Day 5/90 Through the Bible—Exodus 1-15

1:9-10 Perhaps the new Pharaoh was racist or an unkind leader. Why else would he worry about the Israelites siding with his enemies? He could have been paranoid. Surely the new Pharaoh could have come up with a plan to endear himself to the Israelites, instead of controlling them. As I’ve learned from Inception, “Positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.”

1:12 It must be truly aggravating for your plans to have the reverse affect that you wanted, and for your enemies to grow.

1:15 The Israelites had only two midwives? They must’ve been busy. Perhaps they were the leaders, the generals, as it were of the midwives.

1:19-21 These midwives are pretty creative in their lying, and then God rewards them. However, He doesn’t reward them for the lies. They are rewarded because they feared God above men (even the Pharaoh). It’s not an argument for lying, but it is an argument for fearing God.

2:5-7 I think there is often a misconception that Pharaoh’s daughter heard Moses crying, and that is how she found him. However, the Bible says that she saw the basket, and it wasn’t until she opened the basket that Moses started crying. Perhaps the baby was used to floating in the river and being fetched out by his family. Perhaps he cried at the shock of being fished out by complete strangers (strange faces, clothing, smells, makeup, sounds, etc.) He also may have been hungry. It’s possible that he had come to associate the basket being removed and opened with being fed, so when it didn’t happen, he may have protested. So, it makes sense that Miriam’s first offer is to bring someone who can nurse the baby. This isn’t referring to a nanny/babysitter/governess, either. Ishshah nashiym (woman), yanaq (to give milk). It’s referring to a nursing mother, someone who could satisfy the baby’s needs.

Also, I’m not so sure that Pharaoh’s daughter finding Moses was an accident. The mother, Jochebed, was determined enough to hide him for three months, and I’m sure an Israelite woman would know where the Princess lived. She probably also knew where the Princess bathed, since it was customary for her to bathe in the river. I’m also inclined to believe that the water was safe, since the Princess was bathing in it.

2:20 Pharaoh’s daughter gave Moses a Hebrew name. She must’ve known the Hebrew language at least well enough to know “mosheh” drawing out of the water, rescued.

2:14 “Who made you a prince and judge over us?” Uh, I think that was God. He sounds like he’s sulking. (Who died and made you king?)

2:15 I wonder if Pharaoh (who was so desperately trying to limit the Israelites’ power) was galled to have an Israelite for an adopted grandchild. He might have even been glad to have an excuse to try to kill him. Moses was well-educated, and could easily become the catalyst leading to the revolt that Pharaoh was so desperately trying to prevent.

Moses flees and sits down by a well. This would be a great place to be sure of meeting people and possibly getting information and/or help.

2:16-19 Jethro (Reuel) was surprised that his daughters had come home so early, so I guess the other shepherds picking on his daughters was a regular occurrence. I wonder if he ever did anything to stop it. All it took was one man (Moses) to keep the shepherds at bay. Although, the daughters identified Moses as an Egyptian to their father (Did I somehow never catch that before?), which might have been enough to startle the other shepherds off at least this time.

2:24 God remembered His covenant? Does that mean that God forgot? Of course not. I can remember things I’ve never forgotten. John 3:16, anyone? It’s not like God forgot them (Oh, oops, sorry guys. I kinda forgot you were still there in horrible slavery. My bad.) No, he knew this would happen. Genesis 15:13-14

3:1 A lot in this one little verse. Moses is a shepherd now. We tend to accept this fact a little too quickly. We have to remember where he came from. This sort of work was way beneath his standard of living. In fact, you might recall from Gen. 46:34 that, “every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians.” (this helped the Israelites from intermingling, for sure). So, being a shepherd may have been a lot more difficulty than just a lack of skill for Moses. He may have also been facing some cultural difficulties in the idea.

Also, we accept very readily that Jethro was a priest of Midian, but who exactly were these people? Was Jethro a priest of God, or of an idol? The Midianites were descendents of Midian, son of Abraham and Keturah.

Also, he’s in the desert near Horeb, the mountain of God. I wonder if it was called the mountain of God then, or not until later. Also, did Jethro and family call it Horeb (a Hebrew name meaning desolate), or did they use its other name: Sinai. Did I never notice before that the burning bush mountain is the same mountain where the 10 commandments are carved? Perhaps God spoke to Moses out of the same bush later as well.

3:3 I think Moses’ response seems a bit tame. I think he would have been curious, excited, and maybe even a little scared to see a burning bush. He was brave enough to investigate something so out of the ordinary.

3:6 I tend to laugh at Moses for hiding when he realizes who it talking, but I can imagine that I would be hiding, too if I encountered God like that. I might even be more fearful, because I have more knowledge of God available to me.

3:7-11 I’ve seen the oppression. I’ve heard the cry, and I know their sorrows. (Yeah, God, it’s really bad.) I have come down to deliver them (About time, too!!) To a good, large land (That’s what I’m talking about!) Come, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. (Whoa, hang on there. What happened to You coming down? I-I-I can’t do this!! I’m nobody!)

3:14 I AM THAT I AM (HAYAH ASHER HAYAH) A lot of focus in fantasy and entertainment is about the “Chosen One.” God here is THE ONE. He is. Self-existent. Eternal.

3:18 Wait a second, I thought the deal was to get the children of Israel out of Egypt? This says that god just wanted them to take a 3-day journey to the wilderness for sacrifices to God. This isn’t God being sneaky, negotiating for a holiday and planning total escape.

3:22 Women plunderers? Yeah! Take that, Vikings! I mean—Egyptians!!

4:1 Who is the “they”? The Israelites? The Egyptians? According to God, the Israelites would believe Moses’ words. So, perhaps the signs were meant for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Looking at verse 5 clears it up a little.

4:2-9 Moses is given three signs to perform. All three of these are not good omens. Perhaps God is demonstrating His power to the peoples by His control over dangerous elements. Snakes can kill people, leprosy was a death sentence, and water changing to blood would be especially dangerous in such a dry climate. Water was precious. God could have chosen any signs (Look, I can make doves appear from my hands, and flowers appear, and find coins in your ears!), but He chose signs that would convince the people of His serious and powerful nature and purpose.

3:11-4:13 Moses gives every excuse in the book. I’m nobody. What will I tell them? What if they don’t believe me? I’m not eloquent. Send someone else.

However, I often do the same thing when God gives me something to accomplish for Him. I am too limited by my own disbelief to accomplish what I could accomplish if I had faith. Yet, God uses the useless to demonstrate His own worth in us.

4:16 “And you shall be to him as God.” Isn’t this the dream of all younger brothers?

4:20 Moses takes his wife and sons back to Egypt with him. In 2:22 he only had one son. It’s not until 18:4 that we find out that Eliezer was the second.

4:25 Moses was in Midian for 40 years. I wonder how old his son was when mom went at him with a sharp stone.

5:2, 4, 7-9 I always imagine this Pharaoh as sounding like Schwarzenegger. (Who is this God that I should obey Him? I don’t know this guy, and I won’t let Israel go!) (Why are you keeping them from their work! Get back to work!! They are so many, and they’re resting! Don’t give them any more straw for brick, either. Let them go find it! Same amount of bricks as before. They are lazy and whiny, so they need more work. Waah, waah, waah! We want a holiday! They need to be taught not to be so demanding!)  :D  That’s just too much fun. I can’t take Pharaoh seriously.

5:22-23 Moses complains to God. He seems to have forgotten that God told him that Pharaoh’s heart would be hard (3:19).

6:14-20 400 (430) years of captivity seems like a lot of time and a lot of people. I tend to think of it in terms of what that would look like today. However, their age spans were still much longer. Levi lived 137 years. His son, Kohath, lived 133 years. Kohath’s son, Amram (lived 137 years) was Moses’ father. So, Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses. 400 years and 4 generations. Also, Levi lived in Canaan for at least 40 years before moving to Egypt. (Kohath might even have been born in Canaan.) Moses also lived beyond these 400 years. In 4 generations, God increased the 70 people (75 including Joseph and family) into a full nation. (in 12:37 they are numbered at 600,000 men, besides children)

6:20 Moses’ mother was also his great aunt. Weird.

6:10, 6:12, 6:30 Moses continually tells God that he’s not a good speaker and that he has uncircumcised lips. He keeps trying to get out of it. This doesn’t quite sound like the bold, Charleton Heston version that we’re so used to.

7:15-21 Moses visits Pharaoh in the morning at the river. Perhaps Pharaoh, like his daughter, bathed in the river. Or, he may have been performing early morning rituals (perhaps worshipping the gods). This morning visit from Moses happened a few times (8:20, 9:13). Moses communicated God’s consequence. The Nile turning to blood was more than just inconvenient. The Nile was the primary source of water and food, but above that, this was an affront to the gods of Egypt. The god Hapi (of the Nile), Khunum (guardian of the Nile), Osiris (of the underworld, the Nile was his bloodstream), Tauret (hippopotamus), and Nu (of life in the Nile). These gods were supposedly powerful. Even their blood, since it was divine, was supposed to have benefit, but this bloody river was definitely not beneficial. The river stank, and all this horror lasted for 7 days.

8:5 Now, frogs. This was inconvenient, but also held significance in the Egyptian gods’ inabilities. The frog was associated with Heqet (of life and fertility, appearing as a frog or with a frog’s head). The Egyptians weren’t allowed to kill frogs, either, since they were associated with the goddess. I also find it funny that the fertility goddess’ frogs would invade even Pharaoh’s bed.

8:8 Pharaoh knew who caused the frogs, and begged for them to be removed.

8:9-11 Moses actually let Pharaoh decide when the frogs would leave, so that God’s power could be demonstrated.

8:18-19 Even the magicians couldn’t replicate the lice, and they recognized it as God’s power. This was an attack on Geb, god of the earth. This plague would have been particularly disturbing to some Egyptian priests, who shaved off all of their hair daily for purification.

8:21 The fourth plague is commonly known as the “fly” plague. However, the word given doesn’t specify flies, just “swarms.” This could be mosquitoes, scarabs (the creator god, Amon-Ra had the head of a beetle), flies, gadflies, dog-flies, or gnats. Some people think it could have been a combination, or even animal infestations. This was also the first plague to have a distinction between the tormented Egyptians and the protected Israelites.

8:25 Pharaoh offers an alternative: offer sacrifices in Egypt, but that wasn’t God’s plan.

9:6 After plagues of blood, frogs, lice, and swarms, I’m not surprised that all the livestock died. However, I’m more inclined to believe that it was the swarms that brought on the disease, since neither the swarms nor the disease affected the Israelites. Perhaps these swarms were somehow linked to all the frog carcasses which were sitting around in rather stinky piles. They may have sprung from them or fed on them.

Some of the livestock were sacred to the Egyptians. Their gods were often portrayed with animal parts. The god Apis was portrayed as a bull, and his followers cared for a bull, which was believed to be an incarnation of the god. It was revered, and after its death it would be mourned, embalmed, and buried in a sarcophagus. This incarnation would have died along with all the other livestock during the plague. Other gods were represented as a cow, a ram, a cat, etc.

9:11 The magicians could not stand. They were also brought low before God. There were a few gods associated with medicine and healing, including Serapis, Imhotep, and Thoth.

9:13-14 The request is still to go out and serve God, not for them to leave indefinitely. Moses also informs him that the next plagues will be personal. Thus, the hail, was an attack. The hail could’ve been against Nut (the sun goddess), Shur (the wind god), or Isis and Seth (who supposedly protected the crops).

9:19 I thought that all the Egyptians’ cattle had died. Did they seize the Israelites’?

9:27 I feel sorry for this messenger. He probably had to run around, dodging fiery hail, trying to find Moses. I wonder if Moses was dodging hail on the way back to Pharaoh.

10:3 I think it’s pretty understandable that the leader of one of the most powerful and successful kingdoms of all time (in which he is considered a god), would find it rather difficult to humble himself before the God of his slaves. This would be a considerable loss of face before his people and the world.

10:7 Even Pharaoh’s servants and advisers couldn’t convince him. They realized that Egypt was destroyed. What pride to ignore everyone.

10:13 Locusts. Nepri (god of grain), Thermuthis (goddess of fertility and harvest), and other gods who protected crops (Isis, Ermutet, and Seth) were defeated by the swarms of locust.

10:15 The locusts left nothing green in the land. Now, when I think of Egypt, I tend to think of sand and stone, yet the Egyptian civilization grew and flourished through its use of the Nile river. There was much richness and greenness to lose, and they lost it all.

10:22 The darkness was mainly an attack on Amon-Ra, the sun god. This wasn’t just an eclipse, either. There was darkness (thick darkness) for three days.

10:26 Moses insisted on taking everything, explaining that even they didn’t know what they would need to serve God with. I wish the airlines realized this and helped me out with my luggage. Who knows what I’ll need to serve God later. :D

12:11 They were to be ready to leave. God knew that Pharaoh would pursue them. Maybe they needed the extra head-start.

12:29 This last plague would have crippled Egypt emotionally, legally, and spiritually. The loss of the cherished firstborn would have been tragic, but the firstborn was also the heir to a greater portion of the father’s possessions. The younger sons didn’t have the same rights. Also, this last plague was a final blow to all the gods, many of which were represented with animals. The firstborn of men and animals died, proving once more that the gods of Egypt had no power. And, finally, this was an attack on the divinity of Pharaoh himself.

13:3-5 What happened to the “just going to make sacrifices” deal?

13:17 God protected His people, knowing what they could handle at each moment.

14:3, 5-6 Pharaoh decided that they were helpless and lost on their own, and his people agreed that they didn’t want to let the Israelites go.

14:11-12 The people lose heart at the first instance. I think God planned it so they could know that they could depend on Him even when they were “on their own.”

14:17, 20 If I’m going to be destroyed in my own country, let the rebellious slaves go, then decide they’re weak and pursue, I’m probably not going to shame myself with retreat when I see them marching through the middle of an ocean, especially when a stupid cloud is blocking me.

15:14-16 Israel got a reputation! You can’t hush up something like the devastating destruction of Egypt.

15:20 Miriam is labeled as a prophetess. I wonder if she had prophesied Moses bringing salvation to her people. As a girl she was used of God in bringing about this salvation.