A few of the details of this story are strange to us, but that shouldn’t cause us to doubt the story’s authenticity. That God could do the miracles described should not be a stretch for our faith. That Pharaoh’s magicians could transform their staffs into snakes, turn water into blood and produce hordes of frogs by their so-called secret arts, is a mystery. It should speak to us of our own lack of awareness, let alone understanding, of all of the powers in the world. How fortunate we are that the ultimate Power is good and loving. Doesn’t He deserve your praise for that?
I find it funny that in duplicating the plagues God imposed, Pharaoh’s magicians compounded their own misery! The real miracle would have been to undo the plagues.
Pharaoh asked for a miracle as proof of God’s power, and God was prepared to do miracles to introduce Himself, both to Israel and to Pharaoh. We want to see miracles as well, don’t we? When God gives us miracles, do we minimize them as Pharaoh did? What should we do instead when God heals, or resolves that difficult situation in a way we couldn’t have imagined, or helps us through something for which we didn’t believe we had the resources? We don’t want to be like Pharaoh, for God hardened his heart. God didn’t override Pharaoh’s choices to do so. This is why thanksgiving and praise are necessary to our vital relationships with God, as preventatives to hard hearts. Has God done miracles in your life for which you haven’t thanked or praised Him? I encourage you to ask God that question, because it’s amazing what we can forget, doubtless helped by our enemy, who wants to rob us of those memories.
Although they might appear so to us, the plagues God brought were not randomly chosen. He chose them for several good reasons that I can see, and likely for other reasons that I don’t see. By them He thoroughly judged Pharaoh, the Egyptians’ gods, and the nation of Egypt:
- Charged with controlling the Nile River’s annual flood and thus the nation’s crop, Egypt’s Pharaoh was considered a god and considered himself a god. He was helpless to overcome the plagues, subject to asking the true God for relief.
- The Egyptians worshiped, among many other gods, frogs. Imagine seeing your god as a disgusting pest, making life miserable, then rotting and stinking carcasses everywhere. That would kill reverence, wouldn’t it?!
- In a day when camels were the closest thing to freight haulers, before grocery stores and freezers, the destruction of the flax and barley crops were deadly disasters; but at least the wheat and spelt weren’t destroyed, right? Read on, Friend.
All three – the reputation of Pharaoh, the Egyptians’ religious system, and the nation — were devastated by the time their judgment was over, and neither Israel nor Egypt could doubt that God was who He claimed to be. That was the great work God wanted to accomplish by the Exodus, in addition to freeing the Israelites from slavery – He wanted both Israel and Egypt to know that He is who He said He is. Did you get that from yesterday’s question? It was important to God that His people and the Egyptians know Him for who He is. Why do you suppose man’s knowing Him is so important to Him?