Deadly Wonders
Deadly Wonders
Image by ChriKo from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Yahweh’s Purpose
Yahweh told Moses, “Rise early in the morning to stand before the pharaoh. Say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Send my people away so they may serve me. Because this time, everything I am about to send will strike your heart, as well as your servants and your people, so you’ll know there is no one like me anywhere in the world.
“‘“Now I have used my power to strike you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you from the earth. Nonetheless, this is why I’ve preserved you: to show you my power so my name will be declared throughout the earth.”’”
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
Once again, Yahweh sent Moses to confront the pharaoh and demand he send the Israelites away from Egypt. The time had come for the final round of wonders. These would strike not only the people of Egypt but also the pharaoh’s own heart. As the son of Re, he thought himself equal to the gods. But he would soon learn he was no match for the God of Israel. No one in the world, god or man, could compare to Yahweh.
Though many use the ten wonders to criticize Yahweh as angry and vengeful, they actually show the exact opposite. The first six alone would have wiped the pharaoh and his people from the earth had Yahweh not preserved them. But Yahweh did preserve them. He showed them mercy because he never intended to destroy Egypt in a fit of vengeance, despite how they mistreated the Israelites. Rather he intended to show them his power that so easily defeated their own false gods.
The news of the amazing events in Egypt had certainly spread to the surrounding nations by this point. They all knew about the conflict between the “divine” pharaoh and the God of a group of slaves.1 By preserving the pharaoh through the first six wonders, Yahweh had set the stage for his dramatic defeat of the most powerful nation on earth. The world would quickly hear of his glorious victory and would honor the name Yahweh.
Shelter
“‘“Yet you still exalt yourself over my people, refusing to send them away. Look! About this time tomorrow, I will pour down heavy hail like nothing that has ever been in Egypt since the time of its founding! Now send someone to bring your livestock and all you have in the fields to safety. Any person or animal found in the fields and not taking shelter will die when the hail pours down.”’”
Some of the pharaoh’s servants feared Yahweh’s word. They had their servants and livestock flee into shelters. But those who paid no mind to Yahweh’s word left their servants and livestock in the fields.
Image by Rachel Claire from Pexels
Yahweh had shown the pharaoh and his people mercy. Yet the pharaoh refused to show Yahweh’s people any mercy. He exalted himself as if he had preserved Egypt through the disasters befalling his land. His pride would bring even further disaster, this time in the form of a severe hailstorm the likes of which Egypt had never seen.
During the destructive wonders, Yahweh made a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites, sparing the Israelites in Goshen from the effects of the wonders. This time, he also distinguished between Egyptian and Egyptian by advising them to bring their servants and livestock in from the fields. They had begun replacing their livestock after the plague of the fifth wonder and would certainly not want to lose them again.2 To save the livestock and the servants grazing them, the Egyptians had to bring them all under shelter.
Some of the officials who heard Moses feared God and hurried to bring their servants and livestock to safety. By that point, they knew Yahweh meant business, and they feared the consequences of disobedience.3 But the pharaoh and many of his servants paid no attention. They still refused to believe any power could best the pharaoh and their own gods.
Hail
Yahweh told Moses, “Stretch your hand out toward the sky. Hail will fall on the entire land of Egypt, on people, animals, and all the crops in the land Egypt.”
So Moses stretched his staff out toward the sky. Yahweh sent thunder and hail. Fire spread on the ground, and Yahweh poured down hail on the land of Egypt. The hail and the fire blazing in the midst of the heavy hail were like nothing that had ever been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck everything in the fields, people and animals. The hail also struck all the crops and shattered every fruit tree. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, it didn’t hail.
Image by Etienne Marais from Pixabay
The next day, Moses obeyed Yahweh by stretching out his staff toward the sky. Large hail started pelting down. A desert nation, Egypt rarely experiences heavy rainfall, much less hail. But this was a storm like no other in its history. Thunder roared, and the lightning lit fires in the fields, adding to the destruction. Anyone caught out in the open, who disregarded Yahweh’s warning, died. For the first time, Yahweh’s wonder cost human lives.
The hail also destroyed the crops and even broke the branches off the fruit trees growing in the fields. By destroying Egypt’s food supply, Yahweh exposed the impotence of Egyptian fertility gods like Hapi, Renenutet, Neper, and Osiris.4 Yahweh alone controls the plants, as well as the animals.
Once again, Yahweh spared his people in the land of Goshen. The Israelites didn’t experience the terrifying thunder and hail. They didn’t have to hide in their homes. And they didn’t lose their crops or livestock.
Guilty
Then the pharaoh sent messengers to summon Moses and Aaron. “This time, I have sinned. Yahweh is right, and I and my people are guilty. Plead with Yahweh. This mighty thunder and hail are too much! I will send you away. You don’t have to stay any longer.”
Moses replied, “As soon as I leave the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and the hail will not return so you will know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. But as for you and your servants, I know you don’t yet fear Yahweh God.”
The flax and barley were ruined because the barley was newly ripened and the flax had budded. But the wheat and emmer were not ruined because they ripen later.
Moses left the pharaoh and went outside the city. He spread out his hands to Yahweh, and the thunder and hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring down on the land. When the pharaoh realized the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again. He made himself obstinate, as did his servants. The pharaoh remained obstinate and didn’t send the Israelites away, just as Yahweh has said through Moses.
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
The thunder and hail continued unabated until the Egyptians couldn’t take anymore. The pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and again promised to send the Israelites away if they would plead with Yahweh for mercy. He admitted he and his people had sinned “this time.” By Israelite standards, of course, the pharaoh had sinned repeatedly by refusing to obey Yahweh’s command. But the pharaoh didn’t acknowledge Yahweh as the highest authority and the arbiter of right and wrong. He admitted he sinned by Egyptian standards.
Core to ancient Egyptian religion was the concept of ma’at. Often personified as a goddess, ma’at represented the principles of truth, justice, and order that prevented the world from falling into chaos. Only those who lived according to these principles could enter the afterlife.5 The pharaoh admitted Yahweh had acted rightly, according to ma’at, but he had not! Yahweh had tried to preserve life by warning the Egyptians. But the Egyptians ignored him, costing lives and bringing chaos on their land.
Moses knew the pharaoh’s confession didn’t amount to repentance. He had not learned to fear God, nor had most of his officials. He merely wanted to restore order by ending the storm. Still, Moses agreed to pray once he left the city. This is the only time Moses left the city to pray. He walked right out into the deadly hail without fear. In doing so, he further demonstrated that the earth belongs to and obeys Yahweh.
As expected, once the storm ended, the pharaoh again broke his promise. But his obstinance would not last much longer. The ripe barley and budding flax place the hailstorm around the beginning of February.6 The exodus occurred on the fifteenth of Aviv, in late March or April.7 In about two months, the Israelites would finally leave Egypt.
Fools
Yahweh told Moses, “Go to the pharaoh. I have made him and his servants obstinate so I can perform these signs among them and so you can tell your children and grandchildren about the way I made fools of the Egyptians and the signs I performed among them. Then you will know I am Yahweh.”
So Moses and Aaron went to the pharaoh. “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How much longer will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Send my people away so they may serve me.
“‘If you continue to refuse to send my people away, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your borders. They will cover the surface of the land so no one will be able to see the ground. The swarm will eat what’s left to you that escaped the hail and every sprouting tree in the field. They will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and all the Egyptians, such as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have ever seen since they inhabited the land.’”
Then he turned and left the pharaoh.
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
The pharaoh had lost his chance to repent, and now Yahweh made obstinate those of the pharaoh’s servants who still refused to acknowledge him.8 He did this so the Israelites could tell their descendants about the signs. That way the Israelites and the rest of the world would know the folly of disregarding Yahweh.9 Hopefully they would avoid making the same prideful mistake.
Yahweh sent Moses back to the pharaoh to warn him that further disobedience would result in one of the deadliest disasters of the ancient world: locusts. Several species of normally harmless grasshoppers will change their appearance and swarm when overcrowding occurs. In this form, called the gregarious phase, locusts can cross long distances while devouring all plant life in their path.10 With the barley and flax already destroyed by hail, only a lunatic would willfully risk the wheat now growing.11
Moses didn’t wait for the pharaoh to respond. He delivered his message, turned around, and walked out. His patience with the obstinate fool had grown thin. The pharaoh had learned nothing from Yahweh’s wonders, but Moses had changed dramatically. He no longer feared the most powerful man in the world.12 For Moses, at least, the wonders had served their intended purpose. He finally understood Yahweh’s nature as the God who is, and he had learned to trust him.
A Family Affair
The pharaoh’s servants asked him, “How much longer will this one ensnare us? Send the men away so they may serve Yahweh, their God. Do you still not understand that Egypt will perish?”
So he had Moses and Aaron brought back. “Go serve Yahweh, your God. Who exactly is going?”
Moses answered, “We will take our young and our old, our sons and our daughters, our flocks and our herds. This will be a festival to Yahweh for us.”
“Yahweh truly be with you—for me to send you and your families away! You clearly intend to do evil. Absolutely not! The men may go serve Yahweh since that’s what you seek.”
Then they were driven out from the pharaoh’s presence.
The threat of a locust swarm and the famine that would follow unnerved the pharaoh’s servants. Even they grew frustrated with the pharaoh’s refusal to see the devastating effects of his disobedience. Wanting to free themselves from the trap they found themselves in, they suggested a compromise. The pharaoh should allow the men of Israel to take the required pilgrimage to serve Yahweh.
The pharaoh called Moses and Aaron back and initially gave them permission to leave. But then he casually asked about who would go. Moses emphatically replied that everyone had to go, young and old, male and female, and even the livestock. The pharaoh and his servants wanted to force the men to return by making them leave their families behind. But Yahweh didn’t demand just the men’s service. He demanded the service of the entire family. The pharaoh could no longer claim any of them.
At first the pharaoh’s response sounded like a blessing—Yahweh truly be with you! But then he cruelly twisted it into a mocking insult—Yahweh would truly have to be with you for me to let you take your families! His claim that Moses sought permission for the men to go rings hollow. From the beginning Yahweh demanded the pharaoh “send my people away.” Moses had never pretended they would return.
Furious that he couldn’t control the situation, the pharaoh had Moses and Aaron driven out. His pride would not allow him to fully submit to anyone, but Yahweh would not compromise. Very soon the pharaoh’s words would prove ironically prophetic. He would insist the Israelites take their families and leave, proving Yahweh was indeed with them.
Locusts
Yahweh told Moses, “Stretch your hand out over the land of Egypt toward the locusts. They will rise over the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation in the land, everything the hail left behind.”
So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt. Yahweh drove a desert wind through the land for that entire day and night. In the morning, the desert wind carried the locusts. They rose up over the entire land of Egypt and settled throughout Egypt’s territory heavier than they ever had before or ever would again. They covered the surface of the land, and the land grew dark. The locusts ate all the vegetation in the land and all the fruit left on the trees after the hail. In the entire land of Egypt, no greenery remained on the trees or the crops.
Quickly, the pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “I’ve sinned against Yahweh, your God, and against you. Now please forgive my sin just this once. Plead with Yahweh, your God, to turn aside this death from me!”
So he left the pharaoh and pled with Yahweh. Then Yahweh reversed the wind to a very strong wind from the sea. It lifted up the locusts and blew them to the Red Sea. Not one locust remained within Egypt’s borders. But Yahweh made the pharaoh obstinate. He did not send the Israelites away.
Image by ChriKo from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The pharaoh wouldn’t send the Israelites away, so Yahweh brought the locusts. Moses stretched his staff out toward the locusts, and a strong wind began to blow from that direction. It continued all day and night until the next morning. Driven by the wind, the locust swarm rose over Egypt like a thick cloud that blotted out the sun and darkened the land. They devoured the wheat and emmer, any fruit that had survived the hail, and every green sprout on the trees. It seems even Goshen wasn’t spared this time, since the Israelites would leave before the wheat harvest.
Though locusts don’t directly harm people, the devastation they left guaranteed a prolonged, deadly famine. The panicked pharaoh didn’t hesitate to summon Moses and Aaron back to beg for forgiveness and relief from “this death.” He even confessed to sinning against Yahweh and the Israelites, though he still spoke in Egyptian terms.13 He admitted he treated Yahweh unjustly, but he failed to recognize him as a higher authority deserving full obedience.
The pharaoh received the mercy he asked for even though Moses knew he would give none in return. Moses still prayed on his behalf. Yahweh answered Moses’s prayer by reversing the direction of the wind so it blew from the Mediterranean toward the Red Sea, driving every last locust out of Egypt.
Darkness
Yahweh told Moses, “Stretch your hand out toward the sky. There will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a palpable darkness.”
So Moses stretched his hand out toward the sky. There was pitch darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. For three days, they couldn’t see each other or move around. But all the Israelites had light in their homes.
Like the third and sixth wonders, the ninth came with no warning14 Throughout the wonders, Yahweh had shown his mastery over every part of creation, water, ground, sky, animals, plants, and people. Only one element remained: the unceasing cycle of light and darkness set in place on the first day of creation.15 From a modern worldview, three days of darkness seems like the weakest of the ten wonders, and it hardly qualifies as deadly. Yet from an ancient Egyptian worldview, it represented the greatest tragedy imaginable—the death of the highest of the gods, Re himself.
In a desert nation with very little rainfall, the rising sun represented stability and order. The Egyptians believed the sun-god Re rode a ship through the sky every day. At sunset, the ship entered the underworld and encountered the serpent Apophis, who sought to kill Re and return the world to darkness and chaos. Various Egyptian gods would join Re aboard the ship to fight the serpent, and the Egyptian people would also help by performing rites. A clear sunrise indicated the gods had defeated Apophis, but a cloudy day or eclipse indicated a struggle.16
The palpable, pitch-black darkness of the ninth wonder surpassed anything the Egyptians had ever experienced. No sun, no moon, no stars. Re and his allies weren’t struggling. They were gone. And the blind Egyptians could do nothing to help. With a wave of Moses’s staff, Yahweh accomplished what Apophis never could. Yet at the same time, the Israelites had natural light in their homes. Just as he did during the first three days of creation, Yahweh provided light without the sun17 Yahweh, not Re, is the true source of all light and life. Yahweh is God. The sun is not.
Banished
The pharaoh summoned Moses. “Go serve Yahweh. Only your flocks and herds must stay. Even your families may go with you.”
But Moses replied, “You must also allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to make to Yahweh, our God. Our livestock will go with us. Not a hoof will remain because we must take some to serve Yahweh, our God, but we won’t know which ones until we go there.”
Yahweh made the pharaoh obstinate. He would not agree to send them away. “Get away from me! Make sure you never come before me again because when you do, you’ll die!”
Moses agreed. “You have spoken true. I will never come before you again.”
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Once again, the pharaoh summoned Moses with an offer that fell short of Yahweh’s command. This time he would allow all the Israelites to go serve Yahweh, but they had to leave their livestock behind. Moses had already told the pharaoh they would offer sacrifices to Yahweh.18 They couldn’t do that without taking their livestock with them. Since Yahweh hadn’t yet told them what sacrifices to make, they had to take all the animals to make sure they would have everything he required.
Furious that Israel’s God refused to negotiate with him as an equal, the pharaoh forbade Moses from seeking an audience with him again. If Moses returned unbidden, the pharaoh would have him put to death. Moses agreed. But he did not, as a literal translation suggests, say he would never see the pharaoh again. In Hebrew, “to see someone’s face” is an idiom meaning to come before an authority, often to make a request or present a gift.19 Moses agreed he would never again come before the pharaoh to remind him of Yahweh’s command.
But if the pharaoh thought banishing Moses from his presence would save his country from ruin, he was sorely mistaken. Moses had one more warning to issue before leaving. The last wonder would finally break the pharaoh’s will. After that, Moses wouldn’t need to seek another audience with the pharaoh because the pharaoh would summon him and beg the Israelites to leave.20
Generous
Yahweh told Moses, “I will strike one more blow against the pharaoh and against Egypt. After that, he will send you away from here completely. He will certainly drive you from here. Speak to the people. Tell every man to ask his neighbor and every woman to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.”
Yahweh made the Egyptians generous to the people. The man Moses was considered very great in the land of Egypt by both the pharaoh’s servants and the people.
Image from Pixabay
Moses knew Yahweh wouldn’t send him back to confront the pharaoh because Yahweh had already revealed the tenth and last wonder to his servant. This occurred before Moses’s conversation with the pharaoh that starts in Exodus 10:24 and ends in 11:8.21 But it’s placed here in the middle of that conversation as the introduction to the death of Egypt’s firstborn. This follows Hebrew narrative style, which favors topical order over chronological order22 After the last “blow,” the pharaoh would send the Israelites away without any restriction.
In preparation for their departure, Yahweh told the Israelites to ask the Egyptians for valuable items made of gold and silver. He made the Egyptians act generously as he promised Moses.23 They willingly gave what the Israelites asked for. Yahweh ensured the Egyptians amply compensated the Israelites for their years of unpaid service. In stark contrast to the pharaoh, the Egyptian people respected Moses and treated his people accordingly.
The Egyptians recognized the power displayed through the wonders they saw. But sadly, they attributed it to the wrong source. They respected “the man Moses”—not the God Yahweh. Few had learned to fear Yahweh, even though Moses invariably attributed the wonders to Israel’s God. This made the Egyptians susceptible to the coming disaster.
Final Warning
Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says, ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt myself. Every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of the pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the maidservant at the handmill, as well as all the firstborn animals.
“‘Throughout the land of Egypt, there will be a great outcry like nothing that has ever happened before or ever will again. But not a dog will growl at the Israelites, neither the people nor their animals, so you’ll know Yahweh distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’
“All these, your servants, will come bow down to me and say, ‘Leave, you and the people who follow you!’ After that, I will leave.”
Then, hot with anger, Moses left the pharaoh. Yahweh told him, “The pharaoh won’t listen to you so my wonders may multiply in the land of Egypt.”
Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders in front of the pharaoh, but Yahweh made the pharaoh obstinate. He did not send the Israelites away from his land.
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Ankeo from Pixabay
Since the pharaoh had forbidden him from returning unbidden, Moses gave his final warning before leaving. In the middle of the night on an unspecified day, Yahweh would pass through Egypt. Every firstborn son would die, whether rich or poor, human or animal. Even the pharaoh’s heir, the son of Re, would die. If the pharaoh thought Re would protect his son from Yahweh’s decree, the three days of darkness should have taught him better. But he had learned nothing.
While the sound of weeping and wailing would fill Egypt, not even a dog growling at livestock would disturb the peace in Goshen. This would teach the pharaoh that Yahweh distinguishes between Israel and Egypt, between those who obey him and those who don’t. Then the pharaoh’s officials would bow down before Moses and beg him to leave with all who follow him. Then Moses would finally leave for good. The pharaoh could not get rid of him by force, only by submission.
Moses stormed out of the palace, enraged that the pharaoh would rather save his pride than save his people. The Egyptians had enslaved the Israelites, murdered their sons, and ignored all of Yahweh’s warnings.24 Yet Moses didn’t revel in the thought of revenge. The deaths that would finally free the Israelites brought him no joy. They made him mad. How he had changed from the murderer who tried to free Israel by his own power!25 Moses had grown into the godly leader his people needed.
- Joshua 2:10; 9:9.
- See The Livestock Plague.
- See The Fear of God.
- World History Encyclopedia, “Egyptian Gods: The Complete List,” by Joshua J. Mark, April 14, 2016, https://www.worldhistory.org/article/885/egyptian-gods---the-complete-list/.
- ThoughCo, “Ma'at: Who Was She?” by N. S. Gill, last modified February 4, 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/who-is-maat-119785; World History Encyclopedia, “Ma'at,” by Joshua J. Mark, September 15, 2016, https://www.worldhistory.org/Ma'at/.
- Kaiser, “Exodus,” 415; Walton et al., Bible Background Commentary, Exodus 9:13–35.
- Exodus 12:5–6; 13:4.
- See Abscesses.
- See Proverbs 1:7.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, “Locust,” last modified August 22, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/animal/locust-insect.
- Exodus 9:32.
- See Moses’s Complaint.
- See Guilty.
- See Gnats; Abscesses.
- See Inhabitable and Inhabited.
- World History Encyclopedia, “Apophis,” by Joshua J. Mark, April 15, 2017, https://www.worldhistory.org/Apophis/.
- See Light Before the Sun.
- Exodus 8:26.
- Genesis 43:3; Exodus 23:15; 2 Samuel 14:32; Esther 1:14.
- Exodus 12:30–32.
- Every time the pharaoh summons Moses, the text records him leaving. The pharaoh summons him in Exodus 10:24, but he doesn’t leave until 11:8, indicating this is one conversation despite the interruption.
- See Eve; Abraham’s Burial.
- Exodus 3:21.
- See Forced Labor; Infanticide.
- See Moses’s Crime.