“For this time I am about to send all My scourges to your heart and against your servants and against your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.”-Exodus 9:14-15
We’ve now reached the final third set of plagues that God will level against Egypt.
In verse 14, God gives Pharaoh a grave warning that he is about to strike at his “heart”.
The English words used here for heart differs depending on which translation you’re reading.
Some will say “person”, others will say “self”, the Complete Jewish Version just says “you”.
The original Hebrew is LEB.
LEB is difficult to render into just one English word.
LEB refers to a man’s inner being or a man’s soul where one’s conscience, emotions, and will resides.
It refers to a man’s very sense of identity.
The point God was making is that what was about to happen would not only affect Pharaoh’s anger and stubbornness, it would finally penetrate that thick head and skin of his.
The plagues to soon occur were going to hurt and penetrate far deeper than anything which came before.
But prior to their onset, as usual, Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh to warn him of what is to come.
This time the message they bring from God is as follows:
“By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such severe plagues that you would have been wiped off the earth. But it is for this very reason that I have kept you alive — to show you my power, and so that my name may resound throughout the whole earth.”-Exodus 9:15-16
God wants Moses and Aaron to let Pharaoh know that He has been holding Himself back.
That if He had wanted to, He could have completely destroyed Egypt by now.
But he hasn’t and the reason is “so that my Name will resound throughout the earth”.
Did you catch that?
He wants the people of Egypt to know Him and REMEMBER Him.
Here’s an interesting fact that I don’t think too many people are aware of.
Did you know that up until a mere 35 years ago Egypt was a majority Christian nation?
And prior to the birth of Yeshua, Egypt was a center of Hebrew religious authority and learning.
Actually, the city of Alexandria in Egypt had Jewish colonies with a population of more than one million Jews.
No doubt what God did to Egypt has left an impression that to this day has yet to be forgotten.
There is even a group of Egyptians today who have filed a lawsuit against Israel demanding that they return with interest all of the gold the Hebrews “stole” when they left Egypt on that fateful Passover night.
Egypt was indeed impressed by the miracles and wonders God performed in their country.
And the same choice that God gave to the Egyptians then is the same choice he gives to all of mankind today.
You can choose to join Him and His people like the mixed multitude that enjoined themselves to Israel when they left Egypt.
Or you can choose to reject Him and His people.
The choice is yours.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me,
and anyone who isn’t working with me
is actually working against me.”
– Matthew 12:30
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