THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES ON EGYPT
George Burnside
THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES ON EGYPT AND THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES ON THE WORLD ARE
SIMILAR IN CHARACTER.
Revelation 15:1. “Seven angels having the seven last plagues
Revelation 16:13. “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.”
Revelation 16:14. “They are the spirits of devils.”
At times, out of the swamps of Egypt come frogs which are known as Rana Mosaica. These loathsome creatures crawl instead of hopping and croak continually. They are believed to be the same as those in the plagues of Egypt. This simile “like frogs,” is doubtless used to link the pi agues of Egypt with the seven last plagues; for “the plaques on Egypt, When God was about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to these (the seven last plagues) more terrible and extensive judgments.” Great Controversy, pages 627, 628.
Speaking of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and their journey to the promised land, the Apostle Paul stated, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (“types” margin) and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11. Other translations emphasize this truth: “These things were happening to them typically.”
“These things which happened to our ancestors are illustrations.”
It was with plagues God delivered Israel from Egypt, likewise with similar plagues God will deliver His people upon whom “the climax of the ages” has come. Therefore we do welt to consider again the plagues of Egypt, for soon similar plagues will fall on all who defy and disobey Him.
Exodus 8:22, 23. There were ten plaques on Egypt, but after three plaques had fallen, God said, “I will put a division between My people and thy people.” Margin “A redemption.”
The seven last plagues on Egypt fell only on the Egyptians. God’s people were not touched by them. So, at the outpouring of the seven last plaques on the world, they will fall only on those who have “the mark of the beast.” Revelation 16:2.
GOD WARNS BEFORE HE STRIKES.
Revelation 14:6-12. God sends a world-wide warning before the seven last plagues fall. Egypt was a fitting type of the world for that time. Egypt at that time was “the most powerful kingdom then in existence. “ Patriarchs and Prophets, page 263.
God could have sent twelve legions of angels, any one of whom could have left 65,000 of Egypt’s strongest soldiers dead on the dry hills of Egypt, but instead he sent two unarmed brothers to face Pharaoh, the haughty monarch of wealth and power. Through God’s power Moses and Aaron were more than conquerors.
It should be noted in Exodus 5:5 Pharaoh complained, “Ye make them rest from their burdens.” The Hebrew word in the original for “rest” is “Shabath” and means to keep the Sabbath. God “brought forth His people,” “That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws.” Psalm 105:43, 45. “In their bondage the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God’s law, and they had departed from its precepts. The Sabbath had been generally disregarded, and the exaction of their taskmasters had made its observance apparently impossible. But Moses had shown his people that obedience to God was the first condition of deliverance; and the efforts made to restore the observance of the Sabbath had come to the notice of their oppressors.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 258. Sabbath keeping brought opposition and persecution. This would be repeated in this climax hour, but as with Israel of old, the darkest hour is just before the dawn.
The seven “I wills” of God should also be noted. They are all in Exodus 15:6-8.
The plagues of Egypt eventually resulted in the deliverance of Israel. These were by no means just arbitrary judgments, but each was adapted to strike at beliefs of the idol worshipping Egyptians with their many gods.
This was that the Egyptians might know the one and only God. This is clearly stated. “Against all the gods of Egypt, will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” Exodus 12:12. “Upon the Egyptian’s gods the Lord executed judgments.” Numbers 33:4 These plagues accomplished the planned effect, for multitudes of Egyptians believed. Even proud Pharaoh was forced to admit “the Lord is righteous. I have sinned.”
Exodus 9:27. Even Jethro, Moses father-in-law, when he had seen the Lord’s deliverance said, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods. “ Exodus 18:11. Thus these plagues were not only for the Egyptians, but for a warning to all nations. Egypt was a mighty nation and at that time she stood as the world’s representative power. 1 Samuel 4:8, Joshua 2:8, 9. The Lord took aim at her gods, so that all mankind might know that the world’s most honored and renowned idols were powerless to save, even from the very calamities over which they were said to preside.
THE FIRST PLAGUE
The Nile turned to Blood. The Nile was worshiped under the name of Heapee-wu, “the abyss of waters.” Bathing in its waters was an act of worship. Just as the Ganges is regarded by Hindus, as sacred, so was the river of Egypt regarded by the Egyptians. They drank the water of the Nile with sacred reverence for healing from disease. But now their god had become a plague and horror. Their god was powerless against the true God, for it was not an ordinary river that was turned to blood, it was the sacred and holy Nile.
“The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God’s people. The rivers and fountains of waters became-blood.” Great Controversy, pages 627,628.
THE SECOND PLAGUE
The plague of Frogs. This plague came from the same source, for the same reason, namely to destroy their faith in the river as an object of worship. The frog-goddess Heket, was the goddess of childbirth. It possessed a human form with a frog’s head. To this goddess they also sought protection when frogs multiplied to an undesirable degree. This deity was supposed to provide immunity from a pest that was hateful to a people as clean as the Egyptians. When the frogs thus miraculously multiplied, the powerlessness of their goddess Heket was all too clearly revealed. Further they dared not try to rid themselves of these pests for the fear of Heket’s revenge upon their unborn children.
Thus the blanket of slimy filth remained and the wet pests covered the land, until the Egyptians sickened with the continual squashing crunch they were forced to walk upon. If one slipped on the slimy creatures, he fell into an offensive mass of putrid filth and trying to wash, the water was a mass of frogs. There was no cleansing - there was no escape. In sheer desperation, the mighty Pharaoh was forced to plead, “Please remove the frogs.” Thus the prestige of the frog-goddess was gone forever.
THE THIRD PLAGUE
The plague of Lice. “Now, if it be remembered,” says Gleig, “that no one could approach the altars of Egypt upon whom so impure an insect harbored, and that the priests, to guard against the slightest risk of contamination, wore only linen garments, and shaved their heads and bodies every day, the severity of this miracle as a judgment upon Egyptian idolatry may be imagined. Whilst it lasted no act of worship could he performed; so keenly was this felt, that even the very magicians exclaimed, “This is the finger of God”‘
THE FOURTH PLAGUE
The plague of Flies. This was designed to destroy faith in Beelzebub, the fly-god. 2 Kings 1:2 Margin. The flying scarab, a beetle, was one of the most sacred of insects. It is found on the royal seals and its outline constitutes the cartouche in which the king’s name is enclosed on the monuments of Egypt. What a revelation it must have been when even this sacred insect was turned by the Lord from a sign of blessing to a curse. The invasion of their particular “pets” they no doubt felt should have turned the word to read “pests.”
THE FIFTH PLAGUE
The plague on Cattle. This was aimed at the destruction of the entire system of brute worship. The sacred cow-goddess Hathor, was throughout Egypt, and to the pagan world of that day, the “mother” principle of deity. She was usually depicted with a human body and a cow’s head. This plague also defeated the worship of the sacred bull Apis. The crumbling ruins of temples to Apis are found all over Egypt. On the head of Apis appears the sacred triangle of eternity.
THE GODS OF EGYPT
“Not until late in Egyptian history were the likeness of the gods given human form. In the old religious consciousness of the land of the gods took the form of emblems, plants, and animals. The goddess Hathor was a cow; and god Nefertem a lotus flower; the goddess Neith was honored in the form of a shield on which two crossed arrows were nailed. Mostly, however, the Egyptian deities were represented in animal forms. The god Khnum was a ram; Horus was a falcon; Thoth was an Ibis; Sebek a crocodile; the goddess Nut, at Bubastis, a cat; and the goddess Buto a serpent. Not only these animal gods, as such, but actual animals, provided they met certain qualifications, were revered. The most famous of these sacred animals, the object of an elaborate cult, was the sacred bull of Memphis, Apis, whom the Egyptians conceived to be the servant of the god Ptah.
“The sacred bull was worshiped as an actual animal. He was housed in a temple and tended by priests. When he died he was embalmed and buried with great ceremony, whereupon a new bull with the same markings took his place. Cemeteries worthy of the gods and kings were built for the interment of these holy beasts. At Bubastis and Beni Hasan there was a graveyard for cats, at, Ombos one for crocodiles, at Ashmunein one for ibises, at Elephantine one for rams. Some of the animal cults spread throughout the whole land and in so doing developed in manifold variation. Others were locally restricted, and after a sudden flare up would fade into obscurity for centuries.” - Gods, Graves and Scholars, by C.W. Cerarn, pp. 130-131.
THE SIXTH PLAGUE
Exodus 9:8. “Ashes of the furnace,” or from the “brick kiln.” Pharaoh had forced Israel to make bricks under intolerable conditions. Exodus 5:6-14. In Thebes today are to be seen bricks with straw, but the upper bricks are without straw. Also carved in stone is a picture of the Hebrews laboring in the brickyard of Egypt. Thus the Bible is confirmed and the God of the Bible honored by the very acts of a God defying Pharaoh who tried to down-grade Him.
It should ever be remembered that in many ways the plaques on Egypt parallel the “Seven Last Plagues” of Revelation. They are of similar character. For instance this plague produced boils, so does the first of the seven fast plaques. Revelation 16:2. These plagues are literal and certainly not merely figurative.
It should also be remembered that human sacrifices were sometimes offered on Egypt’s altars. These victims were burned alive. Now, neither king, nor priest, nor people escape.
THE SEVENTH PLAGUE
Exodus 9:8. “I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundations thereof even until now.” In verses 19-21 God warned and advised them to seek shelter. Some heeded the warning and some ignored it. God warns in mercy before He has to strike.
Exodus 9:26. “Where the children of Israel were was there no hail.” God’s people were safe.
Revelation 16:21. The final plague of the “seven last plagues,” will be likewise “a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent,” - about fifty six pounds in weight - “for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
THE EIGHT PLAGUE
The plague of locusts. The god Serapis was supposed to protect the land from locusts but it too failed.
EIGHTH AND NINTH PLAGUES
The eighth and ninth plagues were directed against the worship of the Sun and Moon. This worship had spread from Babylon and Egypt to all pagan lands. In Egypt it practically never rained and is clear and sunny. These plagues that darkened the Sun, would produce great horror. The king was “the child of the sun.” “Ra” was the name of the Sun. Pharaoh had it embedded in his title. Now, for three days and three nights they sit in darkness, for the God of nature had summoned nature to proclaim His supremacy.
He is the God of all nature. Egypt’s chief god was the Sun. Like Babylon and all paganism, to Egypt the Sun was supreme. It was worshiped under many forms. The Pantheon of Egypt was headed by Ra - the Sun, and after him came various gods and goddesses who were but parts of his body. The Egyptians believed the sun was born anew every morning. They began their day at sunrise instead at sunset as commanded in Scripture. The plague of darkness left the greatest of their gods shorn of power and greatness and leveled him at the feet of the Lord God, the Creator of the sun, the moon and all things. Thus Jehovah used the things of nature to proclaim the true God - the One and only God. He discredited the gods of mighty Egypt. He did his because He loved the people of Egypt and wanted to turn them to Himself, for only in serving Him could they be saved. Even proud Pharaoh acknowledged “The Lord is righteous and my people are wicked.”
Exodus 9:27. They were to proclaim “the salvation of the Lord.” Exodus 14:13.
The amazing, almost uncanny predictions of the Bible and their exact fulfillment are likewise to convince and thus save the children of men. Jesus repeatedly declared: “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. “ John 14:29.
“And that believing you might have life through His Name.” John 20:31. God warned Egypt what was coming. He combined prophecy and judgments to try to save, but like the millions of people today, they steeled their minds against the plainest evidence.
When evidence is rejected and the strongest proof brushed aside, then judgment follows. The tenth and last plague on Egypt to convince them all that Jehovah was not only merciful and gracious, but that He would by no means “clear the guilty.” This plague was a judgment. He is a God of love, but also He is holy and a God of judgment.
The Egyptians had for a long time oppressed the people of God. Their cruelty was climaxed by horror, by the slaying of the innocent, helpless babes of their victims. Now the righteous retribution was visited on them. The Lord “breathed in the face” of all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh on his throne of gold to the first-born of the cattle. The cruel taskmaster who had rejected the evidence of prophecy, were now taught, by means that gripped their hearts, that the true God was not only One who knows the future, but that He is also a God of power and judgment. As such He is to be feared by evil-doers, and reverenced by those who do well. None but the true and living God could have revealed Himself in this way.
Today we have an added evidence, for not only does prophecy speak with an infallible certainty in God’s unerring Word - the Bible, but the very stones cry out. For instance, an interesting confirmation of the literalness of the tenth plague has, been found between the giant paws of the Sphinx of Gizeh. A large stone tablet on which Thutmose IV, the successor of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, tells of a dream he had as he rested in the shade of the Sphinx. While he slept after an arduous days hunting he was shown that he would become Pharaoh. As he was the younger son, he naturally did not expect this, but as a result of the slaying of “the first-born” of the Pharaoh, he became the King of Egypt, Thutmose IV, and in gratitude he placed the tablet on the site of his dream. There it stands today, another mute but powerful witness to the unsullied history and truthfulness of God’s Word.
Once again the “stones” have cried out and spoken; and combined with prophecy, refutes the hasty utterances of the carping critics of these last days, days in which “the seven fast plaques” must soon fall. These plaques will be similar in character to the plagues which fell on Egypt. Our God does not willingly afflict the children of men, but He does cast dishonor on their gods and thereby prove their uselessness. Those who cling to them must therefore suffer without a helper.
Egypt’s gods are no more. They have been discarded, but in these last days other forms of false worship holds millions in the bondage of deception. The seven last plagues, as in the days of Egypt, will sweep away the refuge of lies and man’s false deities will again be shown to be useless.