Va’era “And I appeared”
Exodus 6:2–9:35
Ezekiel 28:25–29:21
Judges 16-18

The Plagues

Think back for a moment to what we have been taught about the plagues. What were we told was the purpose for each of them? I have always been told that it was to bring forth judgment on the land of Egypt for making the people of Israel slaves in their land. This judgment would in turn cause them to open their eyes to their sin and let the people go. But could it be that the plagues were not as much about Egypt as they were about serving a purpose in the lives of the Hebrews?

Let’s first go back in last week’s Torah portion to Exodus 1:6-7. The verse states that “The Land” became filled with the Hebrews. How do we define the word “Land” here? Is this the Land of Goshen or is it the whole land of Egypt? I would like to consider the latter for a moment. Remember from last week that when Jacob first came to Egypt he and his family were shepherds and were abhorrent to the people of Egypt. Could it be that in the years after his and Joseph’s death the people began to change their lifestyle in hopes that they would be accepted by the Egyptians? Over time they were no longer a peculiar people who had been called to a different and separate life from Egypt, but now had allowed themselves to mingle in the ways of Egypt? Could it be that as time went by some had even moved out from the Land of Goshen and were living and working in all of Egypt? I for one believe this scenario to be not only plausible, but in fact very likely.

With this thought in place, let us consider the account of Moses entering into Egypt as the deliverer. Not only does he have the job of taking the people out of Egypt to free them from the power of Pharaoh, but he must first bring them back from the four corners of Egypt to Goshen. These who have allowed themselves to be totally sucked into the ways of Egypt must make a first move of faith by going back to Goshen. In order to do this Yah is going to first open their eyes to what they have done and make them sick of the life they have chosen. It is interesting that the first plague to come upon the land would be the river turned to blood. Could this have been for the purpose of opening their eyes to what they had become? Had they in their move to Egypt allowed themselves to be diluted and tainted in Egypt and needed to first come back to the bloodline that their life and calling was from? Could the subsequent plagues have been to make them so sick of where they were that they would do anything to go back to Goshen so that from there they could be delivered? I think this scenario is at the very least thought provoking and in fact may give us some very interesting insight into what is happening in the world today.

Today there is much talk about the people of Israel being delivered from our dispersion to the four corners of the earth. I have to tell you though that, from what I have seen, such talk is much more from the brain than from the heart. Most of us can talk a good line about “Going Home” but are our lives really proving out our words? As we speak of such a great exodus ahead we continue to send our roots of life further and further down into the soil of our dispersed life and lifestyle. We have, like the Hebrews of old, left our Goshen and have ventured out to make all of Egypt our home. The real problem here is that we have lived it for so long that not only do we like it here, most do not even know what they have done. Most of us do not even realize how far into Egypt we have ventured and how much of Egypt we have allowed to infiltrate us.

We are, I believe, witnessing the beginning of the plagues once again. They are coming just as was told by Yeshua, the prophets and even Paul in his writings to Timothy. Let us not think that all that is happening is about judgment to those wicked people around us though. Instead, let us realize that each downturn in the economy, each rise in oil price, each law that takes away rights, etc. is not as much a judgment on Egypt, but is instead something designed to drive our hearts from the system we have allowed to live within us. The plagues are to make us so sick of what we have become and where we have allowed ourselves to be that we also open our eyes and see the dirty water that flows through us and remember the blood which is once again calling us back to Goshen and to our eventual deliverance.

Remember that deliverance must first be a matter of the heart. It is far too easy to pack belongings and move to a place we believe to be our Goshen, thinking that we have accomplished a great task, but all the while not realizing that all we did was move our bodies and not our hearts.