Not Really

After the Israelites left Egypt victoriously, they had many moments when they said or did things that were indicative of their lack of trust in God's power and glory. One such occasion is recorded in Exodus 14:10-12 [MSG]...

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw them--Egyptians! Coming at them! They were totally afraid. They cried out in terror to God. They told Moses, "Weren't the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Back in Egypt didn't we tell you this would happen? Didn't we tell you, 'Leave us alone here in Egypt--we're better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness.'"

wow! What short memories those people had. They had just witnessed the Ten Plagues as displays of God's control and authority. They had ransacked Egypt and left in a party spirit with riches beyond their imaginations. After 440 years of slavery and oppression they were finally headed to that promised home, a land that legend reminded them was flowing with milk and honey.

Better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness? Not really! In today's vernacular the sarcastic answer might be, "Are you kidding me?"

Frogish Experience

Exodus details the interactions Pharaoh had with his adopted step-brother Moses. An unusual conversation is recorded in Chapter 8 as the frogs plagued Egypt. The slimey, squishy amphibians were everywhere and in everything. They were all over the people and their houses. The critters were in the ovens, cabinets, and beds. Can you imagine stepping on and sleeping with a mob of mushy frogs? That was the unbearable situation.

It was so intolerable that the king quickly summoned Moses and Aaron back to the palace. He promised to release the Israelites to worship their God. The Message records the dialogue like this:

Pharaoh pleaded, "Pray to God to rid us of these frogs."

Moses replied, "Certainly. Set the time. When do you want the frogs out of here?"

Without thinking the king suggested, "Make it tomorrow."

Moses said, "Tomorrow it is."

The next day the frogs died. Houses, courtyards, and fields were free of live, pestering frogs. Egyptians piled the frogs in heaps, so sanitation engineers of the day could dispose of them. For some time the country reeked of dead frogs. The stench lingered in the land but not in Pharaoh's mind. He stubborned-up and renewed his refusal to release God's people. That had become predictable.

The amazing part of this story is that the king could've picked today rather than tomorrow. Moses had told Pharaoh to "Set the time. When do you want the frogs out of here?" The obvious answer was, "Now, this minute, immediately!" Not Pharaoh. His choice was, "Tomorrow." I imagine that got some eye rolls, sighs, and moans from his ever-present magicians. These "yes" men were probably used to their king's thoughtless decisions.

Pharaoh's poor timing selection brought more hours of torture on an already troubled and soon to be ravished people. Consider how timing has played an important role in your life's everyday happenings. I hope there wasn't a frogish experience!

Overreacting

I was recently intrigued by the expression, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." Overreacting can be needlessly self destructive. Apparently the saying had its beginning as early as the 9th century. Wikipedia explains that there are numerous stories of pious women disfiguring themselves in order to protect their virginity.

One such legend is that of Saint Ebba. She was the Mother Superior of the monastery of Coldingham Priory in Scotland. In A.D. 867 news came of Viking pirates raiding nearby villages. She gathered her nuns and urged them to disfigure themselves to appear unappealing to the marauders. The goal was to protect their chastity. She demonstrated this by cutting off her nose and upper lip. Her nuns quickly followed suit. Upon arrival the Vikings were so disgusted that they burned the entire building to the ground with the nuns inside.

Pharaoh's overreaction had similar consequences centuries before. When faced with the threat of Plague #8, locusts, he repeated his first seven reactions to that bad news heralded by Moses and Aaron. After the duo left, the king's servants said to him (Exodus 10:7 MSG), "How long are you going to let this man harass us? Let these people go and worship their God. Can't you see that Egypt is on its last legs?" He refused to listen remaining hard-headed and hard-hearted through those creepy locusts, creepier darkness, and the final blow - death of his son. To save face he managed to lose everything of value in his country including his entire army.

Perhaps you can discover others in history who have made similar blunders. They could all join Pharaoh and Saint Ebba in the Overreaction Hall of Fame.

Hind Sight

Hindsight is generally 20/20. Coaches and armchair quarterbacks find it so when they evaluate a team's weekend performance on Monday. Pharaoh discovered that truth as his army drowned in the Red Sea.

We have the details of the first time Moses and Aaron appeared before the King of Egypt to deliver their divine message. At that point all they sought was the aristocrat's permission to take a three-day trek into the wilderness to sacrifice to their God. Without the benefit of foreknowledge, Pharaoh's response was a vehement "NO!" Exodus 5:2 (MSG) records his exact words: "And who is God that I should listen to him and send Israel off? I know nothing of this so-called 'God' and I'm certainly not going to send Israel off." He could've/should've left his reply at a simple "no." He was all-to-correct when he stated that he knew nothing of this God.

His stubbornness lasted from the bloody waters to the plagues of frogs, lice/gnats, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness, all the way to the death of the firstborn. When Pharaoh lost his son, it knocked him for a loop. I'm guessing his mind wandered back to the moment he first viewed the blood-red Nile. If he had just listened then, none of these horrific events would have happened. Perhaps his wife's sorrowful nagging added to his temporary distress. He couldn't get rid of the Israelites fast enough.

It didn't take long for Pharaoh to regret his weakness. He summoned his chariots, pursued Moses, and caught him at the Red Sea. He could've/should've waved a last farewell and returned to the palace with his army intact. Alas, this dictator is a few spears below the learning curve. He sent his entire militia into the parted sea to kill or recapture the multitude of escaping slaves. The bad guys all died mired down in mud as the waters reclosed over their heads.

This story doesn't prove the step brother is always smarter than the true heir to the inheritance. It does, however, confirm that hindsight is 20/20.

More Questions

Any list of questions that can only be answered when I finally arrive at or inside heaven's gate is bound to be as endless as time itself. Here are a few more of my personal queries for eternity.

Who warned Jochebed? (Exodus 2:3) We know why Moses' mother put her baby in a bullrush basket on the Nile. It was to save him from Pharaoh's decree threatening to drown all Israelite male babies. There was no electronic warning system...no Amber Alert that Moses was in danger. It is easy to believe what occurred was simply God's plan to save the man destined to lead the enslaved people from Egypt to the promised land. Did Jochebed dream it or have an angelic messenger appear to her? It happened that way to others in the Bible, but we have no answer to how it occurred this time.

What became of the ear? (John 18:10) In the Mount of Olives garden on the night Judas betrayed  Jesus, Peter fought the mob. He drew his sword and wacked off the right ear of Malchus, servant of the high priest. Luke 22:51 relates that Jesus, "touched his ear and healed him." Trivial though it may sound, did Jesus pick up the sliced-off ear lying on the ground and restore it to the man's head. It is just as reasonable to think the Lord simply touched the spot where the ear had been, and all was made whole. If that were the case, was the original ear still in the dirt or...what?

Did Thomas actually put his hand in my Savior's side? (John 20:27 NIV) Jesus told the doubter to "reach out your hand and put it into my side." The King James version asserts a bit more dramatically that he was to "thrust it into my side." That effort by Jesus to make Thomas a believer again did not go unrequited. Thomas immediately exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" I can suppose he said those words from his knees." I'd only be guessing.

As with my previous blog Questions, there are no definitive answers to any of these. There are no solutions at all...only cognitive apparitions in my mind's eye of why or what might've happened. I do enjoy imaginatively pondering some of the unwritten details. It is fun and gives me joy.