Narration: The conflict in Egypt against the Hebrews 5
Series: My trips back
By Ruben Vernal
The three returned to the house where they were staying with his brother Moses and I cooked for them, to which Aaron was grateful for my prompt attention to their needs always behaving with caution and respect for both. Moses entered a room used for meditation and prayer, and closed the door to prevent any external interference. Aaron whispered that he was waiting for God's direction for the next day of confrontation: And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, behold, he comes to the river, and you get to the bank before him, and take in your hand the rod which was turned to a serpent, 16 and say to the LORD God of the Hebrews me sent unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. 17 Thus saith the LORD, In this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that I have in my hand the water that is in the river, and will become blood. 18 And the fish in the river shall die, and the river shall stink, and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river. 19 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, to become blood, and there is blood all over the region of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in stone. 20 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded and he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the presence of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 And the fish that was in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink it. And there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not, as the LORD had said.
3 And Pharaoh turned and went home, and did not care for it either. 24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for drinking, they could not drink of the waters of the river.
25 And seven days were fulfilled after that Jehovah had smitten the river.
During those days of waiting that God had commanded Moses decided to go see what was happening in the city as a result of this plague. But the night before we were to visit the city, after dinner I ask this question to Aaron: Now, this pests Elohim (God's name more familiar to him) brought to Egypt is a battle of God against idolatry Egyptian?
Yes it is so, replied. It is a battle against the belief in gods, for God meant to remove the superstition of hearts sunk in idolatry aberration. But in fact there is not a war against the gods, for they only exist in fantasy and desire of their worshipers. In other words, pests can also be considered as a struggle against the erroneous beliefs of the followers of the Egyptian deities, though in reality there is no such battle against the gods because they do not exist.
Another purpose is to eradicate pagan beliefs of the Jewish people's minds or Gentile. If for this reason God has to destroy public and some outright false Egyptian deity, that is what is to be done. .
For example to convert the river-god Nile in a bloody mess, or to make a plea deified the firstborn of hardship and despair, it is putting things in place: the river is a stream, the firstborn are people.
Actually each plague that God has ordered several purposes, the most prominent is to break the stubborn and rebellious spirit of Pharaoh and his followers. If will be more pest attack, every new plague, a new paradigm will Pharaonic fall hegemony.
This process would be allowing the release of the Israelites from slavery ominous, both physical and spiritual. When we went to walk around the city of Pi Ramses, as Moses and Aaron were always ahead I was always behind them at a distance as I was both servant leaders.
Everything was wrong, since the
appearance of the red Nile across town made him look so bad that people would
rather stay home, so practically the city entered a general inactivity. What
happened was that the confrontation between Moses and Ramses created great
excitement in the town.
This expectation had two competing interests, and that the Hebrews craved his freedom, while the Egyptians wanted to retain them to continue working for them.
But both groups at least for now equally concerned them the consequences of pests.
I return home alone because Moses and Aaron held a series of meetings with Jewish leaders in the city. And when past the seven days of this plague: 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold I will punish all thy borders with frogs. 3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, in the room where you sleep, and upon thy bed, and into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 And the frogs shall come upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, streams and ponds, to do up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh Deign tell me when I pray for you, for your servants and your people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only.
10 And he said, Tomorrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word, that you may know that there is like the Lord our God. 11 And the frogs shall depart from you, and your houses and your servants and your people, and remain in the river only. 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried unto the LORD concerning the frogs which Pharaoh had commanded.
13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages and fields. 14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen, as the Lord had said.
Moses and Aaron left the palace very upset by the arrogance and mockery of Ramses, but they were determined to continue the fight, they knew that his heart was hardened by God. When we got home I turned to ask Aaron to please explain to me this incredible event that my eyes had seen. The dear friend told me, what is happening now is not complex. What happens is that one of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians is Heket whose image is a frog or a woman with the head of a frog. Heket is the goddess of childbirth, midwives and birth insurance (frogs, in moderate numbers, are seen as signs of life, renewal and happiness). After the glut of them, after the stench of the large piles of dead frogs, it seems that the goddess Heket would have lost all credibility. Furthermore, Hapy, including crocodiles gods and goddesses of the frogs. And the primordial gods, Kek and Heh are each represented as a man with the head of a frog. This pest, although imitated by the magicians, caused Pharaoh to surrender. But his stubbornness prevail then changed his mind.
Today if one of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians is Heket whose image was a frog or a woman with the head of a frog. Heket was the goddess of childbirth, midwives and birth insurance (frogs, in moderate numbers, were seen as signs of life, renewal and happiness). After the glut of them, after the stench of the large piles of dead frogs, it seems that the goddess Heket would have lost all credibility. Moreover, the court of Hapy, including crocodile gods and goddesses of the frogs. And the primordial gods, and Heh Kek were each represented as a man with the head of a frog. This pest, although imitated by the magicians, caused Pharaoh to surrender. But his stubbornness prevails then changed his mind.
The next day, again Moses received instructions from God: the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17 And they did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast, all the dust of the land became lice throughout the land of Egypt.
18 And the magicians did so to bring forth lice with their enchantments but could not. And there were lice in both men and beasts. 19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he hearkened not, as the LORD had said. I looked at Aaron, and without asking anything I said even the Egyptians considered sacred dust of the land, and see it become lice should be a tremendous blow to their idolatry. Besides, no one can approach the altars Egyptians if they have lice. Priests wear linen garments and shaved his head and plucked her body every day to avoid insects. So as long as this plague anyone can worship their idols. The silver lining of this new failure is that sorcerers are already showing their weaknesses and recognize that behind these wonders, is the God of Israel. The downside is that Ramses is very stubborn, so you have to keep attacking
Then spent several days in the whole city was crowded with lice attacking people, until again 20 Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, he comes out to the river, and say the Lord has says: 'Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 For if you keep my people go, behold, I will send on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses all sorts of flies, and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22 And that day I will take away the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will put a division between my people and yours. Morrow shall this sign.
24 And the LORD did so, and came grievous swarms of flies upon the house of Pharaoh, on his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted because of them. 25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your Lord on earth. 26 And Moses said, it is not that we do so because we would offer to the Lord our God, the abomination of the Egyptians. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before them, not stone us?
27 will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28 Pharaoh said, I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, provided they do not go far, pray for me. 29 And Moses said, Behold, to me out of your presence, pray to the Lord that the various kinds of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and his people tomorrow, so let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more, leaving go to town to make a sacrifice to Jehovah. 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD. 31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people, there remained not one. 32 More Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also; neither would he let the people go. Again we disappointed pharaoh behavior which knew what it was. The dinner was very appropriate for me because Aaron was kind enough to tell me about what happened with this pest: These flies "are not 'fly' as we are used to or maybe not only flies such as Egypt do but different kinds of flies. flying insects eg buzzers (as confirmed by reading (Psalm 78:45) the gadfly, the cockroach, the Egyptian scarab, The Adoration of the flies, particularly beetle [in the form of beetle Kheper god, was a prominent part of the religion of the ancient Egyptians and additionally, as flies crawled over them advancing, flew into his eyes, covered their food and buzzed incessantly around them, adding more pain to their misery.
And I say: Where was the supreme Amun helper of the pious and god of the winds, to blow away the plague? Where was the guardian goddess and protector god Mafdet Be?
Finally the "divine" Pharaoh and began to haggle, allowing the Israelites to sacrifice to God in Goshen. But Moses said this would be an abomination to the Egyptians because they consider something detestable sacrifice sheep (vi Genesis 43:32, 46:34) and also now to increase their hatred of Israel, they would be stoned.
And so, still flies buzzing around them, Pharaoh let us agree that we travel a short way in the desert for our sacrifices. But again, this ruling does not change our way of thinking. Flies were held in reverence in Egypt, but were his torture. Only God could bring such a cloak of flies that covered the whole earth, and make some houses and places were delivered from them. This has brought some relief to our people who do not love this plague, and some hope of release
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou refuse to let go, and stop still, 3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep, with the greatest curses. 4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the Egyptians, so that nothing die of all that is the children of Israel.
5 And the LORD set time, saying, Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land. 6 The next day the LORD did that and killed all the cattle of Egypt but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened; neither would he let the people go.
Wine Aaron's explanation of what was happening, and he said Abdon, now the Lord has changed its strategy regarding the effect of pests, so the first three plagues have been experienced by everyone, including the Israelites. But what will come later depend on Ramses. Now God only affect the Egyptians to show their power.
Aaron added saying: As in most pagan societies, the horse had a strong relationship with the deities in Egypt. Apis, the bull god, is the living embodiment of the creator god Ptah. The creator gods Atum and Re, united in a single deity, are represented by the black bull of Heliopolis Mnevis. Nut and Neith are represented as the great celestial cow that gave birth to the cosmos and other deities. Mehet-Weret, another goddess associated with the creation, is represented as a cow. Mother goddesses Hathor and Nekbet are also represented in the shape of a cow, Hesat, the goddess of childbirth, is represented as a cow. And the adoptive mother of Horus, the cow goddess Seketh-Hor, is still invoked as a protector of cattle - a prayer now worthless in the face of the true power of God. You should also note that the Egyptians had some sheep, but apparently not for food or sacrifice rams And the gods figure prominently in the Egyptian pantheon - Ba, Banebdejedet, Heryshaf primitive, and the Nile god Khnum. Even the supreme god Amun is symbolized by a ram with horns so that the death of livestock including horses is a severe blow to the economy and military strength of Egypt. Again, God protected the Israelites, as Pharaoh discovers. But still refuses to let God's people go.
After a short time only days on which all damage found Ramses, Moses consulted God again: 8 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight Pharaoh; 9 and will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and rash with sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.
10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; were rash and ulcers occurred in both men and beasts. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not, as the LORD had said to Moses.
When we returned home after they met on the orders of Lord Aaron told me the following: There are several altars in Egypt where he occasionally offered human sacrifices to appease what they called the evil principle. After victims are slaughtered alive, his ashes were thrown into the air by the officiating priest to be removed from the ocean where they fell. God commanded Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of ashes, to scatter to the air, and instead of coming blessing, as the idolatrous people expected, came a great curse. Rashes and tumors sprouted body of people and animals. Again, the false gods of Egypt were not helpful, including Sakhmet, a goddess guardian against disease (in addition to its role as goddess of war), Imhotep, the god of medicine, and Isis, the goddess of life and health. Pharaoh's magicians are now too distressed to be present.
The Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, that they may serve me.
14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For now I will stretch out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you will be taken from the earth. 16 And the truth I have made to show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
17 As yet exactest thou thtself against my people, not let them go?
18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will send rain a very grievous hail, such as there was in Egypt since the day it was founded until now. 19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all you have in the field, for every man and beast that is in the field, and not be brought home, the hail will fall on him, and die. 20 And the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord drove away his servants and his cattle home, 21 more that did not put in his heart the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.
22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.
23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the earth: and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so great has not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the country. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28 Pray to the Lord to stop God's thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29 And Moses said unto him sooner I get out of the city, spread abroad my hands unto the LORD, and the thunder shall cease, and there will be no more hail, so you know that the earth is the Lord's. 30 But I know that neither you nor your servants yet fear the LORD God. 31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelled were not ruined, for they ripen late.
33 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, out of town, stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunderings and hail, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain had stopped, and hail and thunder, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened; neither would he let the children of Israel, as the Lord had said through Moses. Aaron telling me wide the picture:
As time Lightning and thunder have been more terrible in Egypt than anywhere else, because the rains were almost unknown; storms were rare, and even more so was the hail. The Egyptians worshiped fire and water than all the other elements. These alleged deities came upon Egypt with great terror and destructive power. Isis and Osiris, the god of water and fire, were powerless to protect Egypt and hail fire of God.
This plague is killing servants, animals and livestock if it were indoors. Plants and trees are also destroyed, including field crops. This is an extremely severe thunderstorm with hail and cold that the "fire" was released to ground lightning, (like I read in Psalm 78) "destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with stone, and their beasts, And their cattle fiery lightning "(verses 47-48.) These destructive elements, of course, have a devastating impact on the food supply of the nation. Even the gods of Egypt were powerless, the goddesses of the sky, Nut and Hathor, the sky god, Horus, Shu, the air god and giver of heaven, Seth, the god of storms and protector of crops; Napier, the god of grain crops; Osiris, the ruler of life, and all deities shaped cow and sheep above, were powerless against the true God. Pharaoh, now softened by the time he was. Of course, once the pest lessened, again changed his mind.
Again as we were in the beginning, and I know where all this would lead to, but I cannot say with Moses and Aaron who were concentrated in obeying God step by step just knowing they were useful tools.
Continue with the development of the other two plagues that afflicted the Egyptians.
This expectation had two competing interests, and that the Hebrews craved his freedom, while the Egyptians wanted to retain them to continue working for them.
But both groups at least for now equally concerned them the consequences of pests.
I return home alone because Moses and Aaron held a series of meetings with Jewish leaders in the city. And when past the seven days of this plague: 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold I will punish all thy borders with frogs. 3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, in the room where you sleep, and upon thy bed, and into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 And the frogs shall come upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, streams and ponds, to do up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh Deign tell me when I pray for you, for your servants and your people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only.
10 And he said, Tomorrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word, that you may know that there is like the Lord our God. 11 And the frogs shall depart from you, and your houses and your servants and your people, and remain in the river only. 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried unto the LORD concerning the frogs which Pharaoh had commanded.
13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages and fields. 14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen, as the Lord had said.
Moses and Aaron left the palace very upset by the arrogance and mockery of Ramses, but they were determined to continue the fight, they knew that his heart was hardened by God. When we got home I turned to ask Aaron to please explain to me this incredible event that my eyes had seen. The dear friend told me, what is happening now is not complex. What happens is that one of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians is Heket whose image is a frog or a woman with the head of a frog. Heket is the goddess of childbirth, midwives and birth insurance (frogs, in moderate numbers, are seen as signs of life, renewal and happiness). After the glut of them, after the stench of the large piles of dead frogs, it seems that the goddess Heket would have lost all credibility. Furthermore, Hapy, including crocodiles gods and goddesses of the frogs. And the primordial gods, Kek and Heh are each represented as a man with the head of a frog. This pest, although imitated by the magicians, caused Pharaoh to surrender. But his stubbornness prevail then changed his mind.
Today if one of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians is Heket whose image was a frog or a woman with the head of a frog. Heket was the goddess of childbirth, midwives and birth insurance (frogs, in moderate numbers, were seen as signs of life, renewal and happiness). After the glut of them, after the stench of the large piles of dead frogs, it seems that the goddess Heket would have lost all credibility. Moreover, the court of Hapy, including crocodile gods and goddesses of the frogs. And the primordial gods, and Heh Kek were each represented as a man with the head of a frog. This pest, although imitated by the magicians, caused Pharaoh to surrender. But his stubbornness prevails then changed his mind.
The next day, again Moses received instructions from God: the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17 And they did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast, all the dust of the land became lice throughout the land of Egypt.
18 And the magicians did so to bring forth lice with their enchantments but could not. And there were lice in both men and beasts. 19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he hearkened not, as the LORD had said. I looked at Aaron, and without asking anything I said even the Egyptians considered sacred dust of the land, and see it become lice should be a tremendous blow to their idolatry. Besides, no one can approach the altars Egyptians if they have lice. Priests wear linen garments and shaved his head and plucked her body every day to avoid insects. So as long as this plague anyone can worship their idols. The silver lining of this new failure is that sorcerers are already showing their weaknesses and recognize that behind these wonders, is the God of Israel. The downside is that Ramses is very stubborn, so you have to keep attacking
Then spent several days in the whole city was crowded with lice attacking people, until again 20 Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, he comes out to the river, and say the Lord has says: 'Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 For if you keep my people go, behold, I will send on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses all sorts of flies, and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22 And that day I will take away the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will put a division between my people and yours. Morrow shall this sign.
24 And the LORD did so, and came grievous swarms of flies upon the house of Pharaoh, on his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted because of them. 25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your Lord on earth. 26 And Moses said, it is not that we do so because we would offer to the Lord our God, the abomination of the Egyptians. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before them, not stone us?
27 will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28 Pharaoh said, I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, provided they do not go far, pray for me. 29 And Moses said, Behold, to me out of your presence, pray to the Lord that the various kinds of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and his people tomorrow, so let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more, leaving go to town to make a sacrifice to Jehovah. 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD. 31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people, there remained not one. 32 More Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also; neither would he let the people go. Again we disappointed pharaoh behavior which knew what it was. The dinner was very appropriate for me because Aaron was kind enough to tell me about what happened with this pest: These flies "are not 'fly' as we are used to or maybe not only flies such as Egypt do but different kinds of flies. flying insects eg buzzers (as confirmed by reading (Psalm 78:45) the gadfly, the cockroach, the Egyptian scarab, The Adoration of the flies, particularly beetle [in the form of beetle Kheper god, was a prominent part of the religion of the ancient Egyptians and additionally, as flies crawled over them advancing, flew into his eyes, covered their food and buzzed incessantly around them, adding more pain to their misery.
And I say: Where was the supreme Amun helper of the pious and god of the winds, to blow away the plague? Where was the guardian goddess and protector god Mafdet Be?
Finally the "divine" Pharaoh and began to haggle, allowing the Israelites to sacrifice to God in Goshen. But Moses said this would be an abomination to the Egyptians because they consider something detestable sacrifice sheep (vi Genesis 43:32, 46:34) and also now to increase their hatred of Israel, they would be stoned.
And so, still flies buzzing around them, Pharaoh let us agree that we travel a short way in the desert for our sacrifices. But again, this ruling does not change our way of thinking. Flies were held in reverence in Egypt, but were his torture. Only God could bring such a cloak of flies that covered the whole earth, and make some houses and places were delivered from them. This has brought some relief to our people who do not love this plague, and some hope of release
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou refuse to let go, and stop still, 3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep, with the greatest curses. 4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the Egyptians, so that nothing die of all that is the children of Israel.
5 And the LORD set time, saying, Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land. 6 The next day the LORD did that and killed all the cattle of Egypt but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened; neither would he let the people go.
Wine Aaron's explanation of what was happening, and he said Abdon, now the Lord has changed its strategy regarding the effect of pests, so the first three plagues have been experienced by everyone, including the Israelites. But what will come later depend on Ramses. Now God only affect the Egyptians to show their power.
Aaron added saying: As in most pagan societies, the horse had a strong relationship with the deities in Egypt. Apis, the bull god, is the living embodiment of the creator god Ptah. The creator gods Atum and Re, united in a single deity, are represented by the black bull of Heliopolis Mnevis. Nut and Neith are represented as the great celestial cow that gave birth to the cosmos and other deities. Mehet-Weret, another goddess associated with the creation, is represented as a cow. Mother goddesses Hathor and Nekbet are also represented in the shape of a cow, Hesat, the goddess of childbirth, is represented as a cow. And the adoptive mother of Horus, the cow goddess Seketh-Hor, is still invoked as a protector of cattle - a prayer now worthless in the face of the true power of God. You should also note that the Egyptians had some sheep, but apparently not for food or sacrifice rams And the gods figure prominently in the Egyptian pantheon - Ba, Banebdejedet, Heryshaf primitive, and the Nile god Khnum. Even the supreme god Amun is symbolized by a ram with horns so that the death of livestock including horses is a severe blow to the economy and military strength of Egypt. Again, God protected the Israelites, as Pharaoh discovers. But still refuses to let God's people go.
After a short time only days on which all damage found Ramses, Moses consulted God again: 8 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight Pharaoh; 9 and will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and rash with sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.
10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; were rash and ulcers occurred in both men and beasts. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not, as the LORD had said to Moses.
When we returned home after they met on the orders of Lord Aaron told me the following: There are several altars in Egypt where he occasionally offered human sacrifices to appease what they called the evil principle. After victims are slaughtered alive, his ashes were thrown into the air by the officiating priest to be removed from the ocean where they fell. God commanded Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of ashes, to scatter to the air, and instead of coming blessing, as the idolatrous people expected, came a great curse. Rashes and tumors sprouted body of people and animals. Again, the false gods of Egypt were not helpful, including Sakhmet, a goddess guardian against disease (in addition to its role as goddess of war), Imhotep, the god of medicine, and Isis, the goddess of life and health. Pharaoh's magicians are now too distressed to be present.
The Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, that they may serve me.
14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For now I will stretch out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you will be taken from the earth. 16 And the truth I have made to show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
17 As yet exactest thou thtself against my people, not let them go?
18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will send rain a very grievous hail, such as there was in Egypt since the day it was founded until now. 19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all you have in the field, for every man and beast that is in the field, and not be brought home, the hail will fall on him, and die. 20 And the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord drove away his servants and his cattle home, 21 more that did not put in his heart the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.
22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.
23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the earth: and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so great has not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the country. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28 Pray to the Lord to stop God's thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29 And Moses said unto him sooner I get out of the city, spread abroad my hands unto the LORD, and the thunder shall cease, and there will be no more hail, so you know that the earth is the Lord's. 30 But I know that neither you nor your servants yet fear the LORD God. 31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelled were not ruined, for they ripen late.
33 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, out of town, stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunderings and hail, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain had stopped, and hail and thunder, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened; neither would he let the children of Israel, as the Lord had said through Moses. Aaron telling me wide the picture:
As time Lightning and thunder have been more terrible in Egypt than anywhere else, because the rains were almost unknown; storms were rare, and even more so was the hail. The Egyptians worshiped fire and water than all the other elements. These alleged deities came upon Egypt with great terror and destructive power. Isis and Osiris, the god of water and fire, were powerless to protect Egypt and hail fire of God.
This plague is killing servants, animals and livestock if it were indoors. Plants and trees are also destroyed, including field crops. This is an extremely severe thunderstorm with hail and cold that the "fire" was released to ground lightning, (like I read in Psalm 78) "destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with stone, and their beasts, And their cattle fiery lightning "(verses 47-48.) These destructive elements, of course, have a devastating impact on the food supply of the nation. Even the gods of Egypt were powerless, the goddesses of the sky, Nut and Hathor, the sky god, Horus, Shu, the air god and giver of heaven, Seth, the god of storms and protector of crops; Napier, the god of grain crops; Osiris, the ruler of life, and all deities shaped cow and sheep above, were powerless against the true God. Pharaoh, now softened by the time he was. Of course, once the pest lessened, again changed his mind.
Again as we were in the beginning, and I know where all this would lead to, but I cannot say with Moses and Aaron who were concentrated in obeying God step by step just knowing they were useful tools.
Continue with the development of the other two plagues that afflicted the Egyptians.
No comments:
Post a Comment