Day 19 Exodus 8-10

Egypt at the time of the Exodus was the wealthiest, the most powerful, the most culturally sophisticated nation on earth. It was what the United States was during the second half of the 20th century—the envy of the world for its stability and prosperity. Egypt was eternal, its people and its ruler believed.
But only God is eternal. Nations are mortal. It was upon the sinful self-confidence of a whole nation that God makes war when he sends a series of natural disasters that accompanies his command to let Israel go. The stubbornness of Pharaoh that refuses to listen to that command--to the ruin of his realm-- is sign of this suicidal self-importance that sees itself as invincible.
God works intentionally to humiliate pride. Again and again in our reading God hardens the heart of Pharaoh so that he will resist to the last degree. The LORD says that he has done this so that in times to come the people of Israel may tell their “children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them” (10:2).
So does God cause the suffering of Egyptians? Does God cause suffering period? It is a delicate question. God certainly does use suffering to humiliate pride and to prove that the idols nations make of themselves cannot stand before the majesty of the LORD. He certainly does use their own foolishness to punish those who, like Pharaoh, make idols of themselves.
But does God send the plagues or are they natural disasters that are interpreted by the Israelites as miracles? In our reading it hardly matters. Only the LORD can create anything. The point of the story is that the powers of darkness cannot create anything. It says that by the power of God Moses makes dust become gnats. When the magicians of Egypt fail to produce gnats “by their secret arts,” even they themselves acknowledge—“This is the finger of God!”
The powers of darkness—human powers working contrary to the will of God—cannot create anything—not even lowly gnats. They can throw shadows and illusion around, but only the LORD can create anything.
To make this point clear in the ninth plague the LORD reverses his first act of creation and darkness falls over the land, a darkness so thick it could be felt (10:21). He withdraws his creative power and leaves the nation figuratively and literally “in the dark.” But at the same time the LORD “hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” so that he was “unwilling to let them go” (10:27). He “be-nights” Pharaoh.
One last terrible act of un-creation is necessary before the sinful will of Egypt breaks and its ruler sees sense. The Lord must un-create life. Only when God does this last does the heart of Pharaoh soften. The LORD alone can create and un-create anything. Faith is a mystery—but so is doubt.