After Moses’ first disaster talking to Pharaoh and the Israelites, God talks to Moses again and tells him to talk to the Israelites again, they are so stressed out, they promptly ignore him. Then God tells a despondent Moses to talk to Pharaoh once again, and Moses objects -- again. God tells Moses that he will use signs and wonders in order to make completely clear God’s power. First there is the wonder of the staff being turned into a snake, then the staff eating the other snakes. Then begins the plagues, where we have the first seven of the ten: blood, frogs, lice, swarms, cattle disease, boils and hail.
Even the Midrash wonders why there was a need for ten plagues:
Surely, the Holy One, blessed be He, could have delivered Israel from the Egyptians with the first plague? But it was in order to fulfill the verse: He increases the nations, and destroyed them; which is followed by, He takes away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the land (Job XII, 23, 24). [Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XV: 10]It’s answer is not very satisfying, the land, it’s animals and it’s people are apparently to suffer for the deeds of the leadership. Another midrash is a little more reasonable, but no less satisfying:
God brought the ten plagues upon them in accordance with the regular plan of campaign [Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XV:27]While Midrash Rabbah leaves only this oblique comment, other commentaries flesh out the idea that God used the traditional tactics of any army which was attacking a city, correlating each plague with a different stage of a military siege. After the crossing of the Red Sea, and running out of water, Moses is given his first encounter with a rock:
5. And the Lord said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you of the elders of Israel; and your rod, with which you struck the river, take in your hand, and go. 6. Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. [Exodus 17]Midrash adds Moses’ objection:
Moses then said: ‘Lord of the Universe. This is the rod of punishment, for it caused the waters in Egypt to stink, and it brought the ten plagues on the Egyptians.’ But God replied: ‘My methods are not those of mortals; man cuts with a knife and heals with a bandage, but I heal with the thing with which I smite.’ ‘And thy rod, with which you struck the river, take in thy hand’ (ib.), so that all may know that it is an instrument of blessing. [Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XXVI: 2]God, not man, makes plagues. Huge acts of suffering might be contributed to by man, but a man cannot cause the volume and extent of damage that only God can in these ways. Even a nuclear weapon does not have the potential of a tsunami to cause massive destruction. As the Pharaoh’s magicians learn and acknowledge, the plagues are the finger of God. The plagues on one level were proving the power of God. Only God can do these things.
I have to wonder about a deeper level. Moses’ staff struck a river and it became undrinkable. When the people are free, He strikes a rock with the same staff and drinkable water pours out. Construction and destruction from the same implement. Human thinking is that there is one implement to hurt and one to heal. God thinks differently, that Divine power can hurt and heal. What intrigues me is that the hurt and the healing may be merely matters of perspective.
What if suffering is actually a way to make one stronger? As the biblical texts in the prophets attest, Egypt is not broken by the Exodus or the plagues, it remains a powerful nation. As the Egyptians suffered so did the Israelites under their slavery, only to become a powerful nation itself. Why was the slavery necessary in the first place? Slavery forged the children of Israel from a family into a people. To do so required suffering and challenge, but what for?
I think about that in many contexts. Why did I have horribly traumatic events, ones I have suffered from since I was rather young? My only answer of any comfort is to forge me into the person I am, and the person I will become. In another context, suffering allows us to perform acts of righteous compassion. We can help other people in need, or the homeless around the street. Knowing what suffering is allows us to show compassion for others who are suffering now, and to actively help with alleviating that suffering. It may be as big as stopping a famine or as small as holding the door open for someone unable to enter a building otherwise. Big and small acts of gemilut hasidim, acts of kindness abound, if we only see them. To see them we must feel them ourselves.
What Moses’ staff represents is a choice we have to make. We have the ability to bless or to curse by our deeds. God will leave suffering in the world, by famine plague, earthquake, disease, or other natural disaster. Many times, we initiate or contribute to the problem, much like Moses and his staff. Yet we too can heal, or even prevent greater devastation in such times by our actions. The biblical text is silent on any rebellions or movements within Egyptian society who took action to free the Israelites. We hear some advisors panicking, but nothing more. Like those advisors, we can choose to believe only in the finger of God and let God do everything, both healing and smiting, or we can choose to be Moses’ rod, being partners in the act of healing the world. We certainly have the power to destroy and to cause suffering; can we also find it in our hearts to stop polluting the waters with blood and toxic materials, but also to bring fresh drinking water to all peoples, so that they may live?
Such a change requires change not only in the leader, who often like Pharaoh will be incredibly stubborn. It requires the heart of every person be free to choose such a path. In Egypt, even the Egyptians were downtrodden and surfs, courtesy of Joseph’s taxation system, so they too were far from free. The plagues happened because there was no one to stop them but Moses and God. Magicians would replicate them, but never heal. It’s easy to build another bomb; it’s hard to negotiate for peace. The plagues were the challenge, and the Egyptian people failed, as did the Israelites of that generation who repeatedly failed in the years in the wilderness.
We too have that choice, Lets us all choose wisely.
1 comment:
The people are always plagued by the failings of their leaders. True now as it was then.
"Even a nuclear weapon does not have the potential of a tsunami to cause massive destruction."
Really? A tsunami does it's damage and then goes. Radiation is a gift that keeps on giving.
Also, if it's all G!d, then man-made plagues are just a new way of delivering the message.
"The plagues were the challenge, and the Egyptian people failed, as did the Israelites of that generation who repeatedly failed in the years in the wilderness.
We too have that choice, Lets us all choose wisely."
I think this is a wise way of looking at it. People assume they are powerless to affect change. What if the Egyptian people demanded that Pharoah let the Israelites go?
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