The Story and History of Exodus - Part 5: The Last Plague

1. PRAYER
Holy God, you who loves justice and hates
oppression, who calls us to righteousness
and not to exploitation. Give us generous
and loving hearts, and eyes to see the splendor
of your reign, that we may live in truth and honor,
and praise you for the transformation of
our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

3. the gODS of
EGYPT
the LORD of ISRAEL
and GOD of ALL
CREATION

4. EXODUS 7-13 (different in the Psalms)
1. Nile/rivers turn to blood 6. Boils
2. Frogs 7. Hail, thunder, lightning
3. Gnats/lice 8. Locusts
4. Flies 9. Darkness
5. Livestock diseased 10. 1st born dies by YHWH
(or by the “destroyer”?!)
PLAGUE/SIGNS

5. PLAGUE/SIGN EGYPT
Hail Nut: sky goddess
Osiris: crops and fertility
Locusts
“cover the eye
of the land”
Nut: sky goddess
Seth: protector of crops
Darkness
“…one can feel.”
Amun-Ra: Sun god; father of Pharoah
Hathor, Nut: sky/moon goddesses
Death of the
1st born
Pharoah: Son of Ra; Chief god on earth
YHWH vs EGYPTIAN gODS

9. Neither extrabiblical texts nor physical
evidence has emerged
to substantiate the exodus stories…
There is, on the other hand,
no evidence that (an) exodus
(of some magnitude) didn’t happen;
(So…) Which counts more – that an
event actually happened, or that we
value the meaning attached to it by
earlier interpretation of the tradition?

10. Ultimately I believe…basing faith
on concrete historical claims with
the hope that they can somehow
be proven leaves the faithful open
to the opposite possibility as well.
DR. RABBI
ZEV FARBER

11. EXODUS 12:23 (NRSV + ALTER)
And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it
in the blood which is in the basin, and touch*
the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and
the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside
the door of his house until morning.
For the LORD will pass through to strike the
Egyptians; but when He sees the blood on
the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will
pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer
to come in to your houses and strike you…

12. …while the biblical authors who
celebrate the exodus…sometimes
reflect the common theology of
the ANE by attributing the violence
involved in these narratives directly to
God, we can also discern the Spirit
breaking through (as) God gradually
withdraws his protection and allows a
(cosmic) “destroyer”
to defeat the “gods of Egypt”
and undo creation in Egypt.

13. In the midst of the breathless moment
that is the last evening
of the Israelites in Egypt…the narrative
briefly leaps forward to
a time when the Israelites, long ago
liberated from Egyptian servitude,
dwell in their land…
ROBERT
ALTER

14. EXODUS 12:24-27
And you shall keep this event as an ordinance
for you and your children forever. When you
enter the land which the LORD will give you,
as He has promised, you shall keep this rite.
And when your children say to you, “What
does this rite mean to you?” then you shall say,
‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD because
He passed over the houses of the sons of Israel
in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians,
but spared our homes.’”

15. In the midst of the breathless moment
that is the last evening
of the Israelites in Egypt…the narrative
briefly leaps forward to
a time when the Israelites, long ago
liberated from Egyptian servitude,
dwell in their land…(it is) this
telling of the Passover ritual
(that) supplements the ritual
(they continue to practice at
the time of Exodus’ writing…)
ROBERT
ALTER

16. EXODUS 12:29-30
Now it came about at midnight that the LORD
struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from
the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to
the firstborn of the captive who was in the
dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. And
Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his
servants and all the Egyptians, and there was
a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home
where there was not someone dead.

17. The blood of a sacrificial lamb plays
some sort of necessary protective role
in keeping the Lord (or “the
destroyer”) from killing the firstborn.
But if the 10th plague is God’s payback
for Pharoah’s treachery, why would the
Israelite firstborn ever be in danger to
begin with? Why do they need the
blood of
a lamb to keep God from killing
the firstborn of Israel?

18. Why wouldn’t YHWH continue
to distinguish between the Israelites
and the Egyptians, like he had been
doing throughout the rest of the
plagues, and simply choose not to
attack his own people?! The answer to
that question…comes down to this:
the firstborn of all wombs – including
Israelites – “belong”
to God, which means they are
sacrificed as an offering to God.

19. In (the logic of the narrative,
by) killing the firstborn of Egypt,
God is exercising God’s right
to the firstborn. And by accepting
the blood of the Passover lamb
as a substitute for the Israelite
firstborn, God is choosing not
to exercise that same right.

20. God uses evil to conquer evil.
Each of the plagues = assault on
Egyptian gods, with God allowing one
band of destroying angels
(behind the plagues) to swallow
up another band of evil agents
(chief gods of Egypt); this way
of understanding God’s victory
over Pharaoh/Egypt is perfectly
consistent with the revelation
of God in the crucified Christ.

22. Imagine being a parent in an Egyptian home, vulnerable to
the whims of your leader/god/king, helpless to help or
protect your firstborn child
or to comfort yourselves or the other children…
Imagine being a child in an Egyptian home,
either firstborn or otherwise, and the fear/
confusion/trauma you would experience
and how it would mark you...

23. Now imagine making God either the one
ultimately responsible for that death, fear,
confusion, and trauma
- or –
Imagine Pharoah being the guilty party,
but seeing God as justified for either
actively or passively judging him
by passing judgment, not only
on him, but the entire nation

24. WAS THE 10TH PLAGUE JUST?
Typical justifications include…
1. God gave the nine previous
plagues as signs to inspire
repentance, but they didn’t

25. WAS THE 10TH PLAGUE JUST?
Typical justifications include…
1. God gave the nine previous
plagues as signs to inspire
repentance, but they didn’t
2. God gave direct warnings
this would happen unless…

26. WAS THE 10TH PLAGUE JUST?
Typical justifications include…
1. God gave the nine previous
plagues as signs to inspire
repentance, but they didn’t
2. God gave direct warnings
this would happen unless…
3. They brought it on themselves
with the drowning of Hebrew
infant boys, 400yrs of slavery

27. WAS THE 10TH PLAGUE JUST?
Typical justifications include…
“There is no denying that the tenth
plague causing the death of the
firstborn of Egypt was severe.
But, with 400 years of slavery
and countless Israelites murdered
by Egyptians…the Egyptians brought
God’s brutal judgment
on themselves. (Genesis 12:3)

28. MATTHEW 5:9, 38-39, 44-45
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
will be called children of God…You have heard
that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for
tooth.’ But I say to you, do not show
opposition against an evil person…
love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, so that you may
prove yourselves to be sons of your
Father who is in heaven

29. ROMANS 12:17a, 21
No, ‘if your enemies are hungry,
feed them; if they are thirsty,
give them something to drink;
…Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.

30. 1. God SEES / KNOWS / LOVES
2. God says “I will be WITH you.”
3. Jesus sets our VISION of God;
the TEXT gets to speak for itself
4. God works ALL things towards the
RESTORATION of creation
MAJOR THEMES

31. 5. What GOD did for ISRAEL
at the PASSOVER, God did
for ALL in the death, burial,
and resurrection of JESUS
• Power siding w/the oppressed
• Using evil to conquer evil
• Liberation from bondage
for a “mixed multitude” 12:38
MAJOR THEMES

32. A Prayer For The People of God
Hear our prayers,
God of the power of love,
and through the ministry of your Son,
the victorious Lamb slain for the sake of all,
free us from the grip of the tomb, and the endless cycle
of violence we so often accept as inevitable, that we may
desire you as the fullness of life
and proclaim your saving deeds to all the world.
Amen.