The Ipuwer Papyrus Record of the Ten Plagues on Egypt

[KiwiChristian]

The Ipuwer Papyrus Record of the Ten Plagues on Egypt

 

Bible Reading: Exodus 8:1-23; 14:1-31.

Aim: To understand the judgments of God on Egypt from the Egyptians point of view.

Introduction: Most of us have read the account of God sending ten plagues on Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to let Israel leave Egypt to sacrifice to God in the wilderness. A question that is asked is what it would have been like to live in Egypt at this time as these plagues devastated Egypt. Some people doubt these plagues as they doubt other miracles in the Bible. What evidence exists from archaeology to confirm these plagues and the Bible’s account of Israel’s exodus from Egypt under God’s leadership?

A scribe named Ipuwer living in Egypt’s 19th dynasty documented the events of the Exodus and the end of the 18th dynasty from the Egyptian’s point of view. This papyrus document is called the “Admonitions of Ipuwer” and is 3.47 metres long. It describes Egyptian society in total crisis and collapse, while the slaves have become rich with the wealth of their former owners. This exactly confirms the Bible’s record: “they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” Exodus 12:35,36. This provides astonishing proof of the Bible’s account, of God’s power and of how completely destructive and devastating the plagues were. Let us consider the events and plagues of the Exodus by comparing the Ipuwer papyrus statements with the Bible. This gives us amazing confidence in God’s care and deliverance of His people from trouble.
I. Genesis 50:24,25 “Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”
II. Exodus 1:7-17,22 Israel multiplied greatly in Egypt so that a new Pharaoh (Ahmose, p.125 The Exodus Case) made them slaves and drowned their sons in the Nile.
III. Exodus 2:1-10 God raised Moses in Pharoah’s household. At age 40, he killed an Egyptian, then fled to the desert in Midian, where he married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro (Raguel) priest of Midian .
IV. Exodus 3:1-14 God the Son, known as “I AM”, appears to Moses, aged 80, at the burning bush to call him to lead Israel out of Egypt. God calls us to do some important and difficult things.
V. The Purpose of the Plagues were to show Jehovah as the True God, and Egyptian gods to be false.
1. Nile river turns to blood, the fish die, the river stinks. This was against the Nile god. Exodus 7:14-25. 2. Frogs everywhere in houses and cookware. This plague was gainst frog goddess. Exodus 8:1-15. 3. Lice in all of Egypt. Against the earth god. Magicians declare this is the finger of God. Exodus 8:16-19. 4. Flies corrupt all of Egypt and are in all houses. Exodus 8:20-24.
5. All cattle, horses, asses, camels, oxen, sheep die. This was against the bull god. Exodus 9:1-7. 6. Infected boils on Pharaoh, magicians and on all Egyptians. Exodus 9:8-12. See v.16 and Romans 9:17. “for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.” God raised up Pharaoh from a sick bed of boils to show God’s power to all men. 7. Thunder, hail and fire ran along the ground, destroying every man, beast, tree, flax and barley plant that were outdoors. Exodus 9:13-35. 8. Locusts covering all of Egypt, being unable to see the earth, eating all plants. Exodus 10:1-20,5,15. 9. Thick darkness felt in all Egypt for 3 days. Exodus 10:21-29. Pharaoh threatens to kill Moses. 10. Death of all the firstborn humans and beasts at midnight on 14th day of the first month. Exodus 11:1--12:43. God establishes the Passover feast for Israel. God said, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” (12:13).
VI. When did the 430 years “sojourning of the children of Israel” start and finish? Exodus 12:40 “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:40,41. Answer: The 430 years sojourn began when Abraham, aged 75, leaves Haran and enters the Promised land of Canaan, and when God made a covenant with Abraham (1921BC) (Gen 12:1-10). The 430 years ended when Israel left Egypt on the Feast of Passover. Galatians 3:17,18 ‘This I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect…..but God gave it to Abraham by promise.’ 1474
VII. When did the 400 years of “Abraham’s seed being a stranger in a land that is not theirs” start and finish? Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6. (1891 BC—1491 BC)
“And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed (Isaac onwards) shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;” Genesis 15:13
“And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.” Acts 7:6.
The 400 years affliction started when Isaac became established as the seed lineage and heir at his weaning at age 5. Ishmael who is age 19 mocks and persecutes Isaac and is then cast out (Gen. 21:8-10; Gal.4:29 ).
VIII. Statements in the Ipuwer papyrus confirming the Bible’s account:
1. “Let us go plunder”, “The mayor of the city goes unescorted”. This shows that Egypt had no police or military, having all been drowned in the Red Sea. “there remained not so much as one of them.” 14:28.
2. “Foreigners have become people everywhere”. Israelite foreigners increased so much that Pharaoh drowned many male babies in the Nile. “the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.” (Exodus 1:20).
3. “Foreigners are skilled in the works of the Delta.” Israelites lived in the delta region as slaves, making bricks and constructing cities. “they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.” Exodus 1:11.
4. “What the ancestors foretold has happened.” Joseph, about 260 years earlier, prophesied that God would visit Israel to lead them out of Egypt. “Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” Genesis 50:24,25.
5. ‘We don’t know what has happened in the land.’ When the plagues fell on Egypt, Pharaoh’s magicians tell him: “This is the finger of God.” (Exodus 8:19), meaning that this was beyond their understanding.
6. “Poor men have become men of wealth.” “Gold is lacking.” “Gold, lapis lazuli, silver, turquoise, carnelian, amethyst, ibht-stone….are strung on the necks of female slaves.” At the Exodus, the poor, enslaved Israelites took much of the Egyptians wealth.
“they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:” Exodus 12:35.
7. “The river is blood” agreeing with Exodus 7:20, ‘all the waters in the river were turned to blood.’
8. “There is blood everywhere, no shortage of death.” This may refer either to the Nile turning to blood, or the hail and fire that killed everything outdoors. “the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast;” (Exodus 9:25).
9. “Many dead are buried in the water.” So many died in the plagues that it was impossible to bury them all, so they were thrown into the Nile. In the death of the firstborn, one in every family died (Ex. 11:4-10).
10. “Exhausted are materials for every kind of craft”, “Lacking are grain, charcoal,…brushwood”, “trees are felled, branches stripped.” After the ten plagues, everything is scarce, such as crops, raw materials and wood. Trees and branches have been knocked down.
“the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.” Exodus 9:25.
11. “Food is lacking”, “Great hunger and suffering”, “Ladies say, We want to eat”, “Women are barren, none conceive”, “Their bodies suffer in rags”, “The storehouse is bare.” These describe a serious famine. Starvation from the ten plagues may have made the women infertile.
12. “He who slept wifeless found a noblewoman.”, “See, noblewomen go hungry.”
Hungry upper class women seeking the company of lower class men shows that their income source is gone and the male upper class soldiers, officers and civil servants supporting Pharaoh are dead. Exodus 14:26-29 explains this by the entire 250,000 man Egyptian army and support group drowning in Red Sea.
13. “Scribes are slain, their writings are stolen”, “Their books are destroyed”. Many scribes were firstborn.
14. “One says ‘Woe’ to the place of secrets”, “All is ruin”, “The land is deprived of kingship”.
The despised secret places refer to the gods they worshipped and secret rituals that were powerless to protect them from God’s judgments. “All ther ranks are not in their place.” Egypt’s leadership has disappeared or is not functioning. The whole Ipuwer text is about this chaos.
15. “If only I knew where God is I would serve Him.” The writer has rejected the false gods of Egypt and is now convinced that the God of Israel is the true God, but he does not know where to find Him.
16. In the Tel-Amarna letters, Pharaoh Amenhotep III’s widow asks the Hittite king to marry his son, since her husband is dead (drowned) and that she has no son (her son Tutankhannum died at  the Exodus ).
 

 

reprinted with permission from Pastor Keith Piper. https://www.libertybaptistchurch.org.au/