Moses and Plagues of Egypt, January 19, 2013 10:36 AM

Exodus 6:28–11:10.

The word “exodus” means exit or departure; it is the story of the people of Israel’s departure from Egypt. It symbolizes our departure from our ego-based thinking moving into spiritual consciousness.

To me, the plagues visited on Egypt, and the unbelievably stubborn refusal of Pharaoh to let Israel leave despite the horrendous suffering inflicted by one plague after another, symbolize the stubbornness with which we cling to our ego and our ego-based thinking, despite the dire consequences of doing so. It represents the way an alcoholic or drug addict returns again and again to the addition that is destroying their life and the lives of those around them.

A Course in Miracles says, “Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there <must> be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning-point. This ultimately reawakens spiritual vision, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight. The alternating investment in the two levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict, which can become very acute. But the outcome is as certain as God” (T-2.III.3:5-10).