More Exodus ponderings

[scapularkid8]

I was thinking about the Exodus and realized that even if Pharaoh’s army did catch the Israelites, they couldn’t have really done anything.

1.Pharaoh would probably not have given an order to kill because he would be destroying the entire backbone of Egypt’s workforce and he’d be ruining his own property (since a slave was property, same reason a plantation owner wouldn’t kill a slave for misbehaving: he loses money).

1. If they did catch up with Israel and were told to kill them, did they honestly think they would have enough arrows on their chariots to destroy every single Hebrew?

What confuses me about this situation is why Pharaoh would send an army in the first place if either way, they were not going to win…

The only reason that comes to mind is the passage where God says “and I will let Pharaoh’s heart be hardened” and that God allows this so he can show His Power because Israel sings a hymn to His Power after the Red Sea crossing…“horse and chariot He has cast into the sea…”

 

[NotWorthy]

Let’s see:

A) You’re ruler of the worlds most powerful country
B) You’re used to being surrounded by yes-men and syncophants, but this Moses challendged you in front of all of your loyal subjects.
C) You’ve just lost you’re largest group of slaves. But if any other group of slaves sees how easily you are defeated, then what’s to stop them from rebelling? You need to teach these pesky Israelites (and anyone else that thinks they can rise up and walk away) a lesson.
D) You’ve just lost your son, the child that was going to carry on your dynasty, to death from these same Israelites.

I could see where Pharaoh would wish to slay every Israelites that dared challenge him and his power in front of his people. You mentioned the shortage of arrows - the Egyptians were quite adept at spears and swords, which of course, could destroy this militarily defenseless group of Hebrews.

 

[ryanoneil]

I found this on www.salvationhistory.com

Pharaoh is punished, his nation put under judgment, for failing to respect the rights of God’s first-born son.

Pharaoh makes the big mistake of mocking the power of the Moses’ God (see Exodus 5:2). In the ten plagues God visits upon him, He both punishes punishes Pharaoh and executes judgment on the Egyptians’ many gods (see Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:4):

• The Egyptian Nile god, Hapi, is rebuked by the plague of blood on the Nile (see Exodus 7:14-25).
• Heket, the frog goddess, is mocked by the plague of frogs (see Exodus 8:1-15).
• The bull god, Apis, and the cow goddess Hathor, are reviled by the plague on the livestock (see Exodus 9:1-7).
• And the plague of darkness is a rebuke to the sun god, Re (see Exodus 10:21-23).

Scholars believe that each of the plagues can be linked to specific Egyptian deities. Even the final plague that strikes the first-born of Egypt can also be seen as an attack on the political gods of Egypt, because Pharaoh was worshipped as divine and his sons were “divinized” in special ceremonies.

By these divine actions, worked through Moses, God was demonstrating His power - establishing that Israel’s God is “a deity great beyond any other” (see Exodus 18:11; 9:16; 11:9).