Focus: - [[Exodus 9]]:13 to [[Exodus 10]]:29 # Opening framing - [ ] Recap: What's the purpose of the plagues? ([[Exodus 9]]:15-16) - could have wiped [[Egypt]] out already - chooses to display power so his name is proclaimed in all the earth | Event | Outcome for [[Egypt]] / [[Israel]] | What we learn about [[Yahweh]] | References | | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | Hail Plague | Crops and fruit destroyed in [[Egypt]]; [[Goshen]] spared | [[Yahweh]] could end this instantly but chooses to reveal power globally | [[Genesis 1]]:29 -- giving of food from land | | Locust Plague | Whatever remained after hail is consumed; "nothing green remained" | [[Yahweh]] does not negotiate with [[Pharaoh]]; judgement escalates | creation of vegetation in [[Genesis 1]] | | Darkness | Three days of palpable darkness in [[Egypt]]; light where [[Israel]] lives | [[Yahweh]] can reverse even "let there be light"; total sovereignty over creation and nations | [[Genesis 1]] "Let there be light" | # [[Exodus 9]]:13-35 Hail plague - [ ] How is the plague of hail an escalation from the previous ones? ([[Exodus 9]]:18, 23-25) - severity, hail + fire, "unprecedented" language - opportunity for [[Egypt]]ians to take action to mitigate - [ ] For the first time [[Exodus 9]]:20-21 gives Egyptians a choice to heed or ignore [[Yahweh]]'s word. How does this reinforce what we know about his plans? - Not just [[Israel]]ites but those who heed his word will be delivered - Keep this in mind for second half of [[Exodus]] - [ ] What connections does this plague share with the creation narrative in [[Genesis]]? What are possible significances of this parallel? - connect to [[Genesis 1]]:29 # [[Exodus 10]]:1-20 Locust plague - [ ] How does [[God]] further elaborate on his purposes in [[Exodus 10]]:2? - targets children and grandchildren of [[Israel]] specifically - wants people of [[Israel]] to *know* him down generations - [ ] How does this plague escalate from the previous ones? - not only unprecedented, but unpostcedented (v. 14 "never before... nor will there ever be again") - "nothing green remained" - may need to ask: **deepens decreation theme even further** - [ ] What is [[Pharaoh]] and gang's response to the plague? - recognition that [[Egypt]] is ruined due to persistent rebellion against [[God]] - yet still not true recognition to a degree (officials blaming [[Moses]] and not [[God]]) ## Heart hardening - [ ] Is it fair that [[Yahweh]] hardens [[Pharaoh]]'s heart? - [[Yahweh]] has the right to do whatever he likes (see [[Romans 9]] for [[Paul]]'s writings on this topic) - text doesn't do any justification - we also see [[Pharaoh]] harden his own heart, and he already ordered killing of babies and enslavement prior to this # [[Exodus 10]]:21-29 Darkness plague - [ ] How does this plague intensify compared to the previous ones? - terrifying and paralyzing: "darkness that can be felt", inability to move, daily life halted - getting emphatically supernatural - once again distinguishes and spares [[Israel]] - may need question: **most explicit (imo) echoing of [[Genesis]], with literal "Let there be darkness" statement v. 23** # Application - [ ] If you compare the first, second, and third sets of plagues, what's the big picture of escalation? - severity? - distinction between [[Egypt]] and [[Israel]]? - [[Pharaoh]]'s heart and treatment of [[Moses]] and [[Yahweh]]? - Consider what has most impressed you about YHWH’s power across these nine plagues. How might your view of him need to change in response? - Do you really believe He has the power to bring down the most powerful nations today and will not let them oppress His people forever? - YHWH didn’t destroy Pharaoh immediately: he wanted to show his power first. How might this help us to understand why his plan seems to be taking so long in our day?