The Ancient Egyptian Plagues (Part 3)

(What Do They Mean for Us Today?)

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT

Part Three of a Series

In Part I and II of this study we saw that God sent a series of plagues unto Egypt, the first turning the streams, ponds, rivers, and pools of water into blood (Exodus 7).

Exodus 7:21

“And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.”

As we recall in Part I, the fish that was in all of these bodies of water died. Waters, ponds, springs, etc. all have the Gospel of Christ in view. God’s Word is symbolized throughout Scripture as waters, ponds, rivers, fountains of LIVING waters and so forth. This Gospel brings LIFE - spiritual eternal LIFE, and those who are eternally SAVED are symbolized throughout Scripture as FISH. Where do these fish abide? Within God’s living waters, of course. Christ tells us that within the worldwide church there will be both the true believer and the non-believers - the wheat and the tares. Christ assures us that these will grow together until Judgment Day. With that in mind, we see that there are two types of FISH in Scripture, the saved and the unsaved. The term “fish” does not necessarily represent those who are outside of the church. “Fish” more than likely has the saved (wheat) and the unsaved (tares) within the corporate church in view. The wheat belongs to Christ’s eternal Church while it is impossible for the tares (unsaved) to belong to Christ’s eternal Church; they can only belong to the literal corporate church.

When Scripture speaks of a fisher or fishers, it’s spiritual meaning is one who is saved and proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. When mentioned as far back as the Old Testament, the ultimate meaning of “fisher” is to be a proclaimer of the Gospel.

  

Mark 1:17

“And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.”

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ISAIAH 19:4-8

 

The following section of Isaiah may well be showing yet another parable of God’s end-time judgment upon the corporate church.

Isaiah 19:4-8

Verse 4 - “And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.”

As stated before, Egypt is a symbol of mankind in bondage to sin. It is therefore representative of the entire world. Verse 4 states that God will give the Egyptians over into the hand of a cruel lord and a fierce king. This is precisely how the Abomination of Desolation is described. Let us recall Daniel 8:23:

   

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.”

This indeed is speaking of Satan as the fierce king who is unleashed upon the world for the purpose of desecrating the Gospel of Christ (not the true believers); he stomps the truth to the ground until his time appointed. In spiritual terms, he turns the Gospel waters into blood, the waters become bitter and poisonous.

Verse 5 - “And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.”

The Hebrew word that is used as “wasted” here is also translated as desolate, destroy, decay, to dry up or to make waste. It would seem that Scripture is alluding to the spiritual waters of the Gospel ultimately and in the final analysis being dried up. Verse 5 repeats itself by stating that the waters and rivesr shall be wasted (made desolate and dried up) and dried up. The word “dried “ here is rendered from the Hebrew as wither, shame, shameful, and confounded. The meaning is quite clear.

        

Verse 6 - “They shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.”

Verse six seems to be reiterating what verses four and five stated, but with slightly different terminology. The “brooks of defence” shall be emptied and dried up. Yes, this also represents Christ’s Gospel just as do the waters and ponds. The brooks are waters also and here God adds that they are our defense. They are the Gospel waters and surely are the believer’s defense. The Hebrew defines this word defence here as siege, besiege, strong, fence, fortified, hold and tower. Christ of course is our defense, our stronghold, our fortified city, and our tower. It is important to study these words for confirmation.

Verse 7 - “The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.”

Verse seven can be summed up with what seems a likely parallel New Testament passage:

Revelation 18:16-19 -

“And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! [17] For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, [18] And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! [19] And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Cross Reference to Isaiah 19:7.

Verse 8 - “The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.”

In verse eight we see not only “fishers” being spoken of, but God also speaks of “they that cast angle” and “they that spread nets upon the waters.” God is referencing fishers because Christ said “I will make you fishers of men.” In the case of verse eight these fishers are mourning, languishing, and lamenting. Now lets look at Revelation 18:18-19 once more.

[18] “And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

[19] And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.” The great city seems most likely to be the fallen corporate church of the last days.

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SECOND PLAGUE UPON EGYPT

In Part II we left off discussing the second plague upon the land of Egypt. God brought frogs out of the rivers, streams, ponds, and waters and sent these frogs upon the people of Egypt. The plagues of frogs were found in the ovens and in kneading-troughs, upon all the people of Egypt, all the way up to the servants of Pharaoh and indeed in their houses, beds and bedchambers - to include Pharaoh himself, Exodus 8:1-15.

We have already seen what is represented by the ovens and the kneading-troughs. These plagues typify the global spiritual plagues at the end of the Church-Age when God begins to first judge the corporate church prior to His physical judgment of the world at the last day. The ovens and kneading-troughs are more than likely symbols signifying the Word of God. Back in the Old Testament days, bread was a major part of a daily diet. Bread was baked in ovens and then placed in kneading-troughs where it was left to raise. Why is it that God uses ovens and kneading-troughs that will be recipients to the over-running of frogs? As we saw in Part I, the frogs are representations of false prophets and false doctrines. Throughout Scripture Christ is the Bread of life (John 6:35,48) and the hidden manna (Revelation 2:17) that came down from heaven. Therefore, as the frogs (false prophets) plague the ovens and kneading-troughs (bread), it pictures the end-time flood of false ministers and false doctrines over-running the church congregations of the world - where spiritually the Gospel BREAD is served.

BEDS AND BEDCHAMBERS

Proverbs 20:27

“The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.”

Proverbs 20:30

“The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.”

Why are we quoting the above two verses in Proverbs? To display how magnificent God’s word is and how it is wonderfully designed. The word “inward” in the above passages is the same Hebrew word translated as “bedchambers” in our study of Exodus Chapter Eight. The frogs invaded the beds and bedchambers of all of the peoples of Egypt to include Pharaoh himself. During this Old Testament plague, the frogs literally went into the bed and bedchambers of the Egyptians. During the spiritual fulfillment of this plague, it won’t be frogs to contend with, but rather the horror will be false doctrines entering into one’s inward parts (bedchambers) and sealing the doom of those who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Proverbs 18:8

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”

Innermost is also the same Hebrew

word that is translated as bedchambers.

Deut. 32:25

“The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.”

The word “within” in the above verse is yet another rendering of the word “bedchambers.” As we interpret the secondary or spiritual meaning from Exodus 8:3 we find that the word “bedchamber” is translated as the following: chamber, chambers, bedchambers, inner, innermost, inward, parlours, south, and within. While the Old Testament plagues saw frogs over running the beds and bedchambers of the Egyptian people, yet it was a physical plague and did not endanger one’s soul, except for Pharaoh’s. Near the end of time these spiritual frogs will be in abundance and souls will be sealed due to their over-running or penetrating the inward parts of man, symbolized by beds or bedchambers.

THIRD PLAGUE: LICE

  

 Exodus 8:16-17

“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.

[17] And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.”

This third plague is difficult to interpret other than to say it was an historic occurrence and a literal and physical plague that God brought upon the land of Egypt in order to persuade Pharaoh to release the Hebrews. As to its parallel fulfillment in the spiritual realm, we know it also belongs with the end-time plagues during the Great Tribulation. There is no doubt that God worked miracles in the Old Testament Era. If God can create the world, universe, and stars, He can certainly produce unscientific miracles at His choosing. In the third plague God literally turned dust of Egypt into lice - we know this to be a sound fact because it is in God’s Word. We don’t have to reason it away or mold it into some type of scientific reasoning that the world will accept. During the days of Moses, while he was captive in Egypt, God turned the dust into lice that became a plague of staggering proportions upon the Egyptian people.

Will this plague be repeated in a spiritual way near the end of time? The answer seems to be yes, in some parallel to the historic event, it most likely will be repeated in a spiritual way consistent with the end-time plagues that we read of in the Book of Revelation.

As we look at the “dust” we see that this same word is translated in other areas of Scripture as earth, powder, ashes, mortar, rubbish and ground. God says to Moses to tell Aaron to smite the dust of the land, that it might become lice. Dust, then, is the powder of the earth; the fine particles of the earth or the ground.

The word “land” is a Hebrew word used to depict the land, the earth, the ground, the countries, the country, the lands, the world and the nations. It is also translated as “field, common, and way.” These last three words may hold a spiritual clue as to how we should interpret this word land.

It is no surprise that this word is also used as field since Christ refers to the world may times in parables as “the field.” This leaves us with just two words to look at, common and way.

Leviticus 4:27

“And if any one of the common [same word as land] people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;”

“Common” here seems to identify with humanity, the general population of the world, or the general population of Israel during the Old Testament Era. The final word we need to examine is “way.”

Genesis 48:7

“And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, [same word as LAND] when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.”

God teaches in His Word through two and sometimes three levels of interpretation. The physical, and often times a prophesy is fulfilled two or three times in the physical realm before coming to it’s ultimate and final fulfillment in a spiritual nature. Some prophesies may be fulfilled physically while never having a spiritual fulfillment. We don’t have a lot of information to lead us in understanding the spiritual ramifications of the phrase “smite the dust of the land.” We dare not be dogmatic if we are uncertain.

THE LAND OR THE EARTH

Exodus 8:17

“And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.”

 

Note: This Hebrew word land is the same Hebrew word as is earth in our study of Exodus 8:17.

In Genesis 48:7 that we just quoted, we want to concentrate on the first section. “And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, . . .”

We may have a sliver of a hint in this verse. The land of Canaan was the “promised land” to the Hebrews in Old Testament days. We know that it was also a figure for us today; that is a figure pointing to our eternal promise land.

The second half of Genesis 48:7 declares “. . . when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.”

We have a slight hint of what may be in view when God “smote the dust of the land.” This hint lies in the term “THE WAY. “In the land of Canaan in the way” and “in the way of Ephrath.” Please note that “Ephrath” is the ancient name of Bethlehem and means “fruitful.” Bethlehem and Canaan both have Israel in view, and Old Testament Israel pictured the New Testament spiritual Israel - all those who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, what does all of this imply, if anything?

In the New Testament the phrase “the way” means everything. For example:

John 14:6

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Romans 3:17

“And the way of peace have they not known:”

Acts 26:13

“At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.”

2 Peter 2:2

“And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

John 1:23

“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”

Matthew 7:14

“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Now let us examine one more Old Testament verse where we find the word “land” translated as “way.”

2 Kings 5:18-19

“In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

[19] And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way [way = land].”

This verse is depicting God’s pardon, and He says “go in peace.” And he departed a little way.

Mark 5:34

“And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

In 2 Kings 5:19 the servant was first pardoned and thus went a little way. The ultimate pardon throughout Scripture is Christ’s pardon for His Elect. If we are truly born-again in Christ, we are thus pardoned. If we are pardoned through Christ’s blood, we are thus in THE WAY.

This brings us back to the word “land” meaning “way” in our study of Exodus 8:16. As we have said, this is merely only a small possible hint at the spiritual interpretation. Interpreting it this way, what might we have? “Aaron smote the dust of the land” or “the dust of the way.”

MANKIND REPRESENTED AS “DUST”

Could the word “dust” be a figure of mankind? Man does indeed come from the dust of the earth.

Exodus 8:16

“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.”

2 Chron. 1:9

“Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.”

Consider this verse:

2 Samuel 22:43

“Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.”

Numbers 23:10

“Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”

Genesis 3:19

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Genesis 13:15-16

“For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. [16] And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”

The above references of “DUST” indicate clearly that God used the word dust to represent humanity in many passages, of which we’ve only quoted a few.

CONCLUSION OF THE THIRD PLAGUE

If we are interpreting our study of the third plague correctly, we find that the physical event of God smiting the dust of the land and turning it into lice might well be something altogether spiritual in its final fulfillment at the end of time. Perhaps we can quote it this way:

He smote the DUST

He smote the DUST (dust can equal the MASSES or HUMANITY)

of the LAND

of the LAND (LAND can equal Gospel or THE WAY)

He smote the masses of the Gospel! If we are on the right track and this hidden meaning is interpreted only by God’s elect, be assured that when God smites the masses of the Gospel that the “masses of the Gospel” can only refer to those unbelievers within the corporate church - the tares. God will not smite His elect. This conclusion falls altogether into perfect harmony with Scripture. We read throughout the Bible that once Satan is loosed at the end of time, he will enter into the temple, not a physical temple in the city of Jerusalem, but he will take his seat (be given divine authority) within the representation of the true Temple of God - the outward corporate church worldwide. This is the Abomination of Desolation.

Exodus, when speaking of this third and ancient plague, states that the DUST (the religious masses) will be turned into LICE. In this instance the dust most likely does not symbolize the entire masses of the world or the whole of humanity, but it reflects only the peoples of the corporate church, those who serve the harlot church. This is the time when God seals their false faith into a fate of eternal darkness. Remember, God tells us that judgment must first begin at the House of God, 1 Peter 4:17.

LICE

Exodus 8:16

“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.”

In the historic and literal fulfillment of this verse, God brought a gigantic plague of lice upon the entire land of Egypt. As Egypt is a symbol of this world and man’s bondage to sin, we wonder how this literal plague will play out in the spiritual realm of the last days? The lice definitely represent a plague of spiritual proportions, we know that for certain. We also understand that it must be some type of spiritually dark forces attacking the true Gospel and spiritually killing the unsaved of the corporate church.

We only have four references in all of Scripture where the word “LICE” is used, and two of these passages are here in our study of Exodus. That leaves only two other references to attempt to extract a spiritual nugget of truth from this word. The third reference where we find LICE is in Psalm 105:31:

   

“He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts”.

Does this verse shed any more information on our study? No, it doesn’t because this verse is recalling the events of Exodus Chapter Eight. We are left with one more passage to examine:

Isaiah 51:6

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like MANNER: [same word as LICE] but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

Does this verse give us further information? Yes, it does. The precise Hebrew word “MANNER” is used in only three other verses in Scripture, and we just quoted them, the ones that speak directly to the literal plagues of LICE upon Egypt. MANNER is the exact same Hebrew word as is LICE and is found only in Isaiah 51:6.

Go back and read this verse, for it tells us to lift up our eyes to the heavens and look down at the earth beneath. The heavens will one day vanish like smoke. The earth will wax old as a garment and they that dwell on the earth shall die in like MANNER (same word as LICE). The verse goes on to say that God’s salvation shall be for ever, and His righteousness shall not be abolished.

So we see that the earth will be destroyed in the same fashion as this universe - in like MANNER. God does not end on a note of doom and gloom. He immediately states that His salvation will be forever and cannot be abolished! God is contrasting eternal salvation with physical and eternal death. The unsaved of the world will die in like MANNER as the earth and universe. Remember, the word LICE is the same word as MANNER, therefore it is most likely that the plague of lice spiritually represents all those who are unsaved and die in like manner as the earth and universe.

 

We never dare add one jot or one tiddle to God’s holy and infallible Word. With that said, it is the opinion only of this study that the overall spiritual meaning of the plague of lice upon the ancient land of Egypt could be expressed this way:

God will smite the masses (DUST) of the corporate church (LAND, the WAY), that it (dust or masses) may become lice (LICE or MANNER: perish in like MANNER as the earth and the universe) throughout all the land of Egypt (throughout the world).

This is consistent not only with the first two plagues of Egypt, but also with the plagues of Revelation and various other passages throughout Scripture. The outer court or corporate church will be over -ran by Satan at or near the end of time.

 

-End of Part Three -

Next: Ancient Egyptian Plagues (Part 4)

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