The Ten Plagues

Scripture:

Exodus 6:28-11:10


Observation:

There are 10 plagues inflicted upon Egypt due to Pharaoh’s hardened heart and unwillingness to let God’s people go into the wilderness to worship Him.

1. Water turned to blood
2. Frogs
3. Gnats
4. Flies
5. Death of livestock
6. Boils
7. Hail
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Death of the firstborn (predicted)

God’s choice to use plagues to bring about His people’s freedom is, well, interesting. I mean, He is God and He could just speak a word and wipe out all of Egypt. Instead, He chooses to send 10 signs (in the form of plagues). At the beginning of this passage He shares what He is going to do and why:

But I will

harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

The Egyptians shall know

that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.

Exodus 7:3-5

Later in the passage are other times when God shares why He is using the plagues to free His people:

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD. Exodus 10:1-2

So according to these passages the reasons God chose to send the plagues to free His people include:

1. That the Egyptians will know that He is God
2. To show His power
3. That His Name may be proclaimed in all the earth
4. That the Israelites may tell the children and grandchildren what God did
5. So the Israelites will know that He is God

Application:

In His great love for us, God has allowed us to see how His plan to rescue a fallen world played out in the course of time. God’s glory and His love are not separate components of His nature. They are inexplicable intertwined.

Like the Israelites, I am responsible to tell future generations about the glory of God, specifically about how He has rescued His people (including me!) from bondage.


Prayer:

Father, help me share Your love with the children you’ve placed in my life. Help me model the love You have for them. And help me explain to them how to find the freedom You so freely offer! Thank You so very much for this privilege! In Jesus’s Name, amen.