After Moses prayed and the plague of scarab beetles (or flies) ended,
Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go as he had promised. The LORD
instructed Moses to go before Pharaoh once again to advise him of the impending
disaster should he fail to heed the word of the LORD to let the Israelites
leave Egypt. The LORD promised that Egypt’s livestock on the fields at the
appointed time of the plague would die, but He would spare the livestock of the
people of Israel. The LORD gave Pharaoh an ultimatum, even setting the time when
the disaster would strike so Pharaoh could not attribute the deadly plague to
coincidence. He would know, without a doubt, that the LORD GOD of Israel was at
work when the plague occurred.
Pharaoh had tried in vain to compromise with the Israelites. He even
suggested that they need not leave Egypt to worship their God; they could
worship within the borders of Egypt. However, the Egyptians despised the
Israelite shepherds and would have viewed their sacrifices to God as an
abomination and an offence (Ex 8:25-28). The Bible does not make it clear why
the Egyptians hated the Israelites’ occupation as shepherds, especially since
they maintained flocks of their own (Gen 47: 5-6). Various extra-Biblical
commentaries and sources state that perhaps the Egyptians hated the Israelite shepherds
because they used animals as sacrifices in the worship of the LORD and perhaps
certain animals were sacred to the Egyptians. The Egyptians, on the other hand,
worshiped Hathor - a cow headed goddess. Hathor was revered as a sky goddess as
well the goddess of music, love, childbirth, fertility, and mining. Apis, a
bull-deity, was also worshiped in Egypt from approximately 3000BC. The Apis
bull, a bull selected from the herd based on specific bodily patterns, was
regarded as a symbol of the Pharaoh’s courage, fighting spirit, strength,
fertility and virility. The bull was housed in a temple and the Egyptians
engaged in elaborate burial ceremonies when it died, mourning for many days as
if the Pharaoh himself had died. Great celebrations would commence when the
priests found a new Apis bull after much searching and deliberation. Other
explanations cite a slow but steady influx of “Hyksos” or foreign rulers
(allegedly mistranslated as “shepherd kings” by Josephus the historian). These
foreigners were often shepherds who conducted raids on the Egyptians, leading
to a growing distrust of shepherds.
The Egyptians had thus elevated the creatures the LORD had made into gods,
which they idolized. The plague that decimated Egypt’s livestock proved to the
Egyptians that their gods were mere creations of their own imagination. The
LORD is indeed the Creator and Sustainer of all life. The LORD revealed to
Pharaoh His sovereignty and omnipotence by the great judgments brought against
Egypt and its gods. Yet, even in the judgments, God was revealing His mercy and
forbearance to the Egyptians. He patiently consulted with their king to secure
the release of His people, when He could have released them immediately by His
awesome power. He gave Pharaoh many opportunities to relinquish his power,
acknowledge the LORD as the true sovereign and release His people. He also did
not destroy all of Egypt’s livestock, but only those that were out in the field
(Ex 9:3).
Pharaoh, however, remained unimpressed and refused to let the Israelites
leave Egypt. He sent a delegation to the land of Goshen, the territory where
the Israelites lived, to examine the livestock belonging to the Israelites in
order to test whether the LORD’s prediction concerning the plague had indeed
occurred as predicted. Some commentators believe that Pharaoh, in his position
as slave-master of Israel, did this in order to forcefully assimilate the
Israelites’ livestock as his own in order to reduce the losses he suffered from
the plague. In so doing, he would have been openly challenging and defying the
LORD. However, the LORD was not finished with Pharaoh yet…
Scripture references: Exodus 9:1-7
