Moses and the ten plagues of Egypt

Old Test Love

God's Love in the Old Testament

There are many passages in the Old Testament that seem to suggest the God described in this part of the Bible is less loving and more vengeful than the God of the New Testament. The punishments and violence that are described n these older books, and the direct commands that God often gives to carry out these punishments and acts of violence, are certainly difficult to reconcile with the Catholic understanding of God as the source of love, compassion, and salvation through the Son Jesus Christ based on a surface reading of many of these passages. Looking deeper, however, reveals that God is the God of love no matter what actual events are being commanded or described. The ten plagues that God has Moses and his brother Aaron visit upon the people of Egypt are often cited as an example of the vengeful and violent nature of the "Old Testament God," but by examining these passages in their context it becomes clear that God is always the God of love.

Sometimes there needs to be tough love, however, and this is what God visited upon the Egyptians in order to save the Hebrews that had long recognized and worshipped the one true God. The Egyptians, and prticulalry the Pharaoh, were denying the Hebrews their right to truly serve their God in the manner intended, and were also showing a cruelty and lack of compassion that demanded correction. The bringing of the plagues was a means of showing the Egyptians the error of their ways, demonstrating the pain and suffering caused by certain of the injustices that had been visited upon the Hebrews and thus leading the Egyptians to a more compassionate set of values, and an easier position form which to receive and extend loving kindness.

It is not simply the Egyptians to whom God was actually showing love through the actions taken by Moses and Aaron in the bringing of the plagues. A great deal of love and compassion is shown to the Israelites in the bringing of the plagues and in the ultimate flight from Egypt that will eventually restore this nation to its rightful home. The Old Testament as a whole is about a nation learning to find and understand their God, and it is God's love for His people that drives the action of the Old Testament stories. This is most definitely true when it comes to the ten plagues Moses and Aaron bring to the Egyptians through God's command; it is through the power of these signs that the Hebrews are eventually allowed not only to escape the bonds of their slavery, but these miracles continue t protect the people to some degree through the knowledge of the might and power of God when it comes to defending His followers. The ten plagues are one more sign in the Old Testament that God is never away from His people, and that his love and compassion for those who have accepted Him is infinite and full of corporeal power. By giving the world these concrete signs of this love, compassion, and power, God was not demonstrating a desire for vengeance, but rather a desire for the return of love that He extends.