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As went over the plagues again and again, I could not help but think of the scene in Monty Python’s “Holy Grail”.  The scene finds King Arthur at a castle in Britain whose owners are rather rude French men.  Here’s the scene for your enjoyment:

Pharaoh’s attitude is well represented by the spokesman of the castle in this scene.  Not only did he show complete disrespect for his British audience but his verbal assault resulted in a battle of wits.  Mind you, in this scene the French win, but in the biblical narrative, well, God wins.  There are four main approaches to understanding the plagues theologically and historically.  This morning I will present all four approaches and then leave it to you to decide what fits best in your own theological framework.

So let’s look at the taunting of Pharaoh and God’s response.

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I am an avid listener of CBC Radio One.  They are not afraid to broadcast programs with political or religious themes, which is something I seem to respect.  Just recently, they had a conversation with a representative of California discussing the new president’s view and outlook of the economic/environmental/energy epidemic the world is in.  This individual claimed that Obama’s platform focuses on North America’s addiction to oil, how there needs to be a change and that change will help the economic/environmental/energy crisis we are in.  What this leader was really saying is this:  the system in place now is not working.  The leadership that brought in this system (and still uses this system) is not working.  The abuse by and of this system needs to stop.

Here’s the link to CBC’s podcast page http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?newsandcurrent

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Have you ever talked to people who have traveled over sea?  They usually talk about the people they meet and the culture they had experienced.  I have never travelled overseas but I have read plenty of stories about adventures overseas.  Backpacker magazine just released an article for those who plan on travelling beyond and specifically the dos and don’ts of how to act culturally.

The words “pharaoh’s heart was hardened” are repeated 20 times in the Exodus text.  The first time you read it is in last week’s chapter (4), verse 21.  God tells Moses that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart.  This is a rather confusing statement which we will look at today.  Understanding “the heart” in its cultural setting will definitely shed some light on this statement.  Once we get a grip of the Egyptian theology of the heart, we then can move onto the Hebrew theology of the heart.  When these two worlds collide, then I believe we can handle this text properly.  So, let’s begin!

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