Pulelulu Ma’asi 8, 2023
נגע The Plague War
Ko e Pāte‘i tau
EXODUS 11:1
THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, "YET ONE PLAGUE MORE I WILL BRING UPON PHARAOH AND UPON EGYPT. AFTERWARD HE WILL LET YOU GO FROM HERE. WHEN HE LETS YOU GO, HE WILL DRIVE YOU AWAY COMPLETELY."
‘EKISOTO 11:1
PEA folofola ‘a Sihova kia Mōsese, ‘Oku kei toe ha tā ‘e taha ke u ‘omi kia Felo, pea ki ‘Isipite; hili ia te ne tukuange kimoutolu; ka ne ka tukuange homou kotoa te ne mātu‘aki kapusi kimoutolu mei heni.
The rabbis used the catchphrase ma'aseh avot siman l'vanim ("the actions of the fathers are a sign for the sons") to describe how God's actions in the past, with the patriarchs, established the pattern of Israel's future. So here with the plagues. Long before Moses, while Abram and Sarai were in Egypt, God had "plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife" (Gen. 12:17 KJV). Now the Lord repeats that action when his bride, Israel, is under Pharaoh's thumb. The noun nega ("plague") is from the verb naga ("touch, strike, plague"). When God "touched" Pharaoh, it was like ten consecutive divine fists pulverizing his face until he was KO'd on the mat!
"The LORD is a man of war," Israel will later sing at the Red Sea (Exod. 15:3). He goes on the warpath for his people, his bride, his beloved. And woe betide anyone who stands in his way. Indeed, he will fight to the death, as he did in Christ, and arise a triumphant warrior to lead us out of exile and home again to him.
Arise, O Lord, to fight for
us, to trample our enemies, and to lead us into your kingdom.
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