Exodus 10 Locusts and Horrifying Darkness QA Supplied

Locusts and Horrifying Darkness

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

 

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 10

 

Locust

Exodus 10:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. For I, I weighted his heart and the heart of his slaves so that I put these my signs in his midst 2and so that thou wilt scroll what I have acted myself in Double-Adversity [Egypt] in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son, and my signs that I placed in them. And ye shall know that I am Yehovah!”

 

3And Draw [Moshe] came, and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], unto Pharaoh. And they said unto him, “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?  Send my people, and he has served me! 4For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. 5And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field! 6And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!’” And he turned. And he exited from with Pharaoh.

 

7And the slaves of Pharaoh said unto him, “Until when will this be to us for a snare? Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods! Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?”

 

8And he returned Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods! Who and who are the walking?” 9And Draw [Moshe] said, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd. For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!”  10And he said unto them, “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!  See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! 11Not established!  Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!”  And he forced them from with the faces of Pharaoh.

 

12And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] via the locust. And he has ascended upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he has eaten every herb of the land, all that remained the hail.” 13And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And Yehovah guided the spirit of east in the land all that day and all the night. The morning was. And the spirit of the east carried the locust. 14And the locust ascended upon all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he rested in every border of Double-Adversity [Egypt], very heavy. To his faces there was not established a locust like him, and after him he will not be established. 15And he covered the eye of all the land. And the land was darkened. And he ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained the hail. And every green did not remain in a tree and in the herb of the field in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt].

 

16And Pharaoh hurried to call to Draw [Moshe] and to Oy!-Conception! [Aharon]. And he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you! 17And now, carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke, and entreat ye to Yehovah your Gods! And He has turned-away from upon me only this death!”  18And he exited from with Pharaoh.

 

And he entreated unto Yehovah. 19And Yehovah flipped-over the spirit of the sea, very gripping. And he carried the locust. And he blasted Ending Seaward. One locust did not remain in all the border of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. 20And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not send the children of Israel.

 

Felt Darkness

21And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.” 22And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the heavens. And darkness of gloom was in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] three days. 23They did not see—a man his brother, and they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days! And light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements.

 

24And Pharaoh called unto Draw [Moshe]. And he said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah! Only your flock and your herd he will position. Also your little-one will walk with you!” 25And Draw [Moshe] said, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions? And we will do to Yehovah our Gods? 26And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods! And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

 

27And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not consent to send them. 28And Pharaoh said to him, “Walk from upon me!  Guard to thee!  Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!” 29And Draw [Moshe] said, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!”

 

 

 

I. The Purpose of Weighting a Heart (verses 1-2)

 

Yehovah told Moshe to again come unto Pharaoh. Yehovah took credit for ‘weighting’ Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his slaves, giving the reasons:

 

  • In order to put Yehovah’s signs in his midst
  • So that this ‘thou’ will scroll what Yehovah Himself did in Egypt in the ears of his son and the son of his son
  • So that this same ‘thou’ will scroll Yehovah’s signs that He placed in them
  • So that this ‘ye’ will know that He is Yehovah.

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What did Yehovah do when He weighted the heart of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s slaves? Yehovah filled their minds with thoughts about what would happen to Egypt if the Israelis were to leave. Those thoughts were so heavy that they couldn’t think of other things.

 

2.     Why did Yehovah do this? He did this in order to put these very signs (the plagues) in the midst (middle) of Pharaoh. He also did this so that the Israelis will tell in detail what Yehovah did in Egypt, including these signs. Later, the Israelis will come to know that He is Yehovah!

 

3.     How did Yehovah put these signs in Pharaoh’s middle (midst)? Pharaoh represented all of Egypt. Yehovah put these miraculous signs in the very middle and heart of Egypt so that all the Egyptians and the Israelis knew that Yehovah was the source.

 

4.     What does scroll mean in verse 2? It means to recount something in detailand in order.

 

5.     Who is thy in, “in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son”? Yehovah is speaking to Moshe. Therefore, the obvious conclusion is that thy refers to Moshe. Yet, Yehovah also speaks to Moshe as if Moshe is all of Israel. He does this quite frequently. Thy in this text refers to Israel. All Israel will repeat what Yehovah did in the ears of Israel’s son and grandson—and not just one son, and not just one grandson; all Israel will repeat what Yehovah did in Egypt in the ears of every son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, and so on!

 

6.     Have the Israelis realized that He is Yehovah? They haven’t! They didn’t even in Moshe’s day! They thought, for example, that Yehovah was a calf. This statement isn’t for Moshe’s day, but is rather directed to a future day a very long time from now when all Israel will know who Yehovah is and what signs He did in the midst of Egypt. Those signs will be similar to these, but will be performed during the future time known as the Tribulation. Yehovah did what He did in Moshe’s day as a preparation for what He will do in that future day.

 

 

 

II. The Locust Threat (verses 3-6)

 

Moshe and Aharon came. They told Pharaoh that Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews said, “Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?”

 

They then told Pharaoh what Yehovah further said: “Send my people, and he has served me!” This was the same message that Yehovah kept sending to Pharaoh.

 

Yehovah then gave the threat: “For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field!” This destruction will destroy the rest of the field crops.

 

Yehovah also sent the locusts to invade another area: “And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!”

 

Moshe then turned and exited from being with Pharaoh.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Consider what Moshe and Aharon said to a great king and pharaoh: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?’” Weren’t Moshe and Aharon afraid to say such words to a man who could order their deaths for being so rude to a king and pharaoh? By now, they were not afraid. They knew that Pharaoh and his slaves were afraid of them! Moshe and Aharon were angry at Pharaoh, but they didn’t show that anger at this time. Instead, Yehovah showed His anger at their refusal to humble themselves from Yehovah’s faces!

 

2.     Why is Yehovah angry when He is the one who keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh won’t send the Israelis? It is true that Yehovah keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind, but Yehovah isn’t causing Pharaoh to refuse to send the Israelis; Yehovah is rather causing Pharaoh to consider what will occur if Pharaoh does send the Israelis. Pharaoh is acting upon his own fears. Yehovah isn’t causing Pharaoh to do wrong. Pharaoh needs no help when it comes to doing wrong. The great signs tend to weaken Pharaoh’s unwillingness to send the Israelis; Yehovah reminds Pharaoh what will occur if he does send them. He therefore weighs down Pharaoh’s mind/heart.

 

          Yehovah is angry because Pharaoh has refused to humble himself before the faces of Yehovah!

 

3.     Again, why didn’t Yehovah just take His people out of Egypt instead of insisting that Pharaoh send them? The Israelis were guests in the land. In those cultures, it was rude for a guest to just leave without being sent by the host. Yehovah desired the Egyptian host to willingly send the Israelis out of the land.

 

4.     What does bringing a locust into the land have to do with their sending the Israelis out of the land? It is a matter of economy—that is, of business. Pharaoh and his slaves are unwilling to send the Israelis because they are afraid of economic ruin and disaster. Yehovah is showing the Egyptians that He has an army that can do far greater damage to the Egyptian economy than they will experience by sending the Israelis.

 

5.     Is Yehovah bringing just one locust? Why does He refer to the locust as if it is one? The entire and huge cloud of locusts will act as if they together are one giant locust. That will be far more frightening than individual locusts.

 

6.     Would a locust attack like this be scary? What would it be like? It is like small birds that are locusts landing everywhere. If one tries to walk outside, the person will step on the locusts, and they will be squished. The person will find them very slippery while other locusts land on them. The sounds and sights will be worse than Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. While locusts don’t attack humans, they get in their hair, they land on their shoulders, they cling to their clothing, and they look rather fierce.

 

7.     What does “he will cover the eye of the land” mean? The eye of anything is the most tender and delicate part, and is the most watered part. The locusts will land in all of Egypt, but especially in the best parts where the plants are growing well.

 

8.     Who won’t be able to see the land, and what does this mean? The locust won’t be able to see the land because the locust is covering it!

 

9.     What is “the escapee” that remains from the hail? The escapee refers to every green plant that didn’t get struck and ruined by the hail. Some plants survived the hail by being too young to be aboveground; other plants lost branches, but stayed alive.

 

10.  How can the locust eat all the tree? Do locusts eat wood? These locusts will be very unusual since they will eat wood! They are more like termite locusts (which don’t exist).

 

11.  What else, besides the above, will the locusts do? They will:

 

  • Fill Pharaoh’s houses
  • Fill Pharaoh’s slaves’ houses
  • Fill all the houses in Egypt
  • Be the worst locust attack that Egypt has ever experienced.

 

 

12.  Did Pharaoh believe Moshe? Pharaoh knew that Moshe was speaking the truth. He believed him.

 

 

 

III. Slaves and Sense (verse 7)

 

Pharaoh’s slaves asked Pharaoh, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?” They wanted this destruction to stop. They then counseled Pharaoh: “Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods!”

 

The slaves then asked Pharaoh a question: “Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?” They desired to know if Pharaoh would send the Israelis before or after Egypt finally is totally ruined.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is this in, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?” This refers to Moshe. Folks refer to others as this in a number of texts. We would say something like this: this one or this person.

 

2.     What did Pharaoh’s slaves advise Pharaoh to do? They advised Pharaoh to send the men.

 

3.     When they said, “send the men,” did they mean the males? I propose that this is what he meant. He will shortly ask who will be going. The slaves thought that the men going alone would keep them from leaving, since their families and cattle were still in Egypt.

 

4.     What did the slaves of Pharaoh mean by, “Is it before thou wilt know that Egypt perished?” They are asking if Pharaoh will refuse to send the Israelis until Egypt has completely perished and gone dead. Is Pharaoh waiting to see if Egypt will perish first?

 

 

 

IV. Pharaoh’s Strange Answer (verses 8-11)

 

Pharaoh now called Moshe and Aharon to return to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods!” This very much sounded like permission! Yet, Pharaoh continued: “Who and who are the walking?” Pharaoh desired to know who all will be going!

 

Moshe answered, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd.” Thus, everyone, including all the animals, will be walking. Moshe told why: “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!”

 

Pharaoh didn’t like this answer. He spoke sarcastically: “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” He had no intention of sending them and their little-one—their children!

 

Pharaoh then threateningly spoke: “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! Not established!” They are headed for trouble! His saying, “Not established,” is like saying, “No way!”

 

Pharaoh then told them who could go: “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” Thus, the valiant ones in Israel could go, but the rest could not.

 

In anger, Pharaoh forced Moshe and Aharon out of his faces—out of his sight.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who returned Moshe and Aharon unto Pharaoh? Whoever this was had the authority to call them back. I can only think of three possibilities: Yehovah, the main slave of Pharaoh, or Pharaoh himself. The grammar doesn’t fit well for it being Pharaoh himself. If Yehovah returned them, Yehovah knew that Pharaoh desired to see them. If the main slave of Pharaoh did this, this would also show that Pharaoh was eager to speak with them.

 

2.     When Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods,” was he giving them permission? Yes, he was. As long as the group going out to serve Yehovah was approved, he was indeed giving permission.

 

3.     What did Pharaoh mean by, “Who and who are the walking”? Pharaoh desired to know who will be going on this ‘serve Yehovah’ trip. He was not thinking that all Israel would go.

 

4.     Who would be going, according to Moshe? All the Israelis would be going without exception. Their animals would also go.

 

5.     What is a solemnity? It is a serious event—even if it is a happy event. It is an event that mustn’t be taken as a joke or as something both unimportant and fun. It is rather to be viewed as very important even if it is fun.

 

          We speak of holidays (not referring to trips that Americans call vacations). A holiday at one time was a holy day—a serious day to remember something important. Yehovah calls important events to remember solemnities. All Yehovah’s solemnities are given to remember things in the future. They are not looking at past events except to show what will occur in the future. This is different from other gods and other religions.

 

6.     What does “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us” mean? This means that Yehovah’s solemnity must be done by us, and it belongs to us. We are the targets of Yehovah’s solemnity. (The us are the Israelis.)

 

7.     Pharaoh’s next reply was, “He will be so!” What did he mean by this? He refers to the plan that Moshe just said. I propose that Pharaoh is sarcastically speaking—that is, that he is saying what sounds like his agreement when he is angrily telling them (by the next statement) that this will never occur.

 

8.     Pharaoh continued, “Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” What did he mean? Pharaoh determined to not send them and their little-one—that is, their children, but spoken as if they had only one child. Since he would never be sending them and their children, his reply was that Yehovah is with them to the same degree that he will send all the Israelis. In other words, Pharaoh is declaring that Yehovah isn’t with them at all! So, now, Pharaoh is acting as if he is a spokesperson for Yehovah!

 

9.     What did Pharaoh mean by, “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces”? Pharaoh is now becoming threatening. The way they are going is going to lead them to harm or death. Bad in the Bible refers to some form of destruction, harm, loss, and even death.

 

10.  When Pharaoh said, “Not established,” what was he saying? He was expressing the opposite of “He will be so”—that is, “He will be established.” He is declaring, “No way!”

 

11.  To whom was he speaking when he said, “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones”? He was speaking to Moshe, to Aharon, and to all the strong Israeli men. He told them to go ahead, but in a threatening way—something like this: “You just try it!”

 

12.  He continued with, “And serve ye Yehovah!” Was he giving permission? He was being very sarcastic. Sarcasm is a form of communication in which a person says the opposite of what the person means with a voice that shows contempt.

 

13.  Pharaoh ended with this statement: “For ye are seeking her!” Who is the object of the pronoun, her? The word bad above is feminine. He is declaring that they are looking for bad—what we would say, looking for trouble.

 

14. Who forced them from Pharaoh? This appears to be the same one who brought them. If this is the case, I propose that it is the main slave of Pharaoh.

 

 

 

V. The Spirit and the Locust (verses 12-15)

 

Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt by means of the locust. Once Moshe does this, the locust will have ascended upon the land of Egypt and will have eaten every herb of the land—everything that remains after the destruction of the hail. Moshe did this with his rod. Yehovah then guided the spirit of the east (which includes the east wind) in the land of Egypt all that day and through all the night.

 

When the morning came, the spirit of the east carried the locust! The locust ascended upon all the land of Egypt! The locust ‘rested’ (landed) in every border of Egypt in very heavy amounts! There was no locust that had ever been established like this, and there will never be like it again.

 

The locust covered ‘the eye of all the land’—the entire exposed portion of Egypt! The whole land became dark from the locust; its huge cloud covered the entire land!

 

The locust ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained and that survived the hail! There wasn’t any green anywhere in any tree and among the herbs of the field in all the land of Egypt!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How could Moshe stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt via the locust? What does this mean? Moshe had the rod in his hand. This time, he was using that rod by means of the locust to call this creature to cover the land. The text doesn’t say that Moshe had to call the locust; stretching his hand was enough.

 

2.     Did Pharaoh see Moshe do this? No! In this case, he didn’t. He is about to feel the results, but he forced Moshe and Aharon away from him.

 

3.     What is “the spirit of east”? The same Hebrew word that means spirit also means wind. Yet, this text gives the reader the proper impression that there was a spirit who is over the east. There are four spirits who control and run the winds on earth, according to the Bible:

 

          Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the land holding the four winds of the land so that the wind won’t blow on the land nor on the sea nor on any tree!

 

          Those four angels are assigned to deal with the winds on this planet. If the winds stop, as they will in the Revelation event, the results will be terrible for all living things on the planet.

 

          In the case of Egypt, it is different. The east wind/spirit will deliver the locusts so that they will come and cover Egypt alone.

 

4.     The text states that the locust rested in every border of Egypt. Did that include the Israeli area? No. The Israelis only felt the first three of these plagues. There were no locusts in the Israeli area.

 

5.     Was this locust like other locust plagues? Yehovah said, “To his faces there was not established a locust like him, and after him he will not be established.” This means that there will never be a locust like this one. There can be another locust attack that is as bad or worse, but it will be different. This one was unique.

 

6.     What does “to his faces” mean, and whose faces are in mind? The expression means, before him—that is, in his sight, and straight in front of his face. Faces is always plural in Hebrew. The word his in to his faces refers to the border of Egypt. (The word for land is feminine, so that it can’t refer to the land.) Every border has faces; it faces toward a land and toward the outside of the land.

 

7.     What is the eye of a land? It is the most sensitive and productive part—the part that is well-watered, like the human eye is well-watered.

 

8.     Why was the land darkened? The locusts are darker in color than the soil, and their flying blocks out the sunlight.

 

9.     How much did the locusts eat? They ate everything that could be eaten! (They even ate the trees. See verse 5.)

 

10.  What were the Egyptians going to eat now that all their crops were gone? They could eat locusts; after all, they are kosher! Apart from that, they would have to purchase food from the Israelis. Though the Israelis were slaves, the Egyptians didn’t just take their things; that would have caused them to rebel as if the Egyptians were trying to kill them. The Israelis had food and crops still growing. The Israelis and the Egyptians had cattle.

 

 

 

VI. Pharaoh Hurries (verses 16-18)

 

Pharaoh was in a hurry to call Moshe and Aharon. He was also quick to confess that he sinned—not only against Yehovah, but also against Moshe and Aharon! His confession came with a request for them to carry his sin at this time and to entreat Yehovah so that Yehovah will turn away this particular death from him. Moshe exited from being with Pharaoh.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Pharaoh hurry to call them? He knew that these creatures were destroying the land of Egypt, and thus destabilizing his authority, as well as ruining the economy. His people, the Egyptians, were in danger of starvation.

 

2.     Was Pharaoh serious when he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you”? He was serious at the time; he was terrified. That doesn’t mean that he would remain that way.

 

3.     What did Pharaoh mean by, “carry thou my sin”? The Hebrew word carry means what we expect it to mean in English, but it also is the Hebrew (and obviously the Egyptian) way of saying forgive. If one forgives another in Hebrew, that person agrees to carry the offense and its harm so that there can be peace. Every offense is a burden that the offended party must carry, but it is also a debt that the offender carries. If the offender asks the one offended to carry it, and the offended person agrees, the offense is now gone as far as both of them are concerned. (Sin always has two or more offended parties: the person who was hurt by the sin, and Yehovah Who was harmed by the sin. Every sin harms Yehovah. Every sin drove Him to provide a sacrifice worth more than the person who sinned. That is why one must also obtain forgiveness from Him; that is why one asks Him to carry the sin. That is also a very good reason to stop sinning.)

 

4.     Pharaoh said, “carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke.” What does “the stroke” mean? This refers to the rhythm of time. It is as if a clock with a pendulum is running, and strikes every time it stops at one side or the other. Pharaoh was saying, forgive thou my sin but this time. He is very fearful.

 

5.     Why didn’t Pharaoh entreat to Yehovah himself? Yehovah wasn’t his god, and he didn’t know how to entreat to this invisible deity. Whenever Pharaoh had previously asked them to entreat to stop a plague, they had done so, and the plague had ceased.

 

6.     What death did Pharaoh fear? He feared either the starvation of his people, and what they would do to him because of it, or he feared dying in the midst of these terrifying locusts. No one among the Egyptians was able to sleep. No tomb would have been free of a locust if the door was opened!

 

7.     Why is Gods plural? Even Pharaoh knew that Yehovah was all the Gods of Moshe and Aharon—the God of the land and the God of the sea; the God of prosperity and the God of the locusts; the God of the heavens and the God of physical death.

 

8.     The text says, “And he exited from with Pharaoh.” Why didn’t Moshe say something before he exited? He didn’t need to say anything; his actions will speak louder than his words. Besides this, I suspect that all communications needed to be both loud and protected from invasion. No one wants a locust jumping into his mouth while he speaks!

 

9.     What does “he exited from with Pharaoh” mean? Moshe was with Pharaoh during this conversation. Moshe left being with him—that is, he left the room.

 

 

 

VII. The Opposite Wind (verses 18-20)

 

Moshe entreated unto Yehovah, and Yehovah flipped over the spirit of the sea that gripped the land of Egypt. The spirit/wind carried the locust and blasted the locust toward the Ending Sea. The force was so great and so complete that not a single locust remained in all the border of Egypt.

 

Yehovah gripped Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh refused to send the children of Israel.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What did Yehovah do when He flipped over the spirit of the sea? He changed it completely to its reverse course so that the wind went in exactly the opposite direction. This is the wind/spirit that is over the sea. Since the spirit/wind of east brought them, that wind/spirit changed to the east. The sea is east of Egypt; the wind took them from Egypt and threw them into the sea.

 

2.     What was very gripping? The wind was very gripping on the locusts. It grabbed them and removed them to such a degree that not a single locust was found in all the border of Egypt! That was a wind that would be of hurricane strength.

 

3.     Who carried the locust? The wind carried the locust—that is, the spirit of the sea.

 

4.     What does Ending Seaward mean? The Ending Sea is what we call the Red Sea, though it isn’t red, and it has absolutely nothing to do with reeds. It is the Ending Sea because it is where the Land of Israel ends to the south.

 

          The expression, Ending Seaward, means toward the Ending Sea. Thus, “And he blasted Ending Seaward” means “And he blasted toward the Ending Sea.” The Hebrew language is very brief in its expressions.

 

5.     What does blasted mean? The winds were so strong that they were hurricane force; they blasted means they gusted—wind gusts that picked up all the locusts in the land.

 

6.     If one locust didn’t remain in all the border of Egypt, did even the dead locusts disappear? Even the dead ones were gone, the winds were so strong. Yehovah entirely removed all traces of them except that the land was eaten.

 

7.     What did Yehovah do—that is, what does “Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh” describe? Yehovah caused Pharaoh’s heart—that is, his mind—to grip and to cling to what he already thought—that Egypt cannot and must not afford for the Israelis to leave even for a few days. Yehovah never swayed Pharaoh’s mind to do wrong; He strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve—that is, his decision to go in a direction—so that Pharaoh stood firm on his (wrong) decisions.

 

8.     Doesn’t this make Yehovah responsible for Pharaoh doing wrong? Anyone can help another to be resolved—that is, to stand firm—in a decision without agreeing with that decision and without being an accomplice in that decision. Yehovah kept on telling Pharaoh to send His people Israel from Egypt. Pharaoh kept on being undecided. Thus, Yehovah told him the right thing to do, but also firmed Pharaoh’s mind to make his decision. That aided Pharaoh to be firm. Yehovah was not helping Pharaoh to disobey Yehovah. If a reader thinks that Yehovah is helping Pharaoh to sin by firming his mind, that same reader will think that Yehovah is involved in every sin of the world since Yehovah gave every human physical and mental abilities that they use when they sin. That doesn’t make good sense.

 

 

 

VIII. Darkness and Horror (verses 21-23)

 

Yehovah again spoke to Moshe: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.”

 

Moshe did as he was told, and stretched his hand upon the heavens. Darkness of gloom became in all the land of Egypt for three days. The Egyptians did not see each other; an Egyptian could not see his own brother. They also didn’t arise from their own tuchases three days!

 

Light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who felt darkness (in, “And he felt darkness”)? I propose that this refers to each individual Egyptian. This was not a group terror; it was a terror that separated every Egyptian man, woman, child and baby from every other man, woman, child and baby.

 

2.     How can one feel darkness? This darkness had a physical component (a physical part to it). It was as if a person were in a fog where the feeling of water from the fog can be felt, but this wasn’t water, and it wasn’t wet. It was like some physical item moved against their skin. They breathed this darkness in even while they felt it. This is like nightmares that some folks have. A person who is claustrophobic—that is, who is deathly afraid of tight or small enclosed places—would have found this almost deadly.

 

3.     What does gloom mean in this text? This refers to a darkness that doesn’t permit hope or an end. It is like what one might experience in a nightmare where there is this darkness and terror of something unknown, and no way to see it.

 

4.     Was darkness also an Egyptian deity? I propose that darkness wasn’t the deity, but the sun was. The Egyptians worshipped the Sun god. This was a conquering of the power of the Sun god.

 

5.     Could the Egyptians just be brave, waiting for the three days of darkness to end? They had no idea that this darkness would ever end. During those three days, most would have concluded that they would die of thirst or starvation in that state as if they had been buried alive! Had they prayed to their Sun god, they would have soon lost hope in an ending.

 

6.     If several Egyptians were in the same house, wouldn’t this have given them a little comfort to know that they were not alone? They didn’t even get up to go to each other! They heard each other, and the terrifying sounds and conversations would have made it worse, not better.

 

7.     What does “they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days” mean? The word tuchas is a Hebrew word meaning underneath. Some in English speak of the butt or the buttox, or even the tush. It is the human rear end. They sat down, and they didn’t get up for three days. Thus, they urinated and defecated (went to the bathroom—but not going to the room itself) right in place. They must have thought they were dead, or wishing they were dead.

 

8.     Why didn’t they get up and go? This darkness produced a terror that kept them from going anywhere. They couldn’t sleep, they couldn’t eat; the only thing they could do very well was think.

 

9.     Were the Israelis suffering with the same darkness? The darkness was upon all the land of Egypt, and was therefore in the Israeli settlement, too. However, wherever the Israelis were located, they had light in their settlements and where they sat or stood. Thus, they moved around and did their chores without a problem. They didn’t even need a candle; they had light everywhere.

 

10.  What was the source of the light that all the Israelis had?

 

11.  If Egyptians were in the Israeli settlements, did the Egypt have and see light? Yes. If the Egyptians were with the Israelis, the Egyptians too would have light. Yeshua later stated regarding the Israelis, ye are the light of the world.

 

12.  If the light was to all the children of Israel, was it also to their parents? The word children used in the Bible always refers to offspring, and has no connection to age. These are the offspring of the man named Israel. He died many generations ago from this time, but they are still his offspring—his great, great, great… great grandchildren.

 

 

 

IX. Pharaoh Again Says Go (verses 24-26)

 

Pharaoh called unto Moshe. He commanded, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah!” This sounded like he had finally relented. He then added, “Only your flock and your herd he will position.” Pharaoh was not permitting them to take their flocks and their herds; they had to keep them in Egypt. He did add, “Also your little-one will walk with you!” Thus, they could take their children.

 

Moshe responded, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?” They had to take their sheep and cattle in order to do sacrifices. Even if the Egyptians gave the Israelis the animals for sacrifices, Moshe asked, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” This made no sense. Thus, Moshe continued, “And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods!”

 

Besides this, Moshe explained, “And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How did Pharaoh call unto Moshe? The text doesn’t say. This was three days after Moshe had brought this on, and the darkness left.

 

2.     What was Pharaoh demanding when he said, “Only your flock and your herd he will position”? He was demanding that the Israelis leave their animals while they go to serve Yehovah.

 

3.     Why did Pharaoh insist that they leave their animals? There were several reasons:

 

  • Pharaoh knew that the Israelis wouldn’t permanently leave their animals; those were their wealth and part of their diets.
  • They Egyptians needed the Israelis’ animals; they purchased them and the Israelis also provided for their slavemasters. Egypt needed what the Israelis produced.

4.     Why was Pharaoh so willing for them to now travel with their little one? Traveling with children will slow folks down. If Pharaoh and his army must pursue the Israelis, the children will keep them from going so far so fast.

 

5.     Why did Moshe ask, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?” He is asking this because the Israelis were going to do sacrifices. Will the Egyptians pay for the Israeli Holy Days? This was totally unreasonable. Besides this, sheep are abominations to Egyptians at this time.

 

6.     Moshe continued, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” What did he mean by this? Doing, in this case, referred to setting up and performing the sacrifices. Moshe was asking Pharaoh if Pharaoh was going to permit the Israelis to do sacrifices to a god whom Pharaoh and his people didn’t acknowledge. Would Pharaoh provide sacrifices for that?

 

7.     What was Moshe telling Pharaoh when he said, “And also our cattle will walk with us”? Moshe was telling Pharaoh that the Israelis will go when they can also take their cattle and sheep!

 

8.     What did he mean by, “A hoof will not remain”? Not even a piece of an animal of the Israelis will remain in Egypt!

 

9.     What will the Israelis take from themselves to serve Yehovah? They will take animals from their own herds and flocks for the sacrifices, not those that belong to the Egyptians.

 

10.  What would have been wrong with taking and using Egyptian-provided sacrifices to serve Yehovah? There would have been no problem except this: the Egyptians would have attacked and killed Israelis for using them in sacrifices to gods in whom they didn’t believe or even like.

 

11.  Since they will not know what they will serve Yehovah until their coming to the three-days-journey location, do they have any idea of what they will serve Him? What does this mean? We think of serving someone a meal. In Hebrew, serving Yehovah isn’t providing a meal for Him, but it is doing what He commands to do. The Israelis won’t know of what the sacrifices will consist until they arrive at the location that Yehovah specifies. Thus, even if the Egyptians were willing to provide the animals, they couldn’t, since they wouldn’t know what Yehovah will require.

 

 

 

X. Moshe Thrust Out (verses 27-29)

 

Yehovah once again gripped the heart of Pharaoh. He refused to send the Israelis by not consenting to send them. Pharaoh now was very angry. He threatened Moshe: “Walk from upon me!  Guard to thee!” He then added, “Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!”

 

Moshe responded, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!” Moshe was also quite angry.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Yehovah again gripped Pharaoh’s heart. What does this describe that Yehovah did? Yehovah held on to Pharaoh’s mind, steadying it; and thus He aided Pharaoh in steadying his own mind regarding what he (Pharaoh) had already decided that he must not do: he mustn’t send the Israelis. Both Yehovah and Pharaoh are taking hold of Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh will be strong in his decisions.

 

2.     Why did Yehovah keep gripping Pharaoh’s mind? Yehovah determined to show his own power in Pharaoh. Had Pharaoh finally done what was right and reasonable, the power of Yehovah would not have become obvious to all concerned. Pharaoh had set his own mind to keep the Israelis as slaves. Yehovah knew this, and thus He showed His power to the Israelis, the Egyptians, the slaves of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh himself. Yehovah was not pleased with Pharaoh; his hard-headedness was not good in Yehovah’s eyes even if Yehovah’s power was shown. Instead, Pharaoh is an example to all readers of how stupid and obstinate a fool can be. Yehovah also is warning readers that Yehovah can confirm fools who will not change so that the fools run headlong into a disaster because of their own foolishness. Since Pharaoh was already minded this way, Yehovah just made certain that he didn’t back down because of Yehovah’s forces. Yehovah never forced Pharaoh to do right.

 

3.     What does “Walk from upon me” mean? It means, “Go away from me!”

 

4.     What does “Guard to thee” mean? It means, “Look out!”

 

5.     What does “Do not add to see my faces” mean? This means, “Don’t come to see me again!” The expression, see my faces, is much more personal, however. It is as if Pharaoh is also saying, “Don’t come to see me to make any more requests!”

 

6.     What was Pharaoh doing when he said, “For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die”? He was threatening Moshe to kill him. Pharaoh now behaved as a king; he was through playing with Moshe.

 

7.     Did Moshe agree to not see Pharaoh again? He agreed to not seek to see Pharaoh again. He was fed up with Pharaoh and with his stupidity! That doesn’t mean that Moshe never saw Pharaoh again; he did see him later.

 

8.     Did Moshe now leave Pharaoh? Read on! See if he left or if he stayed! Stay tuned… Now for a word from our sponsor…

 

Exodus 10 Locusts and Horrifying Darkness

Locusts and Horrifying Darkness

 

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 10

 

Locust

Exodus 10:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. For I, I weighted his heart and the heart of his slaves so that I put these my signs in his midst 2and so that thou wilt scroll what I have acted myself in Double-Adversity [Egypt] in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son, and my signs that I placed in them. And ye shall know that I am Yehovah!”

 

3And Draw [Moshe] came, and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], unto Pharaoh. And they said unto him, “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?  Send my people, and he has served me! 4For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. 5And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field! 6And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!’” And he turned. And he exited from with Pharaoh.

 

7And the slaves of Pharaoh said unto him, “Until when will this be to us for a snare? Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods! Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?”

 

8And he returned Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods! Who and who are the walking?” 9And Draw [Moshe] said, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd. For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!”  10And he said unto them, “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!  See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! 11Not established!  Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!”  And he forced them from with the faces of Pharaoh.

 

12And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] via the locust. And he has ascended upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he has eaten every herb of the land, all that remained the hail.” 13And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And Yehovah guided the spirit of east in the land all that day and all the night. The morning was. And the spirit of the east carried the locust. 14And the locust ascended upon all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he rested in every border of Double-Adversity [Egypt], very heavy. To his faces there was not established a locust like him, and after him he will not be established. 15And he covered the eye of all the land. And the land was darkened. And he ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained the hail. And every green did not remain in a tree and in the herb of the field in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt].

 

16And Pharaoh hurried to call to Draw [Moshe] and to Oy!-Conception! [Aharon]. And he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you! 17And now, carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke, and entreat ye to Yehovah your Gods! And He has turned-away from upon me only this death!”  18And he exited from with Pharaoh.

 

And he entreated unto Yehovah. 19And Yehovah flipped-over the spirit of the sea, very gripping. And he carried the locust. And he blasted Ending Seaward. One locust did not remain in all the border of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. 20And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not send the children of Israel.

 

Felt Darkness

21And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.” 22And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the heavens. And darkness of gloom was in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] three days. 23They did not see—a man his brother, and they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days! And light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements.

 

24And Pharaoh called unto Draw [Moshe]. And he said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah! Only your flock and your herd he will position. Also your little-one will walk with you!” 25And Draw [Moshe] said, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions? And we will do to Yehovah our Gods? 26And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods! And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

 

27And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not consent to send them. 28And Pharaoh said to him, “Walk from upon me!  Guard to thee!  Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!” 29And Draw [Moshe] said, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!”

 

 

 

I. The Purpose of Weighting a Heart (verses 1-2)

 

Yehovah told Moshe to again come unto Pharaoh. Yehovah took credit for ‘weighting’ Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his slaves, giving the reasons:

 

  • In order to put Yehovah’s signs in his midst
  • So that this ‘thou’ will scroll what Yehovah Himself did in Egypt in the ears of his son and the son of his son
  • So that this same ‘thou’ will scroll Yehovah’s signs that He placed in them
  • So that this ‘ye’ will know that He is Yehovah.

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What did Yehovah do when He weighted the heart of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s slaves?

 

2.     Why did Yehovah do this?

 

3.     How did Yehovah put these signs in Pharaoh’s middle (midst)?

 

4.     What does scroll mean in verse 2?

 

5.     Who is thy in, “in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son”?

 

6.     Have the Israelis realized that He is Yehovah?

 

 

 

II. The Locust Threat (verses 3-6)

 

Moshe and Aharon came. They told Pharaoh that Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews said, “Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?”

 

They then told Pharaoh what Yehovah further said: “Send my people, and he has served me!” This was the same message that Yehovah kept sending to Pharaoh.

 

Yehovah then gave the threat: “For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field!” This destruction will destroy the rest of the field crops.

 

Yehovah also sent the locusts to invade another area: “And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!”

 

Moshe then turned and exited from being with Pharaoh.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Consider what Moshe and Aharon said to a great king and pharaoh: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?’” Weren’t Moshe and Aharon afraid to say such words to a man who could order their deaths for being so rude to a king and pharaoh?

 

2.     Why is Yehovah angry when He is the one who keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh won’t send the Israelis?

 

3.     Again, why didn’t Yehovah just take His people out of Egypt instead of insisting that Pharaoh send them?

 

4.     What does bringing a locust into the land have to do with their sending the Israelis out of the land?

 

5.     Is Yehovah bringing just one locust? Why does He refer to the locust as if it is one?

 

6.     Would a locust attack like this be scary? What would it be like?

 

7.     What does “he will cover the eye of the land” mean?

 

8.     Who won’t be able to see the land, and what does this mean?

 

9.     What is “the escapee” that remains from the hail?

 

10.  How can the locust eat all the tree? Do locusts eat wood?

 

11.  What else, besides the above, will the locusts do?

 

12.  Did Pharaoh believe Moshe?

 

 

 

III. Slaves and Sense (verse 7)

 

Pharaoh’s slaves asked Pharaoh, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?” They wanted this destruction to stop. They then counseled Pharaoh: “Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods!”

 

The slaves then asked Pharaoh a question: “Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?” They desired to know if Pharaoh would send the Israelis before or after Egypt finally is totally ruined.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is this in, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?”

 

2.     What did Pharaoh’s slaves advise Pharaoh to do?

 

3.     When they said, “send the men,” did they mean the males?

 

4.     What did the slaves of Pharaoh mean by, “Is it before thou wilt know that Egypt perished?”

 

 

 

IV. Pharaoh’s Strange Answer (verses 8-11)

 

Pharaoh now called Moshe and Aharon to return to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods!” This very much sounded like permission! Yet, Pharaoh continued: “Who and who are the walking?” Pharaoh desired to know who all will be going!

 

Moshe answered, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd.” Thus, everyone, including all the animals, will be walking. Moshe told why: “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!”

 

Pharaoh didn’t like this answer. He spoke sarcastically: “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” He had no intention of sending them and their little-one—their children!

 

Pharaoh then threateningly spoke: “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! Not established!” They are headed for trouble! His saying, “Not established,” is like saying, “No way!”

 

Pharaoh then told them who could go: “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” Thus, the valiant ones in Israel could go, but the rest could not.

 

In anger, Pharaoh forced Moshe and Aharon out of his faces—out of his sight.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who returned Moshe and Aharon unto Pharaoh?

 

2.     When Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods,” was he giving them permission?

 

3.     What did Pharaoh mean by, “Who and who are the walking”?

 

4.     Who would be going, according to Moshe?

 

5.     What is a solemnity?

 

6.     What does “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us” mean?

 

7.     Pharaoh’s next reply was, “He will be so!” What did he mean by this?

 

8.     Pharaoh continued, “Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” What did he mean?

 

9.     What did Pharaoh mean by, “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces”?

 

10.  When Pharaoh said, “Not established,” what was he saying?

 

11.  To whom was he speaking when he said, “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones”?

 

12.  He continued with, “And serve ye Yehovah!” Was he giving permission?

 

13.  Pharaoh ended with this statement: “For ye are seeking her!” Who is the object of the pronoun, her?

 

14. Who forced them from Pharaoh?

 

 

 

V. The Spirit and the Locust (verses 12-15)

 

Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt by means of the locust. Once Moshe does this, the locust will have ascended upon the land of Egypt and will have eaten every herb of the land—everything that remains after the destruction of the hail. Moshe did this with his rod. Yehovah then guided the spirit of the east (which includes the east wind) in the land of Egypt all that day and through all the night.

 

When the morning came, the spirit of the east carried the locust! The locust ascended upon all the land of Egypt! The locust ‘rested’ (landed) in every border of Egypt in very heavy amounts! There was no locust that had ever been established like this, and there will never be like it again.

 

The locust covered ‘the eye of all the land’—the entire exposed portion of Egypt! The whole land became dark from the locust; its huge cloud covered the entire land!

 

The locust ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained and that survived the hail! There wasn’t any green anywhere in any tree and among the herbs of the field in all the land of Egypt!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How could Moshe stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt via the locust? What does this mean?

 

2.     Did Pharaoh see Moshe do this?

 

3.     What is “the spirit of east”?

 

4.     The text states that the locust rested in every border of Egypt. Did that include the Israeli area?

 

5.     Was this locust like other locust plagues?

 

6.     What does “to his faces” mean, and whose faces are in mind?

 

7.     What is the eye of a land?

 

8.     Why was the land darkened?

 

9.     How much did the locusts eat?

 

10.  What were the Egyptians going to eat now that all their crops were gone?

 

 

 

VI. Pharaoh Hurries (verses 16-18)

 

Pharaoh was in a hurry to call Moshe and Aharon. He was also quick to confess that he sinned—not only against Yehovah, but also against Moshe and Aharon! His confession came with a request for them to carry his sin at this time and to entreat Yehovah so that Yehovah will turn away this particular death from him. Moshe exited from being with Pharaoh.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Pharaoh hurry to call them?

 

2.     Was Pharaoh serious when he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you”?

 

3.     What did Pharaoh mean by, “carry thou my sin”?

 

4.     Pharaoh said, “carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke.” What does “the stroke” mean?

 

5.     Why didn’t Pharaoh entreat to Yehovah himself?

 

6.     What death did Pharaoh fear?

 

7.     Why is Gods plural?

 

8.     The text says, “And he exited from with Pharaoh.” Why didn’t Moshe say something before he exited?

 

9.     What does “he exited from with Pharaoh” mean?

 

 

 

VII. The Opposite Wind (verses 18-20)

 

Moshe entreated unto Yehovah, and Yehovah flipped over the spirit of the sea that gripped the land of Egypt. The spirit/wind carried the locust and blasted the locust toward the Ending Sea. The force was so great and so complete that not a single locust remained in all the border of Egypt.

 

Yehovah gripped Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh refused to send the children of Israel.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What did Yehovah do when He flipped over the spirit of the sea?

 

2.     What was very gripping?

 

3.     Who carried the locust?

 

4.     What does Ending Seaward mean?

 

5.     What does blasted mean?

 

6.     If one locust didn’t remain in all the border of Egypt, did even the dead locusts disappear?

 

7.     What did Yehovah do—that is, what does “Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh” describe?

 

8.     Doesn’t this make Yehovah responsible for Pharaoh doing wrong?

 

 

 

 

 

VIII. Darkness and Horror (verses 21-23)

 

Yehovah again spoke to Moshe: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.”

 

Moshe did as he was told, and stretched his hand upon the heavens. Darkness of gloom became in all the land of Egypt for three days. The Egyptians did not see each other; an Egyptian could not see his own brother. They also didn’t arise from their own tuchases three days!

 

Light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Who felt darkness (in, “And he felt darkness”)?

 

2.     How can one feel darkness?

 

3.     What does gloom mean in this text?

 

4.     Was darkness also an Egyptian deity?

 

5.     Could the Egyptians just be brave, waiting for the three days of darkness to end?

 

6.     If several Egyptians were in the same house, wouldn’t this have given them a little comfort to know that they were not alone?

 

7.     What does “they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days” mean?

 

8.     Why didn’t they get up and go?

 

9.     Were the Israelis suffering with the same darkness?

 

10.  What was the source of the light that all the Israelis had?

 

11.  If Egyptians were in the Israeli settlements, did the Egypt have and see light?

 

12.  If the light was to all the children of Israel, was it also to their parents?

 

 

 

IX. Pharaoh Again Says Go (verses 24-26)

 

Pharaoh called unto Moshe. He commanded, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah!” This sounded like he had finally relented. He then added, “Only your flock and your herd he will position.” Pharaoh was not permitting them to take their flocks and their herds; they had to keep them in Egypt. He did add, “Also your little-one will walk with you!” Thus, they could take their children.

 

Moshe responded, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?” They had to take their sheep and cattle in order to do sacrifices. Even if the Egyptians gave the Israelis the animals for sacrifices, Moshe asked, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” This made no sense. Thus, Moshe continued, “And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods!”

 

Besides this, Moshe explained, “And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How did Pharaoh call unto Moshe?

 

2.     What was Pharaoh demanding when he said, “Only your flock and your herd he will position”?

 

3.     Why did Pharaoh insist that they leave their animals?

 

4.     Why was Pharaoh so willing for them to now travel with their little one?

 

5.     Why did Moshe ask, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?”

 

6.     Moshe continued, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” What did he mean by this?

 

7.     What was Moshe telling Pharaoh when he said, “And also our cattle will walk with us”?

 

8.     What did he mean by, “A hoof will not remain”?

 

9.     What will the Israelis take from themselves to serve Yehovah?

 

10.  What would have been wrong with taking and using Egyptian-provided sacrifices to serve Yehovah?

 

11.  Since they will not know what they will serve Yehovah until their coming to the three-days-journey location, do they have any idea of what they will serve Him? What does this mean?

 

 

 

X. Moshe Thrust Out (verses 27-29)

 

Yehovah once again gripped the heart of Pharaoh. He refused to send the Israelis by not consenting to send them. Pharaoh now was very angry. He threatened Moshe: “Walk from upon me!  Guard to thee!” He then added, “Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!”

 

Moshe responded, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!” Moshe was also quite angry.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Yehovah again gripped Pharaoh’s heart. What does this describe that Yehovah did?

 

2.     Why did Yehovah keep gripping Pharaoh’s mind?

 

3.     What does “Walk from upon me” mean?

 

4.     What does “Guard to thee” mean?

 

5.     What does “Do not add to see my faces” mean?

 

6.     What was Pharaoh doing when he said, “For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die”?

 

7.     Did Moshe agree to not see Pharaoh again?

 

8.     Did Moshe now leave Pharaoh?

 

 

 

 

 

The Use of the Name Yehovah

The Use of the Name Yehovah

 

Hyperlinked Table of Contents

 

Introduction

Of  What the Name Consists

Repeating the Commandments to the Children

Adding To or Subtracting From the Torah

Thou Shalt Swear By My Name

Who Is the Name?

Disciples Were Taught the Name

“Hallelujah” And Its Friends

Issues of Truth, and Pleasing God or Man

Lord, Baal, and Such

Placing Fences around the Law

Thou Shalt Not Pronounce the Name of the False Gods

Individual Cases of the Name, And What These Show

 

 

Introduction

As has been true for centuries, there is a real aversion among a number of Jewish sects to pronounce the Name Yehovah. This has to do with an extension of the commandment, “Thou shalt not take the Name of Yehovah thy God in vain.” But what does the Teaching of Yehovah truly state regarding these issues? This writing is dedicated to one who truly loves the Name Yehovah, and who has been outraged that His Name would be expunged from the lips of those who claim to know Him.

 

 

Of What the Name Consists

Folks have debated the derivation of the Name Yehovah, Yehovah for years. Many scholars believe that it is more likely to have been pronounced Yahweh indicating breath or air, since God is a spirit. These scholars rarely seem to pay attention to the Biblical statement of the derivation of this name, and therefore, to its correct pronunciation. Before considering this, there was a pagan god named Javeh. Some have tried to link Yehovah’s name to this name. Those who go along with any relationship to either Javeh or Yahweh demonstrate great ignorance of the Scriptures.

 

Exodus 3:13-15 in Hebrew reads:

 

Exodus 3:13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The literal rendering of this passage is as follows:

 

Exodus 3:13 And Moshe said unto the Elohim, “Behold I am coming unto the sons of Israel. And I will say to them, ‘Gods of your fathers sent me unto you!’ And they shall say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say unto them?” 14And Elohim said unto Moshe, “I Will Be Who I Will Be!” And He said, “Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, ‘I Will Be sent me unto you!’” 15And Elohim said more unto Moshe. “So shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, ‘Yehovah Gods of your fathers, Gods of Avraham, Gods of Isaac and Gods of Jacob sent me unto you!’ This is My Name to Hider. And this is My Remembrance to generation, generation.”

 

From the above, the term Yehovah must be related to the term I-will-be. Orthodox Jewish children taught in Orthodox schools learn what the Name means; they sing its meaning: “He will be, He is, He was.” The Name Yehovah is a contraction derived in the following way:

 

Yehiyeh+Hoveh+Hayah

He will be+He is+He was

Ye+Hov+ah

He will be, is, was.

 

The Bible often employs such contractions. Yehovah is abbreviated again to Yah, and is used as a Name in that form.

 

Since this is declared in Exodus, this is Yehovah’s own derivation of His Name. Anyone who desires to argue with this is arguing with the Torah. (Scholars who make their livings from the Bible are paid to argue against the Bible; expect this from them.)

 

 

Repeating the Commandments to the Children

In the famous passage known as the Shma, we have this command to Israel:

 

ShmaExtended

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This literally reads:

 

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hearken-thou, Israel! Yehovah our Gods Yehovah is One! 5And thou shalt love Yehovah Thy Gods via all thy heart and via all thy being and via all thy very-much! 6And these speeches that I am commanding thee today shall be upon thy heart. 7And thou shalt repeat them to thy children. And thou shalt speak via them via thy sitting in thy house and via thy walking in the way and via thy lying-down and via thine arising.

 

The text commands, “thou shalt repeat them.” It gives no permission to change any of the words. Part of them is the Name Yehovah. If Yehovah had desired other words to be repeated into the children, including HaShem (the Name), Adonai (my Lords), or Elokim (an intentional variant of Elohim), He would have stated this in the Torah. When Yehovah gave “these words,” He meant what He said with all the authority of these words. Changing these words to other words is a sinful violation.

 

The next set of paragraphs will further explore this violation.

 

 

 Adding To or Subtracting From the Torah

Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add upon the speech that I am commanding you and ye shall not diminish from him to guard the commandments of Yehovah your Gods that I am commanding you.

 

Deuteronomy 12:32 (KJV; 13:1, Hebrew) All the speech that I am commanding you: ye shall guard him to do. Ye shall not add upon him and ye shall not diminish from him.

 

If Yehovah commanded to repeat these words into the children, no one is permitted to change these words to other words, and no one is permitted to repeat the changed words into the children. Doing so is sin.

 

Rabbi Yeshua stated,

 

Matthew 5:17 “Don’t think that I am come to destroy the Torah or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18For I say faith unto you: until the heavens and land pass, one yod or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah until all is fulfilled! 19Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of the Heavens. And whosoever shall do and teach, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of the Heavens.”

 

It is typical for men to try to demonstrate their zeal for God by improving upon His Teaching. It is also typical for men to try to please other men by choosing to not offend men even at the risk of offending God.

 

 

Thou Shalt Swear By My Name

Yehovah in His wisdom commanded the Israelis to swear via His Name. If they vowed, they were to use His Name. Thus, His Name had to be used for such solemn acts. They weren’t usually forced to vow, but when they did, they had to use His Name:

 

Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear Yehovah thy God and serve Him. And thou shalt swear via His name.

 

Deuteronomy 10:20 Thou shalt fear Yehovah thy God. Thou shalt serve Him, and thou shalt cleave to Him. And thou shalt swear via His name.

 

There are many titles for God, but they are not names. Elohim literally means gods, and this is also used for the false gods (as in Exodus 20 where Israel is commanded to have no other gods before Yehovah’s faces). Adonai means my lords, and it is also not a name, but a title. According to the command, the Israelis must use His name if he/she will vow.

 

 

Who is the Name?

This may seem like a strange question, but in the Psalms (for example) there are far more accolades given to the name Yehovah than to Yehovah Himself! These phrases may bring this to remembrance:

 

  • Praise the Name Yehovah
  • Glorify His Name
  • Sing unto His Name
  • Magnify His Name

 

 

Why would the text honour a name—a special title of identification—more than the holder of the name?

 

Isaiah 30:27 Behold, the Name of Yehovah comes from far; His anger is burning and the burden is heavy! His lips are full of indignation and His tongue is as a devouring fire! 28And His breath shall reach to the midst of the neck as an overflowing stream to sift the races with the sieve of vanity!

 

The Name is coming in this text. Yehovah Himself isn’t the subject of the sentence. If a careful reader were to follow the Name through the Scriptures, that reader would find the presence of this wording in the most curious places. Even in the text, “His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, etc.,” it is as if His Name is a person. The expected wording would be more like this: “His Messiah shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, etc.”

 

 

Disciples Were Taught the Name

Yehovah taught His students the Name:

 

John 17:6 “I have manifested thy Name unto the men that thou gave me from the world. They were thine, and thou gave me them. And they have kept thy speech!”

 

John 17:12 “While I was with them in the world, I kept them via thy Name. I have kept those whom thou gave me; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition so that the Scripture will be fulfilled.”

 

John 17:26 “And I have declared and will declare thy Name unto them so that the love with which thou hast loved me will be in them; and I will be in them.”

 

To manifest a Name is to make that Name become visible. Manifestation isn’t merely a matter of understanding, but a matter of visibility. Yeshua stated, “I have declared thy Name unto them.” This would be necessary only if they somehow didn’t know His Name! Thus, we see that the tradition of not using the Name had already come into practice, and Rabbi Yeshua corrected this practice among His students!

 

 

“Hallelujah” And Its Friends

It struck me as both curious and inconsistent when I learned that religious Jewish communities refuse to pronounce the Name Yehovah, and often refrain from using Elohim, choosing instead to say Elokim. It is tradition when counting to change the number 15 (consisting of Yod, 10, + Heh, 5—the letters for Yah having the value of 10 + 5) from 10 + 5 to 9 + 6 just to avoid writing the Name Yah; yet the same tradition permitted saying Hallelujah and names like Jeremiah (YeremYahu in Hebrew, with Yahu being an abbreviated form for Yehovah). If the Name Yehovah is so special that it mustn’t be pronounced, the Name Yah is more special since it is far rarer in the Scriptures! The number 16 is likewise changed since it is Yod + Vov, or Yoh, a possible contraction of Yehovah (as used in the name Yo-el, Joel). Yet, these names are commonly employed by very Orthodox Jewish parents when naming their children; the Name is being used for very mundane purposes! If any non-believer in the God of Israel has the Name Yo-El, Joel, his very life is taking the Name in vain! This name is declaring a Biblical truth while the holder of the Name is declaring that ‘truth’ to be a lie! It also struck me that those who claim to have such a high regard for the Name Yehovah that they refuse to pronounce it would sing songs employing worlds like Hallelujah where the Name Yah is repeated over and over again (vain repetition of the Name is also against the Teaching of God), besides the contradiction of singing this Name at all. Is this ignorance, or is it hypocrisy?

 

Consider how the Name of Yehovah is being used in vain when singing a command employing it where the command won’t be carried out. Singing “Praise ye Yehovah,” which is “Commend ye Yehovah” (for specific things He has done) without hearers responding according to the command is giving a false command in His Name. In all the Psalms where His Name is so used, there is always a response with specific commendations! Psalm 150 is perfect example. The choirs sang the command and the People responded by commending Yehovah.

 

Some have the audacity (or ignorance) to use “Hallelujah!” as an expletive, like a religious person might use the expletive, “Hosannah!” or like a non-religious person might use “holy mackerel!” Yehovah will not hold him guiltless who uses His Name in vain:

 

Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11 Thou shalt not lift the Name Yehovah thy Gods to a vanity; for Yehovah will clear him who lifts His Name to a vanity!

 

 

Issues of Truth, And Pleasing God or Man

Does a person desire to pursue Truth and pleasing God, or does one desire to not offend man and tradition even if it means compromising on the commandments of God? One who takes the latter view will not produce good fruit (in the Biblical sense). Anyone who fears God doesn’t concern himself with the traditions of man that violate obedience. Daniel knew that he was violating a new tradition by praying other than to the king; he did so, knowing it would be an offense. Yet, he stood firm. Yehovah honoured his stance. Man-pleasers cannot be God-pleasers. Truth cannot be compromised, even to avoid offense. A tradition that teaches contrary to Scriptures is a tradition that challenges the authority of Yehovah.

 

 

Lord, Baal, and Such

The term Lord (Adonin Hebrew) basically means sir, and is a term of respect in view of rank or service. It is also a term of submission, and can be used of a slave toward a master. The term Baal (Baalin Hebrew) also means lord, and is used of a woman toward her husband. It is also the name of a false god. It is used in much the same way as the term lord is used in religious communities around the world today. A Buddhist uses the term lord to refer to Buddha with the same zeal and love as Christians do. Lord is not a specific term. It describes a rank, a position; it doesn’t specify a person or the deity.

 

Matthew 7:1 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but rather, he who does the will of my Father Who is in the heavens. 2Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord! Lord, haven’t we prophesied in thy Name, and cast out devils in thy Name, and done many wonderful works in thy Name?’ 3And I will then profess unto them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from me, ye who work iniquity!’”

 

Who was this lord that these identified as being their lord? They were addressing some other being. They obviously used Lord often; that is why Yeshua used “Lord! Lord!” Some even did great things that would seem to prove that the power of God was with them. They were obviously fooled even if they helped others in the process; their work was iniquity! How strange it is that it is considered appropriate to use this term that is also used for all the pagan gods instead of identifying the god (God) in whom one truly believes by name!

 

Who is this Elokim? Who is HaShem? Who is G-d? Who is L-rd? As I mentioned above, Elokim is Elohim with the middle letter intentionally changed so as not to take the Name in vain accidentally. Whose idea was this? If one takes the ‘name’ Elokim in vain, is it any less serious than taking Elohim in vain if both refer to the same God? And who is HaShem (the Name)? Is this not the very One who is the bearer of the Name? And if HaShem is improperly used, is there less guilt than if the doer/speaker takes Yehovah in vain? Who is G-d? When I was young, I learned what G-d meant. It was used in literature replace “God damn.” Is it better to use G-d rather than God? Is it safer to use L‑rd rather than Lord?

 

Consider the following logic argument regarding a separate issue; see if this same argument can be used here:

 

Matthew 5:33 “Again, ye have heard that it has been said by them of old time, ‘Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform thine oaths unto the Lord.’ 34But I say unto you, don’t swear at all—neither by the heavens, for it is God’s throne, 35nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; 36nor shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou can’t make one hair white or black!”

 

If we use this logic argument, using even part of a title of identification that is known to identify the One Whose Name is Holy is still using Him Who is Holy! So, why use HaShem when this only refers to Yehovah? And if this doesn’t refer to Yehovah (as Lord), why use it at all? It makes sense to use Lord in the Name Lord Yehovah, since Yehovah is clearly identified as being the specific Lord to whom one is referring. Otherwise, why follow the pagans who do the same practices?

 

 

Placing Fences around the Law

I already discussed adding and subtracting or changing items in the Teaching (Torah) of Yehovah. This is a brief discussion of the concept of ‘placing fences around the Torah (Teaching). According to Jewish tradition, one reason why the God of Israel has been so angry with Israel is because Israel has not kept the Torah. (This is also Biblically true.) The rabbis felt that the Messiah will come when the Jewish People will faithfully keep the Torah, and the faces of Yehovah will return back toward Israel for blessing. The Jewish People (including all Jewish individuals) have not kept the Torah with its regulations, however. So, the rabbis felt that if regulations were made that would normalize the keeping of the Torah, and would guard individual Israelis much farther back from even coming close to breaking the Torah, this would bring the Jews into Torah compliance.

 

Thus, if the text stated not to seethe a goat kid in its mother’s milk, why not legislate that meat and dairy were not to be eaten in the same meal in order to keep an Israeli from accidentally doing this? But then, there might be the accidental mixture of meat and dairy if the same utensils were used to prepare meat and dairy. So, they legislated to have separate pans, pots, dishes, spoons, etc.: one for meat and one for dairy. They viewed this as placing a fence around the Torah to keep the Jewish People far from violating its commands. However, in the process of building this very large and detailed fence, they violated the Torah they sought to protect. They added many commands to the Torah, which is a violation of the Torah! Instead of increasing righteousness, it increased rabbinic discussions on the Torah and on this Fence which became, in effect, the ‘Jewish Orthodox New Testament’! If God had meant for them to do this, He would sent prophets to give this part of the written Torah.

 

Any oral transmission of information goes through changes after a while. Only written communications have greater certainty of being the same if great care in copying is employed.

 

This Fence around the Torah is called the “Oral Law,” and it is deemed as holy as the written Torah, or more so! It is deemed more binding than the written Torah by some very Orthodox groups! This certainly violates the written Torah given to Moshe.

 

The refusal to pronounce and use the Name Yehovah is part of the Oral Law. Thus, it is not a neutral choice; it is participation in wrong-doing. The use of the Name Yehovah is vital for any obedient Jewish person.

 

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, whosoever shall call on the name Yehovah shall be delivered: for deliverance shall be in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as Yehovah said, and in the remnant whom Yehovah shall call.

 

Calling upon HaShem, the Name isn’t good enough; identify your God! Tolerate no fences around the Torah, the Teaching of the Gods of Israel!

 

 

Thou Shalt Not Pronounce the Name of the False Gods

I was amazed that the Teaching of God could be so easily switched around. While the Torah commands the use of Yehovah’s Name for swearing and for teaching children, and for anyone who will read the Scriptures out loud, it also prohibits the pronunciation of the names of false gods!

 

Exodus 23:13 “And ye shall guard via all that I said unto you. And ye shall not remind-of the name of other gods. He shall not hear upon thy mouth!”

 

Thus, Jewish tradition has reversed the whole command, and feels free to mention the names of the false gods, while not being at liberty to mention the Name of the True and Living God, Yehovah!

 

 

Individual Cases of the Name, And What These Show

The following texts show something specific about the use of the Name Yehovah:

 

 

Psalms 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call via the name Yehovah.

 

There is a direct connection between taking the cup of salvation, and calling via the name Yehovah!

 

MoganDavid

 

Psalms 116:17 I will offer the sacrifice of confession to thee, and will call via the name Yehovah.

 

Thee is separated from the Name Yehovah. The speaker states that he will offer to ‘thee’ (to Yehovah) the sacrifice of confession, and he will call—not upon thee, but rather the Name Yehovah.

 

MoganDavid

 

Zephaniah 3:9 For then I will flip-over to the peoples a pure tongue to call—all of them—via name Yehovah, to serve him, one shoulder!

 

This is obviously a future event. At that time, they will all call via the Name Yehovah! But then, shouldn’t folks who believe the texts be doing so now?

 

 

MoganDavid

 

Genesis 12:8 And he removed from there unto a mountain on the east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent. Bethel is on the west and Hai is on the east. And he built an altar there unto Yehovah. And he called via the name Yehovah.

 

He didn’t call on “HaShem.”

 

 MoganDavid

Genesis 26:25 And he built an altar there. And he called upon the name Yehovah. And he pitched his tent there. And Isaac’s servants dug a well there.

 

Neither Abraham nor Isaac feared to use the Name. Rather, they feared to not use the name.

 

MoganDavid

 

1 Samuel 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace forasmuch as we have sworn both of us via the name Yehovah, saying, ‘Yehovah be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever.’”

 

This is an example of what it means to swear in the name Yehovah: “Yehovah be between me and thee.”

 

 MoganDavid

2 Samuel 6:18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering ascensions and peace offerings, he blessed the people via the name Yehovah of hosts.

 

Yehovah’s fuller name/title includes His military position!

 

 MoganDavid

Psalms 129:8 And they who go by don’t say, “The blessing of Yehovah is upon you; we bless you via the name Yehovah.”

 

This shows the proper way of blessing one via the name of Yehovah (although this is a negative text): “The blessing of Yehovah is upon you.”

 

MoganDavid

 

Psalms 7:17 I will praise Yehovah according to His righteousness! And I will ‘ballad’ to the name Yehovah most high!

 

How does one ‘ballad’ to a name?

 

MoganDavid

 

Psalms 20:7 Some [trust] in chariots, and some in horses. But we will remember the name Yehovah our God!

 

What individuals prove to have the desire to forget the Name more than those who refuse to make mention of it? In the Psalm, the speakers will remember that Name!

 

 MoganDavid

Psalms 102:15 The races shall fear the name Yehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory!

 

The races will fear the Name! They will only fear it if they knew what it is and Who it is!

 

 MoganDavid

Psalms 102:20 (Hebrew) For His Holy-[One] looked-down from the height! Yehovah peered from the heavens unto land 21to hearken to [the] groan of a prisoner, to open sons of death 22to scroll name Yehovah in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem 23via the gathering of unified peoples and kingdoms to serve Yehovah!

 

How does one scroll a name that isn’t ever mentioned?

 

 MoganDavid

Psalms 113:1 Praise ye Yehovah! Praise, ye slaves of Yehovah! Praise Name Yehovah!

 

How can one praise (that is, commend) a name? What can a name do? It must be a person!

 

MoganDavid

 

Psalms 116:4 I then called upon Name Yehovah. Yehovah, deliver my soul, na!

 

(The Hebrew particle na is a softener of something that might sound like a demand; it is softened to something akin to a request or a non-demand.)

 

This text shows how this speaker will call upon Name Yehovah, and how the speaker will know that Name Yehovah and Yehovah are the same, and yet different.

 

MoganDavid

 

Psalms 135:1 Praise ye Yehovah. Praise ye Name Yehovah! Praise, ye slaves of Yehovah!

 

The speaker commends Yehovah and then Name Yehovah as separate beings!

 

MoganDavid

 

Psalms 148:5 They shall praise Name Yehovah! For He commanded, and they were created!

 

Who created? It doesn’t say that Yehovah created in this text, since Name Yehovah is being commended for this! Name commanded, and they were created!

 

 MoganDavid

Psalms 148:13 They shall praise Name Yehovah! For His Name alone is enfortressed! His glory is upon land and heavens!

 

How can a name be enfortressed? How can a being be enfortressed? If Yehovah can show up as a Rock that provides water, He can show up as a giant Rock Fortress. (Limiting Yehovah isn’t too smart.) If Name Yehovah is Yehovah and is separate from Yehovah, He also can easily show up as a giant Rock Fortress in which fleeing ‘good guys’ of Israel and of the races can escape! (Anyone who doesn’t believe that Yehovah can be in two places at the same time doesn’t believe in the Biblical Yehovah. Anyone who doesn’t believe that Yehovah can show up with a separate identity—that is, as Name Yehovah—has a very limiting view of Yehovah, and doesn’t believe in the Biblical Yehovah. Such a person truly will do better in Islam where the absolute oneness of their deity never permits their deity to take on separate identities.)

 

MoganDavid

 

Proverbs 18:10 Name Yehovah is a tower of strength! The righteous-[one] runs into it, and is enfortressed!

 

This tower of strength will be a literal tower. The righteous person will run into this tower, and will be enfortressed from pursuing enemies. (These events will occur in the very distant Tribulation that is so well-described in the Bible.)

 

 MoganDavid

Isaiah 56:6 “And the sons of the foreigner joined unto Yehovah to minister-to Him and to love Name Yehovah to be to Him to slaves and to bless Name Yehovah, and every guard of the Shabbat from piercing him (her, Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah) and grasping-[ones] via my Covenant, 7and I will bring them unto the Mountain of my Holy-[One]! And I will rejoice them in the House of My Prayer! Their ascensions of her and their sacrifices of her shall ascend to desire upon my altar! For my House shall be called House of Prayer to All the Peoples,” 8declared my Lords Yehovah, Gatherer of expelled-[ones] of Israel!

 

Loving and blessing Name Yehovah must be significant and important. No one can say that he/she loves and blesses Name Yehovah who will not even pronounce that name, and who doesn’t even know what the name is!

 

MoganDavid

 

Isaiah 60:9 For, islands shall hope to me, and ships of Tarshish in her first-[place], to bring thy sons from a distance, their silver and their gold with them, to Name Yehovah thy Gods and to Holy-[One] of Israel! For He bright-glorified thee!

 

They will bring these physical things to the Name Yehovah and to the Holy One of Israel; “For, He (not they) bright-glorified thee!”

 

MoganDavid

 

Amos 6:10 And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he who burns him, to bring out the bones from the house. And he shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, “[Is any] yet with thee?” and he shall say, “No.” Then shall he say, “Hold thy tongue! For we shall not make mention of the name Yehovah!”

 

These conversing folks during an extreme time of oppression didn’t feel the freedom to make mention of the Name Yehovah. What is the excuse, today?

 

 MoganDavid

Micah 4:5 For all the peoples shall walk—a man via the name of his gods. And we, we shall walk via Name Yehovah our Gods to Hider and onward!

 

That will be a great day! There will be no fear or reluctance because of potential offense to do so!

 

MoganDavid

 

Everyone who fears Yehovah of Hosts, the Gods of Israel, use His Name! Use it properly! Don’t be like others who shout that “God is his name!” (That makes as much sense as shouting regarding a hero, “Person is his name!”)

 

Exodus 9 Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

 

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 9

 Exodus 9:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. And thou shalt speak unto him: ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me!” 2For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, 3behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague! 4And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!’”

 

5And Yehovah put an appointment to say, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” 6And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow. And every cattle of Egypt died. And not one from the cattle of the children of Israel died. 7And Pharaoh sent. And behold, not unto one from the cattle of Israel died. And the heart of Pharaoh weighted. And he did not send the people.

 

 

Ashen Boil

8And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe] and unto Aharon, “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace. And Draw [Moshe] shall sprinkle him heavens-ward to the eyes of Pharaoh. 9And he shall become to powder over all the land of Egypt. And he shall be upon the adam and upon the beast for a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions in all the land of Egypt.” 10And they took the ash of the furnace. And they stood to the faces of Pharaoh. And Draw [Moshe] sprinkled him heavens-ward. And the boil of the eruptions-eruptions flowered in adam and in beast. 11And the diviners were not able to stand to the faces of Draw [Moshe] from the faces of the boil. For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt. 12And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not hearken unto them just as Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe].

 

 

Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

13And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh. And thou shalt say unto him, ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me! 14For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land! 15For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land! 16And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land! 17Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them! 18Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now! 19And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field. All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”’”

 

20The fearer of the speech of Yehovah from the slaves of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee unto the houses. 21And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah, and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field.

 

22And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens! And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!” 23And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the heavens. And Yehovah gave voices and hail! And fire walked landward! And Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt!

 

24And hail was very heavy, and fire taking herself in the midst of the hail—that there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race! 25And the hail smote all that is in the field from adam and unto beast in all the land of Egypt. And the hail smote every herb of the field. And he broke every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are there, hail wasn’t.

 

27And Pharaoh sent. And he called to Draw [Moshe] and to Aharon. And he said unto them, “I sinned the stroke! Yehovah is the righteous! And I and my people are the culpable-ones! 28Entreat-ye unto Yehovah, and multiply from there being voices of gods and hail. And I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!” 29And Draw [Moshe] said unto him, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah! 30And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, 31and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!”  For the barley is spring, and the flax is exalted-above. 32And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened.

 

33And Draw [Moshe] exited the city from with Pharaoh. And he spread his palms unto Yehovah. And the voices ceased, and the hail and rain. And he did not pour-forth landward. 34And Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, and the hail and the voices. And he added to sin. And his heart heavied—he and his slaves. 35And the heart of Pharaoh gripped. And he did not send the children of Israel just as Yehovah spoke via the hand of Draw [Moshe].

 

 

 

I. The Threat to Herd and Flock (verses 1-4)

 

Yehovah commanded Moshe to come unto Pharaoh. Moshe introduced whom he was quoting: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah’s command to Pharaoh was the same as it had previously been: “Send my people, and he has served me!” Moshe then gave Yehovah’s threat: “For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague!”

 

Moshe then declared the segregation that Yehovah will perform: “And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Yehovah insist that Pharaoh send Yehovah’s people (instead of just leading them out, and stopping Pharaoh from stopping them)?

 

2.     Does Yehovah ever threaten anyone?

 

3.     What is the Hand of Yehovah, and how does this hand differ from Yehovah?

 

4.     Yehovah threatened the horses, asses, camels, herd and flock of Pharaoh and all Egypt (except for the Israeli herds and flocks) if Pharaoh didn’t send the people of Israel. Why was Yehovah willing to harm animals that couldn’t do anything about what Pharaoh chose to do?

 

5.     Why did Yehovah segregate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt? Define segregation:

 

6.     How many animals of the Israelis normally died on a daily basis in Egypt?

 

 

 

II. One Day’s Notice (verses 5-7)

 

Yehovah Himself set the appointment for this event, and Moshe told Pharaoh this: “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.”

 

The text then explained that Yehovah did this speech (what He said) from tomorrow—that is, it began starting the next day. Every cattle of Egypt died. Not even one of the Israelis’ cattle died!

 

Pharaoh sent investigators to see if any of the Israelis’ cattle died, and they found that not a single animal died. How did Pharaoh respond? His heart (mind) weighted—he became concerned about what would happen if he sent the Israelis. He didn’t send the people.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is an appointment in the Bible, and why is this word so important?

 

2.     Verse 5 states, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” What speech will He do?

 

3.     The next statement says, “And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow.” What does from tomorrow mean?

 

4.     How many of the Egyptian cattle died in this plague?

 

5.     How many died from the Israeli cattle?

 

6.     For what purpose did Pharaoh send, and whom did he send?

 

7.     Why did Pharaoh’s heart weigh, this time, and what does this mean?

 

 

 

III. Boils with Eruptions (verses 8-12)

 

Yehovah now directed both Moshe and Aharon: “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace.” Thus, they filled their four fists with furnace ash. Yehovah told only Moshe to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens directly in the sight of Pharaoh. When Moshe does this, the ash shall become a powder over all the land of Egypt! The powder will land upon ‘the adam’ (the human, referring to every human) and upon the beast (referring to every beast). It will then become a boil that flowers and erupts over again over all the land of Egypt.

 

Moshe and Aharon did as they were told, taking ash of the furnace. They then stood directly in front of Pharaoh. Moshe sprinkled the ash toward the heavens. The boils flowered with eruptions in man and animal.

 

The diviners couldn’t stand directly in front of Moshe because of the faces of the boil! The diviners erupted with boils, as well as all Egypt.

 

This time, Yehovah gripped the heart (mind) of Pharaoh! Pharaoh didn’t hearken unto them, which is what Yehovah had said Pharaoh wouldn’t do.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Yehovah command both Aharon and Moshe to take a fistful of ash from a furnace when only Moshe was commanded to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens?

 

2.     What does “upon the adam” mean (when ‘adam’ isn’t capitalized)?

 

3.     What is a boil?

 

4.     What does “a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions” mean?

 

5.     What beasts were there since so many of the cattle of the Egyptians died?

 

6.     Why did Yehovah also put boils on Egyptian cattle?

 

7.     Did the Israelis’ cattle also suffer with boils?

 

8.     Would Egyptian cattle that was temporarily grazing on Israeli lands and in the hands of the Israelis be safe from the boil?

 

9.     Why weren’t the diviners able to stand in front of Moshe?

 

10.  What does “For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt” mean?

 

11.  How long did the boils and the ‘boil plague’ last?

 

12. Did Pharaoh get hit with the boils?

 

 

 

IV. Yehovah’s Threat and Editorial (verses 13-19)

 

Yehovah had new orders for Moshe: “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh.” Yehovah identified Himself in the normal way: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah commanded Pharaoh in the usual way: “Send my people, and he has served me!”

 

Yehovah then followed this with a direct threat: “For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land!”

 

Yehovah then gave the result of this threat being carried out: “For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land!”

 

Why did Yehovah tolerate Pharaoh? He explained: “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land!”

 

Yehovah openly stated Pharaoh’s motives: “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them!”

 

Thus, Yehovah told Pharaoh what was next coming: “Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now!”

 

Yet, Yehovah told Pharaoh what to do to save the humans and the cattle: “And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field.”

 

He gave the results of not doing this: “All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Did Pharaoh enjoy seeing Moshe early in the morning?

 

2.     Why did Yehovah use the very same wording over and over again when He said, “Send my people, and he has served me”?

 

3.     What does stroke mean in, “For in this stroke, I am sending…”?

 

4.     What did Yehovah mean by, “in this stroke, I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart?

 

5.     What was the purpose for sending all these plagues?

 

6.     Yehovah said, “For now I sent my hand.” What does this mean?

 

7.     What will the hand be doing, according to verse 15?

 

8.     What does smite mean?

 

9.     What does pestilence mean?

 

10.  What does expunged mean?

 

11.  Who will be expunged from the land?

 

12.  Wouldn’t this be a direct threat to Pharaoh’s life from Yehovah? Wouldn’t Pharaoh become very angry being threatened in this way?

 

13.  What does stood mean in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”?

 

14.  Why did Yehovah use silently in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”?

 

15. What two reasons did Yehovah give for ‘standing’ Pharaoh?

 

16. What land did Yehovah have in mind when He said, “in order to publish my Name in all the land”?

 

17.  What would be accomplished if Yehovah published His Name in all the land?

 

18.  Yehovah said through Moshe, “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them.” What was Pharaoh doing, according to this description?

 

19.  How heavy is heavy hail?

 

20.  Had there been hail in Egypt before this time?

 

21.  When Yehovah gave the command, “And now, send,” whom was Pharaoh to send, and for what purpose?

 

22.  What does “Firm thy cattle” mean?

 

23.  What is an ‘adam’?

 

24.  How many of the animals and humans that remain in the fields will die?

 

 

 

V. The Fearer and the Ignorer (verses 20-21)

 

Pharaoh’s slaves heard these words. Every slave who feared the speech of Yehovah made his slaves and his cattle flee unto (toward) the houses. Every slave who didn’t put his heart (mind) unto the speech of Yehovah abandoned his slaves and his cattle in the field.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a “fearer of the speech of Yehovah,” and does that person have faith in Yehovah?

 

2.     What does “And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah” mean?

 

3.     Why does the text state, “and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field” instead of stating, “and he left his slaves and his cattle in the field”?

 

 

 

VI. Hail, Thunder, Lightning (verses 22-23)

 

Yehovah commanded just Moshe to: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens.” Yehovah told Moshe the results: “And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!”

 

Moshe did as he was commanded, stretching his rod upon the heavens. Yehovah gave voices and hail! Fire walked toward the land! Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How can Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens when Moshe just isn’t that big?

 

2.     When did Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens?

 

3.     Wasn’t Moshe outside when this occurred? If so, wasn’t Moshe in danger of being hit by the hail and being killed?

 

4.     What else besides humans and cattle was destroyed?

 

5.     In what danger was the land of Egypt because of this hail, besides those who were killed by it?

 

6.     Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the heavens; Moshe stretched his rod upon the heavens. Did Moshe do wrong?

 

7.     What does “Yehovah gave voices” mean?

 

8.     What causes these voices?

 

9.     What does “fire walked landward” describe?

 

10.  The text doesn’t describe any rain. Did it rain?

 

 

 

VII. Devastation (verses 24-26)

 

The hail was very heavy (both in the amount of hail and in the size of the hail). Fire took herself in the midst of the hail! That is fire and ice at the same time! This kind of a hailstorm never occurred from the time that Egypt (the original person) became a race! The hail smote (attacked with the force to kill) everything in the field including man and animal. The hail smote every herb of the field. It also broke every tree of the field! There was no hail, however, in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How heavy was the hail?

 

2.     What does “fire taking herself in the midst of the hail” describe?

 

3.     What does “there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race” mean?

 

4.     What does smote mean?

 

5.     How many herbs of the field survived this hail?

 

6.     How many trees survived this hail?

 

7.     Did the Israelis see the hail?

 

8.     Were the Israelis being slave-driven during this time?

 

 

 

VIII. False Repentance (verses 27-30)

 

Pharaoh sent and called Moshe and Aharon. He admitted that he had sinned this time, and that Yehovah is righteous. He then stated that he and his people are the culpable ones.

 

He told them to entreat unto Yehovah, and multiply from their beings voices of gods and hail. On this condition, Pharaoh stated, “I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!”

 

Moshe responded, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah!”

 

Moshe then added, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!”

 

Moshe explained, “For the barley is spring,” that is, the barley is coming up well, as it does in the spring of the year. “And the flax is exalted-above,” meaning that it is already several inches high. “And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened,” meaning that the tender plants haven’t yet broken aboveground.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     When did Pharaoh send for Moshe and Aharon?

 

2.     Where were Moshe and Aharon located during the storm?

 

3.     What does “I sinned the stroke” mean?

 

4.     Pharaoh also said, “Yehovah is righteous!” Did he mean it?

 

5.     Was “I and my people are the culpable-ones” true?

 

6.     What does entreat mean?

 

7.     What does “multiply from there being voices” mean?

 

8.     Pharaoh called the thunder voices of gods. Was he right?

 

9.     Pharaoh promised that if Moshe and Aharon entreated unto Yehovah, and if Yehovah stopped the voices of gods and the hail, he would send the Israelis. Was this true?

 

10.  Pharaoh also said, “And ye shall not add to stand.” What does that mean?

 

11.  Did Moshe believe him?

 

12.  Moshe told Pharaoh that he was going out of the city, at which time he would spread his palms unto Yehovah. Wasn’t he afraid of being hit by the hail or struck by the lightning?

 

13.  What was the point of this terrible destruction, according to verse 29?

 

14.  Who is ‘I’ in, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew”?

 

15.  What did he know?

 

16.  What is flax?

 

17.  What is barley?

 

18.  What does “barley is spring” mean?

 

19.  What does “the flax is exalted above” mean?

 

20.  What does being darkened mean in verse 32?

 

 

 

IX. Sinning More (verses 33-35)

 

Moshe left the city and Pharaoh. He spread the palms of his hands unto Yehovah. The voices ceased, as well as the hail and the rain. The rain didn’t pour down on the land.

 

Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, as well as the hail and the voices. He sinned even more! His heart (mind) heavied, and so did the heart of his slaves!

 

Pharaoh’s heart gripped, hanging on to his views from before. He didn’t send the children of Israel, exactly as Yehovah spoke by means of the hand of Moshe!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Verse 34 states that Pharaoh “added to sin.” What did he do that was sin?

 

2.     What does “his heart heavied” mean, and why did the heart of his slaves do the same thing?

 

3.     The next text states that the heart of Pharaoh gripped. What does this mean?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exodus 9 Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain QA

Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

 

With Questions and Proposed Answers Supplied 

 

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 9

Exodus 9:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. And thou shalt speak unto him: ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me!” 2For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, 3behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague! 4And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!’”

 

5And Yehovah put an appointment to say, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” 6And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow. And every cattle of Egypt died. And not one from the cattle of the children of Israel died. 7And Pharaoh sent. And behold, not unto one from the cattle of Israel died. And the heart of Pharaoh weighted. And he did not send the people.

 

 

Ashen Boil

8And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe] and unto Aharon, “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace. And Draw [Moshe] shall sprinkle him heavens-ward to the eyes of Pharaoh. 9And he shall become to powder over all the land of Egypt. And he shall be upon the adam and upon the beast for a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions in all the land of Egypt.” 10And they took the ash of the furnace. And they stood to the faces of Pharaoh. And Draw [Moshe] sprinkled him heavens-ward. And the boil of the eruptions-eruptions flowered in adam and in beast. 11And the diviners were not able to stand to the faces of Draw [Moshe] from the faces of the boil. For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt. 12And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not hearken unto them just as Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe].

 

 

Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

13And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh. And thou shalt say unto him, ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me! 14For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land! 15For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land! 16And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land! 17Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them! 18Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now! 19And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field. All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”’”

 

20The fearer of the speech of Yehovah from the slaves of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee unto the houses. 21And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah, and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field.

 

22And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens! And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!” 23And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the heavens. And Yehovah gave voices and hail! And fire walked landward! And Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt!

 

24And hail was very heavy, and fire taking herself in the midst of the hail—that there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race! 25And the hail smote all that is in the field from adam and unto beast in all the land of Egypt. And the hail smote every herb of the field. And he broke every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are there, hail wasn’t.

 

27And Pharaoh sent. And he called to Draw [Moshe] and to Aharon. And he said unto them, “I sinned the stroke! Yehovah is the righteous! And I and my people are the culpable-ones! 28Entreat-ye unto Yehovah, and multiply from there being voices of gods and hail. And I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!” 29And Draw [Moshe] said unto him, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah! 30And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, 31and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!”  For the barley is spring, and the flax is exalted-above. 32And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened.

 

33And Draw [Moshe] exited the city from with Pharaoh. And he spread his palms unto Yehovah. And the voices ceased, and the hail and rain. And he did not pour-forth landward. 34And Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, and the hail and the voices. And he added to sin. And his heart heavied—he and his slaves. 35And the heart of Pharaoh gripped. And he did not send the children of Israel just as Yehovah spoke via the hand of Draw [Moshe].

 

 

 

I. The Threat to Herd and Flock (verses 1-4)

 

Yehovah commanded Moshe to come unto Pharaoh. Moshe introduced whom he was quoting: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah’s command to Pharaoh was the same as it had previously been: “Send my people, and he has served me!” Moshe then gave Yehovah’s threat: “For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague!”

 

Moshe then declared the segregation that Yehovah will perform: “And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Yehovah insist that Pharaoh send Yehovah’s people (instead of just leading them out, and stopping Pharaoh from stopping them)? Before answering this, the reader needs to know a practice of the cultures in the Bible. If a visitor comes to lodge with someone, that person who opens his home normally must send the guest on his/her way. If the guest just leaves, that is considered improper, and could result in harm to the friendship (or even the accusation of stealing, since a guest is like a gift to the person). Thus, when the person said that it was time to leave, the host would sometimes try to convince the guest to stay another day. Once the host sent the visitor, the departure was in peace. If you read the book of the Judges of Israel, you will see this type of interaction.

 

          With this in mind, I propose that this type of interaction among cultures is directly related to why Yehovah told Pharaoh to send the people of Israel. This people had been a guest in Egypt for these centuries. Yehovah desired the departure to be in peace and not with hatred. Since the Egyptian leaders were now holding on to this people as if the Israelis were their property, Yehovah sent to these leaders to tell them to send His people. Yehovah began to force Egypt’s ‘hand’ to do this so that the Israelis could leave in peace, and not just sneak away. Yehovah truly had no desire to harm Egypt and Egyptians, but He was more than willing to kill Egyptians if they insisted upon holding Yehovah’s property. Once they sent the Israelis, Yehovah would not harm them (as long as they didn’t try to do a reversal and re-kidnap them).

 

2.     Does Yehovah ever threaten anyone? He obviously does!

 

3.     What is the Hand of Yehovah, and how does this hand differ from Yehovah? In the Bible, a hand is always a picture of power. The hand is used in expressions that refer to power. Think of the view that a very young child has of an adult’s hand. The child knows that the hand can do anything. That is why the child places items that need to be fixed or assembled into an adult’s hand.

 

          The same thing is true in this case. Yehovah’s Hand can do anything, and will do what is necessary to accomplish what Yehovah has set out to do. The Arm of Yehovah is the Messiah; the Hand, then, will be the power of the Messiah of Yehovah!

 

4.     Yehovah threatened the horses, asses, camels, herd and flock of Pharaoh and all Egypt (except for the Israeli herds and flocks) if Pharaoh didn’t send the people of Israel. Why was Yehovah willing to harm animals that couldn’t do anything about what Pharaoh chose to do? Pharaoh owned those animals and made money from them. Yehovah owned the people of Israel, and desired to be profited by them through their good works! If Pharaoh refused to send Yehovah’s property, Yehovah would attack Pharaoh’s property. Yehovah gave humans the use of animals for profit (making money) so that they can understand Yehovah’s use of humans—also for profit, but in an ethical and moral sense of doing what the Bible calls good works. Humans can slaughter their innocent animals for food. If you like hamburgers, you are eating from a slaughtered innocent cow. This is fine before Yehovah. Thus, Yehovah can also slaughter such animals to show His power to Pharaoh and Egypt.

 

5.     Why did Yehovah segregate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt? Define segregation: Segregation is the act of separating, withdrawing, or go apart from another group; separating one group from a flock; isolating, dividing out.

 

          Yehovah did this so that Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the Israelis will know Yehovah’s power. Yehovah desires His own property, the people of Israel! He will force the hand of Egypt!

 

6.     How many animals of the Israelis normally died on a daily basis in Egypt? While deaths of cattle, sheep and goats were not common, animals still normally occasionally died. Thus, an animal would be found dead somewhere in Egypt. Yehovah kept all of the Israeli animals from dying during this plague!

 

 

 

II. One Day’s Notice (verses 5-7)

 

Yehovah Himself set the appointment for this event, and Moshe told Pharaoh this: “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.”

 

The text then explained that Yehovah did this speech (what He said) from tomorrow—that is, it began starting the next day. Every cattle of Egypt died. Not even one of the Israelis’ cattle died!

 

Pharaoh sent investigators to see if any of the Israelis’ cattle died, and they found that not a single animal died. How did Pharaoh respond? His heart (mind) weighted—he became concerned about what would happen if he sent the Israelis. He didn’t send the people.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is an appointment in the Bible, and why is this word so important? An appointment is normally a meeting at a declared time with a specific purpose. The Bible uses this word in a different way. In the Bible, it is a specific event promised by Yehovah/Yeshua that will occur at a declared or an undeclared time with a purpose to miraculously harm or to miraculously benefit, or both miraculously harm one group and miraculously benefit another.

 

          This word is so important because the hope (expectation) in the Bible is all about Yehovah’s appointments. The following are examples of what the Bible teaches that those who believe the Bible can expect:

 

  • Israel will become entirely righteous, including every Israeli without an exception
  • The Messiah of Israel, now named Yeshua (Salvation), will personally come from the heavens to earth with all the Saints who have lived and died so that He will reign over all kings and lords of the earth from Mount Zion in Israel.
  • There will be a time of seven years of Tribulation (many centuries from now) during which Yehovah will furiously attack Israel for Israeli unbelief and paganism, and then Israel will be saved from all enemies. During the same Tribulation, but later, Yeshua will furiously attack the races for attacking Israel and for violence against Israel, while individuals from those races who fear Yehovah/Yeshua and who do heroism to save the lives of Israelis will experience the good will and power of God on their behalves and on the behalves of those whom they are saving.
  • The Kingdom of God/Kingdom of Israel will be permanently established in Jerusalem and will reign over the entire planet.
  • There will be a judgment of every individual who is still alive to determine whether he/she was willing to benefit others at the risk of his/her own life.
  • There will be a judgment of every individual who has lived to determine his/her permanent placement according to his/her words and works.
  • There will be two resurrections of the dead: one resurrection for those who died in Biblical faith, and thus have Salvation, and anther resurrection for those who died without Biblical faith.
  • There will be a slaughter of the entire armies of six races that come to attack Israel, and Yehovah will attack many cities throughout the world by fire-bombing them with burning sulfur after this attempted attack on Israel (many centuries from now).
  • There will be at least two Temples rebuilt in Israel with animal sacrifices again being offered.

 

If I can describe these appointments, I can describe a much, much longer list of appointments given in the Bible. The Bible is based on such appointments. Those appointments are what readers of the Bible who believe the Bible expect to occur. When the Bible uses the word hope, it means those things expected to occur by the appointments of God. Every miracle that is described in the Bible is also a future appointment that is guaranteed to occur again unless the Bible explains that it won’t happen again. Thus, since Yeshua walked on water, others will likewise walk on water when a need to do so arises during the Tribulation. The plagues in Egypt were attacks against gods of the Egyptians; Yehovah will again use such methods to attack false gods of the races, and He will then stop all demonic empowering of the false gods (so that they just won’t work any more).

 

          The appointments are that important in the Bible.

 

2.     Verse 5 states, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” What speech will He do? He will do the speech that describes how He will slam Egypt with a very heavy plague on its livestock (horses, asses, camels, sheep, goats, etc.), and He will not permit any Israeli livestock to die.

 

3.     The next statement says, “And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow.” What does from tomorrow mean? This means that He did what He said starting with tomorrow, and continuing to the next day and the next day, etc.

 

4.     How many of the Egyptian cattle died in this plague? All of the Egyptian cattle died!

 

5.     How many died from the Israeli cattle? Not even one died.

 

6.     For what purpose did Pharaoh send, and whom did he send? He sent his slaves to find out what the losses were among the Israelis’ cattle.

 

7.     Why did Pharaoh’s heart weigh, this time, and what does this mean? It means that Pharaoh’s mind got heavy, and considered (weighed) the situations that would occur if the Israelis left. He now saw that the Israelis would leave Egypt with all the cattle that was in Egypt! Egypt needed the cattle, and therefore Pharaoh refused to send the Israelis so that Egypt could obtain cattle from them.

 

 

 

III. Boils with Eruptions (verses 8-12)

 

Yehovah now directed both Moshe and Aharon: “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace.” Thus, they filled their four fists with furnace ash. Yehovah told only Moshe to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens directly in the sight of Pharaoh. When Moshe does this, the ash shall become a powder over all the land of Egypt! The powder will land upon ‘the adam’ (the human, referring to every human) and upon the beast (referring to every beast). It will then become a boil that flowers and erupts over again over all the land of Egypt.

 

Moshe and Aharon did as they were told, taking ash of the furnace. They then stood directly in front of Pharaoh. Moshe sprinkled the ash toward the heavens. The boils flowered with eruptions in man and animal.

 

The diviners couldn’t stand directly in front of Moshe because of the faces of the boil! The diviners erupted with boils, as well as all Egypt.

 

This time, Yehovah gripped the heart (mind) of Pharaoh! Pharaoh didn’t hearken unto them, which is what Yehovah had said Pharaoh wouldn’t do.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Why did Yehovah command both Aharon and Moshe to take a fistful of ash from a furnace when only Moshe was commanded to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens? If Moshe alone sprinkled the ash, and it became powder over all the land of Egypt, what could Aharon do if he later sprinkled the powder? I propose that the purpose was to show Pharaoh that if even half the ash did this, he needed to fear what the whole amount would do!

 

2.     What does “upon the adam” mean (when ‘adam’ isn’t capitalized)? This refers to man—that is, to the human population (in Egypt, in this case). The word adam refers to a colour: to red, since the first human was red, the same colour as red soil.

 

3.     What is a boil? A boil is a painful, round and raised inflammation of the skin with a dead inner core that gives off a yellowish-white and stinking liquid caused by an infection.

 

4.     What does “a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions” mean? This means that they will rise up on the skin and will open to give off the stinking liquid (known as pus). They will also be flowering “eruptions-eruptions,” meaning that they will spread to other places so that one person or animal will have quite a few of these boils!

 

5.     What beasts were there since so many of the cattle of the Egyptians died? The text didn’t say that all the cattle and animals died. The Egyptians also acquired livestock from the Israelis.

 

6.     Why did Yehovah also put boils on Egyptian cattle? The cattle also suffered, and made noise night and day to haunt the Egyptians from the pain. Yehovah used psychological warfare on the Egyptians. Since the cattle were so important to them, and since they had a cattle god, Yehovah again attacked their cattle god.

 

7.     Did the Israelis’ cattle also suffer with boils? No. Once the third plague had occurred, Yehovah put a distinction between the Israelis and their property, and the Egyptians and their property. The Israelis’ cattle were safe.

 

8.     Would Egyptian cattle that was temporarily grazing on Israeli lands and in the hands of the Israelis be safe from the boil? I propose that it would have been safe!

 

9.     Why weren’t the diviners able to stand in front of Moshe? They must have had boils on the bottoms of their feet! Or, they may have had boils up their tuchases (their rear ends) and between their legs! Such boils would have made walking very painful!

 

10.  What does “For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt” mean? This treats all the diviners as if they are one diviner! The entire group of diviners has this boil in the group! There was no exception; every diviner had boils!

 

11.  How long did the boils and the ‘boil plague’ last? The text doesn’t say! It could have lasted for quite a while!

 

12. Did Pharaoh get hit with the boils? Though the text doesn’t mention if Pharaoh himself broke out with boils, since he is the one who needs to be convinced, I would think that he was afflicted with them. If he was, the text also doesn’t describe his asking Moshe to call upon Yehovah to remove the boils. If, on the other hand, Pharaoh had no boils, this would have brought resentment against him; his slaves, who were tortured with the boils would have seen that Pharaoh doesn’t care enough to ask Moshe’s God to stop this plague!

 

 

 

IV. Yehovah’s Threat and Editorial (verses 13-19)

 

Yehovah had new orders for Moshe: “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh.” Yehovah identified Himself in the normal way: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah commanded Pharaoh in the usual way: “Send my people, and he has served me!”

 

Yehovah then followed this with a direct threat: “For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land!”

 

Yehovah then gave the result of this threat being carried out: “For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land!”

 

Why did Yehovah tolerate Pharaoh? He explained: “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land!”

 

Yehovah openly stated Pharaoh’s motives: “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them!”

 

Thus, Yehovah told Pharaoh what was next coming: “Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now!”

 

Yet, Yehovah told Pharaoh what to do to save the humans and the cattle: “And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field.”

 

He gave the results of not doing this: “All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Did Pharaoh enjoy seeing Moshe early in the morning? By now, Pharaoh must have dreaded seeing him! Yet, he didn’t touch him.

 

2.     Why did Yehovah use the very same wording over and over again when He said, “Send my people, and he has served me”? Yehovah kept the command simple. The threats after the command changed. Yehovah doesn’t need to improve on His actions and communications; they are right the first time.

 

3.     What does stroke mean in, “For in this stroke, I am sending…”? It refers to a point in time, as if it were the ticking of a wind-up watch or the clicks of a wind-up grandfather clock. Long before clocks made sounds, Yehovah spoke of time in terms of strokes as if they are rhythmic beats (like heartbeats). Thus, “in this stroke” is like “at this time.”

 

4.     What did Yehovah mean by, “in this stroke, I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart”? Yehovah is explaining to Pharaoh why He keeps sending all these plagues, and where he is sending them: unto Pharaoh’s heart, into Pharaoh’s slaves, and into Pharaoh’s people.

 

5.     What was the purpose for sending all these plagues? It was “for the sake that [Pharaoh] shall know that there is not like [Yehovah] in all the land!” Yehovah didn’t send the plagues to force Pharaoh to do something, but rather so that Pharaoh would know that no other being is like Yehovah!

 

6.     Yehovah said, “For now I sent my hand.” What does this mean? Anyone’s hand is that person’s (or group’s) power, and the hand is the means by which anyone does what he/she does. Yehovah sent His hand, as if His hand had either been disconnected from Him or as if His hand hadn’t been in motion just before this occurred. Later in the Bible, the Arm of Yehovah will be described as a person. The hand is connected to the arm! Yehovah’s hand will act as a messenger of Yehovah.

 

7.     What will the hand be doing, according to verse 15? The hand will smite! This sounds like it will form a fist to strike Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s people!

 

8.     What does smite mean? This means to hit, to strike hard, as if to kill or wound. The past tense of smite is smote.

 

9.     What does pestilence mean? This is a disease outbreak. (It doesn’t refer to a pest problem.)

 

10.  What does expunged mean? It means to be cut off, destroyed, completely removed, completely erased.

 

11.  Who will be expunged from the land? Pharaoh will be expunged!

 

12.  Wouldn’t this be a direct threat to Pharaoh’s life from Yehovah? Wouldn’t Pharaoh become very angry being threatened in this way? It was a direct threat! If Pharaoh became angry, the text doesn’t tell us readers. He didn’t respond as if he felt threatened.

 

13.  What does stood mean in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”? Here, it means to cause to stand; to raise to rank and power; to set into a higher position of rank and responsibility.

 

14.  Why did Yehovah use silently in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”? Yehovah raised Pharaoh to his position without Yehovah’s saying a word to anyone. (He sometimes announces when He is raising someone to a position.)

 

15. What two reasons did Yehovah give for ‘standing’ Pharaoh? He gave the following two reasons:

 

  • for the sake of showing Pharaoh His power
  • in order to publish His Name in all the land

 

16. What land did Yehovah have in mind when He said, “in order to publish my Name in all the land”? I propose that this goes back to Genesis 1:1 when Yehovah created the heavens and the land. I propose that this goes far beyond the land of Egypt, instead including all the land that is above water!

 

17.  What would be accomplished if Yehovah published His Name in all the land? Since His Name is Salvation, Yehovah did all these things in order to cause His Salvation to be scrolled—the word behind published, meaning to place it on a scroll in writing, or to communicate it as if one is reading a scroll—so that all humans will know of Yehovah and of His Salvation (whether they believe in Him or not!).

 

18.  Yehovah said through Moshe, “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them.” What was Pharaoh doing, according to this description? Pharaoh was still using the Israeli slaves to build for him in order to build up his own fame and majesty before the world. He therefore wasn’t sending the Israelis, desiring to keep them for himself.

 

19.  How heavy is heavy hail? The hail must have weighed a lot—not enough to destroy the sturdy houses in Egypt, but enough to kill humans and animals.

 

20.  Had there been hail in Egypt before this time? There had been, since this hailstorm is compared with prior hailstorms. This will be the worst there has ever been!

 

21.  When Yehovah gave the command, “And now, send,” whom was Pharaoh to send, and for what purpose?     Yehovah commanded Pharaoh to immediately send all his slaves to gather both the slaves and the cattle from the fields. He only gave him one day to send word to the entire land of Egypt! Everyone in the fields and all cattle in the fields will die! (This did not include the fields where the Israelis were located.)

 

22.  What does “Firm thy cattle” mean? This is like saying, “Secure thy cattle.” It is also like saying, “Confirm that thy cattle” has been gathered.

 

23.  What is an ‘adam’? This is a human—anyone who descended from Adam’s lineage.

 

24.  How many of the animals and humans that remain in the fields will die? They will all die!

 

 

 

V. The Fearer and the Ignorer (verses 20-21)

 

Pharaoh’s slaves heard these words. Every slave who feared the speech of Yehovah made his slaves and his cattle flee unto (toward) the houses. Every slave who didn’t put his heart (mind) unto the speech of Yehovah abandoned his slaves and his cattle in the field.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     What is a “fearer of the speech of Yehovah,” and does that person have faith in Yehovah? This is a person who took Yehovah’s words very seriously, and feared the consequences of not obeying them! This doesn’t mean that the person has faith in Yehovah. Folks can fear the words of other gods while refusing to place their faith in those gods; they can do the same toward Yehovah.

 

2.     What does “And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah” mean? This means that this person didn’t set his mind to hearken to what Yehovah said. Folks can make up their minds to listen and do, and they can make up their minds to ignore. Most humans will ignore the speeches of Yehovah the Gods of Israel, including most Israelis.

 

3.     Why does the text state, “and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field” instead of stating, “and he left his slaves and his cattle in the field”? The act of not warning them was abandoning them to death. They didn’t just leave them in the field; they forsook them to die. Thus, they were at fault for their deaths according to the justice of Yehovah.

 

 

 

VI. Hail, Thunder, Lightning (verses 22-23)

 

Yehovah commanded just Moshe to: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens.” Yehovah told Moshe the results: “And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!”

 

Moshe did as he was commanded, stretching his rod upon the heavens. Yehovah gave voices and hail! Fire walked toward the land! Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How can Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens when Moshe just isn’t that big? Yehovah made Moshe into a god! Thus, in Pharaoh’s eyes, Moshe was very large! If Moshe can do this, what can the God (Yehovah) Who is behind these miracles do?

 

2.     When did Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens? He did this the next day after warning Pharaoh and his slaves to get their slaves and cattle out of the field. When Moshe did this, the hail immediately came.

 

3.     Wasn’t Moshe outside when this occurred? If so, wasn’t Moshe in danger of being hit by the hail and being killed? He was outside, since he stretched his hand upon the heavens! He was not in any danger, since Yehovah always is able to direct His judgments toward their intended targets and away from those whom He isn’t targeting. There is no such thing as Collateral Damage when Yehovah judges. He only goes after His intended targets. When humans fight in wars, Collateral Damage almost always occurs.

 

4.     What else besides humans and cattle was destroyed? Every herb of the field was destroyed! Thus, the crops were destroyed!

 

5.     In what danger was the land of Egypt because of this hail, besides those who were killed by it? Since the cattle and the herbs, as well as the slaves who worked the fields, were killed, the rest of the Egyptians who counted on them for food were in danger of starvation! Thus, this plague made food scarce.

 

6.     Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the heavens; Moshe stretched his rod upon the heavens. Did Moshe do wrong? Moshe didn’t do wrong. However, because he didn’t do exactly as Yehovah said, he set himself up for a later problem. Yehovah will tell Moshe to speak to a Rock in a text much later than our texts, and Moshe will strike the Rock instead of speaking to it. This will result in Yehovah being furious with Moshe, and giving him a delayed death sentence. One must do exactly as Yehovah says; one must take what He says very literally. Yehovah is very strict about these things because they are the difference between life and death.

 

7.     What does “Yehovah gave voices” mean? This means that Yehovah caused voices to be heard in the heavens. Now, hearers of these voices heard thunder. The same Hebrew word that means thunder means a voice. Yehovah sometimes spoke sentences using thunder! (He will do this later in the Torah.)

 

8.     What causes these voices? They are normally the result of lightning.

 

9.     What does “fire walked landward” describe? This describes the very beautiful and quite frightening ball lightning (which I have seen). This form of lightning isn’t like the jagged streaks that are so long; it is lightning that starts with a very pretty and round explosion of light that stays on, rolls through the air, and rolls along the ground! It looks like a large ball. If it runs into something, it can set it on fire. It can go through windows. When it doesn’t come down, it rolls through the air. It causes quite a beautiful show!

 

          In this case, the ball lightning walked (we would say, rolled) along the land, striking persons, cattle, objects, and other things. If it struck a person or a cow, that person or cow would probably die right away from the fire and electricity.

 

10.  The text doesn’t describe any rain. Did it rain? I can’t tell whether the hail, lightning and thunder were accompanied by rain. I propose that the rain (if any) wasn’t so strong as to block the view of the lightning or to drown the sound of the thunder (voices).

 

 

 

VII. Devastation (verses 24-26)

 

The hail was very heavy (both in the amount of hail and in the size of the hail). Fire took herself in the midst of the hail! That is fire and ice at the same time! This kind of a hailstorm never occurred from the time that Egypt (the original person) became a race! The hail smote (attacked with the force to kill) everything in the field including man and animal. The hail smote every herb of the field. It also broke every tree of the field! There was no hail, however, in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     How heavy was the hail? If the text states that it was heavy, that can mean two things: that the hailstones were very large (big enough to kill humans and cattle, but not big enough to destroy the buildings into which the obedient slaves took refuge with their cattle); it can also mean that the amount of the hail was very great so that there were perhaps feet of hail, if not a number of inches of hail stacked on the ground. In either case, or in both cases, humans and cattle were not able to survive if they were outside.

 

2.     What does “fire taking herself in the midst of the hail” describe? That fire was from the ball lightning! Thus, fiery explosions of lightning that rolled were interspersed (were mixed in) with the hail! This is so strange, because fire and ice seem so opposite to each other! Some must have been hit by the hail at the same time they were hit by the lightning balls!

 

3.     What does “there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race” mean? This means that a storm like this never occurred in Egyptian history. The race of Egyptians started with one man whose name was Mitzraim. (Mitzraim is the Hebrew word for Egypt, too.) The man named Mitzraim had children; his children had children, and this process continued until there was a race of Egyptians. During this entire time, there were storms in the land of Egypt. There was never a storm like this one, however!

 

4.     What does smote mean? It means to strike, often with a force to kill (as in this case).

 

5.     How many herbs of the field survived this hail? No herbs survived!

 

6.     How many trees survived this hail? The text states that the hail broke every tree of the field. That doesn’t mean that it killed every tree. The damage was very great. Thus, the timber in Egypt was temporarily ruined!

 

7.     Did the Israelis see the hail? If they were near the border of Goshen, they saw the hail beyond Goshen’s borders. The Israelis were perfectly safe during this storm; they were in Goshen.

 

8.     Were the Israelis being slave-driven during this time? I have wondered this. I know that Yehovah brought the projects of the Egyptians to a halt; those projects included construction using bricks. If the projects were stopped, the need for the bricks also ceased. I propose that the Israelis had far fewer taskmasters and slave drivers commanding them to do anything. Many of them were now dead! Others were ruined from previous losses.

 

 

 

VIII. False Repentance (verses 27-30)

 

Pharaoh sent and called Moshe and Aharon. He admitted that he had sinned this time, and that Yehovah is righteous. He then stated that he and his people are the culpable ones.

 

He told them to entreat unto Yehovah, and multiply from their beings voices of gods and hail. On this condition, Pharaoh stated, “I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!”

 

Moshe responded, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah!”

 

Moshe then added, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!”

 

Moshe explained, “For the barley is spring,” that is, the barley is coming up well, as it does in the spring of the year. “And the flax is exalted-above,” meaning that it is already several inches high. “And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened,” meaning that the tender plants haven’t yet broken aboveground.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     When did Pharaoh send for Moshe and Aharon? He sent for them during the storm.

 

2.     Where were Moshe and Aharon located during the storm? They either were still where Pharaoh was located or they went to Goshen. If they were in Goshen, Pharaoh’s slaves might have been killed trying to get to Goshen during this storm. If they were where Pharaoh was, they were not very far away.

 

3.     What does “I sinned the stroke” mean? The stroke means at this time. The stroke describes the ticking of a clock or the rhythm of time. (They didn’t have ticking clocks at this time.) Thus, “I sinned the stroke” means “I sinned this time!”

 

4.     Pharaoh also said, “Yehovah is righteous!” Did he mean it? He truly meant it … for about one minute! He was speaking words to get Moshe and Aharon to stop this devastating storm.

 

5.     Was “I and my people are the culpable-ones” true? Pharaoh’s people had no control over these plagues and devastating storms. They were not the ones stopping the Israelis; Pharaoh was. Yet, they supported Pharaoh and his policies. Thus, they were guilty, too!

 

6.     What does entreat mean? It means to request with urgency; it almost means to beg.

 

7.     What does “multiply from there being voices” mean? Multiply from in Hebrew means to do the opposite of multiplying. (We think of dividing as being the opposite of multiplying, but that isn’t the same.) Pharaoh is asking Moshe and Aharon to ask Yehovah to stop the voices and the hail.

 

8.     Pharaoh called the thunder voices of gods. Was he right? He was! Yehovah was indeed speaking to him! He was making Pharaoh very fearful.

 

9.     Pharaoh promised that if Moshe and Aharon entreated unto Yehovah, and if Yehovah stopped the voices of gods and the hail, he would send the Israelis. Was this true? A reader by now will now that it isn’t true!

 

10.  Pharaoh also said, “And ye shall not add to stand.” What does that mean? That means that the Israelis won’t wait any longer to leave. Since standing means remaining where one is without going, they won’t add (do again or increase the reasons they have) to stand—that is, they won’t stay any longer.

 

11.  Did Moshe believe him? Moshe knew better than to believe him!

 

12.  Moshe told Pharaoh that he was going out of the city, at which time he would spread his palms unto Yehovah. Wasn’t he afraid of being hit by the hail or struck by the lightning? Moshe didn’t fear this. He knew that Yehovah had sent him on this mission, and thus that Yehovah would make certain that Moshe was able to complete it. If Moshe were struck by hail and hurt or killed, that would make a joke out of Yehovah’s power.

 

13.  What was the point of this terrible destruction, according to verse 29? This was to cause Pharaoh to know that the land (that is, the land of Egypt, as well as all the land on the planet) “is to Yehovah”—it both belongs to Him and is for His use. Pharaoh thought that the land of Egypt belonged to him and to his people.

 

14.  Who is ‘I’ in, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew”? This is Moshe since he is the one who will spread his palms in verse 29.

 

15.  What did he know? He knew that Pharaoh and his slaves still would not fear from the faces of Yehovah until the flax and the barley were smitten, and thus were destroyed.

 

16.  What is flax? It is a plant with two important purposes. Its seeds can be crushed to give linseed oil that can be used in making paints and other products. Its fibres can be used to make linen! Linen becomes very soft after being washed a number of times.

 

17.  What is barley? It is a cereal grain (used to make cereals and bread), and is also used in making beer.

 

18.  What does “barley is spring” mean? This means that the barley crop had come above ground and was now producing green shoots. It is very vulnerable—susceptible to being hurt at this point.

 

19.  What does “the flax is exalted above” mean? This means that the flax is at least several inches high, if not even higher, and is growing quite well.

 

20.  What does being darkened mean in verse 32? This means that the wheat and the spelt were not yet aboveground. Their seeds may have germinated, but they were still under the soil, and were thus safe from the terrible force of the hail.

 

 

 

IX. Sinning More (verses 33-35)

 

Moshe left the city and Pharaoh. He spread the palms of his hands unto Yehovah. The voices ceased, as well as the hail and the rain. The rain didn’t pour down on the land.

 

Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, as well as the hail and the voices. He sinned even more! His heart (mind) heavied, and so did the heart of his slaves!

 

Pharaoh’s heart gripped, hanging on to his views from before. He didn’t send the children of Israel, exactly as Yehovah spoke by means of the hand of Moshe!

 

 

 

Questions

 

1.     Verse 34 states that Pharaoh “added to sin.” What did he do that was sin? He didn’t keep his promise to send the Israelis out of his land!

 

2.     What does “his heart heavied” mean, and why did the heart of his slaves do the same thing? The mind of Pharaoh and his slaves (as if they had one mind) thought about what would happen to the land of Egypt if the Israeli slaves left; their economy would be ruined, and they would be vulnerable to attack (that would be open to another group attacking them while they were struggling to plant new crops and to do work for themselves). These things weighed heavily on their mind (‘heart’), and they made sure that their thought was about this result.

 

3.     The next text states that the heart of Pharaoh gripped. What does this mean? This means that Pharaoh’s mind clung to the thought of keeping the Israelis as Egypt’s labour force, and to the thought of refusing to send them. He held on to what he believed was necessary for Egypt’s survival.