Exodus 10
Exodus 10:2, Tell in the hearing of your son…the mighty things I have done in Egypt. YHVH commanded Moses to record the story of Egypt’s judgment and fall for the Israelite’s future posterity. The Israelites were then to pass this story down orally and in written form to succeeding generations. The Passover seder is the fulfillment of this Torah command in that it reenacts the exodus story. In other words, YHVH is commanding parents to pass the gospel message of redemption downward to each new generation via the seder. The Passover seder is literally a gospel tract involving a dramatic presentation where the participants act out the story of Israel’s redemption which is the basis of the message of the gospel.
Exodus 10:3, Thus says YHVH Elohim of the Hebrews. It is true that Moses did would be similar in our day to going to the president of the U.S., who is the head of the most powerful and advanced nation on earth, and saying, The Elohim of the people of El Salvador says to you do this or that. How much impact would such a demand have on the U.S. president? Little or none. However, when YHVH deputizes a person for a divine mission, YHVH, the Creator of the universe, and just one person make a majority! The size of the country of the messenger no longer means anything.
How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?Pharaoh was about to learn a hard lesson at the hands of YHVH Elohim. The sovereign Creator ultimately demands that everyone submits to his will and purposes. Those who refuse to do so imperil themselves. The Scriptures record that in addition to Pharaoh YHVH also held other political leaders accountable for exalting themselves against him and for refusing to humble themselves before him. These include Nebuchanezzar (Dan 4:19ff), Belshazzar (Dan 5:22), Zedekiah (2 Chron 36:12), Lucifer (Isa 14:13ff) and Herod (Acts 12:21–23).
Furthermore, those who put their trust in false gods will come under the judgment of the one supreme and true Elohim—the Mighty One of the Bible. Elohim uses men’s false gods or idols as a judgment against sinners to help them to see the futility of their idolatrous delusions and to bring them to repentance (e.g., Isa 66:4–5; Prov 10:24). As Elohim judged the false gods of Egypt one by one and brought that arrogant nation down, he will do the same in the end days with Babylon the Great and the idolatrous gods of this world. We see some striking parallels between the plagues YHVH brought upon Egypt and those he will bring upon the rebellious inhabitants of earth just prior to Yeshua’s second coming. For example, the seventh plague of hail (Exod 9:13ff) and the seventh vial with its 75 pound hailstones (Rev 16:17–21) is an ultimate expression of the fierceness of Elohim’s wrath upon a rebellious and still blaspheming world. When the earth is quaking and deadly hailstones are raining down from heaven, there will be no hiding place from Elohim’s wrath. Additional end-time plages that replicate those of Egypt include grievous sores to come upon men (Rev 16:2), the seawater and fresh water turning to blood (Rev 16:3–4), and darkness upon the earth (Rev 16:10). After this, Babylon the Great will fall (Rev 18:2), even as ancient Egypt fell under the severe blows of YHVH’s judgment.
Psalm chapter two summarizes the rebellious arrogance of men, and their conspiracy against the Creator in their attempt to keep control of their earthly kingdoms. Elohim will laugh at them from heaven and will then send his Son to judge them and to break their kingdoms in pieces with his rod of iron. NOW is the time “to kiss” Messiah the Son and to worship him if one desires to escape these divine judgments upon the wicked rebels (v. 12)!
What gods or idols do we have in our lives that we are holding on to? Each of the plagues against Egypt was a direct strike against one of the many gods of Egypt (Exod 12:12; Num 33:4). Elohim will destroy all pretenders and imposters who dare to challenge his sovereignty. (See notes at Exod 7:14.) The god of human pride and self will is the most powerful false god each human will ever face!
Exodus 10:8–10, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and daughters…we must hold a feast [Heb. chag] unto YHVH. Egypt and Pharaoh (a spiritual metaphors for the world and Satan) wanted to destroy and divide families, which are the bedrock of YHVH physical and spiritual order and the center of Torah community, but Moses insisted on keeping families together when exodusing Egypt and going out to serve YHVH. In YHVH’s order of things, families must always stay together. YHVH’s feasts or chaggim (the plural of chag) along with the weekly seventh day Shabbat are the glue that helps to hold the families of YHVH’s people together. When we gather together in unity with a common purpose and focus to worship the Elohim of Israel and to celebrate his feasts, these events create strong familial, cultural and spiritual ties between families and all of YHVH’s people in general. Besides that, they are just plain fun to do and deeply significant spiritually.
Exodus 10:19, Red Sea [Heb. Yam Soof]. Is the Yam Soof referring to the Gulf of Suez or the Gulf of Aqaba that is located between the Sinai Peninsula and the modern country of Saudi Arabia?This verse tells us that YHVH brought up a strong wind that blew the locust plage eastward out of Egypt that blew them into the Red Sea. Where is the Red Sea? The Gulf of Suez or the Gulf of Aqaba? In 2012, a record plague of locusts originated in Egypt and made its way across the Sinai and over the Negev. So it is not impossible for locusts to travel long distances, and how much more so with the help of the wind?
Without getting lost in the weeds, let’s now discuss the definition of the word soof which is apparently of Egyptian origin and means “a reed, especially the papyrus, water plant or weed. This word can also refer to seaweed that grows along seashores everywhere. The TWOT admits that Yam Soof can refer to the “Sea of Reeds”—a definition which is not limited to the marshy, papyrus laden to either the Bitter Lakes or Lake Timash areas of the Gulf of Suez, but can also take on a broader geographical area that includes the Gulf of Aqaba as per 1 Kings 9:26. This latter definition is how the LXX translators interpreted the phrase Yam Soof when they preferred the term Red Sea over Sea of Reeds.
Exodus 10:23, But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. YHVH protected the children of Israel from the most severe plagues that fell upon Egypt (Exod 8:22; 9:4, 6; 10:23; 11:7; 12:13). Similarly, YHVH spared Noah and Lot from the utter destruction that fell in their days. In the last days, YHVH promises to protect his remnant people in the great tribulation, from the wrath of Satan, and from the day of his fierce wrath (Rev 7:3; 9:4; 11:15–18; 12:13–17) either by removing them from the scene of destruction (e.g., Noah and Lot), or by placing a mark on them that distinguishes them from those targeted with destruction (see Rev 7:3–4; 9:4 cp. 22:4; Ezek 9:4). It is interesting to note that the invisible mark that the angel placed on the heads of the righteous just before the destruction of Jerusalem (Ezek 9:4) was the Paleo-Hebrew letter tav (t) that resembled our English letter “t” or “x.” Could the divine mark or a seal that will be written on the heads of the end times saints (Rev 7:3–4) be related to YHVH’s command for his people to place (literally or figuratively) on their arms and foreheads his commandments as symbolic sign of remembrance for them to be faithful to his commandments and the covenants (Deut 6:8; 11:18; Exod 13:19)? The resurrected and glorified saints who will be granted entrance into the New Jerusalem will also have YHVH’s name written on their foreheads as a divine seal, mark of ownership and as a sign that their hearts and minds are submitted to and in alignment with him and his Torah-Word (Rev 22:4). Let us not forget that the Book of Revelation identifies the end times saints as those who keep his Torah commandments and also have the faith or testimony of Yeshua the Messiah (Rev 12:17; 14:12). Only these will also have tickets to enter into the New Jerusalem and to eat of the tree of life. Why? Because they “do his commandments” (Rev 22:14)! What happens to the rest who claim to know YHVH but refuse to keep his commandments? Yeshua answers this question:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [lit. lawlessness]. (Matt 7:21–23)
Exodus 11
Please stay tuned. To be continued…
