NOTES for Exo 7:1-25

God's intervention in the situation turned out for Egypt to be what is quite rightly usually called the "plagues of Egypt." By plagues in this case is meant punishment in the general sense, not a death sentence, as we usually understand the word today. In this sense one really can speak of plagues: a series of natural disasters falls upon Egypt, each of which can be regarded precisely as a punishment, and a collective punishment at that.

A natural question arises: is it good and right to punish an entire people for a decision made by one person, even if he is the ruler? The question is all the more relevant for Egypt, since the Egyptians did not choose their pharaohs, so they could bear no responsibility, even indirect responsibility, for the decisions those pharaohs made. Some people, however, could still influence Pharaoh.

It is no accident that the story mentions the Egyptian magicians, who, by doing something similar to what happened by God's will revealed through Moses, confirmed Pharaoh in the thought that what was happening did not go beyond natural limits and therefore was not worth attaching any special meaning to. These magicians undoubtedly share with Pharaoh the responsibility for the decisions he made in that situation. As for ordinary Egyptians, they most likely knew nothing about what was happening, seeing only the result: the disasters falling upon the country. At least that is how it must have been at the beginning, when no one in Egypt, except those directly involved in their affairs, knew anything about Moses or the Hebrews.

Nevertheless, the consequences of Pharaoh's decision affect all the inhabitants of his country. So what then: does God punish the whole people for the guilt of one man? One could say that, if one thinks at all that God deliberately punishes someone. Usually, however, this does not happen: for punishment, it is often quite enough for a person to be left alone with the consequences of his own sins. This is even more true for a whole people: collective sin usually produces consequences more serious than personal sin.

God is simply carrying out His plan. His plans are, as a rule, inclusive: God does not at all want, for example, to lead His people into the promised land at the cost of Egypt's death, or even at the cost of harming it. Harm begins when Pharaoh refuses to follow God's will insofar as this is necessary for carrying out God's plan. That is when Egypt's problems begin, but God has absolutely nothing to do with it: He did everything so that Egypt would not have these problems. The matter rested only with Pharaoh. His choice brought problems to his country, but here God could do nothing: human beings are free, and their freedom is an absolute value for God.