum of Egypt.
Exodus 1:13-14
“…so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.”
But when the pharaoh noticed slavery was not stopping the growth of the Israelite population, he formed another idea that was sure to stop their growth: He would kill the source of the new babies: Israelite men! But not the adults or already born Israelite males he would start with the future generation: the baby Israelite boys!
If enslaving these foreigners did not work to reduce their growth, then getting rid of the male gender definitely would! And he would start with his plan by telling it to the chief midwives when they helped an Israelite woman give birth to a baby: if it was a male to kill it!
Exodus 1:15-16
“…The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.’”
Even though it was a direct commandment from the pharaoh, Shiphrah and Puah could not betray their own people and betray God by killing their own people and his people, so they betrayed pharaoh and let the baby boys live:
Exodus 1:17
“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.”
The Pharaoh realized that baby boys were still plentiful and therefore they were not being killed so he summoned the midwives to question them to why they disobeyed a direct order:
Exodus 1:18-19
“Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ The midwives answered Pharaoh, ‘Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.’”
So seeing the Midwives smug remark and refusal to obey him he could not rely on the midwives to kill the baby boys so he would tell his own loyal people and slave drivers to kill any Israelite baby boy they saw:
Exodus 1:22
“Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’”
His people would definitely obey him, so every baby boy that was born and not hid was forcefully taken from the family by Egyptian slave drivers and thrown into the Nile to be drowned and eaten by crocks.
This was the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Abraham long ago that his descendants would go to a foreign nation [Identified later as Egypt] and that nation would eventually oppress them [this was happening as Egypt oppressed the descendants of Abraham: The Israelites with slavery and genocide].
So this is horrible oppression and genocide! Where is God to save his people though? In trouble of being oppressed to death!
Well this was also in the same prophecy to Abraham: after 400 years of being in this foreign nation God promises Abraham that he would save his descendants and punish/curse the nation that oppressed his descendants:
So like Israel ,and especially Joseph, knew in 400 years in this foreign country, there was going to come a day that God was going to free his people from this oppression and bring them back to the promised land of Canaan to finally conquer it from the native Canaanites. But he had a set time: until this happened, the Israelites would sadly have to suffer a little while until then.
So how would God free Israel from Oppression? God had a specific plan, and he was going to use one of his own people to help with it: So despite all this massive national oppression, the attention is suddenly focused on a couple in the tribe of Levi
In a latter passage, this Levite man is identified as Amran: the son of Kohath which was one of the sons of Levi himself (this meant Amran was the grandson of Levi):
1 Chronicles 6:1-2
“The sons of Levi:
Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
The sons of Kohath:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.”
o now, from all this suffering and pain there is a focus on a marriage of Levites, why? Well, it seems God was going to do something very special for this one family.
This Levite woman is also identified as Jochebed and was Amram’s aunt (his father’s sister)
Exodus 6:20
“Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed,…”
Jochebed eventually became pregnant and had a girl and named her Miriam:
1 Chronicles 6:3
“The child… of Amram:…Miriam.”
But then she got pregnant a second time and gave birth to a son:
This Levite woman gave birth to a son, which was big trouble since pharaoh demanded that his people kill any baby Israelite boys immediately!
But this woman loves her baby so much so, She saw he was worth protecting from the Egyptians. So, she hid him in her home to hide him from the Egyptian slave drivers. They seemed to have been able to keep him hid and eventually named him Aaron:
Exodus 6:20
“…Jochebed, who bore him Aaron...”
1 Chronicles 6:3
“The child… of Amram:
Aaron…”
But then three years later she gave birth to another son:
Exodus 2:2
“...and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son.”
This Levite woman gave birth to a son once again!
But, like Aaron, this woman loved her baby so much and also saw that he was special: so, like Aaron, he was worth protecting from the Egyptians. So, she hid him in her home to hid him from the Egyptian slave drivers.
Exodus 2:2
“…When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.”
But seemingly unlike Aaron, he got harder and harder to hide; eventually she could hide him no longer. She didn’t want to see him die, so she decided to make a basket to hide him in some papyrus plants on the Nile bank because she did not know what to do:
Exodus 2:3-4
“But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.”
As he was in the reeds, the worst possible scenario happened: Pharaoh’s own daughter comes to bathe right beside of the basket!
Exodus 2:5
“Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.”
Oh No! The worst scenario possible has happened! This poor baby boy is surely doomed!... But just when all hope is lost, a beautiful miracle happens:
Exodus 2:6
“She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said.”
Despite the hatred the Egyptians had for the Israelites, the daughter of the pharaoh felt compassion for the crying abandoned baby. Miriam watching all this, took action to make sure her mother, her father, Aaron, and her could stay with her brother by suggesting that she get someone to take care of the baby for her since she looked like she wanted to keep the baby:
Exodus 2:7-9
“Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?’ ‘Yes, go,’ she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother [her mother]. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.’”
This is such an ironic miracle! The very pharaoh that commanded the killing of the baby Israelite boys his daughter: his very own child: was one that loved the very thing her father hated and wanted to have him as her own child and wanted to raise and take care of this one Israelite boy. And not only that his very mother that loved him and that was going to lose him was going to get paid by the very Egyptians for raising her child that should have been killed!
God saved this holy Israelite boy from the murderous intentions of the Egyptians and used the very daughter of the pharaoh to raise his holy child with their own money! God was keeping his promise to his people to bless them: even by the very people that hated them! And it is becoming very obvious this child is special to God:
Exodus 2:9
“So the woman took the baby and nursed him.”
However, her regained motherhood would be short-lived; because after he got older and was weaned, she had to give him back to the pharaoh’s daughter to be her adopted son: I was a sad good-by, but it was the only way for him to live but even though she would not be his mother, it seems she could still see him along with her children [His brother and sister]:
Exodus 2:10
“When the child grew older [got wended], she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,[Hebrew for “draw out.” Or also Egyptian for “offspring”] saying, ‘I drew him out of the water.’”
So, pharaoh allowed his daughter to adopt this Israelite boy to be her son and Moses grew up in Egyptian royalty: being taught all types of Egyptian knowledge and being wealthy and royal as a son of an Egyptian princess. Not much is known of Moses’s childhood, but he was most likely visited by his biological mother, brother, and sister because he knew his sister and knew even though he was Egyptian royalty he knew that he was not an ethnic/racial Egyptian but was ethnically/racially an Israelite. He probably came to know he was adopted and came to know his real mother, father and, sister and that his people were enslaved to Egypt. :
When he grew up, he got curious about seeing his own people he had heard so much about: So, one day he went away from the palace full of Egyptians and came to where some of his fellow Israelites were working to watch them:
Exodus 2:11
“One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.”
He then saw a horrible scene: An Egyptian (most likely a slave driver) beating his fellow Israelite (most likely with a whip):
Exodus 2:11
“…He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.”
Seeing this made him so angry! And made him realize how cruel his people were being treated, he was so angry at this Egyptian for torturing a fellow Israelite he wanted to kill him!
So, he waited for this Egyptian to get alone and looked left and right to see if anyone was around watching so when he saw no one was watching them, he murdered that Egyptian in a fit of rage:
Exodus 2:12
“Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”
After killing him, he became scared of what he just did and what kind of trouble he could get into: he buried the evidence of his anger and rage: the dead body, in the sand somewhere and went back to the palace: He had committed MURDER!
So, Moses, that night, though he had gotten away with murder, and no one would ever find out what he did. He realized that night how oppressed his fellow Israelites were all this time that he was living in luxury and wanted to do something: so, he went back the next day to see how they were doing:
He found two men fighting each other and quickly decided to intervene to remind them they are all Israelites here and they should not be fighting each other:
Exodus 2:13
“The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, ‘Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?’”
This man didn’t like this stranger getting in the way of what he saw was their personal fight, and said a smug and surprising response:
Exodus 2:14
“The man said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?’”
Oh No! Someone saw and found out! And now word was going to spread: Moses knew if the pharaoh found out he would be killed for murder:
Exodus 2:14
“…Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘What I did must have become known.’”
Before long, pharaoh was told that his adopted son had murdered an innocent Egyptian so he commanded for him to be killed for his crime, but in shame and fear he took what he could (like food and water) and ran away from the only home he knew in Egypt back towards their promised ancient homeland of Canaan.
Exodus 2:15
“When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses ran from Pharaoh…”
So, Moses barely escaped death by pharaoh: he had to leave his biological family and royal life behind for the life of an exile!
Moses took a while to reach the Middle East again from the long desert of Egypt he eventually came from his trek from the Sinai desert to a country near Canaan called Midian (the country of the Midianite people: which was a son of Keturah and Abraham: they were fellow Abrahamites like Moses) Moses decided to hide out around a local well to rest:
Exodus 2:15
“...and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.”
However, some local Midianite women were coming out to get some water from that same well for their dad’s livestock:
Exodus 2:16
“...Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.”
But there were some local shepherds coming to the well where Moses was at as well, that wanted the water for themselves and when they met daughters of this local priest, they ran them away from the well.
Exodus 2:17
“Some shepherds came along and drove them away,…”
Moses was watching their harassment from the well and it made him angry to see these shepherds bullying these women, so he decided to do something about it:
Exodus 2:17
“...but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.”
After this amazing stranger rescued them and got water for their livestock for them when this happen, they ran back to their father and told him all about it:
Exodus 2:18-20
“When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, ‘Why have you returned so early today?’ They answered, ‘An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.’ ‘And where is he?’ Reuel asked his daughters. ‘Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.’ ”
Reuel told them to return to the well to invite this Egyptian hero to eat with them to honor him saving his daughters from those bullies. So, Moses was invited to eat and went to eat and meet Reuel the royal priest of the nation of Midian who name meant “Friend of God” in Midianite (Semitic). Moses most likely told them that he was an exile from Egypt and was homeless and possibly an Israelite and how his people were enslaved to Egypt.
Hearing this, Reuel told him to stay with him and help his daughters and he could marry one of his daughters and this could be his new home. Moses accepted the offer and stayed with him and married on of his daughters named Zipporah:
Exodus 2:21
“Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.”
So eventually years had passed since he had first come to Midian and stayed with Reuel. His Midian wife Zipporah got pregnant and they had a baby boy, Moses still sad about having to leave his home in Egypt and his people in slavery for a strange new land of foreigners to him, named his child “foreigner”:
Exodus 2:22
“Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,[Hebrew for “a foreigner”] saying, ‘I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.’ ”
Moses despite being thankful to have a home and be away from Pharaoh was sad to have become a lone Israelite foreigner in a strange foreign nation. As many more years passed, he lost all hope of ever seeing his people and personal family again. And lost hope in their God that promised to free them long ago from this oppression and bless them.
Back in Egypt, Aaron and Miriam were most likely getting married too:
Exodus 6:23
“Aaron married Elisheba…”
eventually Aaron had 4 sons (and possibly some daughters):
Numbers 3:2
“…sons of Aaron… Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.”
Moses also had another son during this time and, despite how sad and hopeless he seems to be, he named him “God my helper” to show his gratitude to his God helping him escape Egypt safely.
Exodus 18:4
“…the other [son] was named Eliezer,[ Hebrew for “my God is helper”]…sa[ying], ‘My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.’”
Eventually, the pharaoh that wanted to kill Moses and originally conceived the plan to enslave the Israelite and enforced the killing of all the baby boys died.
Exodus 2:23
“During that long period (of Moses staying in Midian), the king of Egypt died.”
But the new pharaoh in his place kept the oppression and genocide going; all hope seemed lost at this point: The Israelites were either going to dwindle down to a small, oppressed minority of slaves to Egypt forever or be completely wiped out by them. Where was God and his promise to bless them, make them a great nation, and free them? Where was God to curse those people who cursed them (Like the Egyptians were)? At least some Israelites, even Moses, must have though this at times.
But God was listening to the moans, desperate prayers, and cries of his people this whole time and saw everything the Egyptians were doing to them. So, after Moses had lived in Midian for 40 years, the 400 years mark was coming, and God had finally had enough of Egypt and his people’s oppression and remembered his promise to Abraham over 500 years earlier:
Exodus 2:23-25
“The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”
It was finally time for God to act and to free his people and bring them back to their promised-land Canaan now that the drought had ended. Egypt was finally going to pay and be cursed for cursing his people and trying to wipe them out; and he was going to use Moses to do it:
So, after 40 years of staying in Midian and living with Reuel/Jethro, Moses was now 80 years old and long since accepted his fate of being an assimilated foreigner in Midian. One day he was leading Jethro’s flocks to the very far stretches of Midian in the Arabian Peninsula to graze in this wilderness and came upon a huge mountain called Horeb, it was here that God would perform a miracle to get Moses’s attention and talk to him:
Exodus 3:1-6
“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,… There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.’ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’ ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father,[Ancestors] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob[Israel].’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”
Now God told him why he was talking to him: he had a very important mission for him!
Exodus 3:7-10
“The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.’ ”
Moses was shocked at this: God wanted him to save his people by going back to the place he had been an exile from over 40 years? So, Moses was very hesitant on going back:
Exodus 3:11
“ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you all will worship God on this mountain.’ Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’’…”
After telling his name, God gives him detailed instructions on what to say when he goes back and what will happen:
Exodus 3:16-20
“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: 'I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’' The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders [Curses] that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.”
So, God was telling Moses in advance of what would happen: the leaders of the tribes of Israel would believe him but the new pharaoh would not, and therefore God would return the favor to Egypt for cursing Israel's descendants: he would curse them with supernatural wonders until they were forced to let the Israelites go, but that would not be all:
Exodus 3:21-22
“And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
He would also make the Egyptians give their money, jewelry, clothes, and other things to the Isrelites to rob and curse the Egyptians even more and to bless his people: God was keeping his promise to curse those who curse Israelites and bless his people.
Despite knowing the situation would be victory for him and his people: they would finally be free from oppression and be free to return to the ancestral homeland of Canaan, Moses was still afraid to go back and do this:
Exodus 4:1-9
“Moses answered, ‘What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ‘This,’ said the Lord, ‘is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[very white]—it had become as white as snow. ‘Now put it back into your cloak,’ he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like [the color of] the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, ‘If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.’ ”
God gave Moses three major miracles that were very strong proofs that he was truly sent from God, but despite all this, Moses was still afraid and made another excuse: he had some type of speech problem and therefore would not be the best person to speak to pharaoh:
Exodus 4:10
“Moses said to the Lord, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.’ ”
God, at this point, was beginning to get a little angry at Moses’s excuses after all the promises and proofs he had given him, and gets to the point of who he is and what he wants:
Exodus 4:11-12
“The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’ ”
But Moses too finally got to the point: despite all this, he was still to scared to do what God said, so running out of excuses, he tries to politely ask God to use someone else for this:
Exodus 4:13
“But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.’”
Now God was really angry at Moses; despite all he was going to do for him he was rejecting God’s command to him. Despite his outright anger, God does somewhat choose someone else not to replace him but to help him speak: He choose Aaron his brother to help him speak.
Exodus 4:14-17
“Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, ‘What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.’ ”
Seeing that Aaron would be speaking for him and was already on the way to Midian to meet him, he finally agreed to obey what God was commanding him to do : he would finally return back to Egypt to help God to free his people. So, with that, Moses climbed off the mountain with the burning bush to gather the flock from the wilderness and return to the temple in Midian to speak with his wife and Jethro.
As he was returning to the temple of Midian: God seems to have talked to him again to assure him that when he got back to Egypt no one would want to kill him for the murder of the Egyptian because it had been over 40 years and everyone who wanted to kill him for murder (like the former pharaoh or guards) were all dead by now, so it was safe to return:
Exodus 4:19
“...the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, ‘Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.’ ”
Exodus 4:18
“Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, ‘Let me return to my own people in
Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.’ Jethro said, ‘Go, and I wish you well.’"
With a farewell to Reuel/Jethro and the family he had known in this foreign country for over 40 years, he went to return to his former homeland in Egypt, to meet up with Aaron along the way.
But along the way, God once again spoke to Moses to remind him that when he does curse pharaoh and all of Egypt for cursing his people and refusing to let them go, that not only would Moses perform the signs for the leaders of Israel but when pharaoh would refuse to let the Israelites go from Egypt Moses would also be the way God would do miraculous signs of cursing to all of Egypt:
Exodus 4:21-23
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: 'Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.’ But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.''’”
However, instead of going straight to Egypt, it seemed for some reason he traveled back to Mt Horeb where he first meet God; because this is where God told Aaron to meet up with Moses in the desert of Midian. he finally meets with his brother and had a warm welcome with him and his family:
Exodus 4:27
“The Lord said to Aaron, ‘Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.’ So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.”
After they greeted each other, Moses then told him everything that just happened to him and what God told him he must do. He also told him how God choose him to speak for him and how they both had to go together back to Egypt and save their people and return back to their promised land:
Exodus 4:28
“Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.”
So, together they made the journey from Midian back to Egypt where they would gather the tribal leader together for a meeting and liked promised; Aaron spoke for Moses.
Exodus 4:29-30
“Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses.”
The Elders were finally told that with was time for the prophesied freedom of Abraham's descendants from Egypt and that God had personally spoken to Aaron’s brother Moses. After Aaron told them Moses performed the miracles he was commanded to as a sign he was telling the truth:
Exodus 4:30-31
“…He also performed the signs before the people,…”
He turned his rod into a snake, turned his hand snowy white and also possibly turned water into blood.
After seeing the signs, they believed like God said they would:
Exodus 4:30-31
“…and they believed…”
Hearing and believing God was finally Going to keep his long-awaited promises to Abraham and Israel to finally now bring their freedom they praised God:
Exodus 4:31
“And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.”
After telling all the eiders of the tribes of Israel what was going to happen; Moses, Aaron and, all the elders of Israel then went to have a meeting with the new pharaoh to tell him what God commanded Moses to say: to let Israel go to worship their God for three days.
Exodus 5:1
“Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ”
But the pharaoh did not recognize this foreign God that was demanding to let his Hebrew slaves go and rejected his command:
Exodus 5:2
“Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.’ ”
So, Aaron rephrased that this God was their personal God, and had told them he wanted the pharaoh to let his people go to worship and sacrifice to their God for a couple of days:
Exodus 5:3
“Then they said, ‘The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.’ ”
But this pharaoh was not going to hear it! He didn’t care if their God wanted them to sacrifice or not: they were not going anywhere. But news seemed to have had quickly spread to a lot of Israelites that God was finally going to free them from Egypt using two chosen Levites, so many of them seemed to had stopped their daily work to see what Aaron was saying. The pharaoh did not like this at all, and commanded all the Israelite slaves to get back to work:
Exodus 5:4-5
“But the king of Egypt said, ‘Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!’ Then Pharaoh said, ‘Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.’ ”
So to keep the Israelites from listening anymore to Aaron or Moses and from getting ideas of leaving or beginning a rebellion he commanded his slave drivers to increases the difficulty of their work(in making bricks) to keep them from thinking about anything else than work:
Exodus 5:6-9
“That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: ‘You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.’ ”
So the Egyptian slave drivers and Israelite overseers told the Israelite slaves the bad news:
Exodus 5:10-11
“Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, ‘This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’’ ”
So the Israelite slaves panicked to find enough straw to make the same amount of bricks all around Egypt while they were being pressured by the slave drivers:
Exodus 5:12
“So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, ‘Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.’ ”
The Israelite slaves began to struggle to make the same amount of bricks over the past two days, so the slave drivers beat their overseers when their slaves fell behind:
Exodus 5:14
“And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, ‘Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?’ ”
The Israelite overseers could not stand these outrageous standards and cruel treatment anymore. So they went to question why the pharaoh required such outrageous demands:
Exodus 5:15
“Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: ‘Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.’ ”
Pharaoh, still angry at what he saw was a possible Israelite rebellion, told the Israelite overseers that they were a pathetic lazy people dreaming of sacrificing to their God instead of doing their work:
Exodus 5:17-18
“Pharaoh said, ‘Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.’ ”
The Israelite overseers were horrified at how pharaoh was treating them with these terrible demands:
Exodus 5:19
“The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, ‘You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.’ ”
However, when they got done talking to pharaoh, Moses and Aaron went to talk to the overseers, when the overseers saw the cause of all this, they cursed them and told them they had made their lives in danger:
Exodus 5:20-21
“When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, ‘May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.’ ”
Hearing this made Moses upset: What God commanded him to do seemed to have completely backfire on his people for the worst, Moses then questioned why God was punishing his people because he obeyed him:
Exodus 5:22-23
“Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.’ ”
But God assured Moses he was about to do just that: Since pharaoh had disobeyed God’s command to let his people go ,God was about to curse him and all Egyptians for the many years of tourchers, slavery, and abuse to his holy people:
Exodus 6:1
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.’ ”
God was about to take care of this big problem once and for all; the Israelites just had to hang in there for a little bit more. But for the time being, he told Moses to give them good news that all of this was about to be over:
Exodus 6:6-8
“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ ’ ”
So Moses told the Israelite slaves they were soon to be free. Sadly, they did not believe him because he caused this mess and were losing hope because of the hard work:
Exodus 6:9
“Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.”
So after Moses had given the message to Israel God then commanded to once again command pharaoh to let his people go:
Exodus 6:10-11
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.’”
But Moses at this point was discouraged too: If his humbled fellow Israelites did not believe him and his slurred speech then what chance did he have to talk to a prideful Egyptian king:
Exodus 6:12
“But Moses said to the Lord, ‘If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?’ ”
But God reminded him that was why he choose Aaron to talk for him:
Exodus 7:1-2
“ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.’ ”
But God reminded Moses that pharaoh would, once again, not listen and this would cause God’s ultimate curse on the Egyptians and result in Israel’s freedom:
Exodus 7:3-5
“ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
So Moses and Aaron when to speak to the pharaoh again but before they talked with him God said pharaoh would ask them for a confirming miracle this time and God commanded Aaron to perform it:
Exodus 7:6-9
“Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.’ ”
So Aaron told pharaoh that his God commanded pharaoh to let the Israelites go but this time pharaoh asked for a sign from their God, just like God said he would, so Moses told Aaron to throw his staff down:
Exodus 7:10
“…Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.”
So there was Pharaohs divine miracle: proof that they were not lying but their God was really speaking to them. But Pharaoh was not impressed because his own gods could perform the exact same miracle with his magicians: so he called them in to demonstrate:
Exodus 7:11-12
“Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake.”
So what did their God have to say about that? What made their God now so much better that all of Egypt’s gods? Well God showed him the difference between Egypt’s magic and God’s miracles: The Snake that came from Aaron’s staff ate all the other snakes that came from the Egyptians staffs:
Exodus 7:11-12
“…But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”
So God meet pharaoh’s challenge by dominating their magic with his: proving he was superior towards all their magic and god’s, but still pharaoh refused to believe the obvious like God said and refused to let Israel go.
Exodus 7:13
”Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.”
After this, God had enough of pharaoh’s refusal and this final refusal would officially start the curses on Egypt. So after their meeting God told Moses he was official ready to begin cursing Egypt tomorrow morning and instructed him on the specific curse and what to do:
Exodus 7:14-18
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.’ But until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: ‘By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ ‘ ‘ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.’ ”
So God tells Moses and Aaron to be ready for the beginning of the curses: the first one would be all the water turning into blood: this would kill many fish and animals in the Nile (a major food supply) and leave the Egyptian people without any fresh water to drink (they would dehydrate).
So the next morning Moses and Aaron found pharaoh on the bank of the Nile and told him about the punishment of his refusal to let Israel go and then Moses told Aaron to stretch his staff over the Nile:
Exodus 7:20-21
“He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.”
However the pharaoh asked his magicians if they could match the power of this Gods’ power. And they confirmed they could also turn water into blood:
Exodus 7:22
“But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts,…”
So pharaoh saw this as another attempt of the Hebrew’s God trying to compete with Egypt’s god’s magic he was no concerned after he saw his magicians could do it. So ,thought the river turned to blood, he paid it no mind and God no mind:
Exodus 7:22-23
“…and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.”
Meanwhile, his people were struggling to find fresh water to drink and were getting dehydrated. And had to dig underground to get freshwater:
Exodus 7:24
“And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.”
Eventually seven days had passed:
Exodus 7:25
“Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.”
The Egyptians had gotten used to their new situation on drinking water and got water from underground instead. Even though, the thought of their precious Nile being tainted probably brought great distress on many Egyptians because the Nile was considered holy and the life of all Egypt. But pharaoh ignored the problem and life seemed to go on as usual, then God then spoke to Moses again revealing he was nowhere done with cursing Egypt and pharaoh:
Exodus 8:1-5
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ ‘ ‘ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ‘ ”
So a second curse was coming: a plague of too many frogs. So Moses and Aaron went to have another meeting with pharaoh seven days later to tell him of the next curse that would be harder to ignore. So after warning him Aaron was told to use the holy staff again to activate the curse:
Exodus 8:6
“So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.”
So million, if not billions (or more), of frogs started coming out of the Nile until they covered almost every inch of Egypt! Now the Egyptians are a very clean people and frogs are not necessarily clean animals: so these frogs crawling everywhere and on them as well would make them feel very dirty, be very annoying, and even if a good bit of them were killed the dead bodies would decompose and stink and be even nastier and more living frogs would most likely come.
What a horrible plague for an Egyptian!
Though annoying for pharaoh, he wanted to make sure his gods could still match this God of the Hebrews and his magicians proved that they could by summoning frogs out of the Nile:
Exodus 8:7
“But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.”
Though Pharaoh was continent that the power of his gods was matched by the power of this God, it seems their power could not get rid of the unclean and annoying frogs: and unlike the curse on the Nile NOTHING COULD BE DONE AS NORMAL ANYMORE! This plague of frogs had to end! So it had seemed pharaoh was finally willing to come to an agreement with Moses’s and Aaron’s God:
Exodus 8:8
“Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ ”
So pharaoh was willing to finally compromise to God’s demand. So Moses was willing to talk to God to end the plague and for the end of the plague to be a sign that their God was the only true god:
Exodus 8:10-11
“Moses replied, ‘It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.’ ”
So after the meeting, Moses prayed for God to end the plague and God answered his prayer:
Exodus 8:12-14
“After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.”
It seems even though God would end the curse, the ending of the curse would be the greatest curse of all: because he got rid of the frogs by killing them where they were and the dead bodies begin to decompose and become even nastier and smellier than the living frogs!
But once pharaoh saw the curse had been broken, like God hinted to Moses, he changed his mind on letting Israel go:
Exodus 8:15
“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.”
After Pharaoh had lied to him on their deal, God was immediately ready for the next curse and this time told Moses to not even bother talking to pharaoh but to just activate the curse:
Exodus 8:16
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.’ ”
So the next curse was a plague of gnats: that the majority of sand in Egypt would miraculously turn into billions of billions (if not much more) of swarms of gnats and terrorize the nation. So, Moses commanded Aaron right there to take the holy staff and strike the sand:
Exodus 8:17-18
“…Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats…the gnats were on people and animals everywhere,…”
Far worse than the nasty frog plague: the billions of billions of gnats constantly flew into animals and people eyes, nose, food, and even water. There was so many that even the air was clouded in a great dark swarm: even killing some would cause no dent in the mass on Egypt. Even though it seems Moses and Aaron did not come and tell him his punishment; the pharaoh was sure that they had cursed Egypt again. He once again wanted to see if his gods could match the power of this God. However, this time the magicians could not make gnats:
Exodus 8:18
“But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.”
Pharaoh then saw another sign that this foreign God’s power was greater than the power of all the gods of Egypt. The magicians were so amazed that they could not magically make gnats that they were convinced this God was truly a powerful god:
Exodus 8:19
“…the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’”
But pharaoh would not be hearing none of it! No matter how much proof there was, he refused to believe the God of these slaves was greater than all his gods.
Exodus 8:19
“…But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.”
Though this time, it seemed pharaoh would not seek Moses and Aaron to break the curse.
After pharaoh’s refusal to even seek them, God told Moses to be ready the next morning this time to meet pharaoh once again to give him a chance to let them go: if he didn’t, to be ready for the next curse, but this curse would be a little more different: it would only effect Egyptians and not Israelites
Exodus 8:20-23
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies (insects) on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies[insects]; even the ground will be covered with them But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies [insects] will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land.I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’” ”
So apparently, for the past three curses, Israelites had been affected like Egyptians had by the curses. But this time no more curses would affect where the Israelite’s were in Goshen (Lower Egypt) these curses would only affect the people that deserved them: Egyptians, for abusing his holy people.
So, the next day, Moses when out and gave pharaoh a chance to obey, but he would not. So, Moses gave the next curse and said it would only affect Egyptians this time and it would occur the next day.
And the next day it happened; billions of billions (if no more) of flies [insects] went into Egyptian houses and the palace.
Exodus 8:24
“And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies[insects] poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials;…”
Now the word “fly” here could mean more than just actual flies. It could mean any flying insect or a mixed swarm of flying insects (which seems to be what it means). And there is a strong indication that at least some of these flying insects were mosquitoes and other biting flies.[1] This cause all sorts of problems from the dirtiness of actual flies on the Egyptians and their things to the constant thousands of insects biting them! Some of the biting insects seemed to be so bad that they actually killed some Egyptians from diseases passed by biting. Because of the many curses day by day it seems no Egyptians had been caring for the farms and Egypt was beginning to become a waste[1]
Exodus 8:24
“…throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies[Insects].”
The plague was so bad to pharaoh that he had to have relief, so he summoned Moses and Aaron and was willing to make a deal again: they could not leave, but they could sacrifice to their God in Egypt.
Exodus 8:25
“Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.’ ”
But having a festival to God here would not work around the native Egyptians: Because they would see their sacrifices to their God as horrible and would kill them all.
Exodus 8:26-27
“But Moses said, ‘That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us.’ ”
Exodus 8:28
“Pharaoh said, ‘I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.’ ”
Exodus 8:29
“Moses answered, ‘As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ ”
Exodus 8:30-31
“Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained.”
After the relief, pharaoh broke his promise to Moses again and refused to let Israel go.
Exodus 8:32
“But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.”
So as soon as pharaoh refused, God was ready for the next curse: and like before, pharaoh would be given a chance to let them go. If he didn’t, then a curse in the form of a horrible disease on their livestock would begin to kill them but once again no curse would come on Israelites:
Exodus 9:1-3
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’’’ “
If pharaoh refused the curse would be in effect the next day:
Exodus 9:5
“The Lord set a time and said, ‘Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.’”
So Moses and Aaron warned the pharaoh to let Israel go, but once again he refused. So the curse would be in effect the next day.
And the next day it happened:
Exodus 9:6
“And the next day the Lord did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.”
It’s unknown what disease caused the livestock to die, but it might have been connected to the previous plague of biting insects that could transmit disease that most likely bit the Egyptians cattle but not Israelite cattle. Whatever the cause MOST of Egypt’s farm animals were killed (not all of them were killed like the text says because in the next verses it reveals some livestock were still alive)
After seeing the horror of a lot of Egypt’s cattle dying, pharaoh was determined to see if any of their Israelite slaves’ cattle died. He found out none of their cattle in Goshen had been affected by the plague!
Exodus 9:7
“Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died.”
Despite the overwhelming proof that this was the work of their God fighting against Egypt for Israel, he still refused to believe and still refused to let Israel go.
Exodus 9:7
“…Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.”
As soon as pharaoh refused to accept the proof of the curse God was ready for the next curse, so he told Moses and Aaron the next curse would be a disease of festering boils on all Egyptians and their animals. This time pharaoh would not get a chance to let them free or even get a warning: All Moses had to do is throw some soot in the air in front of pharaoh to activate the curse:
Exodus 9:8-9
“Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.’ ”
So it seems right after the outbreak of disease, Moses and Aaron got some soot from a furnace and once again found pharaoh and threw the soot in the air: and it spread and turned to fine powder and it made festering boils on all Egyptians and their animals but once again not on any Israelite or their animals:
Exodus 9:10
“So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals.”
The failed Egyptian magicians finally came back to try once again to rival Moses power from his God but they could not because the festering boils were so horrible they could not do a ritual to recreate festering boils.
Exodus 9:11
“The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.”
But despite the horrible curse, pharaoh refused to make any deal with Moses and Aaron not even to lie to them to ask them for help.
Exodus 9:12
“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.”
So after pharaoh even refused to ask Moses and Aaron for help, God had enough, so he told Moses to give pharaoh another chance to let Israel go but it he didn’t then he was done with “easy” curses on Egyptians. If he still refused, he would bring on the full force of the final curses that would be very damaging to Egypt. He even wanted pharaoh to know the whole reason he was born, lived, and became pharaoh was all for this moment:
by being suborn and defying him, his servants and especially his people that God could curse him and all of Egypt to make an example to pharaoh, his nation, and all nations that he was the only true God:
Exodus 9:13-19
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.’’’”
So, the next day, Moses went to pharaoh and gave him another chance to let Israel go or face even worse curses than the past six that would completely destroy Egypt. And he also warned pharaoh that if he refused, tomorrow the curse would be a horrible hailstorm that would destroy everything outside and told him to warn his people to bring their animals and slaves inside tomorrow.
Now some of the officials near pharaoh, where Moses was talking, really took this warning seriously: they had seen curse after curse happen in 100% accuracy when Moses warned them, so they really believed him and went home immediately to get their animals and slaves inside: This foreign God of their slaves earned their fear and respect of some Egyptians, like God wanted.
Exodus 9:20
“Those officials of Pharaoh who feared[took seriously] the word[message] of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside.”
But other officials, like pharaoh, hated Moses and his God and refused to listen to them. So, despite the accuracy of all the curses they refused to listen to the warning and ignored it to their animals and slaves peril:
Exodus 9:21
“But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.”
So pharaoh, once again, refused to let Israel go so the curse would be in effect the next day. So the next day Moses was told to activate the curse but stretching his hand towards the sky over Egypt:
Exodus 9:22
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.’ ”
So Moses stretched the hand that had his staff towards the sky and suddenly thundercloud began coming and it began to thunder real bad and then massive hail stone began falling:
Exodus 9:23
“When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt;”
This storm was horrible: the worst hail-storm Egypt had ever had: Giant balls of hail (which are big balls of ice) fell everywhere and destroyed everything outside: the trees, crops, animals, and people. The only place in Egypt where there was no hail was in Lower Egypt: Goshen; where Israel was.
Exodus 9:24-26
“Hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.”
The hailstorm was destroying Egypt and causing much fear to those Egyptians not killed and inside a building. Egypt had to have an end to this; nothing could be done like normal in Egypt and the storm was continuing to cause destruction, especially to the crops:
Exodus 9:31-32
“The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.”
So pharaoh once again summoned Moses and Aaron to ask their God to end the curse: He was willing to apologize for lying and was willing to let them go this time:
Exodus 9:27-28
“Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. ‘This time I have sinned,’ he said to them. ‘The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.’ ”
Moses says he would ask God once again to end the Curse since pharaoh asked so nicely and to prove their God was the one true God, BUT he already knew pharaoh was lying and they would not be free:
Exodus 9:29-30
“Moses replied, ‘When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.’ ”
Exodus 9:33
“Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.”
Exodus 9:34-35
“When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again:… . So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.”
Exodus 10:1
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.’”
Exodus 10:2-6
“…[say to him]…‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’’ ” [2]
Exodus 10:3
“…So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh…”
So they told pharaoh the next plague if he still refused to let Israel go. By this time, Egypt was almost complexly destroyed and devastated from the plagues so far, and pharaoh’s officials had finally had it with Moses, Aaron, and their God, coming every day with a new devastating curse. So they begged pharaoh to give in to the demands of their God: because their nation was ruined (by curses)!
Exodus 10:7
“Pharaoh’s officials said to him, ‘How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?’ ”
Pharaoh decided to once again try to make a deal with Moses and his God:
Exodus 10:8
“Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. ‘Go, worship the Lord your God’ he said. ‘But tell me who will be going.’ ”
But with a question, how many of the Israelites would be going to worship God in the wilderness; just the men?
Moses confirmed ALL of Israel and their possessions and animals would be going to celebrate this festival!
Exodus 10:9
“Moses answered, ‘We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.’ ”
Pharaoh then knew that would be it: if he let ALL of Israel go they would never come back from this “festival” like Moses had said before. He knew Moses was lying to him; they weren’t just going for a couple of days in the desert to have a festival to their Hebrew God then come back to be slaves in Egypt:
Exodus 10:10-11
“Pharaoh said, ‘The Lord be with you (sarcastically)-if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. [Lying/tricking] No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for.’”
Pharaoh was then done negotiating and had then escorted away from him in anger:
Exodus 10:11
“Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.”
But Moses NEVER said just the men he said ALL ISREAL needed to go! And God wasn’t asking politely HE WAS DEMANDING WITH CURSES! So since pharaoh obviously refused to let Israel go, God told Moses to activate the next curse:
Exodus 10:12
“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devor everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.’ ”
So Moses obeyed and lifted his staff over Egypt: and something weird happened: there was no locus only a strong eastern wind constantly blowing:
Exodus 10:13
“So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night.”
Where were the locus? This was just a strong wind? But as the next day came the locus finally came on the constantly blowing eastern wind: God was bringing the locus from another location!
Exodus 10:13
“…By morning the wind had brought the locusts;…”
And when they landed, they caused massive havoc!
Exodus 10:14-15
“They invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.”
Pharaoh then witnessed the horror of this curse: all their food was being eaten before their very eyes! At this rate there would be no crop and food left in Egypt; they would all starve! Pharaoh had to put a stop to this so he called back Moses and Aaron immediately to give a truly heartfelt apology to Moses and their God for doing wrong so this horrible plague would be lifted:
Exodus 10:16-17
“Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.’ ”
Moses said nothing in response to Pharaoh’s apology but just left and then asked God to end the curse:
Exodus 10:18
“Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.”
So God changed the eastern wind that brought the locus to an opposite western wind that picked up the locus and led them to the red sea where they seemed to drown them, after that there was no locus in Egypt:
Exodus 10:19
“And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt.”
But once again, after pharaoh saw the locust had left and what very little Egypt had left of food and trees was safe Pharaoh changed his mind and refused to let Israel go:
Exodus 10:20
“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.”
So God told Moses to go ahead and activate the next curse without giving pharaoh a warning or chance to decide:
Exodus 10:21
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.’ ”
So the next curse would be total darkness: a dark so void of light that it could be “Felt” like it was a solid mass of black right in front of you.
So Moses obeyed and stretched his hands towards the sky over Egypt and total pitch black darkness surrounded all of Egypt from the sky downward.
Exodus 10:22
“…So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt…”
This darkness was so void of light that no one could see anyone’s face even in their own home! And since no one could see where they were going no one moved around too much in case they got lost or hurt by bumping into something or falling into something: This meant NOTHING could be done as normal in Egypt, even if Egypt was ruined.
Exodus 10:23
“…No one could see anyone else or move about…”
But in the far north of Egypt where the main bulk of Israelite slaves lived there was regular light and life continued as normal:
Exodus 10:23
“…Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.”
And this horrible darkness in Egypt lasted for THREE WHOLE DAYS!
Exodus 10:23
“…for three days.”
During these three days (most likely back in Goshen where the Israelite slaves were) God told Moses what to say when he meet pharaoh again; it was time for the final and most horrible curse of them all: the one curse God originally said to Moses that would finally change pharaoh’s mind:
Exodus 11:1-8
“ Now the Lord…said to Moses, ‘I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely…[ say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says:]… ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’‘’ ”[2]
So this was going to be the final curse that would finally change pharaoh’s stubborn mind: The DEATH of his own FIRSTBORN SON! As well as all other Egyptian’s firstborn sons (and even their own cattle’s and slave’s firstborn sons that were still alive!): As the firstborn son was considered the heir of all their parent’s possessions, it would be a horrible tragedy for the entire family for them to be killed! And if pharaoh’s first form as the future king of Egypt was killed he would have no heir to rule Egypt! God was letting Moses know the battle for Israel’s freedom and the revenge on Egypt for cursing Israel was almost won! There was only one more plague left to go!
But while Moses was waiting to be summoned to give the final warning of the last curse, he could do something in Goshen that God has also told Moses about before he came back:
Exodus 11:2
“…Tell the people [Israel] that men and women alike are to ask their [Egyptian] neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”
God was commanding Moses to tell all of Israel to get ready for their freedom from Egypt and telling them when they were leaving; to ask their Egyptian neighbors, slave drivers, or any Egyptian that they see for their Silver and Gold.
Because, through all the horrible curses on Egypt, God made the Egyptian people very afraid of the Israelites slaves: God had made them great to the Egyptians point of view and made them willing to give them anything they asked for!
This way, God would restore Israel’s fortune from what was reduced by their years of torture and slavery. And also God would rob the Egyptians of their wealth as a curse to bless oppressed Israel: so indirectly Israel would plunder Egypt!
So Moses, Aaron and (most likely Miriam) told all of Israel through the elders (most likely) their freedom was at hand and when they were leaving to ask their Egyptian oppressors for Silver and Gold and they would give it. The Israelites, most likely at this point, believed Moses and Aaron from all the plagues that had distracted the Egyptians from oppressing them and destroyed them.
After three days of this darkness, pharaoh had it with this curse and decided to find a way to summon Moses and Aaron to tell them they and their God had won: they could all go and worship at this festival, EXCEPT for one SMALL condition:
Exodus 10:24
“Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, ‘Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.’ ”
So this was the small condition all of Israel could go but not their cattle possessions, this would not do because they had to sacrifice at least one cattle in this “festival” so all of their cattle would go with them no one cattle possessed by an Israelite was to be left in Egypt:
Exodus 10:25-26
“But Moses said, ‘You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord.’ ”
At this remark, pharaoh could not take negotiating with this man and his God anymore: he was DONE negotiating! They were NOT leaving no matter what happened to Egypt NEXT: no curse was too great to make pharaoh set these slaves free! So he said he NEVER wanted to see Moses and Aaron again and threatened to kill them if they came back:
Exodus 10:27-28
“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.’ ”
Exodus 10:29
“ ’Just as you say,’ Moses replied. ‘I will never appear before you again.’ ”
But before he left, he had one last word from God to tell pharaoh about: the final curse of the death of his firstborn son then he and his God would leave him alone: When all his officials bowed before him as he and all his people left Egypt!
Exodus 11:8
“All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.”
Then Moses in rage left, because he was also tired of negotiating and dealing with pharaoh:
Exodus 11:8
“…Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.”
He then returned to Goshen and received further instruction on how the Israelites should prepare for the last curse:
Exodus 12:1-7
“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ‘…Tell the whole community of Israel…each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household…The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats… all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. [late evening today] Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.’ ”
After they put the lamb’s blood on their door they were to quickly eat it to be ready to go:
Exodus 12:8-11
“…That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste;…”
Because the curse of this night was very special as the very last one right before they left:
Exodus 12:
“…[This] is the Lord’s Passover.”
God himself was passing over Egypt to kill the first born! And he told Moses and Aaron why they were to put blood on their doors: so God would not curse an Israelite house but curse an Egyptian house (the target of the curse):
Exodus 12:12-13
“…I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on…Egypt….The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
This special day {the final curse: The Lord’s Passover] they were freed and this particular ritual was to become a festival to Israel forever honoring how God, through Moses and Aaron, freed Israel from Egypt:
Exodus 12:14
“ This is a day you are to remember; for the generations to come you will celebrate it as a festival to the Lord…”
Specifically how they were to have this special festival in the future (the first one in about a year from this time) was to have a longer festival around this special day called “the festival of unleavened bread” where God explains the future rules and regulation of this holiday in the year ahead to Moses and Aaron:
Exodus 12:15-17
“For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off [banished] from [the main community of] Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do. Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day… for the generations to come….”
So Moses and Aaron got to work: Israel was going to be set free! They summoned the elders in Goshen and told them to find a lamb or goat and prepare for the final curse to be free:
Exodus 12:21
“Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.’ ”
He also told them to celebrate Israel’s final freedom from the years of labor and genocide in Egypt this night; it would be remembered forever in the future as a festival:
Exodus 12:24-27
“Obey these instructions…for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'”
After the Israelite slaves heard that soon they were finally going to be set free from years of Egyptian slavery and genocide to finally go back to their promised ancestral homeland of their ancestor Israel and were always going to remember how God freed them from this horrible oppression they begin worshiping God:
Exodus 12:27
“…Then the people bowed down and worshiped.”
They finally believed Moses and Moses finally saw how God was going to free Israel.
After worshiping, The Israelites got to work on the instructions Moses told them before God came that night:
Exodus 12:28
“The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.”
So they killed the young Lambs/goats and put some blood on their door and stayed in for the night eating the lamb prepared to go the next morning and at midnight God finally came as the last curse and went over Egypt killing all oldest sons in the Egyptian households and cattle belonging to those households that did not have the mark of blood on their house: God killed a lot of male Egyptians, Egyptian slaves, and Egyptian cattle this night:
Exodus 12:29
“At midnight the Lord struck down [Killed] all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”
When this happened at midnight, The Egyptians were started from their sleep for some reason and got up to find their oldest son was dead!
They were horrified and begin to cry hysterically in grief and horror Pharaoh found out that his own heir to the throne was killed: He had no heir to rule Egypt after he died in the future!
Exodus 12:30
“Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.”
Pharaoh and his officials realized this was the work of Moses and his God: they had it with these Israelites! At this rate they would all die! So pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron around midnight and told them to get out of Egypt!
Exodus 12:31-32
“During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go…’ ”
Finally it worked! They were free to leave just like God said! The Egyptians slave driver and other Egyptians urged all the Israelite slaves to leave and get their stuff, fortunately they were prepared and got up to leave:
Exodus 12:33-34
“The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. ‘For otherwise,’ they said, ‘we will all die!’ So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders…”
While they were being run out, Moses remembered the promise their ancestors made to Joseph over 400 years ago: when God came to save them from Egypt like foretold to Abraham to not forget to take his grave with them back to Canaan, so Moses and Aaron got his grave while they left:
Exodus 13:19
“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said,
(Genesis 50:25)
‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.’ ”
But the rest of the Israelites were not leaving without some Egyptian treasures: so they did like Moses told them and asked for some Gold and Silver before they left, and the Egyptians gladly gave it to them!
Exodus 12:35-36
“ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing…and they gave them what they asked for;…”
In this way, God gave a lot of Egypt’s fine wealth to Israel and Israel robbed Egypt blind as another curse:
Exodus 12:36
“…so they plundered the Egyptians.”
So the Egyptians were not only left with a massive slave need, but also their country was mostly destroyed. Most of their crops and cattle mostly destroyed, many buildings were probably damaged, and much of their population was gone ,as well as, their clothes and jewelry. it would take many many decades (if not centuries) for Egypt to go back to normal at this point: it was as if a mighty war had been wagged on Egypt and Egypt lost! God was finally done cursing Egypt for cursing his people! And this massive group of people and animals left Egypt and their long beloved homeland Goshen for the wilderness toward their old ancestral homeland without looking back:
Exodus 12:37
“The Israelites journeyed from Rameses [Goshen] to Sukkoth [an area right outside of Goshen Egypt entering the desert wilderness]."
And they sat down to have a small meal to celebrate their freedom!
Exodus 12:39
“With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread.”
However they had officially been in Egypt for 430 years since Israel and his sons went to live in Egypt with Joseph during the massive famine.
Exodus 12:40
“Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years.”
But on that night God freed his people through Moses and was going to bring them back to their rightful home
from then on, this night would be a sacred night that Israelites in generations to come would stay awake and honor:
Exodus 12:42
“Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.”
However, that night God told Moses since the greatest and last curse had to do with killing or sparing the sacred firstborn son; he would also require his own people to dedicate their own firstborn sons and their own cattle’s firstborn son to God to remember the ultimate and final curse that freed them:
Exodus 13:1-2
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.’ ”
So during their rest, Moses told them to honor this day as a festival forever:
Exodus 13:3-5
“Then Moses said to the people, ‘Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. Today, in the month…you are leaving. When the Lord brings you into…the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month…’ ”
He also told them about the new command to remember this event: give your firstborn son up to God as a permanent reminder of how the special last curse of killing the Egyptian firstborn and sparing the Israelite firstborn:
Exodus 13:11-16
“After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord….Redeem every firstborn among your sons.…when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ … it will be… a sign….that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
After that night of freedom, God then began to manifest in the form of a tall wall of cloud in front of the group to lead the way to Canaan: this cloud most likely gave shade for the large group during the day from the harsh desert sun but at night this cloud turned into a wall of glowing fire so the group could see and travel at night and the day:
Exodus 13:21-22
“…By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
So God, in the form of this cloud, lead them through the long desert road through the wilderness towards the red sea:
Exodus 13:17-18
“…God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.”
After a couple of days of travel, they got close to the red sea:
Exodus 13:20
“After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham [A place near the red sea] on the edge of the desert.”
When they got there, God then commands Moses that he wants the Israelites to go straight to a beach on a specific part of the Red Sea:
Exodus 14:1-2
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to…[go to]…Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea,…’”
This, of course, made no sense; because the sea and desert would have them trapped there: how would they get to Canaan from there?
God immediately tells him why he is commanding this strange location to go to: It’s a trap for Pharaoh! Despite almost the whole county being destroyed Pharaoh deep down still wanted them back in Egypt as slaves: and God reveals that he’s trying to make the group look lost so pharaoh will be tempted to chase them down and capture them in a last desperate attempt to try to keep them in Egypt.
Exodus 14:3-4
“Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed [trapped] in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them.”
No matter what God did, this pharaoh and many of the ruling Egyptians were never going to let them go unless they were killed! But this is what God was planning; He was making a trap to perform a miracle to finally kill these Egyptians, free his people, and the Egyptians would finally fear him for good:
Exodus 14:4
“But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
This was a great plan! So Moses told the group to head for this specific beach so they obeyed and went:
Exodus 14:4
“…So the Israelites did this.”
So while the camp headed towards the beach, a spy reported back to the pharaoh and told them their former slaves acted like they were lost and were going to a beach where they would be trapped. When they thought they were all lost and confused they immediately regretted letting them go:
Exodus 14:5
“When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, ‘What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!’ “
Exodus 14:6-7
“So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.”
So on horsepower it didn’t take this massive army too long to reach the Israelites who had settled on the beach:
Exodus 14: 9
“…all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea…”
When they were coming up close to where the Israelites were, the camp saw the chariots in the distance and realized it was the Egyptians coming back for revenge: They were horrified and though they were all going to be killed!
Exodus 14:10
“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.”
How their celebrating quickly turned to terror and fear, and how their trust in God and Moses to being free from Egyptian oppression turned to regret and anger when they saw they were about to pay they blamed Moses and Aaron for bringing them out here to be killed:
Exodus 14:11-12
“They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’ ”
Because they were overwhelmed with the fear of being killed by the Egyptian army and were trapped, they completely forgot that Moses was sent from God, and this was God’s idea not Moses’s ! But Moses assured them this was all apart of the plan of God: The Egyptians that had enslaved them, tortured them and were now terrorizing them would never terrorize them again, God was about to take care of them:
Exodus 14:13-14
“Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ ”
However Moses did not know how God would kill all these Egyptians: but just then God spoke to Moses in response to all the Israelites crying to him about their situation and told him what to do: raise your hand with your staff over the red sea so the water would divide until the sea bed was exposed: forming a dry path to reach the other side (which was the Arabian peninsula): This is how God was going to trap these Egyptians: by tricking them into going in the middle of this sea: Something was going to kill them once they went into this sea!
Exodus 14:15-18
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army…The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.’ ”
So, Moses obeyed God and intermediately raised his hand and staff and a very strong wind forced the water to divide exposing dry sea bed: a path in the middle of the red sea was made just for Israel to escape from these Egyptians and a path for these Egyptians to be lead into their doom:
Exodus 14:21
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and…the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,…”
At that moment God as the pillar of fire immediate went from the font of the group to the back to be a guard between Israel and this Egyptian army. But when God went to the back the half of the fire pillar facing the Egyptians turned into a normal cloud so they could not easily see the Israelites while they escaped through the red sea:
Exodus 14:19-20
“...The pillar of cloud…moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.”
So, the Israelites made their escape through the red sea at night:
Exodus 14:21-22
“… all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land…and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”
Once all the Israelites and their animals made I though the path safely on the other side God then let all the Egyptian army follow Israel into the red sea: they had fell into God’s trap and were doomed God himself would fight them face to face:
Exodus 14:23-24
“The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch (Part) of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army…”
When he looked down he cursed them with massive confusion but sabotaging their chariots and jamming their wheels: they then finally realized their God was fighting for them and tried to escape from their God but it was too late they were trapped!
Exodus 14:24-25
“…the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’ ”
God then told Moses to once again raise his hand with his staff over the exposed path the Egyptians were now trapped in so the water would return to normal: downing the entire Egyptian army in the red sea with it! This would ensure that no more Egyptians would ever again mess with his people, because the Egyptians who wanted the Israelites back were all going to die!
Exodus 14:26
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.’ ”
So Moses obeyed and when he lifted his hand with his staff in it the wind stopped blowing and this caused the walls of water to fall on the entire Egyptian army early in the morning. so the wall of water would fall on them: and they all were pushed to the sea floor and drowned: no one of the Egyptian army that followed them lived!
Exodus 14:27-28
“Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place…The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen… Not one of them survived.”
So God through Moses and Aaron finally did it: Israel was now finally free from Egyptian slavery and Egypt would never again try to come back and enslave them:
Exodus 14:30
“That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians,…”
When the Israelites saw some dead Egyptian soldiers wash up on the shore, they knew God had truly freed them an put their trust in Moses and Aaron:
Exodus 14:30-31
“...Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore…the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”
All of Israel was in awe of what God did to save them: After all the curses and miracles they were finally free! So the freed Israelites spent the entire morning praising and worshiping God for freeing them:
Exodus 15:1-2
“Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: ‘I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.’”
So, after 450 years in Egypt Israel was finally a free nation free to return to their ancestral promise land like he promised to do through Moses. So, after 430 years in Egypt, Israel was finally a free nation free to return to their ancestral promise land like he promised to do through Moses. However before returning to Canaan, God was going to lead them to Mt. Horeb where he promised to Moses that all of Israel would come and worship him. But along the way he had some very special plans for Israel that he was going to reveal to them before they officially returned to Canaan.
Sources:
[1]
[A] Biblehub Exodus 8:21 interlinear Hebrew
Website
https://biblehub.com/text/exodus/8-21.htm
[B] Strong’s Hebrew—6157 עָרֹב arob (aw-robe')-- probably a swarm from Biblehub
Website:
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6157.htm
[C] Psalm 78:45
“He sent swarms of flies that devoured them…”
[D] “…for there arose out of the bodies of the Egyptians an innumerable quantity of lice, by which, wicked as they were, they miserably perished, as not able to destroy this sort of vermin either with washes or with ointments…by whose means the men perished themselves, and the land was destitute of husbandmen for its cultivation;…”
From “Antiquity of the Jews” Book 2 Chapter 14 section 3 by Josephus
Website:
https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-2.htm
[2]
Note: God in the original texts did NOT say these exact words in this passage like the coloring would suggest: Aaron/Moses (a human) did, talking to pharaoh. BUT from evidence from all the other former passages God most likely did TELL THEM to say EXACLY THIS like all the other commanded warnings of curses before they actually repeated it to pharaoh. So, the author (me) took some biblically inspired liberties of this text to keep with the story here and make it like God would have said it, even though the text was never said directly by God.