Message 19
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In Exo. 9:13-35; 10:1-29 we come to the third group of plagues. Like the first two groups, this group also is composed of three plagues. We have seen that God used the first six plagues to expose the actual condition of the water, the earth, and the air, all of which are necessary for man’s livelihood. As we shall now see, in the third group of plagues God altered some of the principles that govern the functions of the universe.
In Genesis 1 and 2 God restored the universe which had been judged because of Satan’s rebellion. As a result of God’s judgment, darkness was upon the surface of the deep (Gen. 1:2). Everything had become void and desolate. In His work of restoration and further creation, God caused the light to appear, and then He gathered the waters together so that the dry land could come forth. On this land various kinds of life — grass, herbs, and trees — came into being. Then God created the sun, the moon, and the stars, which are necessary for the development of higher life on earth. Through this procedure, God prepared everything necessary for man’s living on earth. Therefore, the Bible reveals that the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man with his human spirit is for God.
Because the heavens are for the earth, they provide sunshine, wind, and rain to sustain life on earth. Without these three things, nothing can grow. Man must have such a provision if he is to live on earth for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Genesis 2:5 indicates that in order for things to grow, there is the need of two things: rain to water the earth and a man to till the ground. Rain is a basic factor in the growth of living things on earth. Rain is primarily for life, to enable living things to grow. The function of rain is both to cause plants and trees to grow and to quench the thirst of man.
During the ninth conflict between the Lord and Pharaoh, the Lord changed the function of the rain (Exo. 9:13-35). Instead of water, there was hail that damaged the produce of the earth. In this plague God changed one of the functions of the universe; that is, He changed one of the natural principles governing the universe.
The universe was not only created by God, but also arranged and ordained by Him to meet the need of man. Therefore, God has ordained certain principles or laws to govern the function of the universe. In the seventh plague God changed the principle related to the functions of rain. The rain no longer watered the earth for the production of life, but became hail to damage the life on earth. Instead of quenching people’s thirst, it killed them. Exodus 9:23 says that as the hail was coming down, fire ran along above the ground. Furthermore, the fire was even mingled with the hail (v. 24). Hence, two extremes were mingled together as an indication that God had changed the function of the universe.
It is possible to apply this plague to our own spiritual experience. If our relationship with God is proper, He sends the spiritual rain upon us to water the garden in our spirit and to quench our thirst. But if we are stubborn or rebellious against the Lord, our relationship with Him is destroyed, and He alters the spiritual function of the rain by sending hail upon our spirit and fire with the hail. This change of spiritual function causes severe damage.
In the eighth plague, which took place during the tenth conflict (Exo. 10:1-20), we see a change in another function of the universe. This time God changed the function of the wind. When the wind functions normally, it sends a supply of fresh air. If there were no wind at all, we all would suffocate. We thank the Lord for the function of wind to sustain our life on earth. Spiritually speaking, the Lord is also the wind to us. The line of a hymn says, “I cannot breathe enough of Thee, O gentle breeze of love” (Hymns, #172). For a proper spiritual life, we need to experience Christ as a gentle breeze.
In the eighth plague God altered the function of the wind so that it no longer supplied fresh air to support life, but caused locusts to appear which devoured what remained from the plague of the hail. The hail destroyed herbs and trees in a rough way, but the locusts did a finer work to devour the plant life. As 10:15 says, the locusts “covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.” What a thorough work was done by the locusts! In judging the Egyptians and in educating both them and the children of Israel, God did a fine, detailed work. After the hail, the locusts came to consume the life supply. This was caused by a change in one of the functions of the universe.
After the first eight plagues, it seems that there was no need for further judgment or education. Look how much damage had been done to the land of Egypt. The water had become blood, the dust had become lice, the water had brought forth frogs, flies had polluted the air, pestilence had destroyed the cattle, boils had broken forth upon man and beast, the rain had been changed into hail, and the wind had brought in locusts. What thorough destruction! If I had been there, I would have told the Lord that these plagues were sufficient, for everything had been destroyed.
God, however, was not finished. In the ninth plague He went on to change the function of the sun (Exo. 10:21-29). In the eleventh conflict between the Lord and Pharaoh, “there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days” (10:22). This darkness was so thick that it could be felt. It was not a vague, abstract darkness, but a solid, substantial darkness. Exodus 10:23 says of the Egyptians, “They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days.” Because of this thick darkness, all movement in Egypt ceased. For a period of three days, everything was terminated. Here we see God’s wisdom. In order to deal with the Egyptians, He did not use weapons that men regard as powerful. Instead, He used things such as frogs, lice, and flies. Exercising His control over the universe to change the principles and the natural laws, He sent upon the Egyptians a darkness so thick that it was impossible for anyone to move.
The third group of plagues was even more meaningful than the first two groups because in these plagues God dealt with the rain, the wind, and the sunshine. This made it impossible for the Egyptians to live. No wonder that Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve Jehovah their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” (10:7, Heb.). Nevertheless, Pharaoh remained stubborn.
Pharaoh possessed an unusual ability to stand against God. He could endure all manner of suffering without being subdued. If I had been Pharaoh, I would have given in to the Lord’s demand at the time of the first plague. As soon as I saw the water turn into blood, I would have told the children of Israel to get out of my territory. But although the land of Egypt was smitten with plague after plague, Pharaoh remained stubborn, even when the functions of the universe related to Egypt were changed.
A number of times Pharaoh bargained with Moses and Aaron. In 10:8 Pharaoh said to them, “Go, serve Jehovah your God: but who are they that shall go?” (Heb.). Recognizing Pharaoh’s strategy, Moses replied, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto Jehovah” (v. 9, Heb.). When Pharaoh heard this, he told them that evil was before them, meaning that the young ones were in danger of being accidently hurt or killed. Then Pharaoh required that the little ones remain with him and that the men go out to serve the Lord. Here we see Pharaoh’s subtlety. All parents know that it is extremely difficult for them to leave their children behind, because their heart is set on their children. Pharaoh realized this. Wanting to keep the little ones, he tried to bargain with Moses and Aaron. But they did not agree to Pharaoh’s request. Instead, Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the eighth plague, the plague of the locusts, came upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
During the plague of the thick darkness, Pharaoh again bargained with Moses and Aaron. This time he said, “Go ye, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds remain: let your little ones also go with you” (10:24, Heb.). Although he had been so grievously smitten by God, Pharaoh still would not hearken to His demand. Instead, he continued to bargain. To this bargain Moses responded, “Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto Jehovah our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind” (10:25-26, Heb.).
According to 9:15 and 16, the Lord said to Pharaoh, “For if I had stretched out my hand, that I had smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, thou shouldest have been cut off from the earth. But for this cause I made thee stand, in order to show thee my power; and in order to declare my name throughout all the earth” (Heb.). Verse 16 indicates that it was God who made Pharaoh stand. In a sense, God supported him. God needed such a stubborn one to stand firmly. In himself, Pharaoh could not stand in this way; hence, God made him stand. In order to show His power and to declare His name throughout the earth, the Lord needed the stubborn Pharaoh.
We have pointed out that the plagues which came upon Egypt were not only for judgment, but also for the education of the Egyptians and the children of Israel. If we did not have the first fourteen chapters of Exodus, I do not believe we could know the world thoroughly or clearly see God’s attitude toward the world. Pharaoh was unique in that he was not subdued. He was not even subdued when the firstborn were slain. This is proved by the fact that he later pursued the children of Israel. God used Pharaoh to educate the Egyptians, the children of Israel, and His people throughout the generations. The church people today need to learn from these chapters in Exodus the nature, significance, and result of the life of the world and God’s attitude toward such a life. Only by receiving such a revelation can we truly hate the worldly life.
Many Christians today hate sin, but not very many hate the world. Nevertheless, James 4:4 says, “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” We may be very careful about losing our temper, but we may be extremely careless in guarding our hearts from loving the world. To lose our temper is sinful, but to love the world is to be an enemy of God. To God, worldliness is worse than sinfulness. Sinfulness is against God’s righteousness, whereas worldliness is against God’s holiness, which is higher than His righteousness. How we need the education afforded us by the book of Exodus! It is through the early chapters in this book that we come to see how God hates worldliness. If we have been educated by these chapters, we shall hate not only sin but worldliness also.
Some modernistic teachers have argued that God was not righteous in interfering with the situation in Pharaoh’s territory. According to their teaching, Pharaoh was not wrong in exercising his authority within his own jurisdiction. They failed to see that God used Pharaoh to educate His chosen people. For the fulfillment of His own purpose, God made Pharaoh to stand. God needed him and used him to teach His people many lessons.
I appreciate the plagues for the lessons they have taught me, especially concerning the world. I have been a Christian for more than fifty years, but I have never known the world in such a thorough way as I know it now through my most recent study of these chapters regarding the ten plagues. These plagues have taught me a number of lessons about the nature, significance, and consequence of a worldly life.
If we have seen the blood, the frogs, the lice, the pestilence, the boils, the hail, the locusts, and the darkness, we shall not need anyone to exhort us not to love the world. Spontaneously we shall see that the things of the world are not lovable, and we shall automatically stop loving the world. Do you love things such as frogs, lice, flies, pestilence, locusts, and darkness? Certainly not! However, you may love them unknowingly because you do not see them for what they really are. For example, you may think that the blood is water or that the lice are dust. Only when you see into the true nature of the things of the world will you stop loving them.
We thank the Lord for Pharaoh and his stubbornness. In Romans 9 Paul presents the case of Pharaoh as an example. Because Pharaoh would not be subdued, God sent one plague after another upon the Egyptians. In each plague there is a lesson for us. If we are deeply impressed with the significance of the plagues, we shall become detached from the world and come to hate the life of the world.
In the first plague there was blood, and in the ninth, darkness. Both blood and darkness signify death. Hence, the plagues went from death to death. The life of the world is altogether a matter of death. But according to Genesis 1 and 2, God’s ordination in His creation is from life to life. Because fallen man loves the world, God through the plagues exposed that the world is not from life to life, but from blood to darkness, from death to death. Between the blood and the darkness are the frogs, the lice, the flies, the pestilence, the boils, the hail, and the locusts. In the seventh, eighth, and ninth plagues, the functions of the universe related to Egypt were changed to indicate that the very atmosphere over Egypt was no longer suitable for human life. Instead, it issued only in death.
We have pointed out that Egypt is a type of the world. If we have a detailed vision of the world, we shall know God’s attitude toward it, and we shall spontaneously cease to love it. If we would be God’s dwelling place on earth, we must know the world in a thorough way, and the element of the world must be purged out of our being. Only through being separated from the world can we become God’s dwelling place. In God’s redemption we are not only saved from sin and from God’s judgment, but also separated from the world. According to Galatians 1:4, Christ gave Himself for our sins in order to deliver us from this present evil age. Full redemption thus includes both the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea. After the children of Israel had been redeemed out of Egypt, God brought them to Mount Horeb, where they received the revelation concerning God’s dwelling place. The book of Exodus, therefore, gives us a clear view both of the world and of God’s dwelling place.
I am burdened especially for the young people. They have a promising future ahead of them. However, they still need to realize that everything related to the life of the world goes from death to death, with various plagues in between. If we love the world, every function in our universe will be changed, and all the resources of life will be destroyed. This is God’s judgment on the world as unfolded in the book of Exodus.
