The Israelites as well as the Egyptians were victims of the first three plagues, but it is not often noticed that it was Aaron and not Moses who was God’s instrument in bringing about these plagues:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt. . . that they may become blood” (Ex. 7:19);
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams . . . and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt” (Ex. 8:5);
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt” (Ex. 8:16).
The remaining plagues are divided between Moses and the direct acts of God.
At this point we shall ask two questions and look for their answers:
( a) Why did God include the Israelites with the Egyptians in the first three plagues?
(b) What was the purpose of Aaron’s involvement in these plagues?
It might be argued that God smote Israel so that, when He later made a difference by severing the land of Goshen, that difference would be very marked. It was not as if these three plagues were physically harmful, just inconvenient. And of the fourth plague it was said:
“And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell. . . to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between My people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be” (Ex. 8:22,23).
Yet it hardly needs to be pointed out that God could have made this point right from the beginning. Involving Israel indicates a direct chastening of this nation also.
It is difficult to conclude from these chapters in Exodus alone that Israel were idolaters in Egypt, but other scriptures give this information:
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord” (Josh. 24:14).
These words were part of an address by Joshua when the nation was assembled in Canaan. Also, the prophet Ezekiel records:
“Then said! unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt” (Ezek. 20:7).
It is the idolatry of Israel in Egypt that forms the key to the answers we are looking for, and it is to the prophet Ezekiel we turn for the solution. Look closely at chapter 20:5,6, which reads: “
And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up Mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God; in the day that/ lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them. . . then said! unto them, Cast ye away (your idols) . . . “.
Such repetition of one particular phrase is evidently done for a purpose. That it is repeated three times exactly links with the three plagues that Israel suffered when Aaron was commanded to lift up his hand upon the river, the streams and the dust. Thus the first three plagues can be seen as God’s judgements upon an idolatrous nation and a warning of judgements to come if His commands were ignored.
Ezekiel continues:
“But they rebelled against Me, and would not hearken unto Me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then! said, I will pour out My fury upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt”.
Ezekiel 20 continues with the account of the way in which the idolatry continued throughout the wilderness journey:
“But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. . . then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them” (v. 13).
There follow another seven references to the lifting up of God’s hand, His stretched out arm, and passing under the rod. Thus we have three manifestations of God’s wrath against Israel in the land of Egypt and seven in the wilderness. The ten plagues therefore become a parable to Israel of God’s wrath upon the children of wrath and the great work of redemption in the death of the firstborn.
The parable is given greater strength by using Aaron to afflict them directly in the midst of the land of Egypt, and Moses to prophesy of the coming judgments in the wilderness. Moses had left Egypt forty years before, and had been schooled in the wilderness, whilst Aaron had remained with them, shared their trials and burdens, and groaned with them by reason of their afflictions. Thus each of these great men became in turn the manifestation of God’s judgments upon the people of Egypt, and spoke, by their actions to the nation of Israel, of God’s unwillingness to share their devotions with the idols of Egypt; and through them He wrought for His name’s sake.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One