The Way Out (Exodus 7-11)

I’ve been thinking about the plagues of Egypt in Exodus 7-11 and wondering if we can make comparisons with our own world in these days.

When I was a teenager, I used to crew for my dad on his boat every weekend. After every race I’d head down to the changing rooms in the headquarters of the sailing club he belonged to. I’d change out of my soggy gear into something a bit dryer, wipe all the sea salt off my glasses and head up to the bar for a glass of shandy.

One particular day, I was down in the changing rooms and all the lights went out. There were no windows down there, it was pitch dark. I waited for the lights to come back on, but they didn’t. So I had to inch along the wall in the rough direction of the corridor that led to the stairs that led to the bar, hoping I could remember the way. There were no illuminated signs, I had no torch or match; it was as dark an environment as I have ever experienced. I was desperate to find the way out.

Over the last few weeks, in my daily morning prayers, I’ve been reading the book of Exodus. It’s the second book in the Bible and the word exodus, like our word exit, means “the way out.” It describes how the nation of Israel found their way out of forced labour and slavery which had been their fate for generations.

The animated film and West End hit musical “The Prince of Egypt” were based on this story. God miraculously opens the Red Sea for the oppressed Israelites to pass on dry land while the Pharaoh’s baddies drown as they try to foil the great escape and re-enslave God’s chosen people.

But it was the chapters before this that really caught my attention. In chapters 7-11 there is a series of plagues and “natural disasters” that occur, one after the other.

First of all, the Nile becomes blood-red and undrinkable.

Then there is an almighty infestation of gnats.

After that, there is a plague of flies.

Following that something like swine fever breaks out on all the livestock.

Then boils, like foot and mouth disease, start to appear on people and animals.

After that, there is freak weather; destructive hailstorms, thunder and lightning that destroy the barley harvest.

Then there is the scourge of locust swarms.

After that, days of darkness over the land.

And finally, another pestilence, an epidemic that wipes out the firstborn of people and livestock alike.

It’s pretty heavy reading to be honest.

It reminded me of the times we live in. In the last few years, globally the news has been dominated by natural and man-made disasters; the beast from the east this time last year, forest and bush fires in Australia and the Amazon, repeated flooding across northern England, locusts in east Africa, increased use of the term ‘climate emergency’ and of course this virus pandemic that has the entire developed world in lockdown.

I couldn’t help but compare what I was reading in the Bible and what I was noticing in the world around me. So I began to wonder what it must have been like for the poor people living in Egypt at the time of all this pestilence and plague. They must have been wondering what on earth was going on. Maybe they thought this was the end of the world or the wrath of the gods or I don’t know what.

Only a few people in the inner circle of the royal palace knew why all this was kicking off. Behind the scenes, there was an almighty clash, a power encounter between two figures; Moses as God’s spokesman demanding his oppressed people be allowed to go free… and pharaoh; this murderous, vain, controlling, puffed up ruler determined to oppose God at every turn. Let my people go. No, I will not let you go! Nine times until finally pharaoh can resist God’s will no more…

I’m not saying that this current state of affairs is a mirror image of what happened in the Exodus. That was a uniquely titanic clash at a particular time and place.

But it reminded me that there is often much, much more going on behind the scenes spiritually than we can discern. We walk by faith, not by sight.

This Coronavirus is a great evil. Could our God stop it tonight with the breath of his mouth. Undoubtedly. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without him knowing all about it. Not a single drop of rain waters the earth unless our God sovereignly decrees it.

And that rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Good people will die from Coronavirus as well as bad ones. People are asking about the exit strategy. What is the way out of this crisis? I don’t know.

But I know this. The God who has all dominion and authority over this disease and over every natural disaster, and has chosen in his wisdom not to arrest its spread yet, is able to sustain those he loves through the worst any virus can throw at them.

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. I will fear no evil. To live is Christ, to die is gain! The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Brief online talk, 16 April 2020