are God's actions just

Steven J asks ...

Out of idle curiousity [sic], where in the Bible does God say that His actions against Pharaoh were just?

In any case, according to Deuteronomy, it is forbidden to punish offspring for the crimes of their parents (this is in notable contrast to, e.g. a Babylonian law code that prescribes that if man A kills the son of man B, man A's son can be killed in punishment, which is the sort of law code you seem to feel God is abiding by in killing the firstborn of the Egyptians). This is, of course, a rule for humans, not for God Himself, but in Ezekiel, God famously declares that He will Himself abide by this rule: each person will die for his own sins, not for the sins of his forebears.

Now, either God's treatment of the Egyptians was unjust by what are said to be God's own standards, or an unchanging God promulgating an unchanging absolute morality makes major revisions in the definition of "moral" from time to time.

Or, of course, the Bible is a purely human work reflecting the different opinions about what is moral held by different people at different times.

Side note: ancient Egypt was not a democracy. Indeed, according to the legends in Genesis, the people of Egypt were the slaves of Pharaoh, because Joseph had made them so. It seems dubiously fair to me to punish the people of Egypt for something that God Himself (who favored Joseph and brought his evil schemes to fruition) had helped to bring about: their necessary acquiescence in whatever Pharoah [sic] did.


@Steven J

Certainly, you have sufficient cognitive capacity to research the answers to these questions yourself. So, I make no effort here to answer your questions.

However, I will note that the Mosaic Law (the 613 precepts) were given to the Israelites after their release from captivity in Egypt.

These are instructions from God to his firstborn, the tribe of Jacob's descendants. It would be a categorical mistake to think that the 613 Mitzvot given in Deuteronomy are a complete description of God's moral equity.

It is also a categorical mistake to think that the Mosaic Law was incumbent on the Israelites prior to the exodus, or that is incumbent upon gentiles (i.e. everyone else who is not an Israelite), or that it is incumbent upon the church (i.e. the disciples of Jesus.)

I also note that the Bible describes "justice" as intrinsic attribute of God. That is, the Bible says that God's justice does not conform to any principle or law or standard that is external to Him.

The Bible says that God's actions are in accordance with His own nature. God is Himself the standard for His own principles, including the ideal of moral equity.

I believe (the English transliteration for) the original Hebrew theonym is tzedek, which speaks to this ideal of righteousness, moral equity and justice.

Also, I will note that God's penalty, the ten plagues, is upon Pharaoh and Egypt.

In light of this, you might consider asking yourself whether the question you asked makes sense:

Out of idle curiousity [sic], where in the Bible does God say that His actions against Pharaoh were just?

You might want to consider these questions:

Where in the Bible does it say that any action of God is contrary to any of His intrinsic attributes?

Is it possible for God's actions to violate His own nature?

If God Himself is His own self-existent standard for tzedek, is it possible for God to take any action that would not be tzedek?