A Brief Walk through the Ten Plagues

[*NOW--before I begin this blog, and before you correct me, and before you laugh too loud, I realize that I made a BOO BOO in my previous blog. Do not tell me why. I could give you all kinds of "reasons" or "excuses." I JUST FLAT MADE A BOO BOO!!! Did you see it? I said: GOLDILOCKS and the Seven Dwarfs. What a laugh!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! It is SNOW WHITE and the Seven Dwarfs. PUHLEESE forgive me. John Willis*]

We have devoted several blogs on the Ten Plagues in Exodus 7:14-11:10, emphasizing certain important issues in this section of the Hebrew Bible. NOW, let's take a brief walk through each of the Ten Plagues.

1. Water to Blood--7:14-25. The Lord commands Moses to go to Pharaoh "in the morning" as Pharaoh is going out to the Nile River, and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go in the wilderness to worship Yahweh. When Pharaoh refuses, Yahweh instructs Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff and stretch out his hand over the rivers, canals, ponds, and pools of water in Egypt, and Yahweh will turn this into blood. Moses and Aaron obey Yahweh in doing this. All the fish die, a terrible smell ensues, and the Egyptians could not drink any water. But the magicians of Egypt do the same thing "by their secret arts." Pharaoh's heart remains hardened, and refuses to obey Yahweh's orders.

2. Frogs--8:1-15. The Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh [apparently in his palace], and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go in the wilderness or else Yahweh will plague the whole land of Egypt with frogs. Yahweh brings this plague, but the magicians of Egypt do the same thing "by their secret arts." Pharaoh goes to Moses and promises him that Pharaoh will allow the Israelites to go in the wilderness if Yahweh will remove the plague of frogs. Yahweh agrees, but Pharaoh hardens his heart, and refuses to let the Israelites go.

3. Gnats--8:16-19. The Lord instructs Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the earth so that it may become gnats. Aaron does this and gnats swarm over the land of Egypt. The magicians of Egypt try to produce gnats also, but they could not do so. They rush to Pharaoh, saying: "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and refused to let the Israelites go.

4. Flies--8:20-32. The Lord commands Moses to go to Pharaoh "in the morning" as Moses goes out to the Nile River, and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go in the wilderness or else Yahweh will plague the land of Egypt with flies. Yahweh sends flies among the Egyptians, but not among the Israelites in the land of Goshen to prove that Pharaoh may know that Yahweh is "in the land" of Egypt. When Yahweh sends the flies, Pharaoh offers Moses two alternate proposals: (1) Sacrifice to Yahweh "in the land"--Moses refject this; so Pharaoh proposed: (2) I will let you sacrifice to Yahweh but do not go far away. Responding to the latter, Yahweh agrees to removes the flies. But Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to let the Israelites go.

5. Livestock Diseased--9:1-7. The Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh [apparently in his palace], and tell him to let the Israelites go in the wilderness or else Yahweh will strike the livestock of the Egyptians with a "deadly pestilence," but will not affect the Israelites. This occurs, but the heart of Pharaoh is hardened, and refuses to let the Israelites go.

6. Boils--9:8-12. The Lord instructs Moses and Aaron to throw soot in the air in the sight of Pharaoh and become fine dust and cause festering boils on humans and animals throughout the whole land of Egypt. This happens the even the magicians of Egypt suffer greatly. But Pharaoh's heart is hardened and refuses to let the Isrealites go.

7. Hail--9:13-35. The Lord commands Moses to go to Pharaoh "in the morning" [here the text does not specify WHERE Pharaoh was at this time], and tells Pharaoh to let the Israelites go in the wilderness or else Yahweh will send "such heavy hail as had never fallen in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation," and people and animals will die unless they go under shelters and remain in the fields. Yahweh does this, and the Israelites are unaffected. Pharaoh begs Moses to summon Yahweh to remove this hail, and promises Pharaoh will let the Israelites go. Yahweh removes the hail, but Pharaoh's heart is hardened and refuses to let the Israelites go.

8. Locusts--10:1-20. The Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh [apparently at his palace], and tells Pharaoh to let the Israelites go in the wilderness or else Yahweh will send a locust plague "as had never been before, nor ever shall be again." Before the plague occurs, Pharaoh strikes another bargain with Moses: Let THE MEN go into the wilderness. Moses rejects this offer, and the plague ensues. Only the Israelites are not affected. Pharaoh begs with Moses to have Yahweh remove this plague and promises him that Pharaoh will let the Israelites go. Yahweh removes the plague, but Pharaoh's heart is hardened and refuses to let the Israelties go.

9. Darkness--10:21-28. The Lord tells Moses to stretch his hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness. This darkness descends and "can be felt." For three days, the Egyptians could not see one another or move from where they were. But the Israelites had light in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh gives Moses another proposal: I will allow all the Israelites go in the wilderness, but let your flocks and herds remain behind. Moses responds: "Not a hoof shall be left behind." Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and tells Moses never to see Pharaoh's face again. So Moses leaves.

10. Death of the Firstborn--11:1-10. The Lord tells Moses that Yahweh will go out through Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, human and animal. There will be a cry throughout the whole land "such as has never been or will ever be again." But Yahweh will deliver the Israelites. This final plague triggered the exodus from Egypt.

God is more powerful than any nation or any king or any power. He is incomparable. No one is like him. God wishes and invites all people to come to him and to obey his will and his purposes. Some, like Pharaoh and the Egyptians, refuse. When people harden their hearts, God is forced to react harshly and severely and decisively. He does not will this, but people makes choices of their own will. Pharaoh and the Egyptians made their choices. The story of the ten plagues portrays the works of God. There is a practical lesson for us. Let us take heed.

Share your thoughts with this section of the Book of Exodus. Let me know what your thoughts are.

John Willis