The Way
The Ten Plagues
Ten signs upon a hardened heart
Story
Moses raised his staff and struck the Nile, and the river turned to blood. Dead fish floated to the surface, and the stench was so great that the Egyptians could not drink from the river. Seven days later frogs crawled up out of the river and covered everything, even the bedrooms of the palace, the ovens and the kneading bowls. The dust of the ground became gnats swarming over people and animals. Here the magicians, who had copied the signs, gave up and said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God.
Next came swarms of flies, filling the palace and every house. But in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, there was not a single one. The livestock sickened and fell, and boils broke out on people and animals. Thunder rolled across the sky, and hail mixed with fire beat down on the fields. Then locusts, carried in on the east wind, devoured every green thing the hail had spared. After that, for three days, a darkness so thick it could be felt covered the land.
Even in that darkness there was light in the places where the Israelites lived. Whenever a plague grew too hard to bear, Pharaoh gave in, again and again. But each time it stopped, he hardened his heart again. At last Moses announced the final plague. At midnight every firstborn in Egypt would die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh on his throne to the firstborn son of the slave girl at her millstone, down to the firstborn of the livestock. A heavy silence settled over the land.
Walk this scene on the map →God's Words
Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.
This time I will send all my plagues on you, your officials and your people, so that you will know there is no one like me in all the earth.
This is the finger of God.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Ex 7:14–11:10
Background
The plagues are sometimes read as judgments on the gods Egypt worshipped, such as the Nile and the sun. The Lord himself said he would bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. Some try to explain the plagues as a chain of natural events, but views differ.
Pause and Reflect
Once things get better, do I forget the promises I made to God?