Tuesday 21 July 2015

The 10 Plagues of Egypt



When Moses came with a staff and demanded that he let God's people go Pharaoh scoffed at him and mocked God. Pharaoh finally let the Hebrews go and with all the wealth of Egypt. They are sometimes categorized into three "cycles" each cycle containing three plagues, with the climactic plague occurring last. According to the Bible the Hebrew slaves left the land of Egypt with all the wealth of the Egyptians. In "Cycle 3," there was the plagues of hail, locusts, and darkness. And the 10th plague was the death of the firstborn.

The ten plagues in Egypt, Exodus 7:1-12:30 - Life of Moses ...

Hort (and others) who attempt to belittle the plagues as being no more than a ‘logical and connected sequence’ of natural phenomena12 must explain why ‘Mother Nature’ has never repeated anything remotely like this sequence of events. In the literary context of Exodus, the 10 plagues were God's consequence to Pharaoh’s refusal to free the Israelites from bondage so they could worship God. During this time in ancient history, the Hebrews were slaves to the Egyptians, but God told His prophet Moses that it was time for them to be free. The 10 plagues of Egypt were individual yet sequential supernatural acts that YHWH, the God of the Israelites executed through Moses and Aaron against the Pharaoh of Egypt, as recorded in Exodus, the second book of the Bible. All of the time that the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt God was preparing a nation in fulfillment of his promise to Abraham. The true God of heaven smote the land of Egypt and humiliated Pharaoh and all of his gods. The God's of Egypt. Throughout a series of 10 devastating plagues upon the land of Egypt, God actually mocked all the gods of the Egyptians and even Pharaoh himself. The 10 plagues were a divine demonstration of power and displeasure designed to persuade Pharaoh to "let my people go," in the words of the spiritual Go Down Moses. All the gold and silver and jewels and other precious items would be later used for the construction of the tabernacle, and even Solomon's Temple. The Bible reveals that the Hebrews were slaves in the land of Egypt for 400 years. Egypt had become the most powerful kingdom in the world, and Pharaoh was the most powerful ruler in the world. Moses told the ruler of Egypt to let the Hebrews go because God had sent him, but Pharaoh would not allow it! Because Pharaoh did not listen to Moses, God brought ten different plagues over Egypt to convince him to free the Hebrews.

Quia - PESACH - 10 Plagues of Egypt

The 10 Plagues in Bible History. Earlier in the book of Genesis when Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold as a slave and taken to Egypt, God used that whole situation to prepare the descendants of Abraham about how to trust the LORD. The study of Moses and the 10 plagues is very important in the study of the Bible, let's pray:

It is often observed that the 10 plagues increased in intensity as they progressed. In "Cycle 1," there was the plagues of blood, frogs, and gnats or lice. In "Cycle 2," there was the plagues of flies, livestock, and boils. Ultimately the Hebrews learned that God is in control, that He is a God of miracles and can do whatever He wants, and that He will take care of His people and they would be wise to put all their trust in Him.

The Riches of Egypt. Hort might also ponder why, for the last 3,500 years, the Jews, in their annual Passover feast, have celebrated the deliverance of their firstborn as the trigger for their exit from Egypt. There were many gods in the land of Egypt, the Nile River God, the bull deity, and deities for all the animals and many other sorts of gods within the land. All naturalistic explanations of the plagues lose sight of God’s role as Judge. The plagues also demonstrate YHWH's superiority of the gods of Egypt and each plague insulted various Egyptian gods (more below).

In Exodus, Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrew people (or Israelites) leave Egypt. The people of Egypt were glad to see the Hebrews go. See What Are the 10 Plagues? and Moses and the 10 Plagues of Egypt for background.

This map shows the land of Egypt where the ten plagues of the Bible happened.

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