Introduction
Paul & Beth Stroble
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During the first “shelter at home” period of the coronavirus pandemic, when my wife Beth and I were home together a lot, I told her that I’d love to write a new Bible study. I’ve written and published several, but this time, I couldn’t think of a topic. She suggested the biblical plagues! Surely those stories have something to say about health crises. Soon, the nation began to respond to the death of George Floyd, with protests and calls for police reform. The overlapping national situations made me think additionally of biblical topics of justice. And so, I pulled favorite reference books from my shelfs and started off! I chose three biblical plagues to write about: the showdown between Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus 7-12, the plague that struck the Israelites because of their encounters with the Moabites and Midianites (Numbers 25), and the plague that punished David for his census (2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 19). |
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The Egyptian plagues are likely the best known among these three stories. The Lord instructs Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and demand the liberation of the enslaved Israelites. Plague after plague fail to make Pharaoh free the people. Only the tenth plague—the death of the first born—causes him to relent, at least as long as the Israelites were able to get a head’s start toward the Red Sea.
The second plague is a disturbing story of a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites on account of their idolatrous (and sexual) interactions with the nearby Moabites and Midianites. The plague is halted when the Israelite Phinehas becomes enraged and kills an Israelite man and a Midianite woman with one thrust of his spear.
The third plague is another odd story. For an unspecified reason, the Lord is angry at the people of Israel and Judah. God (or, in the alternate account, Satan) gives King David the idea to take a census. David realizes that this census was a sinful idea, and to punish David, God sends a plague that finally kills 70,000 people. But at the point where the plague stops, David purchases that spot of land for the eventual construction of the Jerusalem temple.
Already, you can see how these stories raise interesting questions about how God works in the world! In these lessons, we’ll explore common themes as well as challenges to faith.
All three stories have these themes.
In these reflections, I use Jewish as well as Christian texts. As one interested in interfaith dialogue and in Jewish and Christian partnership, I love to learn Jewish wisdom about the scriptures, and some of my warmest local friendships are with rabbis and an Orthodox maharat. Please join me in thinking about these Bible stories via both Jewish and Christian scholars.
Serious illness is a frightening prospect. Thanks to scientific developments, some diseases are virtually eliminated. One of my great-grandfathers died in his 40s of diphtheria, a feared illness that stole many lives but which, now, is seldom heard about in the U.S. Some diseases are still terrible; the HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken nearly 40 million lives and is still a crisis in parts of the world. Whenever COVID-19 comes under medical control, we will still face social challenges of health care availability and overall well-being in society. Our scriptures in these lessons can inspire us to seek God’s help in bringing about social good.
Thanks so much to Sierra Hancock of CC CreatiV for all her work putting this site together! Thanks also to Maharat Rori Picker Neiss for her insights and for helping me describe Jewish beliefs accurately.
All original content © 2020 by Paul E. Stroble
The second plague is a disturbing story of a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites on account of their idolatrous (and sexual) interactions with the nearby Moabites and Midianites. The plague is halted when the Israelite Phinehas becomes enraged and kills an Israelite man and a Midianite woman with one thrust of his spear.
The third plague is another odd story. For an unspecified reason, the Lord is angry at the people of Israel and Judah. God (or, in the alternate account, Satan) gives King David the idea to take a census. David realizes that this census was a sinful idea, and to punish David, God sends a plague that finally kills 70,000 people. But at the point where the plague stops, David purchases that spot of land for the eventual construction of the Jerusalem temple.
Already, you can see how these stories raise interesting questions about how God works in the world! In these lessons, we’ll explore common themes as well as challenges to faith.
All three stories have these themes.
- God is the Lord, and the true authority over all governments and natural forces
- God displays “signs and wonders”
- God sides with the Israelites and raises them up to be his people forever.
- God sides with all the threatened, impoverished, and suffering people.
- The stories connect us to Bible themes that inform our faith.
- Why are God’s signs in the Bible “overkill” (no pun intended), tens of thousands of people dead because of the sins of a few?
- How do we interpret the biblical witness about God’s tendency to “smite”?
- How do we understand contemporary disasters (pandemics, etc.), if not as God’s direct actions?
- What are God’s “signs and wonders” now?
In these reflections, I use Jewish as well as Christian texts. As one interested in interfaith dialogue and in Jewish and Christian partnership, I love to learn Jewish wisdom about the scriptures, and some of my warmest local friendships are with rabbis and an Orthodox maharat. Please join me in thinking about these Bible stories via both Jewish and Christian scholars.
Serious illness is a frightening prospect. Thanks to scientific developments, some diseases are virtually eliminated. One of my great-grandfathers died in his 40s of diphtheria, a feared illness that stole many lives but which, now, is seldom heard about in the U.S. Some diseases are still terrible; the HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken nearly 40 million lives and is still a crisis in parts of the world. Whenever COVID-19 comes under medical control, we will still face social challenges of health care availability and overall well-being in society. Our scriptures in these lessons can inspire us to seek God’s help in bringing about social good.
Thanks so much to Sierra Hancock of CC CreatiV for all her work putting this site together! Thanks also to Maharat Rori Picker Neiss for her insights and for helping me describe Jewish beliefs accurately.
All original content © 2020 by Paul E. Stroble
