FIRST EXECUTION: WATER TURNED TO BLOOD

Exodus 7:19-25 And Aaron lifted up the rod and struck the water of the river before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water in the river turned to blood, and the fish in the river died out, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river; and there was blood over all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt did the same with their charms. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened...

Against what was this execution directed?

The Nile River was considered one of the deities of Egypt, to whom Egypt owed its birth, existence and prosperity.
“In ancient Egypt, the Nile, the “great river”, has always been a source of life, a common property of two lands - Upper and Lower Egypt. Herodotus' saying is widely known: "Egypt is the gift of the Nile". Many texts emphasize the cosmic nature of the Nile, its underground and heavenly character.

There were performances according to which the boat of the Sun floats along the heavenly Nile during the day. There is also the Nile underground, along which the Sun, having descended beyond the horizon, travels at night. The image of the underground Nile was closely associated with death, with the souls of the dead and their judgment in the afterlife. Turning to God, the Egyptian said: "You created the Nile in the underworld and brought it to earth at your will, in order to prolong the life of people, just as you gave them life by creating them."

The god Hapi (who was depicted as a fat man with vessels in his hands from which water flows) was an image of the Nile flowing on earth. He was revered as "the high Nile, which gives life to the whole country with its food," as the giver of moisture and harvest. According to legend, the cave from where the god watched over the river subject to him was located a little south of Aswan, on the island of Biga at the first threshold. The Nile itself was inhabited by good and evil deities in the form of animals: crocodiles, hippos, frogs, scorpions, snakes. Xapi's father was the primeval ocean Nun. The holiday dedicated to Khapi was timed to coincide with the beginning of the flood of the Nile. On this day, sacrifices were made to him, papyrus scrolls with listings of gifts were thrown into the river.

Another deity of the Nile, Khnum (who was revered by the Egyptians as a creator god who created a man on a potter's wheel) was also considered the guardian of the sources of the Nile and was depicted as a man with a ram's head with spirally twisted horns. Other deity- Sebek - in Egyptian mythology was considered the god of water and the flood of the Nile. Since his sacred animal was the crocodile, he was most often depicted as a crocodile man or a man with the head of a crocodile.

The Egyptians worshiped not only the Nile and the patron idols of the Nile, but also to some individuals of fish that were found in this river.
To shame all these Egyptian deities, the Lord God turned the water of the Nile into blood, and as a result, the water became unfit for drinking and irrigating the land, and all the fish died out.

Attention should be paid to the fact that the Egyptian sorcerers were able to repeat this miracle with their witchcraft powers, which contributed to the hardening of the pharaoh's heart and doubled the gravity of this execution.

SECOND EXECUTION: TOADS

Exodus 8:1-14“And the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and say to him: Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, that they may serve Me; if you do not agree to let go, then here, I infect your whole area with frogs; and the river shall swell with frogs, and they shall come out and enter into your house, and into your bedroom, and into your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and into your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneaders, and upon you, and upon the people yours, and frogs will come up on all your servants. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams, and over the lakes, and bring out the frogs into the land of Egypt. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt.

“In ancient Egypt, with the head of a frog (or b) depicted the male primary deities of the Germanic Ogdoada - the great eight of the original deities. The forces of primordial Chaos were opposed by creative forces - four pairs of deities, personifying the elements. The male deities of the figure eight - Huk (Infinity), Nun (Water), Kuk (Darkness) and Amon ("Invisible", that is, Air) - had the appearance of people with the heads of frogs. They corresponded to female deities with snake heads.

Frogs were credited with power over spills Nile, on which the harvest depended. Small frogs appeared in the river a few days before its flood and therefore were considered the heralds of fertility. In addition, in Egypt there was a belief that the frog had the ability of spontaneous generation, so it was associated with the afterlife cult and resurrection after death. She was considered a sacred animal of the ancient Egyptian fertility goddess Heket, one of the symbols of immortality. [Since her sacred animal is a frog, she was depicted as a frog or a woman with a frog on her head.]. The frog goddess helped women in childbirth, and in the afterlife - the resurrection of the dead.

The Lord God laughed at the superstition Egyptians and over their deities, sending hordes of toads and frogs over all Egypt. At the word of Moses, frogs came out of the Nile River and filled all the dwellings of the Egyptians.

Wizards were also able to imitate this miracle, but since they could not rid the country of the invasion of frogs, Pharaoh became convinced of God's superiority and even asked Moses and Aaron to pray for him and even promised Moses that he would let the people of Israel go into the wilderness for a while: verse 8 "And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, Pray to the Lord that he remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people of Israel go to sacrifice to the Lord. But then he hardened his heart and changed his mind.

THIRD EXECUTION: MOSHKI

Exodus 8:15-19 « And Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and hardened his heart, and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and the dust will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. And so they did: Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and midges appeared on people and on cattle. All the dust of the earth became midges throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians also tried to produce midges with their charms, but they could not. And there were midges on people and on cattle. And the wise men said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said."

What were these midges? Theologians are divided. According to the Septuagint translation (Greek translation of the Old Testament), at the blow of the rod, many "sknips" appeared from the ground. This is how it is written in Psalm 104:31 "He said, and various insects came, sknips in all their borders." In the old days, lice were called sknips in Rus'. It was a translation from the biblical original, where the word "kinnim" is used.

ancient greek philosophers Philo and Origen believed that these were midges and mosquitoes - a common scourge of Egypt during periods of flooding of the Nile. Other philosophers and researchers (such as Josephus Flavius) adhere to a different point of view, understanding the word "kinnim" as lice or fleas. This is how this word is translated from Syriac and Arabic.

In accordance with the Explanatory Bible of Lopukhin,“Kinnim, according to the biblical story, are brought out of the dust of the earth, while mosquitoes appear “out of the water” regarding mosquitoes, it cannot be said that they “appeared on people and on cattle” (verse 17); finally, in the Talmud the word "kinna" means "louse". The reading of LXX - “sknifeV” does not contradict such an understanding. The use of this expression by the ancient Greek authors - Theophrastus, Aetius, Aristophanes shows that this term means both grass louse, and worms, and fleas.

Anyway, this execution was aimed at shaming the Egyptian deities of earth, sky, air and health, who were unable to protect the people and cattle of Egypt from the invasion of midges.

The sorcerers could not reproduce this miracle and signed their impotence, recognizing this execution as "the finger of God." They stopped competing with Moses, recognized the power of God, and therefore began to advise Pharaoh to let the Jews go at the word of Moses.

FOURTH EXECUTION: DOG FLY

Exodus 8:20-32“And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise early tomorrow and appear before Pharaoh. Behold, he will go to the water, and you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. but if you do not let my people go, then, behold, I will send flies on you and on your servants and on your people and on your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with flies and the very land on which they live; And in that day I will separate the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, and there will be no flies, so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth; I will make a division between my people and your people.

Tomorrow there will be a sign. And so the Lord did: a multitude of dog flies flew into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and over all the land of Egypt: the land perished from dog flies. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, Go, offer sacrifice to your God in this land. But Moses said: this cannot be done, for our sacrifice to the Lord our God is disgusting for the Egyptians: if we begin to offer a sacrifice disgusting for the Egyptians in their eyes, will they not stone us? we will go into the wilderness, three days' journey, and offer sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he will tell us.

And Pharaoh said: I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but do not go far; pray for me. Moses said: behold, I will go out from you and pray to the Lord, and the dog flies will be removed from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people tomorrow, only let Pharaoh stop deceiving, not letting the people offer sacrifice to the Lord. And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses and removed the flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people: not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart and this time did not let the people go.

Clouds of these flies covered the people and filled the houses of the Egyptians.“According to Philo, the insect that served as the instrument of the fourth execution combined the properties of flies and dogs, was distinguished by ferocity and persistence. From afar, like an arrow, it rushed at a person or animal and, rapidly attacking, dug into the body with a sting and, as it were, stuck to it ”(Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible). Most likely, the dog flies mean gadflies that haunted the Egyptians and their herds of animals.

The main lesson of this execution was that God openly revealed to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians the difference between them and the Jews. Dog flies were everywhere, except for the region of Goshen, in which the Jews lived; they were in every house except the houses of the Israelites: verses 22-23 “... that day I will separate the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, and there will be no flies, so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth; I will make a division between my people and your people."

Such a division between the two peoples and their areas of residence in Egypt showed the pharaoh that the God of Israel is the Lord who sent the Egyptian executions, and that it is He who is the God over Egypt, surpassing all Egyptian deities and idols in strength and power.

FIFTH EXECUTION: PETITION PULSE

Exodus 9:1-7 " And the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Jews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me; for if you do not want to let go and still hold on to him, then, behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your livestock, which is in the field, on horses, on donkeys, on camels, on oxen and sheep: there will be a pestilence very heavy; and the Lord shall divide between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and of all the cattle of the sons of Israel not one shall die.

And appointed Lord time, saying, Tomorrow the Lord will do it in this land. And the Lord did this the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died out; none of the livestock of the children of Israel died. Pharaoh sent to find out, and behold, none of the livestock of Israel died. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go."

Pestilence is a disease of animals. A big blow to the Egyptian gods. The bull and cow were considered the main deities of the Egyptians and were the sacred animals of Egypt. They offered sacrifices and incense. The bull was kept in luxury in many Egyptian temples. After the death of such a bull, they embalmed and with a ceremony befitting only a king, they buried it in a magnificent sarcophagus.

In addition, many Egyptian deities were depicted with the head or body of a calf or cow. So, Apis was considered the god of fertility; he was depicted as a bull with a solar disk. Amon, being the patron of the city of Thebes, was also the god of air and harvest, the creator of the world; depicted with the head of a man, and sometimes a bull or a ram, with a two-pronged crown and a long scepter in his hand. The goddess Isis was often depicted as a woman with the horns of a cow and a solar disk on her forehead, holding a papyrus stalk in her hand.

Hathor - goddess of love and destiny sky goddess; nurse of the pharaohs and ruler of distant lands. Depicted as a cow or a woman with cow horns, sometimes with only one ear. In general, the Egyptians depicted many of their gods with the heads or bodies of animals. Against faith in these gods, the fifth execution was directed.

So, the animals of Egypt suffered a pestilence, but among the Israelites not a single animal died: Exodus 9:7 "Pharaoh sent to know, and behold, none of the cattle of Israel died." It is worth bearing in mind that the expression “all the cattle of Egypt died out” does not mean that literally all the cattle died out in Egypt. After all, the next sixth plague also touched the animals (verses 8-9). By the expression "all the livestock of Egypt died out" is meant all the livestock that was in the fields. He died from a pestilence. Moses warned Pharaoh about this in verse 3, “The hand of the Lord will be on your cattle that are in the field.”

SIXTH PENALTY: BURNS

Exodus 9:8-12“And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Take a full handful of ashes from the furnace, and let Moses throw it up to heaven in the eyes of Pharaoh; and dust will rise up over all the land of Egypt, and there will be inflammation on people and on cattle, with boils, in all the land of Egypt. They took the ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it to heaven, and there was inflammation with boils on people and cattle. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the inflammation, because the inflammation was on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had told Moses."

Many theologians believe that it was something of black pox. This execution affected both people and animals, and even sorcerers after Moses threw the ashes to the sky at the word of the Lord God.

The order to throw up the ashes taken from the furnace is related to one of the ancient religious customs of Egypt. Ashes blown in the wind from the victims in honor of the god Seth (the god of evil and failure), according to the belief of the Egyptians, averted evil, the evil eye or damage from all those limits where he fell. But now abandoned by Moses to the sky the ashes spread, in denunciation of Egyptian superstition, not well-being and prosperity, but a curse from the God of Israel, and caused boils on the bodies of people and livestock.

Among other things, the fact that the sorcerers could not protect themselves and the pharaoh from abscesses on the body was evidence of the impotence of the Egyptian healing gods, led by Isis, who could not prevent the sixth plague sent to Egypt by the God of Israel.

SEVENTH EXECUTION: GRAD

It should be noted that it was not just hail, but a very large hail: presumably the size of an orange. In addition, this hail was accompanied by lightning. Lightning is spoken of as fire in Exodus 9:23-25 ​​“And Moses stretched out his rod to heaven, and the Lord brought forth thunder and hail, and fire poured over the earth; and the Lord sent hail into the land of Egypt; and there was hail and fire between the hail, a very strong hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since the time of its inhabitants.

Elsewhere it is directly written, that hail was accompanied by lightning: Psalm 77:47-49 gave up their livestock to hail and their flocks to lightning; He sent upon them the flame of His anger, and indignation, and fury, and disaster, an embassy of evil angels.

Before the hail went God gave the Egyptians a very merciful warning to gather their flocks and take them to a hiding place. And so hail fell in all of Egypt and beat everything: verse 25 “from man to cattle, and hail killed all the grass of the field, and broke all the trees in the field”, and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bGoshen (or Goshen), where the Jews lived, there was no hail .

The amazing thing about this execution was that those of the Egyptians “who feared the word of the Lord, hastily gathered their servants and their flocks into their houses” (verse 20), and thus saved both their servants and cattle from destruction. Thereby The Lord God demonstrated to Pharaoh and all of Egypt that life awaits those who obey God, and death awaits those who oppose God.

Among other things, this execution was directed against the gods of sky, air, rain and fertility, who were fanatically worshiped by the Egyptians, led by the pharaoh, and who were unable to protect their people from this execution. However, Pharaoh hesitated and continued to harden his heart.

EIGHTH PENALTY: LOCUST

The locust punishment was one of the worst. The locusts swooped in in great clouds and ate all the greenery that survived the seventh plague. And at the end of the day, locusts covered the ground 12 cm thick with a stench.

This execution was primarily directed against the gods of the earth, harvest and fertility. Here are just a few: Osiris is a god vitality nature and fertility, lord underworld; Ptah (Pta) - the god of fertility of the earth; Apis - a symbol of fertility; Ming is the god of fertility, the producer of crops; Nehebkau is the god of time, fertility and the giver of food. The Egyptians saw that all these numerous deities were not able to protect their people from the next execution of the God of Israel, as a result of which the whole country was left without a harvest and was practically doomed to a terrible famine.

After that, even the pharaoh's servants convinced of the need to let the Jews go: Exodus 10:7 “Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long will he torment us? let these people go, let them serve the Lord their God; do you still not see that Egypt is perishing?” The sudden appearance and disappearance of plagues on such a vast scale, according to the word of Moses, served as proof of the power and might of God.

A striking achievement of this execution was the recognition by the pharaoh of his own impotence and sinfulness before the God of Israel, as well as the impotence of the Egyptian gods to protect their gardens and fields from the invasion of locusts: “ Pharaoh Hastily Called Moses and Aaron and said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you; Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God that He only turn away this death from me” (Imhod 10:16-17).

NINTH EXECUTION: DENSE DARKNESS

Exodus 10:21-27“And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand to heaven, and there will be darkness in the land of Egypt, palpable darkness. Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, and there was thick darkness over all the land of Egypt for three days; did not see each other, and no one got up from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Pharaoh called Moses and said: go, serve the Lord, let only your flocks and cattle remain, and let your children go with you.

But Moses said: also give into our hands our sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God; let our herds go with us, not a hoof will be left; for we will take of them as a sacrifice to the Lord our God; but until we get there, we do not know what to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go."

Having punished Egypt with darkness, God belittled and laughed at the Egyptian deity Ra, the god of the sun. Midnight darkness over Egypt lasted three days. And where Israel lived, it was light. “The three days of darkness that enveloped Egypt served as obvious proof of the impotence of the supreme god Ra, the god of the sun, who now obeyed the will of the Almighty and was unable to give his admirers at least a particle of light ”(Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible).

In addition to the supreme god Ra, other gods of the sun and light were also put to shame, such as: Aten - the god of the sun, was depicted as a solar disk, the rays of which ended with open palms. Horus (Horus) acted in two guises: as the lord of heaven, the king of the gods, the god of the Sun, and also as the earthly king, the pharaoh. He was depicted as a falcon, a man with a falcon's head, a winged sun. Its symbol is a solar disk with outstretched wings.

Atum is the god of the evening setting sun. Khepri is the god of the morning, rising sun (as opposed to Ra - daytime and Atum - evening). Mnevis - a deity in the form of a black bull - was revered as a living embodiment of the sun god and was depicted with a solar disk between the horns.

TENTH EXECUTION: DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN

This was the worst punishment for the Egyptians. But if not for this execution, then the Jews would have been slaves in Egypt to this day.
The tenth plague was directed firstly at the protector gods of the pharaoh (such as the god Horus and the goddesses Satis, Sikhmet and Uto), as well as the last deity of Egypt - the pharaoh.

“The pharaohs were the “servants of Horus”, the successors of his power over Egypt. Horus protects the king with his wings (on the statue of Pharaoh Khafre, a falcon is depicted on the back of the head, covering his head with wings). The name of Horus was included as an obligatory component in the five-term title of the pharaoh"

Since ancient times, the pharaohs were revered as gods. And many Egyptian gods were considered pharaohs in the past (such as Min and Horus).

But the Lord dispelled the superstition that the pharaohs are or become gods. The failure of the pharaoh to protect his people and his own family from the death of his firstborn belied the pharaoh's claims to the title of god.

Among other things, the tenth plague, according to many theologians, is the revenge of the Lord God for all Israeli babies killed in Egypt.

priest Vadim Markin

Alexander Tkachenko

Met. Kaluga and Borovsky Kliment

M. Mcaffee

Dorian G. Coover Cox

Egyptian executions- ten punishments of God that befell Egypt for Pharaoh's refusal to release the people of Israel from Egyptian captivity. Described in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus ().

The religion of Egypt at that time was polytheism - belief in several deities. The Egyptian pantheon included a large number of deities of various significance. Each city had its own, especially revered cults. Natural phenomena were also deified: the sun, stars, wind, natural disasters. Animals, birds, reptiles and even insects also became objects of worship.

In addition, the ancient Egyptians mixed human and animal principles in their beliefs. An example is the goddess Sakhmet, a healer of diseases, depicted as a woman with the face of a lioness. Many pharaohs identified themselves with sphinxes during their lifetime and commanded to imprint this in stone. A number of sculptures of sphinxes, which are now in the Cairo Museum, testify to this. Some of them have survived to this day.

One of the key roles in the religion of Egypt was played by the pharaoh himself, who acted as the only "intermediary" between people and gods. The pharaoh was the supreme ruler and at the same time the high priest.

According to the beliefs of the Egyptians, the first pharaoh was the god Ra himself. Other gods ruled behind him. Later, the son of Osiris and Isis, the god Horus, appears on the throne. Horus was considered the prototype of all Egyptian pharaohs, and the pharaohs themselves were his earthly incarnation. Every real pharaoh was considered a descendant of both Ra and Horus.

From his very birth, the pharaoh was revered both as the supreme ruler and as a deity. It is quite natural that the ruler of Egypt asked Moses: “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him [and] let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go ”(). Moses' request was immediately rejected by Pharaoh. Then the Lord said something very unusual to Moses: “Look, I made you God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet” (). Thus, the pharaoh had a "rival". The living God of Israel opposed one of the earthly gods.

When reading the story of the ten plagues, one often comes across the repeated phrase: “ And you will know that I am the Lord your God» (; ; ; ; ). This phrase emphasizes the meaning of everything that happens. The Lord wanted to show both the Egyptians and the Jews that He is the true, all-powerful God. Therefore, even to the Pharaoh himself, the Lord said in the midst of 10 Egyptian plagues: "I have kept you to show my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth"().

Ten plagues of Egypt followed one after another, after another refusal of the pharaoh to let the people of Israel go:

1. Turning water into blood ()
2. Invasion of toads ()
3. Invasion of midges ()
4. Dogfly punishment ()
5. Pestilence ()
6. Ulcers and boils ()
7. Thunder, lightning and fiery hail ()
8. Locust Invasion ()
9. Dark ()
10. Death of the firstborn ().

Some interpreters point out that the Egyptian executions consistently humiliated and shamed the Egyptian idols (Ra, Isis, Hapi, Amon, etc.) who were unable to protect those areas on which the Egyptians attributed influence.

The total duration of executions falls within the period from July of one year to March of the next.

All ten plagues of Egypt are reflected in the psalms and.

Psalm 77:41-51 «… they did not remember his hand, the day when he delivered them from oppression, when he did his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan; and turned their rivers and their streams into blood so they can't drink; sent to them insects to sting them, and toads to destroy them; gave their earthly growth to the caterpillar, and their labor locust; grapes killed them hail and their sycamores with ice; gave up their livestock to hail and their flocks to lightning; He sent upon them the flame of His anger, and indignation, and fury, and distress, an embassy of evil angels; leveled the path with his wrath, he did not guard their souls from death, and the cattle betrayed them pestilence; hit everyone firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of power in the tents of Ham»;
Psalm 104:26-36 « He sent Moses his servant, Aaron, whom he had chosen. They showed among them the words of His signs and His wonders in the land of Ham. sent darkness and made darkness and did not resist his word. He turned their water into blood, and killed their fish. The earth has produced many toads even in the bedroom of their kings. He said and different people came insects, sketches to all their limits. Instead of rain sent to them hail scorching fire upon their land, and crushed their vines and their fig trees, and crushed the trees within them. Said and came locust and caterpillars without number; and they ate all the grass in their land, and ate the fruit of their fields. And hit everyone firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength».

Priest Gennady Egorov. "The Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament":
What is the fault of Pharaoh, if God, as it is said, "hardened the heart" his ()? After all, the pharaoh turns out in this case just a toy in the hands of God? This is not entirely true. The same action of God in different ways different people affects, depending on their own location. God's assistance to the Israelites serves as a strengthening of faith for the Israelites, and for Pharaoh as a source of more and more fierce resistance (cf. - "Pharaoh's heart hardened"; ). “The point is not that the opposition was put into the soul of the pharaoh by divine will, but that he, by his own choice, due to his tendency to vice, did not accept arguments that soften this opposition.” The more God performs His miracles and assists the Israelites, the more hardened Pharaoh becomes. Just like in gospel story we see: the more the Lord Jesus Christ reveals His messianic dignity, reveals His divinity, the more and more madly opponents take up arms against Him.

Commentary of the New Geneva Bible:
"I will harden the heart of the pharaoh" (). This expression means "I will make hard" rather than "cruel". In other words, the Lord will not influence Pharaoh in any way so that he changes his mind - Pharaoh will convince Moses by word and signs.

Explanatory Bible Lopukhin:
The pharaoh himself is the culprit of this state insofar as, due to his pride and self-interest, he does not want to obey the higher divine will recognized by himself and those around him (;): during the execution he is ready to release the Jews, after passing it refuses to do so. But, on the other hand, the pharaoh's sinful inclination would not have developed to such an extent if the divine command to release the Jews had not been addressed to him. In this respect, God is responsible for the hardening of his heart.

The opinions of interpreters regarding the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, which is here attributed to God, are different. There are only ten such statements. Eight of them (; ; ; ; ) contain the word chazaq, which means that the Lord made Pharaoh's heart "hard", immovable, so that his feelings for Israel did not change. Another Hebrew word qashah is used, meaning that the Lord made Pharaoh's heart "hard" or "insensitive". In 10:1, the third word kabed is used, indicating that God made Pharaoh's heart "heavy" or insensitive to divine influence. An examination of the context shows that these different words are used more or less interchangeably.

The other ten statements say that Pharaoh himself hardened his heart. Four of them (; ; ). He also continued to refuse after the fourth and fifth plagues, which fell upon the Egyptians, but did not touch the Israelites, which was reported to the king (). The hardness of his heart is even more evident in his breaking his promise to let Israel go on the condition that Moses and Aaron stop the execution, and in his forced confession of his sin (). Thus, when Moses was told before coming to Egypt that the Lord would harden the heart of Pharaoh (). But how does the sun act differently on different materials according to their nature, it melts wax, but makes clay hard, for example, so the action of the Spirit of God on the hearts of people produces a different effect depending on the state of the heart. The repentant sinner allows the Holy Spirit to lead him to change and salvation, but the unrepentant one hardens his heart more and more. The same manifestation of God's mercy in one case leads to salvation and life, and in the other - to condemnation and death - in each case at the person's own choice.

James Rollins

Seventh execution

Thanks to my parents

Ronald and Mary Ann, for inspiration and unconditional support, for a long - life-long - example of how to love ...

You are together again, forever in peace.

Words of gratitude

Helped me work on this book great amount people: attention and advice, criticism and encouragement, and most importantly - friendly support. I would like to thank my first readers, editors and critics who kept me going and digging deeper: Sally Ann Barnes, Chris Crow, Lee Garrett, Jay O'Riva, Denny Grayson, Leonard Little, Judy Pray, Caroline Williams, Christian Riley, Todd Todd, Chris Smith and Amy Rogers. As always, a special thanks to Steve Prey for the great maps, David Sylvian for always caring about my performance, and Cherie McCarter for the many historical and scientific nuances these pages are filled with! Of course, thanks to everyone at Harper Collins for their safety net, especially Michael Morrison, Lyet Stelik, Daniella Bartlett, Caitlin Harry, Josh Marvell, Lynn Grady, Richard Aquan, Tom Egner, Sean Nichols and Anna Maria Alessi. And of course, I am very grateful to the people who played an important role in all stages of the work: my editor Lissa Keish and her colleague Priyanka Krishnan; my agents Russ Galen and Danny Baror (as well as his daughter Heather Baror). As usual, I want to emphasize that any factual errors in the book - I hope there are not too many of them - are entirely on my conscience.

Historical notes

And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day, on which you went out of Egypt, from the house of bondage; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out from there…”

There are few stories in the Bible that move as much to the soul or are as often retold - both on paper and on the screen - as the story of Moses. His fateful salvation in infancy, when he floated in a reed basket into the hands of the pharaoh's daughter, a further confrontation with the son of that same pharaoh - all this made Moses a legendary person. To save the Jewish people from slavery, the prophet brought down ten plagues on Egypt - "ten plagues of Egypt", then forced the sea to part and led his people into the desert - for a long forty years. In addition, it was Moses who delivered to the Jewish people the Tablets with the Ten Commandments, which formed the basis new system laws.

However, was it all real? Most historians and religious leaders consider the Exodus to be a myth, more of a spiritual instruction than historical fact. In support of this view, skeptic archaeologists point to the absence of Egyptian primary sources that would mention a number of disasters or a mass exodus of slaves during the period designated by the Bible.

Nevertheless, recent finds in the Nile region suggest that those of little faith are mistaken. Is there evidence to support the story of Moses, the great exodus, miracles and curses? Did Egypt suffer the notorious ten plagues? The startling answers in these pages are based on hard facts. One of them, for example, is the word "Israel", carved on the stele of the son of Ramesses the Great.

And if the Egyptian executions did take place, can they be repeated - only now on a global scale?

The answer to this question is a frightening... Yes.

Scientific Notes

The climate is what we expect; the weather is what we get.

Quote attributed to Mark Twain

The situation is heating up. And this is not only about the temperature on the globe, but also about disputes over global warming. Over the past few years, the question “Is the climate really changing?” turned into the question “What exactly causes climate change and can it be influenced?”. Even former skeptics today admit that something is happening to our planet. Glaciers around the world are melting, the Greenland ice sheet is shrinking at a dizzying rate, and ocean temperatures are rising steadily. The weather surprises with sharp fluctuations: from endless droughts to large-scale floods. According to February 2016 reports, Alaska experienced its second warmest winter on record, with temperatures above average by more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit. In May of that year, satellite measurements of Arctic ice revealed that it had melted to levels never seen before.

An even more frightening question - this novel is dedicated to him - is this: "What will happen next?" The answer sounds unexpected, it is hardly talked about, nevertheless it is based on concrete evidence and scientific data. The most amazing thing is that this has happened before. In a word, you are a skeptic or a supporter - it does not matter. Forewarned is forearmed. It's time to learn the stunning truth about the future of our planet.

...

And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch thy hand over the waters of the Egyptians: over their rivers, over their streams, over their lakes, and over every container of their waters, and they shall be turned into blood, and there shall be blood over all the earth Egyptian and in wooden and stone vessels.

Exodus 7:19

...

Nilza is not only a river in Egypt.

Mark Twain

Spring, 1324 BC

Nubian desert, south of Egypt

The naked high priestess knelt and sank into the sand. The time has come. The omens became more ominous, more definite. In the west, a sandstorm billowed its wings, shrouding the sun and blue sky in gray dusty darkness in which lightning flashed.

The enemy was close.

Saba has already finished preparing. She shaved off all her hair, even the eyebrows above her lined eyes, then bathed in the waters of two tributaries that flowed from the heart of the desert to the north and here in a sacred confluence formed a mighty river. ancient rulers heka-hazeset called her Nahal. In her mind's eye, Saba saw the river winding past Luxor, Thebes, and Memphis, flowing towards the great blue sea that lay at its fertile mouth.

Even though the priestess herself had never been there, she had heard the tales.

About our ancient home, about the realm of green meadows and palm trees, about life, which is subject to the floods of the Nahal River ...

It was from there that the people of Saba fled more than a century ago; he fled from pestilence, hunger and death, pursued by the pharaoh - now long dead. Other delta tribes took refuge in the deserts to the east, conquered lands there, and established their own kingdoms. The tribe of Saba settled much further south, near the river, not far from the village of Jeba in Upper Egypt, in the nome of Uches-Khor, known as the Throne of the god Horus.

In a terrible dark time, the people of Saba broke away from their homes and went up the river beyond the borders of the Egyptian kingdom, into the Nubian desert. The tribe consisted of scientists and scribes, priests and priestesses, keepers of great knowledge. They retreated to the deserted regions of Nubia in order to protect this knowledge. For after the executions, turbulent times came: Egypt was besieged and conquered by foreigners from the east, fierce people, whose chariots were faster, and bronze weapons stronger. These people conquered the weakened Egyptian cities almost from the first shot of an arrow.

However, the dark times were coming to an end. Egypt was resurrected, it drove the invaders, erected monuments in honor of its many victories, spread around and steadily walked here.

- Hemet netcher... - whispered behind Saba her Nubian assistant, a young man named Tabor.

He either sensed her longing or just wanted to remind Saba of her role. hemet netcher, servants of God.

It is time.

She understood and got up from her knees.

Tabor's eyes were directed to the west - the young man was definitely disturbed by the storm. Saba, on the other hand, noticed a puff of smoke in the north, announcing the fall of the city near the fifth threshold. Nahal. Very soon, the Egyptian troops will get here, to the place of the great confluence.

Before that happens, Saba and the other members of the order must hide what they have kept for over a century now: a miracle like no other, a gift from God, a healing hidden at the very heart of the curse.

For almost a thousand days, the priests watched the Egyptians spread along the river, destroying cities one after another, and preparations were in full swing. These were mostly acts of purification, preparing Saba and the members of her order for the fate of the immortal vessels to store the Gift.

Saba was allowed to undergo the reincarnation of the latter. She has led many of her brothers and sisters along this path. Like them, Saba gave up millet and grain a year ago. She lived on nuts, berries, tree bark and tea - it was brewed from resin delivered from a foreign land. The seasons changed and Saba's flesh shrank to the bone, her breasts and buttocks turned yellow and sunken. Entering only its third decade, now Saba constantly needed strong back and Tabor's hands - to move around and even to pull a linen robe over his head, as now.

The priestess and her assistant wandered away from the confluence, and she watched the sandstorm roll inexorably towards them, how it kicked up muddy clouds of dust, how lightning sparkled in them. Saba could smell the power spreading across the desert. Power filled the air, stirring the hairs on his arms. By the will of God, the storm will help to cover the creation of the priests, bury it under the blown dunes.

What is the most dangerous animal on the planet? Here you can remember a lot of terrible predators - a tiger, an anaconda, a white shark ... Many are dangerous despite their small size - scorpions, poisonous jellyfish, snakes, spiders. But one animal is superior to all others. And although it does not have sharp claws, huge fangs or deadly poison, it rightfully bears the title of one of the worst enemies of mankind. This locust is an insect that got into the Bible as one of the heavenly punishments.

Disaster

Outwardly, the locust looks quite harmless. This is a relatively large grasshopper with short antennae, most life chattering in the grass, as befits a grasshopper. In peacetime, locusts are colored in green color and does not bring any trouble. But under certain circumstances, everything changes - the locust changes into yellow, increases in size, flocks and sets off to conquer the world.

It even sounds funny - an insect that wants to conquer the world. But the smile slips from the face, it is worth at least once to see a live swarm of locusts, or at least hear the numbers. Millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions and tens of billions of individuals go on a hike! This is a solid black cloud that obscures not only the sun, but the entire sky. A cloud that descends to the ground to devour all the vegetation there. Hungry locusts don't care about conservation environment or even a banal check of the quality of food - it eats the bark of trees and young shoots, thatched roofs of houses, canvas, clothes ... Following one flock, another comes, cleaning up what its predecessors did not eat. And so - until the flowering area turns into a kind of desert. In the ancient world, a locust invasion was considered one of the worst manifestations of the wrath of the gods, along with a severe drought, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Where the locust passed, thousands of people died of starvation, left without their crops. And although in our time the danger is not so great, it still has not disappeared anywhere.

Mysterious Transformation

Locusts are one of the most mysterious creatures on the planet. For starters, the phase change from green (single) to yellow (gregarious) is an absolutely unique property not found in other insects. Initially, scientists believed that the green female at some point simply begins to lay yellow offspring, but more recent studies have shown that this is not entirely true. It all starts with the fact that due to weather conditions, the locust population is increasing. The green locust begins to see other locusts around it, is forced to share territory and food with it. This triggers a series of processes that make the adult green locust become more active. She sheds her green skin to grow a yellow one, lays eggs more often, eats three times a day, and discovers her flying skills. Finding itself in a society of its own kind, the locust does not move randomly, but in a certain direction, together with the swarm. Why?

IN ancient greece the function of a fighter with insects was performed by the famous Apollo - the god of the sun and the patron of the arts. It is curious that the name "Apollo" according to one of the popular versions just means "disgusting". And then it was possible to add the necessary epithet to it. Let's say Apollo Smintey protected from mice, and Apollo Parnopius - just from locusts.

But the most famous locust, of course, received thanks to the Bible. There she is mentioned twice, exclusively as a terrible punishment. First time - in old testament, in the book of Exodus concerning the departure of the Jews from ancient egypt. When Pharaoh refused to let Moses' people go, God brought down ten plagues on the Egyptians, one worse than the other. The eighth plague was the locust, which devoured everything to the last blade of grass. Another mention of a harmful insect in the Bible is the Revelation of John the Theologian, also known as the Apocalypse. True, the locust in John's description was not interested in vegetation. She was supposed to eat only "people, without the seal of God on their foreheads," and for this she grew scorpion tails, teeth like lions and dressed in steel armor. The demon Abaddon, the personification of the all-devouring black abyss, led the locusts into battle. In Greek, by the way, his name sounds like "Apollyon", which is a clear allusion to "Apollo". A paradoxical situation, because in the Greek myths, Apollo could not stand the locust.

Tasty and healthy food

Probably, as some compensation for the all-consuming gluttony, a wonderful dish is obtained from the locust itself. Especially rich in protein. Locusts are eaten with pleasure in Asia, Africa and South America. It is fried, stewed and marinated, served on sticks and wrapped in cakes. In some places it is considered a delicacy, in others it is a familiar part of the daily diet. Mexico and China are especially distinguished - they can easily buy fried insects in large quantities at any street eatery.

One can see a certain irony in the fact that the all-devouring insect benefits us only when it is itself served on a platter. That one of the most dangerous, truly monstrous enemies of mankind has turned into a crunchy snack these days. Alas, it would be premature to celebrate the victory. The locust threat has not passed. It still flocks into multi-billion dollar flocks and devastates farmers' fields. And we still do not understand many of the reasons for its emergence and disappearance. Only when people have all the information will the shadow of the eighth plague of Egypt finally recede into legend.

Evtushenko Sergey