Exodus 7:14-8:15 Study Guide The Plagues - Is Wealth Your God?

Community Group Study Guide — the Plagues - Is Wealth Your God?
Exodus 7:14-8:15

Study Information:
God promised judgement on Egypt for their oppression of Israel through slavery. This judgement would take the form of miracle upon miracle to show God’s mighty hand against Pharaoh. We refer to these acts of judgment as “the plagues” and it is important to note that God was not only judging Egypt, but also the gods the Egyptians worshipped. Exodus 12:12: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.” 

Each plague served as a judgement against the gods of the lands. These gods represented wealth, pleasure, security and life. You can see the general themes of the plagues with the image below.  



These plagues “undid” or attacked the promises of particular Egyptian gods and each showed God’s power over the creation as each plague used language from the creation story and focused on a particular part of creation. The first two plagues, water to blood and the frogs were likewise an attack on Egypt’s pursuit of wealth and their economy.

Water to Blood
Exodus 7:14-25
Moses warned Pharaoh once again to let the people go. Upon Pharaoh’s refusal, Aaron took his staff and stretched it out over the waters of Egypt, turning the water in the Nile, canals, ponds, pools and even in vessels of stone and wood into blood (Exodus 7:17-19). The result was the pollution of the waters where the fish died and the water was undrinkable for 7 days, which was a mercy of God that it did not last longer (Exodus 7:25). The Egyptians were able to dig some shallow wells to get drinking water and the Magicians could imitate this plague, but not reverse it. All of which led to Pharaoh’s hardened heart and lack of response to change (Exodus 7:22). 

Egyptian wealth and prosperity depended on the Nile. The Nile would seasonally flood and leave rich fertile agricultural land for farming, resulting in more predictable farming than other areas in the Ancient Near East. The Egyptians also had a god over the Nile river named Hapi. This god would control the rising floods and abatement of the waters. The water turning to blood was an image that Hapi was bleeding.  

Frogs
Exodus 8:1-15
The Egyptian god Heket was the god of fertility and childbirth and one of the ways this god displayed that power was by controlling the frog population. The frogs during this plague were multiplying and filling the land and coming from the Nile. They were in houses, bedrooms, beds, ovens and kneading bowls. This was more than a nuisance, to the Egyptian creation was out of control. The magicians were again able to imitate the plague through their secret arts but were unable to take away the frogs and Pharaoh begged Aaron and Moses to do something to take the frogs away. Moses went to God with this request so that Pharaoh would know that there was no one like Yahweh (Exodus 8:10). The frogs died and were put into piles throughout the land and make the place stink. When Pharaoh had a break from the plague, he hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15).  

God’s Judgment on Egypt’s Wealth
Each of these plagues showed God’s power over creation, specifically over the Nile river and the waters. Looking back at the beginning of Exodus, the Nile was part of Pharaoh’s extermination plan to control the slave population. The previous Pharaoh had commanded all the Hebrew newborn boys to be thrown into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). God judged that action and the Egyptians by going after the Nile river and making it a curse upon them.

Likewise, attacking the Egyptian god of fertility was an attack on the wealth of Egypt. Our culture can often view babies and larger families as a financial drain because kids in the modern world are expensive! However, in the ancient world children symbolized blessing, security and wealth. More kids meant more workers around the house or farm and were seen as favor from the gods. 

God went after these two gods first, Hapi and Heket, because Egypt’s wealth grew rampantly due to God’s favor during the time of Joseph in Genesis and because of Egypts slavery of the people of God. Functionally, the Egyptians worshipped wealth and were probably the most prosperous nation in the world at the time, or at least one of the most. 

Wealth is an easy idol/god to worship in our modern world. Our world is full of uncertainty and wealth provides some measure of protection against those uncertainties. Likewise, there are a lot of nice and fun things to do with money like vacations, gadgets, fancy coffees and other comforts. So why not get as much wealth as you can at whatever cost? When God challenges his people on wealth he challenges “what do you love and trust?”Jesus warned his followers that they could not serve God and mammon (the idol of money/wealth) because they each demand your love (Matthew 6:19-21). The Egyptians turned a blind eye to the suffering of the Israelites because their slavery led to greater wealth for Egypt and now God was judging the Egyptians pursuit of money. Wealth and money is a dangerous god to worship because it can easily become a place we look to for safety, security and trust rather than God. More than that, we can easily treat others sinfully in an attempt to gain more wealth. 

How can Christians respond if they feel a temptation to worship wealth? First, remember God is the giver of every perfect gift and supplies for our needs (James 1:17). Second, Followers of Jesus can combat the desire to live for more wealth by practicing generosity and stewardship of the resources they’ve been given by God. Paul drew our attentions to Jesus when he talked about wealth and giving in 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” The rest of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is then an exhortation to give generously and cheerfully as a measure of faith in God’s providing for us. Finally, money is a tool, how are you using it? Money can afford you opportunities to invest in things that are meaningful and god-honoring as well as to help those around you that have real needs. We all know intellectually we cannot take it with us out of this world, but it is still easy to want to have more even if the cost is great to family, health, sleep, etc. Think about what you are actually “buying” with your money, is it a great opportunity to love and serve God and your family or something else? Invest in treasure that will last and not just what is temporary. 

Summary:
Throughout the plagues, God judged the Egyptians for their role in the slavery of Israel and these actions showed his miraculous power. Many of these plagues relate to the Egyptian gods over specific idols of wealth. Pharaoh had defiantly stated “who is Yahweh that I should obey him?” and the plagues were God’s response. Likewise God showed his people his power and protection so they’d have greater faith and trust. 

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 7:14-8:15

What are some reasons the Nile river was important to the life and economy of Egypt? 

What factors led to Pharaoh’s hardening of heart during these two plagues? (see Exodus 7:22-23 and Exodus 8:15). 

The sermon and study guide discussed how these plagues uniquely related to the Egyptian gods of wealth. Why would God judge the Egyptian’s gods of wealth and what can we learn from that?

What practices do you have in your life to prevent the idolatry of wealth from getting to much of a hold on your heart?