I’m currently reading through the account of Moses dialoguing with Pharaoh around the release of the Israelites from slavery. It’s always been a story that has both fascinated and troubled me over the years. Fascinated because of the signs and wonders, the intervention of God, and the obedience of Moses and Aaron. Troubled because of the destruction and loss that is inflicted upon the Egyptians from God when He himself has made the Pharaoh stubborn in his leadership and dealings with Moses.

Before I expand more on that thought I want to explain my heart. I trust God completely so when I’m exploring this I am not doubting Him or thinking He got it wrong with the Exodus. When God does something w certain way then there is a reason He did it this way. He didn’t make a mistake. The fact that I don’t understand is on my end, and my desire is to both hold the mystery and gain increasing understanding so I can learn more about who He is.

As I’m pretty sure I’ve written about before, and many smarter than I certainly have, the plagues that came against Egypt were not random. Egypt was a country that served many false gods and each plague was a direct attack from the one true God showing His power over the gods that had taunted and enslaved His people. Whether it was the god of the fields, god of the Nile, god of the sun, each plague showed that they had no power when it came to withstanding the God of the Israelites. The people of Egypt were not innocent bystanders in all of this. They worshipped those gods, sacrificed to those gods, and mistreated the Israelites that were among them.

When we reach the last plague, the death of the firstborn, I find it much harder to read. This is what it says in the Message version after the plague has struck.

Pharaoh got up that night, he and all his servants and everyone else in Egypt—what wild wailing and lament in Egypt! There wasn’t a house in which someone wasn’t dead. Exodus 12:31 (MSG)

I think one of the challenges I have when I read verses like this is the context in which I read it. I’m reading it from my comfortable living room on my iPad with a nice warm cappuccino in my hand as I listen to worship music. I live in a country that is peaceful, I have my health, and I have never known oppression in my life. It’s tempting when I read the Exodus account to apply those same conditions and wonder why God had to carry out such ‘horrible’ things on those Egyptians.

The reality is Exodus is a war story and describes the liberation of a people into freedom. It’s the account of a powerful domineering nation oppressing a people group who used to live freely among them into slavery because of their heritage. It’s a king who is imposing genocide by killing every new born male of the Israelites in order to reduce their population. It’s a people who are worshipping all sorts of horrendous gods and offering all kinds of spells and shrines to those gods and while we don’t have full detail of what those practises entailed there’s a good chance it involved some horrible stuff. If I was living in that context today I’m guessing I might view it differently. If on the news today I heard of a country oppressing a people group by killing their new born babies, enslaving the adults by making them build cities for them, refusing to provide them with basic needs, while the rest of the people worshipped and sacrificed around them I would be outraged. I would expect the international community to do something about it and I don’t think I would think twice about agreeing with military action that would change that situation. In fact if those who were carrying out genocide lost their lives in that military operation I, and I know many others, would probably call that justice. I know I have more to work out here theologically here but I’m just being honest. So, with all of that said, I’m left with one last question;

Should I feel any different about Exodus?