INTERESTING WEBSITES      

'Then YHWH said to Moses: 'Rise early in the morning and confront Pharaoh and say to him: 
"Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews: "Let my people go. 
Otherwise I will bring all my plagues upon you, your courtiers and your people.".'

See the story of Moses at 
BIBLE PEOPLE: MOSES

                  SCROLL DOWN FOR IMAGES

                                                                                                 
____________________________________________________________________________________  

1

THE RIVER NILE 
IS TURNED TO BLOOD

There was blood everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars that stood inside the houses. There was nothing to drink, nothing to wash with (and the Egyptians prided themselves on their cleanliness), nothing to clean their white linen garments. The fish died, and the air near the river was filled with a terrible stench. Water, that had given them life, now brought them death instead. It polluted, it stank, and the power of death was over it. Ordered creation - the way things should have been, the way they always had been - now gave way to chaos.

Why? Because Pharaoh's 'heart' was hardened, and he would not let the Hebrew people go.  For us, 'heart' is associated with the emotions, but in Hebrew the word refers more to the seat of thinking and decision-making, the 'mind'. Pharaoh has set his mind against freeing the Hebrew slaves.

(Exodus 7:14-25)

2

FROGS

Frogs were everywhere - in the water, on the land, inside the houses - hopping, noisy, getting squashed underfoot.  They were piled into heaps, heap after heap. They made the land stink. 

Not only the water, but now the land itself was completely polluted. They swarmed - a sign of creation out of balance. The Egyptian frog goddess Heqet, who assisted women in childbirth, was running amok.  

Even when the plague stopped, the stench remained. 

(Exodus 8:1-15)

3

LICE AND MOSQUITOES

Lice and mosquitoes suck the blood of humans and animals and cause a terrible itch. They make people sick and unclean - in ancient Egypt, they could even have been sand flies, carriers of dengue fever, or anopheles mosquitoes, transmitters of malaria. 

The insects of this plague entered the eyes, ears and noses of the field workers. Egypt became a land where the ground was not covered anymore with gravel and sand, but with lice, which like dust blew all over the place, tormenting humans and animals  with  a maddening itch. Again, creation was off balance.

(Exodus 8:16-19)

Gnat larvae

4

FLIES

This plague consists of dense swarms of flies. They were everywhere, harassing people and animals alike. The Hebrew word in the Bible text refers to biting flies - so they were not just a pest, but a source of pain and infection as well. With them they brought illness, disease and death.

The plague of flies showed that JHWH possesses the power to wreak havoc and death. 

(Exodus 8:20-32)

5

DISEASED LIVESTOCK

The fifth plague brought the deaths of Egyptian domestic animals: horses, donkeys, cows, sheep and goats. The animals were struck by a fatal epidemic. 

The scene is one of utter horror, as suffering animals collapse and die. The people too are indirectly affected, by the loss of their livestock - this plague takes their source of income from work animals - horses and donkeys, and their sources of food - cows, sheep and goats.

(Exodus 9:1-7)

6

BOILS

So far, the plagues have attacked animals and things. Now they attack the bodies of the Egyptians themselves. 

Stinging, suppurating infections cover the whole body and cause swellings which become itching and painful boils. There is not a place in Egypt where living creatures are safe from the plague of boils.

Several illnesses have been suggested: burning sores, smallpox, elephantiasis, leprosy, festering boils. This skin disease, whatever it was, covered the entire body.

(Exodus 9:8-12)

7

THUNDER AND HAIL

'The Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire came down Exodus 9:34), hail with fire flashing continually in the midst of it.'

When Moses stretched his staff towards heaven, the rumble of thunder was heard. Hail, rain and zigzags of lightning filled the sky. JHWH showed that he ruled the world, and that he could use meteorological phenomena as weapons. 

Hail storms are very rare in Egypt. For this reason the thunder and hail made a deep impression on Pharaoh. They made a deep impression on the land as well, destroying crops all over the country. The hammering hail was pay-back for the heavy load the Hebrews had carried in Egypt.

(Exodus 9:13-35)

8

LOCUSTS

Locusts can be a real catastrophe in North Africa and the Near East. They swarm over crops, settle on the greenery, and then devour every single leaf. There is no way of stopping them, since their swarms number in the billions of insects.

Now they brought death and destruction to what was left of  Egypt's vegetation. The land became unfit for human habitation.

Locusts are often mentioned in the Bible as agents of divine judgment, often appearing in association with such things as mildew, caterpillars, pestilence, drought and enemies. In wartime, an invading army would be described as a plague of destructive locusts, destroying everything in its path.

(Exodus 10:1-20)

9

DARKNESS

A darkness lasting three days covered the land of Egypt, rendering it completely uninhabitable. The darkness was so thick that people had to feel their way around. This was an escalation in terror. 

Modern commentators suggest that the darkness was caused by a suffocating sandstorm, like the ones that blow in northern Africa from March to May, filling the air, darkening the sun and lasting two or three days.  It was particularly significant in ancient Egypt, since one of the main gods was Ra, the sun.

Darkness is associated with pre-creation chaos, evil, sin, and ignorance. God is associated with light - God's first creative act was to bring light out of darkness. (Exodus 10:21-29)

10

DEATH OF 
THE FIRSTBORN

The final plague brings a terrible catastrophe to Egypt: at the hour of midnight, all the firstborn, of humans and animals, die. Their social rank, wealth or personalities make no difference. They are all struck down, from Pharaoh's own firstborn to the lowliest slave in the land. 

The firstborn of a family symbolized the future of the clan - so the death of Egypt's firstborn robbed it of its future. The firstborn was legally privileged and the most highly regarded among the children of the family, and most deeply mourned if it died. (Exodus 12:29-32)

INTERESTING WEBSITES - stories, pictures, information

Leader, lawgiver, legend
BIBLE PEOPLE: MOSES

Reworking the Ten Commandments for the modern world
BIBLE TOP TEN WAYS TO GET TO HEAVEN

Ten ways to ruin your life: the Ten Commandments reversed
BIBLE TOP TEN WAYS TO GET TO HELL

The story of Shiprah and Puah, the midwives who saved babies like Moses
BIBLE TOP TEN: HEROINES

The Stone Tablets of Moses - were they stelae?
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: STONE TABLETS

The story of Miriam, Moses' sister
BIBLE WOMEN: MIRIAM

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bible Top Ten: Bad Women, Buildings, Films, Heroes, Heroines, Murders, Perversions, Plagues, Paintings, Slavery, Warriors, Ways to Heaven and Hell,
Ideas about God, Young People, Kings and Queens, and Villains; Bible Resource for Old and New Testament Studies