Old Testament Study - The Plagues in Egypt by Rev. Michaël Merle

Report by John-Peter Gernaat

The Old Testament Study continued the story of Moses. The stories of Exodus are allegorical. The staff of Moses is a metaphor for the condition of the human being, that by taking hold of oneself the human being is upright. Similarly, the ten plagues that are brought upon Egypt are symbolic. The Egyptians suffered the anguish of these plagues, but not as a physical reality, rather as a soul reality. Each plague represents the loss of the power that one of the gods had for the people of Egypt. Ultimately, YHWH (Yahweh) of the Elohim is the only god who has real power for the future of humanity and Pharaoh has no connection with YHWH. Ten is the number of completion. By the tenth plaque Egypt is completely plagued. (The Ten Commandments represent the complete law.)

The first plague of the water of the River Nile turning to blood represents the loss of power of Hopi the water-bearer of the Nile. Water flows, blood congeals. The Egyptian soul had lost a fluidity which the Israelite soul bore in a new way. This plaque was experienced for seven days or a full cycle of time.

The second plague of frogs is the loss of power of the goddess Heqet, goddess of fertility, represented by the frog. The frogs constrict the soul breathing of the Egyptians while the Israelites have the flexibility of soul to expel the frogs.

The third plaque of lice is beyond the understanding of the priests of Egypt, who could copy or aggravate the first two plagues through their knowledge. Geb, the god of the Earth, is associated with lice. The Egyptian soul lost its sense of being at home on the earth.

The fourth plague of flies is a loss of connection with destiny for the Egyptian people. The god Khepri, god of rebirth, is connected with flies.

The fifth plague of the death of livestock is a loss of protection. The goddess Hathor, goddess of love and protection is no longer able to offer protection, while the Israelites are protected.

The sixth plague of boils is the loss of the power of Isis, goddess of medicine and spiritual healing. That which is contained bursts open.

The seventh plague of hail is an annihilation of the soul. The goddess Nut, goddess of the sky, has lost connection with the Egyptian people. The spiritual world no longer works through the priests of the Egyptian Mysteries.

The eighth plague of locusts is the disconnection with Seth, god of storms and disaster.

The ninth plague of three days of darkness is the ultimate soul sleep of death. This is the exclusion of the sun god Ra. The Egyptian Mysteries have suffered a final death.

The first born of the Pharoah is the next Pharaoh or god on earth. Pharaoh is the son of Ra. The death of the son of the son of Ra, the protector the people of Egypt is the final destruction of the souls of the Egyptian people. To ensure that the death of the son of the Pharaoh is not a coincidence, the first-born son in each family is killed. The people of Israel are protected by the Passover – the lamb’s blood on the door lintel, Aries taking over from Taurus – and the principle of the first-born is exclusively carried forward by the Israelites.

Exodus says that with the Passover a new calendar begins. Now the lamb represents animated life. The lifeblood becomes a force of protection. The real blood of life will be the blood that flows from the cross bringing a renewal of what we can attest to and can carry.

There is no historical record of the Israelites having been in Egypt! So then, what is the Old Testament all about? The influence of Egypt stretched well beyond the borders of the country we know as Egypt. The experience of the Israelites could have been a soul experience; one of being oppressed by a culture that hindered their own progress. This would have been an experience akin to living enslaved. The story of Moses parting the Red Sea is then also not a physical or historical event. It is likely that the Israelites travelled across the Egyptian empire and regularly made a crossing of the Red Sea.

The story of Exodus is thus one of the Egyptian people experiencing in their souls the loss of the power of their gods and the Israelites, who had once, through Joseph, experienced something beneficial from the fading Mysteries of Egypt, experiencing these Mysteries as an unbearable oppression. The Israelites, led by Moses, has a baptismal experience of entering into water and emerging with a new freedom. The first experience was to feel themselves in a wasteland (also translated as a desert – John the Baptist operated in a wasteland, of soul).

The experience of wandering for 40 years is also a soul experience. The gestation of a human baby is 40 weeks. Elijah wandered in the desert for 40 days. Jesus sent 40 days in the desert after the baptism. Something new is born after the number 40. An early Christian Scholar determined that the number of campsites of the Israelites in the wasteland was 42 and the number of generations from Abraham to Jesus was 42. The symbolism of numbers cannot be overlooked. There is a cosmic picture being prepared for humanity. For the Israelites the 40 years were a period of establishing a new relationship with YHWH and with each other. The Law became the foundation for their mutual interaction.

The Israelites, although advanced by having brain-based thinking, still experienced their I-constitution as something they were aware of but had only a distant connection to – it only incarnated for all of humanity with the Baptism in the Jordan through Christ. Humanity required rules of conduct in order to be protected so that the human constitution could be prepared for the incarnation of the I-constitution. With the incarnation of the I-constitution a new conscience arises, and the Law is fulfilled. Humanity is progressively able to operate from a space of an incarnated conscience.