The Ten Plagues Upon Egypt Essays - Book Of Exodus, Bo,

The Ten Plagues Upon Egypt THE TEN PLAGUES UPON EGYPT To escape punishment for killing an Egyptian, Moses ran away to Midian, where he met and married the daughter of a shepherd. During that time, the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites called out to God in their suffering. In the past, God had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning the fate of them and their descendants, and the time had come for Him to rescue them. While Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep, he led the sheep through the desert until they arrived at Mt. Horeb. There, the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the form of flames from a bush. The Lord told Moses that He saw the misery that the Israelites were suffering at the hands of the Egyptians, and would come and rescue them. He instructed Moses to go to the Pharaoh, ask that the Israelites be freed, and then lead them out of Egypt and into the land of the Canaanites. When Moses objected that neither Pharaoh nor his own people would support him, God let him know that He knew Pharaoh's hea rt would harden against Him, so He would show His power to the Egyptians by raining down calamities against them. This display of anger for the Egyptians who refused to follow His will was manifested in ten plagues. God, working through Moses and Aaron, brought misery after misery upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. 1. The first plague involved changing the water of the Nile River into blood. Moses warned Pharaoh that unless he let the Israelites go to worship God, the river would turn to blood, the fish would die, the water would stink, and the people would not be able to drink. Even the water stored in jars would turn to blood. Pharaoh disobeyed, and God let loose his wrath. Pharaoh hardened his heart as God had said, and walked back into his palace. 2. The second plague occurred seven days later. When the Pharaoh refused yet again to obey God, the Lord brought frogs out of the land. They filled the Nile, and every home, bed and oven. Pharaoh then agreed to free the Israelites if God removed the frogs. God caused the frogs to die the next day, but Pharaoh hardened his heart and broke his end of the agreement. God then sent a third plague. 3. Everywhere throughout Egypt, the Lord changed dust into gnats. They covered men, animals and all of the land. Even Pharaoh's magicians saw this was the work of God, but Pharaoh still would not listen. God knew this was going to happen and sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand freedom, or a fourth plague would descend upon him and his people. Like before, he refused. 4. This fourth plague brought flies over the entire land, except for Goshen, which was where the Israelites lives. Moses had gone and warned Pharaoh of this, and let him know that Goshen would be spared to prove God's power to the Pharaoh. When the flies came, they poured into the palace and the homes of Pharaoh's officials. They covered the land and ruined it. Pharaoh again agreed to free the Israelites so that they could go to the desert and make sacrifices to worship God, but only if the flies were taken away. Again, a deal was made, and God caused every last fly to leave. Yet once again, Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go. 5. Then the Lord sent Moses to warn Pharaoh of a fifth plague, in which all of Egypt's livestock would die, but not the Israelite's. Pharaoh chose not to obey, and the next day, God brought His plague. Pharaoh sent his men to investigate the livestock of the Israelites, and even though he saw that not one was harmed, he still disobeyed God. 6. God then created a sixth plague, the plague of boils, to sweep across the land. Moses took soot from the furnace and tossed it in the air before the Pharaoh, It became fine dust over the whole land and on every man and animal that it landed on caused a terrible outbreak of boils, but Pharaoh still refused