Wednesday 17 July 2024
"The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile." (v. 18)
Background
Many people have suggested that in order to appreciate the story of Exodus, we must hold it in one hand with the book of Genesis (and the story of creation in particular) in the other. Scholars such as Terence Fretheim have argued that Pharaoh represents the forces that work against God’s purposes in creation. For example, God commanded human beings to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Genesis 1:28). God then promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the shore (Genesis 22:17). Pharaoh, on the other hand, was working in opposition to God’s commands and promises, actively seeking to reduce the number of Israelites by working them to death and by murdering their male babies at birth (Exodus 1:11-16). In the plagues, God reasserted God’s sovereignty over all creation – in this example, by turning the water in the River Nile (on which the Egyptians relied) into blood.
In many ways, this reads like an undoing of day three of the creation narrative, in which God gathered the waters together into seas. In this passage (Genesis 1:9-13), the creation of the seas is connected to abundant life and growth, including the vegetation that the first humans later relied upon to live. In contrast, this first plague led to a stinking river filled with dead fish and human beings scrabbling for clean water.
The plagues can be disturbing to read about, when we remember that the people of Egypt were God’s children, too. Many were passive, not active, participants in the oppression of the Israelites – much in the same way that many of us are passive participants in the use of cheap labour in sweatshops to produce our clothing. The destruction God causes because of Pharaoh’s decision not to let the Israelites go stands in stark contrast to the order, abundant life and harmony that God brings about in the creation narrative. Both narratives, however, emphasise the sovereignty of God over all the earth. The song of praise sung by the Israelites after leaving Egypt talks in detail about the ways in which God used the forces of creation (the sea, the wind, storms and the earth itself) to bring about victory over Pharaoh (Exodus 15:1-18).
To Ponder:
- What do you think the ‘ordinary’ Egyptians thought was happening when the river turned to blood?
- What are the forces in the world today that are actively working against God’s purposes for creation? How might we resist them?
Bible notes author: The Revd Naomi Oates
Naomi is a Methodist minister, currently serving in four churches in the North Kent Circuit. When not being rugby-tackled by her two toddlers, she enjoys cycling, baking and reading Golden Age detective fiction (although not all at the same time).