10 Plagues
#Plagues
The Plagues (Exodus 7:14–11:10)
Exod 7:3–5; 12:28–33; 32:35
Gen 12:15–20; 20:1–18
Num 11:33; 12:1–15; 16:43–50
1 Kgs 13:4
2 Kgs 2:24
2 Chr 26:16–21
Acts 5:1–11
Rescuing the Hebrew people from oppression by the Egyptians was not the main purpose of the plagues. If that had been the case, one climactic miracle would have been sufficient. The real purpose of the plagues was to communicate who God is—to Israel, to Egypt, and to the surrounding nations.
The Israelites did not know who the Lord was. They had lived for hundreds of years in Egypt, one of the most polytheistic religious environments the world has ever known. Whatever they may have believed about God when they arrived in Egypt, it is certain that they were infected with the prevailing pagan views during their sojourn there (see ch 32).
The plagues revealed the Lord’s absolute superiority over everything in creation. These cataclysmic events were specifically aimed at elements the Egyptians particularly revered and worshiped, such as the Nile River (plague one, 7:14–25), amphibians (plague two, 8:1–15), insects (plagues three and four, 8:16–32), animals (plagues five and six, 9:1–12), plants (plagues seven and eight, 9:13–10:20), the sun (plague nine, 10:21–29), and life itself (plague ten, 11:1–10; 12:29–32). Thus Yahweh demonstrated to both the Egyptians and the Israelites that he alone is God.
The plagues are often referred to as “signs,” just as Jesus’ miracles were (e.g., 7:3; 10:1–2; John 2:23; 4:48; 12:37). The plagues show that worship of the created order brings God’s judgment. Jesus’ miracles, on the other hand, show that with the Lord, all that is deadly in creation—illness, the demonic, nature run amok, and even death itself—can be overcome by life.
New Living Translation Study Bible. (2008). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 4:04 PM May 4, 2021.
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