Why Do Things Get Harder Before They Get Better? (Exodus 5-12)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Have you ever cried out to God for help, only to see your situation go from bad to worse?

That’s exactly how Moses and the Hebrews felt under Egyptian captivity. God tells Moses what he is going to do, but then everything gets decidedly worse. Not knowing what to do, in Exodus 5:22-23, Moses goes back to God and says, ²² “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me? ²³ Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all.”

At this point, Moses doesn’t trust God as he will in the future. But God is patient and gives Moses these reassuring words in Exodus 6:1-5:

¹ “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.” ² Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’ ⁴ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. ⁵ Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.

This last line underscores an important point that Moses hasn’t recognized. As Peter Enns notes, “The most vital lesson of the Mount Horeb experience, ‘I will be with you’ despite Pharaoh’s hard heart, has not yet sunk in. Moses has not yet learned that there is more at stake here than how he is doing. God’s character is at stake; he has a promise to keep to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[1]

Moses has acted, Pharaoh has acted, and now it’s time for God to act. And in this act, God will make himself known to his people. Despite Pharaoh’s best efforts to dismantle God’s creation, God is going to make his wrongs right. To understand the significance of Pharaoh’s actions, Tim Mackie notes that,

[Pharaoh] is not only doing bad things, but he is fundamentally misrepresenting the rule and character of God…. So when God brings the ten acts of de-creation upon Egypt, God says it’s a judgment against Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. This isn’t run-of-the-mill human stupidity or simply poor decision making. Pharaoh and Egypt represent the height of corruption and rebellion, partnered with spiritual rebellion. Pharaoh represents the snake, the archetypal foe of Yahweh among the nations.^[2]

As God brings these de-creation acts to Egypt, he systematically confronts the gods of the Egyptians. Notice this breakdown.  

• The first plague, turning the Nile to blood, was a judgment against Apis, the god of the Nile, Isis, goddess of the Nile, and Khnum, guardian of the Nile.
• The second plague, bringing frogs from the Nile, was a judgment against Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of birth. 
• The third plague, gnats, was a judgment on Set, the god of the desert.
• The fourth plague, flies, was a judgment on Uatchit, the fly god.
• The fifth plague, the death of livestock, was a judgment on the goddess Hathor and the god Apis, who were both depicted as cattle.
• The sixth plague, boils, was a judgment against several gods over health and disease (Sekhmet, Sunu, and Isis).
• The seventh plague, hail, attacked Nut, the sky goddess; Osiris, the crop fertility god; and Set, the storm god.
• The eighth plague, locusts, again focused on Nut, Osiris, and Set.
• The ninth plague, darkness, was aimed at the sun god, Re, whom Pharaoh himself symbolized.
• The tenth and last plague, the death of the firstborn males, was a judgment on Isis, the protector of children.[3]

This series of divine interventions and judgments ultimately break Pharaoh's resolve, setting the stage for the Israelites' momentous exodus from Egypt. It shows that sometimes God must allow a situation to deteriorate dramatically before he steps in to make himself known.

A Meditation to PRAY

Praise | You are a God who doesn’t simply act on my behalf. You act on behalf of your own great name and character. Thank you that life’s not just about me. It’s about you who are to your core and what you’ve promised mankind.

Release | I release my desire for things to be about me. You are at work in ways I can never understand.

Ask | Please give me eyes to see how you are moving in the earth, and help me align my life with your purposes.

Yield | I submit my will to you. Use me as you please.

A Challenge to Act Like Christ  

The final plague that led to the Passover has obvious ties to Jesus.

“This need for a perfect sacrifice reminds us of our own state. We, being corrupted by our sin, cannot save ourselves. Our good works are like the blemished lamb—unworthy before a holy God. We need One who serves as a substitute on our behalf. Jesus is the lamb for the household of God. Only through faith in Him are our sins covered. He alone is our hope.”^[3]

Sean Michael Lucas writes, “In Jesus’ death, a new era was inaugurated and realized (2 Cor. 5:17). His substitutionary death was particular and definite: he laid down his life and shed his blood for his people (John 10:11, 15; Acts 20:28). His death was the day of the Lord in which salvation and judgment was brought about (1 Cor. 1:18).”

As a result, Lucas notes that, “Jesus’ death was the ‘once-for-all’ sacrifice that delivered his people from judgment and death (Heb. 10:10–14). And a new festival was established as a means of remembrance and instruction—the Lord’s Supper which proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Cor. 11:23–26; Luke 22:14–20).”^[4]

Comparing Christ to the Passover Lamb, Lucas writes: Just as the Passover lamb was to be “without blemish,” so the New Testament notes that Jesus, our “Passover lamb,” was without blemish (representative of purity from sin) as well (1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 10:14; 1 Pet. 1:18).

Further, the New Testament teaches us that Jesus desires to present believers as those without blemish (Eph. 5:27; Phil. 2:15; 2 Pet. 3:14). As those united to the perfect Lamb of God, we know Jesus’ own purity and righteousness as our own (2 Cor. 5:21). We seek to purify ourselves even as he is pure (1 John 3:1–3). Yet we do so in the confidence that we are cleansed from all our guilty stains and presented blameless before God’s throne by virtue of Christ’s work alone (Jude 24).^[6]

Jesus took a world that had gone bad and offered it eternal hope.

*Unless you specify otherwise, comments and questions you ask may be featured in upcoming podcast episodes.

[1] Peter Enns, Exodus, The NIV Application Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 172.

[2] "The Bible Project Podcast," The Bible Project, accessed December 22, 2023, https://bibleproject.com/podcast/why-are-there-10-plagues/.

[3] "Ten Plagues of Egypt," GotQuestions.org, accessed December 22, 2023, https://www.gotquestions.org/ten-plagues-Egypt.html.

^[4]Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 68.

^[5]Bryan Chapell, eds. Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes. Accordance electronic ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), paragraph 650.

^[6]Bryan Chapell, eds. Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes. Accordance electronic ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), paragraph 651.