最后一场灾难 One Final Plague

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Meaning of “harden his heart”

See Obsidian note here.

We need to review the meaning of “hard heart” as used in the Bible.

When we say someone is “soft hearted” or “hard hearted,” what characteristics are we talking about?

These are what we normally think of when we say someone is hard hearted.

But this is not what the Bible means. The word that English Bibles translate as “hard” hearted has a very different meaning in Hebrew.

These are the meanings of the Hebrew word חזק (ha ‘zaq) when its translated into “hard” hearted in English or 刚硬 in the CUV. Note that these don’t have anything to do with someone’s compassion or emotions.

Two example verses from meaning #1: To make unchanging in will, opinion, or desire.

Their hearts are hard (unchanging), and thus they won’t receive God’s compassion or mercy. Note that the hardness of their hearts has nothing to do with mercy. In fact, they’re not receiving mercy because their heart is hard.

This passage is even more clear: they refused to to repent (refused to change their minds).

Two examples from the 2nd meaning: to be unchanging in will, opinion, or desire.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (whether by himself or by God), and he won’t listen to them. I.e., he won’t change his mind.

Same here. Pharaoh won’t change his mind.

In the Bible, to be hard hearted means you’re stubborn, obstinate, refusing to change your mind. This is what Pharaoh was like. His heart was set to be against God, which is how all of us are at first. However, we have changed our minds (repented) and turned towards God. God kept trying to get Pharaoh to change his mind (plague after plague, each more devastating that the previous), but Pharaoh was so obstinate that he refused to change. Finally, by about the 6th plague, God more or less said, “If you still refuse to change, so be it! I’ll make you even more obstinate!”

Note that we can’t say God forced Pharaoh to refuse to listen and that God is unfair in punishing him. In fact, God kept trying to make him change. It’s Pharaoh who won’t change, and after a while, God just let him be (hardened Pharaoh’s heart, i.e., let Pharaoh keep his own way).

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Review of final slide from last sermon (231001)

Today’s passage continues from last time, right after Pharaoh said “Next time you see my face, you’ll die.” (see Exo 10:28–29) So today’s passage continues with Moses responding to Pharaoh.

This means there shouldn’t be a chapter division at the end of Exo 10:29.

Hook

Egypt’s most enduring legacy to the world are graves (pyramids). Their mummies are on display in museums all over the world. I think there’s at least one that used to be on display in the Redpath Museum of McGill University.

Ancient Egyptian culture is almost like a culture of death. Their entire life is focused on what happens after they die.

Passage

Section 1 再一场灾难 One More Plague

Passage

First time the word נֶ֫גַע (plague) is used in Exodus. In all previous places where English and CUV uses plague, the Hebrew is actually “sign” (神迹 Shén jī).

Pharaoh will not willingly let them go, but in the end, he’ll actually urge them to go, driving them out of Egypt.

It’s futile to resist God. Sooner or later, he wins.

Lessons

1. God always wins at the end.
   People often think that they’ve gotten the better of God. They might spend their entire life opposing God, thinking that God can’t do anything (or that there is no God).
2. But in the end, everyone will be judged. As in Heb 9:27–28:

Hebrews 9:27 ESV
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

3. People should be thankful that God might bring them trouble or disaster in this life as a reminder for them to repent. At least this way, they’ll have a chance to repent. Once you’re dead, that’s it.

Section 2 战利品 Spoils of War

Passage

The original Hebrew separates the men and women into 2 separate phrases: each man is to request from his neighbour (male) and each woman from her neighbour (female).

These look like the spoils of war (战利品 Zhànlìpǐ). These gold and silver will appear again later: the golden calf incident, and the building of the tabernacle.

The Egyptians are beginning to realise that the gods they revere and worship are not very useful, certainly nowhere near as powerful as YHWH whom Moses serves.

Lesson here: What is our testimony to the people around us? Will we make people want to know more about the Lord that we believe in? Will our lives show a very attractive alternative to the secular world?

Lessons

1. Our testimony for God is very important.
   Moses and Aaron testified for God in front of Pharaoh and the Egyptian people.
2. We must read the OT. Please don’t say Christians need only read the NT. Most of the NT would make no sense if we don’t know the OT background. Those who think they don’t need to know the OT are just putting their own understanding and interpretation into the NT, and quite often these understandings are wrong.
3. Jesus testified about Moses when he taught his disciples (e.g., John 5:46–47).
   Who are we to doubt what Moses wrote?
   This includes saying things like “The Ten Commandments don’t apply to us, because we’re not Jews!”

Section 3 灭长子 Death of Firstborn

Passage

This 我必出去 will be repeated at the end of v. 8b 然后我要出去. This bookend is one of the reasons for putting the closing quotation mark at the end of v. 8b, instead of v. 7 (NET or CUV, and pretty much all other translations, English or Chinese).

YHWH will go throughout the land of Egypt, killing the firstborn.

From the highest person in Egypt (he’s considered as a god), while the slave girl behind the milling stone is one of the lowest in position in Egypt. All will be affected by the plague, regardless of social status.

No one is spared, even the livestock (whatever’s left after the hail of plague #5 and disease of #7).

Why kill the firstborn? Some see this as retribution for Pharaoh killing the firstborn of Israel in Exo 1. But maybe it’s more than that. The Israelites will not be automatically protected from death. They must follow God’s recipe of the Passover lamb. Similary, the Egyptians can also be saved if they also use the blood of the Passover lamb. This might be more a theological lesson: salvation is the work of God, we are saved only by his method. In OT days, it was the Passover lamb and sacrifices, after Jesus, it is now faith in Christ Jesus.

YHWH already mentioned this final plague back in Exo 4:21–23:

“Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”

Lessons

1. God is God Almighty. The entire universe is under his control.
2. God is a jealous God. We must give him glory; he will not share share his glory with anyone else.
3. God is just.
4. God is merciful, he listens to his people’s prayers.
5. God is sovereign. He will have mercy on whom he wishes, and punish whom he wants to punish. The decisions are his.
6. These plagues showed Egypt (and us) who YHWH is.

Section 4 神要分别 God makes a distinction

Passage

Why mention dogs? Why mention dogs? It’s possible this is a jab at Anubis, the Egyptian god of the underworld (and also Osiris, god of the dead and afterlife). Anubis guides the dead as they journey through the underworld. So here Moses is saying that Anubis will have no control over the dead. Even in death (i.e., after leaving this world), the gods of Egypt are useless.

CUV and most English translations end God’s speech here (end of v. 7) with the closing quotation mark. Thus the following sentence would then be Moses talking, not God. It’s best to end the quote at v. 8b instead. See below for more details.

This is a continuation of Moses quoting what God told him to say to Pharaoh. Most translations, including CUV, NET, ESV all end God’s speech at the end of v.7. NIV ends it at v. 7a (so “then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction…” is Moses talking, not God). But it’s better to put the closing quote at the end of v. 8b, so ending with “After that I will leave.”

The French translation “Segond 21” is one translation that ends the quote at end of 8b. Following from [biblegateway](Segond 21 (SG21) – Version Information – BibleGateway.com):
La Segond 21 est une traduction de la Bible éditée pour la première fois en 2007, fruit de 12 ans de travail sur les textes hébreu, araméen et grec. Son objectif? Proposer une formulation française fidèle à l’original, dans le langage actuel, d’où la formule «L’original, avec les mots d’aujourd’hui».

I actually saw the Segond 21 translation in Sophia’s new home in Oshawa (奥沙瓦 Ào shā wǎ)! Her mom invited us to drop by on our way to Toronto, so we visited them Last Wednesday.

Original Hebrew has no quotation marks. Most of the time, it’s easy to tell when a speech starts and ends. But once in a while, there are ambiguities.

Why take God’s speech to end at 8b? Here are the 2 main reasons:

1. The end of 8b has an inclusio (like a bookend, the start and end of a passage having the same words), “I will go 我必出去” at the beginning (v. 4b) of the speech, and “After that I will go 然后我要出去” at the end of 8b.
2. Throughout the OT, we’ve never seen any Egyptian prostrating themselves before Moses, so this doesn’t seem to match what we know of Moses. It would make more sense if the Egyptians prostrated themselves before YHWH.

Lessons

1. Pharaoh now knows who YHWH is, but he still won’t submit to God.
   Today, how many so called Christians are exactly like this? They know about the Bible, they know about God, but they won’t give their heart to Jesus.
2. Israel needs to leave the bondage of slavery in Egypt.
   In the same way, we need to leave the bondage of sin.
3. The only way out is God’s way of salvation: through faith in Jesus.
   Knowledge of God or the Bible won’t save you.

Section 5 法老心刚硬 Pharaoh Hardens His Heart

Passage

Once more, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Note again that God didn’t force Pharaoh to disobey him. In fact, God tried time and time again to make Pharaoh change his mind, but to no avail. So if Pharaoh wants to be obstinate, God just lets him.

The same lesson applies to us. God will give us chance after chance, through many different methods, to change our minds to follow him. But if we continue to be stubborn, there comes a point when when God will say, “That’s it!”

Final Lessons

1. Pharaoh is being used by God. His actions has been scripted so that God can execute his plan.
2. In the face of death, and in view of God’s mercy, the only satisfying way to live is for the glory of God.