as you look at the plagues, you need to remember that the plagues manifest God's redemptive work of destruction. When He comes about redeeming His people, it means the tearing down of the strongholds of Satan. And the Lord's work of redemption includes not only purchasing His people at a price, but also destroying the forces that are made against them. And when you reflect upon the drama of redemption itself, part of that drama of redemption is God's conquest of the powers of darkness. In Exodus, 7 through 11, especially as we read about what God does in the plagues, we see Him bringing plagues against the enemies of His people. That in and of itself is part of His act of redemption. It's a destruction work, but it is part of the act of redemption. The towers of God's enemies must be torn down if His people are to be safe and free. And so alongside of His positive work of rescuing his own people, there is a negative work of shattering the resistance to His rule.
This is something that you see not only in the Old Testament, but also, and we might say especially, in the New Testament. Christ's work on our behalf in the New Testament is often pictured in terms of the destroying of those forces which are arrayed against His people. In Matthew, chapter 12, verses 28 and 29, and I Peter 3:22. In fact, when John Calvin is making a comment on John, chapter 16, verse 33, where Jesus says "I have overcome the world," Calvin says that Jesus means that He has overcome every spiritual force aligned against His people. He has disarmed the spiritual forces of wickedness, and led captivity captive, and so we are now more than conquerors because Christ has vanquished all that would oppose God's elect: Death, life, angels and demons. And so we see this in the plague narratives themselves, God tearing down that which is opposed to His people. That's one thing we see.
ligon duncan
