08-09-2024, 01:58 AM
Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I last posted but I do intend on continuing my project of working my way through Exodus and asking questions chapter by chapter. My source is here: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9862
I'm covering chapter 8 & 9 in this post, and I'm noticing a pattern in which any time God wants to bring about one of the plagues or perform any miraculous act, he tells Moses to instruct Aaron to stretch out his staff to make it happen.
Aaron is obvious instrumental in this role, but why specifically did God intend for Aaron to play this role? He could have instructed Moses himself to stretch out his staff, so why Aaron?
This is a very strange passage. This is said by God before warning Pharaoh about the next plague (hail), and for some reason he says "I am sending all my plagues into your heart and into your servants and into your people..." What does this mean? How are the plagues "sent into Pharaoh's heart"? And does God mean all the plagues so far? Or all the plagues from here on in? Or all the plagues in total? And does this have anything to do with Exodus 9:12: "But the Lord strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord spoke to Moses," which comes just before this passage? What does it means to "strengthen" Pharaoh's heart? Is this to be contrasted with Pharaoh "hardening" his heart (which he did on his own accord up until this point). And why would God decide to do this? He says that it's "in order that you know that there is none like Me in the entire earth" and more interestingly "For if now I had stretched forth My hand, and I had smitten you and your people with pestilence, you would have been annihilated from the earth". Why does God choose to do this now? Based on the latter passage (about being annihilated from the earth), it sounds like God is saying he let Pharaoh handle all the plagues on his own up until the point where he couldn't take it anymore, at which point God "strengthen his heart" so that he could take some more. But why? Is God trying to avoid Pharaoh's annihilation in exchange for his concession? Give him enough strength to reach the point where he concedes rather than gets annihilated? And it seems that God wants specifically for Pharaoh to concede because he sees "that there is none like [God] in the entire earth".
^ Is this the correct interpretation?
This seems like a major compromise on the part of Moses and Aaron. I thought the goal was to get Pharaoh to free the slaves permanently, but here it seems Pharaoh is proposing an extremely reduced offer in exchange for the plague of noxious creatures to stop and Moses accepts. Is it understood that even if Pharaoh lets the Hebrews journey in the desert for 3 days to sacrifice to their God, this will not be the end? That Moses will return with his original demand lest the next plague be inflicted?
It's been a while since I last posted but I do intend on continuing my project of working my way through Exodus and asking questions chapter by chapter. My source is here: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9862
I'm covering chapter 8 & 9 in this post, and I'm noticing a pattern in which any time God wants to bring about one of the plagues or perform any miraculous act, he tells Moses to instruct Aaron to stretch out his staff to make it happen.
Exodus 8:1 Wrote:The Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, stretch forth your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt."
Exodus 8:12 Wrote:The Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch forth your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it shall become lice throughout the entire land of Egypt.' "
Aaron is obvious instrumental in this role, but why specifically did God intend for Aaron to play this role? He could have instructed Moses himself to stretch out his staff, so why Aaron?
Exodus 9:13-16 Wrote:13 The Lord said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and stand erect before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'So said the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go so that they may worship Me. 14 Because this time, I am sending all My plagues into your heart and into your servants and into your people, in order that you know that there is none like Me in the entire earth. 15 For if now I had stretched forth My hand, and I had smitten you and your people with pestilence, you would have been annihilated from the earth. 16 But, for this [reason] I have allowed you to stand, in order to show you My strength and in order to declare My name all over the earth.
This is a very strange passage. This is said by God before warning Pharaoh about the next plague (hail), and for some reason he says "I am sending all my plagues into your heart and into your servants and into your people..." What does this mean? How are the plagues "sent into Pharaoh's heart"? And does God mean all the plagues so far? Or all the plagues from here on in? Or all the plagues in total? And does this have anything to do with Exodus 9:12: "But the Lord strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord spoke to Moses," which comes just before this passage? What does it means to "strengthen" Pharaoh's heart? Is this to be contrasted with Pharaoh "hardening" his heart (which he did on his own accord up until this point). And why would God decide to do this? He says that it's "in order that you know that there is none like Me in the entire earth" and more interestingly "For if now I had stretched forth My hand, and I had smitten you and your people with pestilence, you would have been annihilated from the earth". Why does God choose to do this now? Based on the latter passage (about being annihilated from the earth), it sounds like God is saying he let Pharaoh handle all the plagues on his own up until the point where he couldn't take it anymore, at which point God "strengthen his heart" so that he could take some more. But why? Is God trying to avoid Pharaoh's annihilation in exchange for his concession? Give him enough strength to reach the point where he concedes rather than gets annihilated? And it seems that God wants specifically for Pharaoh to concede because he sees "that there is none like [God] in the entire earth".
^ Is this the correct interpretation?
Exodus 9:21-23 Wrote:21 Thereupon, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and he said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land." 22 But Moses said, "It is improper to do that, for we will sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to God our Lord. Will we sacrifice the deity of the Egyptians before their eyes, and they will not stone us? 23 Let us go [for] a three day journey in the desert and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, as He will say to us." 24 Pharaoh said, "I will let you go out, and you will sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the desert, but do not go far away; entreat [Him] on my behalf."
This seems like a major compromise on the part of Moses and Aaron. I thought the goal was to get Pharaoh to free the slaves permanently, but here it seems Pharaoh is proposing an extremely reduced offer in exchange for the plague of noxious creatures to stop and Moses accepts. Is it understood that even if Pharaoh lets the Hebrews journey in the desert for 3 days to sacrifice to their God, this will not be the end? That Moses will return with his original demand lest the next plague be inflicted?