The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were not accustomed to receiving commands from others, particularly from such “lowly” people as Moses and Aaron. Their message came directly from The God Of Creation, but the Pharaoh was of no mind to listen. But then, the Pharaohs didn’t believe in the True God – their “gods” were various idols, and such natural things as bulls and reptiles and the Nile River. They worshiped created things, rather than The Creator. That was the primary reason that God targeted a number of Egypt’s “gods” directly with The Ten Plagues.
For each plague, the scriptures references are given in bold underlined text, and the description of each plague is followed by a short excerpt from the scripture.
The First Plague (Exodus 7:14-24)
Waters Turned To Blood. All of the water in Egypt – right from water already in buckets and jars, to ponds, canals, streams, even the Nile River – turned to blood. Then all of the fish of the river died, causing a terrible stench.
Exodus 7:19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
The Second Plague (Exodus 8:1-15)
Frogs miraculously multiplied in number, so many that the land was infested with the normally aquatic creatures. Even people’s houses had them inside.
8:2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
8:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading troughs:
8:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
The Third Plague (Exodus 8:16-19)
Vast swarms of gnats tormented people and animals.
Exodus 8:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
The Fourth Plague (Exodus 8:20-32)
Vast swarms of flies through the land, spreading disease.
Exodus 8:21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
The Fifth Plague (Exodus 9:1-7)
Disease on the livestock – horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats – but those of the Israelites were unharmed.
Exodus 9:3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
The Sixth Plague (Exodus 9:8-12)
Festering boils on people and animals through the land.
Exodus 9:8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.
The Seventh Plague (Exodus 9:13-35)
Powerful hail storms that destroyed the standing crops. The hail stones were so big that any people or animals caught outside in the storm were killed.
Exodus 9:18 Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
The Eighth Plague (Exodus 10:1-20)
Locusts in such great numbers that the ground was covered with them. They devoured everything that survived the hail storm.
Exodus 10:4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field.
The Ninth Plague (Exodus 10:21-29)
Darkness over the entire land for three days – but the Israelites had light in Goshen.
Exodus 10:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days
The Tenth Plague (Exodus 11:1-10, 12:1-42)
Death of the firstborn. The Passover. Pharaoh let the Israelites go. The Wilderness Journey began.
Exodus 11:4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
Back to Passover
Bibloscope 