Oppressed by the Pharaoh, the Israelites were subjugated and forced to do the bidding of Egyptian society. Even with Moses, their connection to God, the Israelites still lacked the means to break free from the chains of Pharaoh. They required God’s assistance in order to escape slavery. The miracles that wreaked havoc upon Egypt at the command of Moses and Aaron are generally known as the “plagues” of Egypt, the exact number depends on how people differentiate them. In terms of narrative structure, some passages refer to them as signs from God rather than plagues.
In the beginning Exodus, the main source of the Israelites problems was the Pharaoh and his administration, not the whole civilization of Egyptians. However, the plagues that God inflicts upon the people, encompass the Egyptian society as a whole not just the people who promoted and performed acts of hatred towards the Israelites. As a result of his insecure personality, the main purpose of the plagues was for God to re-establish himself as the almighty, powerful ruler of the world, which explains why he punished Egyptian society as a whole not just individual people within it.
It is a constant theme throughout the beginning of Exodus that the Pharaoh was the source of the Israelites problems. He proclaimed that “if it is a [hebrew] boy, kill him”(Exodus 1:16). In addition, he enslaved the rest of the Israelite and forced them to work tireless hours for little or no wages. His mistreatment of the Israelite’s set precedent for his advisors and countrymen to also treat them with disdain. Consider the example later on in Exodus, when Moses witnesses “an Egyptian man beating a hebrew man”(Exodus 2:11).
The pharaoh and his people did not fear the Gods of the Israelites as he believed he was appointed by his Gods to rule the kingdom. Therefore, he deducted that he could treat the Hebrews anyway he wanted too without any repercussions. When Moses finally becomes prophet to God on Earth, he tries to convince the Pharaoh to let him celebrate a holiday and get a day off from work in order to so. In response to this request the Pharaoh defies the existence of the Israelites God by saying “Who is this Lord that I should heed him and let Israel go? (Exodus 5:2).
Throughout the Hebrew Bible, openly defying God’s power is a horrendous idea as he has been to known to be vengeful to the subjects that have defied his word. Adam and Eve were the first people to experience God’s vengeance for eating from the tree of knowledge. In addition, there was also The Great Flood, where God felt the human race was getting to insubordinate and flooded the earth. The Pharaoh is a classic example of a human openly disobeying God and even exuding arrogance that he is even better than him.
In contempt of Moses’s request the Pharaoh further angers God and punished the Hebrews by “no longer providing the people with straw” but keeping the “the brick quota” making it harder for them to complete their already arduous jobs (Exodus:7-8). The plagues served as signs of a greater supernatural power at work. They were intended to provoke a response from the Egyptian people and the Pharaoh to show that there methods are wrong.
It further supports the point God wanted to prove his power to the people as instead of just striking down the Pharaoh and ending the Hebrews problems, he decides to keep the Pharaoh and most of his people alive throughout the ordeal. Therefore, by experiencing these plagues first hand the Pharaoh has to eventually accept God’s power. However, staying true to his prideful nature the Pharaoh refused to obey after numerous plagues that afflicted him and his people. His misguided obstinance is clearly revealed to the people as he refuses to obey God.
As a result of the Pharaohs blind obstinacy, most of the plagues didn’t serve its purpose of freeing the Israelites from their slavery. Although, God even knows before he sets the plague on the Egyptians whether it will work to free the Hebrews or not. After the great hail thunderstorm he “foretold through Moses” that this plague would not change the Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:35). If God is all powerful why did he waste so much time with little punishments rather than just ending the Hebrews slavery in one swift plague? God even knows before he sets the plague on the Egyptians whether it will work to free the Hebrews or not.
After the great hail thunderstorm he “foretold through Moses” that this plague would not change the Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:35). In addition to portraying God’s almighty power, the plagues also achieve God’s purpose to make a connection to his people, the Israelites, with whom he wants to free. The Israelites felt, at their time of subjugation to the Egyptians, abandoned by their God as they constantly “cried and moaned about their bondage” and no action was taken (Exodus 2:23). It was only when God remembered his “covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob” that he decided to help his people (Exodus 2:24).
The lack of belief in God’s powers lessens with each plague and they finally see hope that their higher power is aware of their plight. Now the Israelites are convinced into obeying and respecting God’s power, which was his main goal of setting these plagues on the Egyptians Throughout Exodus, the Pharaoh is the source of all problems for the Israelites. So a question that is often posed why did take his vengeance on all the Egyptian people and not just garner his revenge towards the Pharaoh, the source of their problems. However, the Egyptian people in God’s eyes are just as guilty as the Pharaoh in manifesting the Hebrews subjugation.
The Egyptian people worship their Pharaoh as part of their Gods, which adds fuel to this belief that he is a god among people. In addition, none of them took part in any sort of covenant with him. Therefore, he had no reason to protect the Egyptian people from any of the plagues inflicted upon Egypt, even if they were innocent from the whole mistreatment of the Hebrews. The narrative drives towards the fact that there is a God who is “slow to anger” but at the same time he “extends kindness to the thousandth generation” (Exodus 34 6-7).
However, the Pharaoh and is subjects through his unjust actions was able to unearthed this anger and feel the brunt of it. God utilizes the plagues he sets on Egyptian society to set an example for the future nations who dare to disobey is authority In addition, he uses these plagues as a teaching tool for the future people of Israel so the his Hebrew subjects are always aware of his presence on earth. The Pharaoh wants to ignore God and all his power, but with each Plague the Hebrews rally around him. Each plague starts to get more and more deadly until God decides “every first born Egyptian boy will die” (Exodus 11:5).
This is important because the first born boy is supposed to inherit the family’s holdings when he comes of age. Another purpose of the plagues is to impart on the people God. In past chapters God’s power is extremely potent, such as when he floods the Earth, killing almost all the world’s species. However in this case, God is to a certain extent, merciful, as he is willing to give Pharaoh and his people a chance by not totally destroying the Egyptians society immediately after he refuses to heed God’s word. The plagues reveal the Pharaoh’s is responsible for his fate and the fate of his people.
In general, acquiescing to God’s demands acts is in a person’s self interest, as he possesses all mighty power. In summation, the plagues were a method God used not only to save the Hebrews from slavery but to also show that he is the almighty ruler of the earth and still possess great power. It is no secret that the God that rules has a streak of insecurity embedded into his character. This streak comes to light sporadically throughout Genesis and in Exodus. God, when the occasion rises, enjoys unleashing his power to prove his power to the people of Earth.
In regards to the Hebrews, enslaved by the Egyptians, it probably would have been a lot more efficient for them if God had just dealt with the their captors quickly and decisively. Each plague that didn’t change the Pharaohs mind lead to another day of subjugation for God’s people. It almost seems like freeing the Hebrew people became a sideshow to God’s plagues. However, in the end, the plagues served God’s purpose of establishing his power on earth and reconnecting with his people who might have felt slightly abandoned during their subjugation to the Egyptians.
Did it work? To an extent the plagues served his purpose as it freed his people and gave them their sense of faith in him back. However, the Pharaoh after all the plagues still defied God’s power as he thought with this army he could ride after the Hebrews and slaughter them. In the end, God destroyed the Pharaoh and his army but it is not clear whether the Pharaoh and the Egyptian people ever accepted the true power of this God as even when the Hebrews were gone from their city, they still pursued them to take vengeance on them. Even in the face of death, the Pharaoh’s pride and arrogance never wavered.