Plagues

Plagues from Joseph Taber on Vimeo.

Exodus 9:13-21, 25-30

13Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 14For this time I will send all my plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth.

17You are still exalting yourself against my people, and will not let them go. 18Tomorrow at this time I will cause the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19Send, therefore, and have your livestock and everything that you have in the open field brought to a secure place; every human or animal that is in the open field and is not brought under shelter will die when the heal comes down upon them.'" 20Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried their slaves and livestock off to a secure place. 21Those who did not regard the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the open field.

25The hail struck down everything that was in the open field throughout all the land of Egypt, both human and animal; the hail also struck down all the plants of the field, and shattered every tree in the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was there no hail.

27Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28Pray to the LORD! Enough of God's thunder and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer." 29Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD's. 30But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God."

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Luke 9:43-48

And all were astounded at the greatness of God. While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 44"Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands." 45But they did not understand this saying; it's meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

Whew! Finally! After all this time waiting we finally get to see some good old fashioned smiting! Our enemies are all lined up in front of us, and we're just sure that we are righteous, now we get to take schadenfruedic pleasure as the Egyptians feel the power of our God.

After all, that's how it works, right? We've got a kind of divine concealed carry where we draw out prayers, point them at our enemies, and smile with satisfaction as God destroys them with one hand and showers us with blessings with the other.

Well... Perhaps...Not so much...

After all, as we've been walking through Egypt this Lent, our place has not been with the Hebrews. Our wealth, status, position, and privilege puts us in Pharaoh's courts, not in the homes of the slaves. We are not necessarily the oppressors, but we certainly do benefit from oppression of others. So when we wring our hands in anticipation of the judgment God is about to deal out to the Egyptians, we are setting ourselves up to be judged by the same standard.

Those plagues may be pointed at us.

Suddenly I am much less eager to cheer for the plagues. I'm ready to run for the grace in this passage. Wrap me up in a blanket of holy love that promise that it'll all be alright in the end.

It will be alright in the end. The outcome is decided, even though getting there meant that we betrayed the Son of Man into human hands and sent him to his death. The LORD's judgments is far-reaching, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is without end.

Okay, break’s over. We know the grace is there, so we can take a look at the judgment too. We can acknowledge together that none of us will ever deserve the grace we are already given, and that for all our collective knowledge and strength and influence and ability, we can never earn God’s grace.

Because Grace is not about deserving, it’s a gift. On the other hand, God’s judgment is not about punishment either. The judgment of God is to remind us that God is God, and we are not, and to restore us to the kind of gospel-driven relationship both among one another and with the LORD. It’s not about power, or deserving, or punishment. Grace and judgment both restore us to who God created us to be.

Egypt is the most powerful nation on earth at the time this story takes place. They have vast cities whose engineering we still struggle to figure out. They have powerful armies that keep them in regional dominance until the arrival of Alexander the great. They advanced science and invented the written peace treaty. Yet for all their accomplishments, God chooses the Hebrew slaves to be his covenant people, and the mighty empire of Pharaoh displays the LORD's power through the way they are dismantled, not through fresh conquests or economic growth.

But even so, they are given the choice. So Moses and Aaron rise up early and present themselves before Pharaoh, as they have been instructed. They deliver the LORD's message to Pharaoh and his court, including warning them specifically about what is coming, and what they can do about it. Pharaoh and his officials have the chance to hear and heed the Word of the LORD, and to shield themselves from the brunt of the coming plagues. This plague, and the ones which follow, are to teach Pharaoh's empire "that there is no one like [the LORD] in all the earth."

I think we forget that sometimes too. It’s really easy to wander off after those who promise strength, or power, or security. We’re all guilty of a little idolatry, even if it’s just the illusion that we can “make it” on our own. It’s easy for us preacher types to pick on that kind of stuff, but I’m just as guilty of it as any other of God’s beloved sinners.

Yet if we lived the belief that there is no one like the LORD in all the earth, if we put our faith in the all-encompassing love and power of Jesus Christ, imagine what we could do. Or, more precisely, imagine what God could do through us.

That’s the kind of relationship to which God is restoring us. We’re not going to get there this side of the Kingdom, but we can narrow the gap. We’re also not on our own in this. God is working in this world to move us through that process, by grace and by judgment, through liberation and through plagues.

Even in this passage, preparing to send the seventh of ten plagues down on Egypt, God  approaches Pharaoh and his courts with Grace. "For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth." Even in the wake of heartrending sin and inexcusable oppression, the Egyptians are not cut off from the earth. They are instead given a specific, albeit uncomfortable, calling. "This is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth.”

When Empires are built on the backs of slaves, when they deal shrewdly with others to take advantage of them, God’s got to take them apart. The grace and judgment that restores us to one another sometimes means that we, like Egypt, need to be taken down a peg. Pharaoh and his courts had begun to think that they had all the power, and had forgotten than all authority belongs to the LORD. So the LORD reminds them of who precisely is in charge here, even as he is working to liberate the Hebrew slaves. The plagues do not wipe out Egypt, they show the LORD’s power over the assumed authority of Pharaoh’s empire.

And what I love is we begin to see the transformation of the hearts and minds of the Egyptians as well. “Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried their slaves and livestock off to a secure place.” They heard the word of the LORD, given through Moses and Aaron, and took action in response. God invited them to prepare for the future judgment, and they believed God.

But not everyone did. National repentance doesn’t happen overnight, and some folks still clung to the old unrighteousness, either out of stubbornness or habit. As a result, animals and people died in the hailstorm. “The hail struck down everything that was in the open field throughout all the land of Egypt, both human and animal; the hail also struck down all the plants of the field, and shattered every tree in the field.” This is the first time people die because of the plagues. Now we can make the argument that God gave them every chance and didn’t kill them directly, they just got in the way. They should have known better, and they got what they deserved.

I’m not satisfied with that. I think God did give the warning, but I’ve been warned before too, and I don’t always do what I’m supposed to do. I think the death of the Egyptians is a tragedy, and I think God mourned for them. These plagues do cause suffering, but they’re not only a punishment, they’re meant to restore us to the relationship God intended for us. Sometimes that’s a harsh change, but it doesn’t mean the grace has run out.

After all, centuries after this story takes place, God’s covenant people are under the rule of another empire, and God sets us all free from our bondage to sin and death, both Jews and Romans alike. Instead of plagues, though, this time the Son of Man was betrayed into human hands. And we disciples are left not really understanding what Jesus means when he predicts it.

But for me, it’s solidarity with all those who have suffered and died as God has brought us back to himself. In a week and a half we will remember together that Christ went to the cross. On the cross, Jesus joins the suffering of the plagues, but that’s not the end of the story, and it’s not the end of ours. The plagues are one expression of God’s restorative judgment, but the suffering of the cross brings us all together in grace.

So perhaps these plagues just remind us that there is no one like the LORD in all the earth, and challenges us make the name of Christ renowned through the lives we live in response to God’s grace.