God was angry with His people before He brought
them out of Egypt!
While reading Ezekiel chapter 20 recently I noticed something I hadn't seen before. Here God speaks to Ezekiel and mentions things about the Exodus story that I didn’t know. I want to focus on verses 5-9:
Ezekiel 20:5 "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, 'I am the LORD your God.'
6 "On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands.
7 "Then I said to them, 'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'
8 "But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.'
9 "But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
Apparently, BEFORE they left Egypt, God had instructed them to get rid of their pagan idols. Some of them must have refused and this made God angry.
Then as you continue reading it sounds like this is part of the reason for the 10 plagues on Egypt. At least it explains why some of them fell on everyone. Remember in the beginning, the plagues fell on all the people.
Exodus 7:19 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.'" 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the LORD had struck the river.
The second plague seemed to also be on all the land and all the people:
Exodus 8:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 "But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. 3 "So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. 4 "And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants."'"
5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.'" 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
Then came the third plague. It also appears to have been on everyone:
Exodus 8:16 So the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'" 17 And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18 Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had said.
** You can see by now that at least the magicians are realizing this is the "finger of God".
Now we get to the place where God made a separation between his people and the Egyptians. This is the fourth plague:
Exodus 8:20 And the LORD said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 "Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 "And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the land. 23 "I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be."'"
One would hope that by this time, the Israelites are realizing Yehovah IS GOD and is doing what He promised.
Getting back to the Ezekiel text, there was another repercussion of this 'refusal to get rid of their idols'. Yehovah was forced to bring them out of the land and take them to the wilderness. He did not want His name profaned or defiled in front of the Egyptians.
Ezekiel 20:9 "But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt."
Imagine how this looked to Yehovah and all of Heaven.
God had appeared to Moses in the burning bush and declared His Name. He explained that He would fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by taking the people in to the Promised Land. He sent Moses and Aaron to rescue the people out of their cruel bondage about which they had been crying out to God. But after hearing of this great effort to save them, the people refused to give up their idols. What a slap in the face.
All we are told in the Exodus account is:
Exodus 4:29 "Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped."
The only complaining we hear about is that Pharaoh made their work even harder after Moses and Aaron showed up.
Exodus 5:19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, "You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota." 20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, "Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."
Moses asked the LORD why this was happening and God responded.
Exodus 6:2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am YEHOVAH. 3 "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name YEHOVAH I was not known to them. 4 "I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5 "And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 "Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am YEHOVAH; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 'I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am YEHOVAH your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 'And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am YEHOVAH.'" 9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.
Not only was Yehovah's Name revealed to Moses and His people, but also to Pharaoh and his court. His Great Name was now on the line. So, for His Great Name's sake, God had to fulfill His promise.
His action was to bring them out by a strong hand. He sent the rest of the plagues until Pharaoh had no choice but to let them go. He warned of the severe Passover coming and told them to be ready to leave.
Once the firstborn were killed, all of Egypt wanted them out! Then they HAD to leave.
I admit this is
not the way we see it when we read the Exodus. But from this portion of Ezekiel
it sounds like there is more to the story.
As I reflect on this, I wonder if it could also apply to us today? How many of us are in bondage to this world system? We cry out to God to get us out, but we have had to wait. What if He sent a messenger (or Two Witnesses maybe??) to tell us He is brining us out? Would we listen to them? If they told us to get rid of our idols or stop our abominations, would we?
An argument could be made that even now there are plagues unleased on the entire planet in one form or another. Will God make a separation between His people and the people of the world? We will see...
It is time to RETURN TO YEHOVAH.
Zechariah 1:3 "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says YEHOVAH of hosts: "Return to Me," says YEHOVAH of hosts, "and I will return to you," says YEHOVAH of hosts.
