...These ten Egyptian plagues not only demonstrated the power of God to Moses, the children of Israel, the Egyptians, and Pharaoh, but they were of such magnitude that they would be remembered for all generations, throughout the entire world. They again testify, as does both the Old and New Testament alike that salvation, from beginning to end, is only accomplished through Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of our faith." (Heb 12:2)
Corresponding Egyptian God and Goddess to the type of plague:
Type of plague that God pronounced upon Egypt:
Hapi- Egyptian God of the Nile
Although male and wearing the false beard, Hapi was pictured with pendulous breasts and a large stomach, as representations of the fertility of the Nile. He also was usually given blue[2] or green skin, representing water. Other attributes varied, depending upon the region of Egypt in which the depictions exist. In Lower Egypt, he was adorned with papyrus plants and attended by frogs, present in the region, and symbols of it. Whereas in Upper Egypt, it was the lotus and crocodiles which were more present in the Nile, thus these were the symbols of the region, and those associated with Hapi there. Hapi often was pictured carrying offerings of food or pouring water from an amphora, but also, very rarely, was depicted as a hippopotamus. During the Nineteenth Dynasty Hapi is often depicted as a pair of figures, each holding and tying together the long stem of two plants representing Upper and Lower Egypt, symbolically binding the two halves of the country around a hieroglyph meaning "union".[2] This symbolic representation was often carved at the base of seated statues of the pharaoh.[2]
Egyptian Plague- Water Turned to Blood
The first plague that was given to the Egyptians from God was that of turning the water to blood. As Aaron, the spokesman for Moses, touched the "rod" of the Lord to the Nile River it immediately turned to blood, all the fish died, and the river stank. Partially able to duplicate this miracle, the magicians of Pharaoh also turn water into blood, leaving Pharaoh unimpressed with this great wonder from God.
Seven days the water throughout all the land of Egypt remained in this state, unsuitable for drinking, the perfect length of time to demonstrate that the Lord was superior to all the other Gods of Egypt.
Egyptian Plague- Frogs coming from the Nile River
Still, Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go from the presence of Egypt.
The second plague that was extended upon Egypt, from the "rod" by Aaron, was that of frogs. The frogs came up from the river and were in their houses, in their food, in their clothing, in every place possible. From the greatest to the least, no one in Egypt escaped the plague of frogs. Pharaoh's magicians were able to bring more frogs in their attempt to imitate the power of God, but only Moses was able to make the frogs go away. This was another attack on a famous Egyptian Goddess, Heket.
Heket- Egyptian Goddess of Fertility, Water, Renewal
Hequet is Egyptian goddess of life, creation, childbirth and fertility. She often depicted as woman with the head of a frog or a frog at the end of the phallus or simply just a frog. This is because frogs symbolize life and fertility to Egyptians because the annual inundation of the Nile brings forth fertility to the barren lands and spawned millions of frogs. In temples, she mostly in her human, anthropomorphic form while in amulets, she is in her animal form. Her name can also be spelled as Heqet, Heqat, Hekit, Heket, Hegit, and Heget.
She is a child of the sun god, Ra. After Ra became Atum-Ra, she was the wife of Shu, the air and wind god. She is regarded as the “Eye of Ra” and the “Mother of Gods”.
As a fertility goddess, she is associated with the final stages of the inundation of the Nile River, the germination of corn and the final stages of a woman’s labor and childbirth. With this she gained the title “She Who Hastens the Birth” during the middle kingdom.
Egyptian Plague- Lice from the dust of the earth
Still Pharaoh would not concede, even after this display of power from the Lord, or magnificent plague, he would not let them go.
At the command of the Lord to Moses, Aaron was told to stretch forth his rod and smite the dust of the earth. When he did the dust became lice throughout all the land, on both people and beasts. The very dust that was referred to in the creation process of man is now used to plague men, as a reminder of his mortality and sin which both lead to death.
Finally, the magicians of Pharaoh are humiliated, being unable to compete with this power that was so much greater than themselves and the powers that they had from their Egyptian gods and goddesses, and they profess, "this is the finger of God." This was the last plague that required Aaron's involvement, as the next set of three plagues are issued by the word of Moses himself.
God of the earth, vegetation, fertility, earthquakes, snakes
Still Pharaoh would not concede, even after this display of power from the Lord, or magnificent plague, he would not let them go.
At the command of the Lord to Moses, Aaron was told to stretch forth his rod and smite the dust of the earth. When he did the dust became lice throughout all the land, on both people and beasts. The very dust that was referred to in the creation process of man is now used to plague men, as a reminder of his mortality and sin which both lead to death.
Finally, the magicians of Pharaoh are humiliated, being unable to compete with this power that was so much greater than themselves and the powers that they had from their Egyptian gods and goddesses, and they profess, "this is the finger of God." This was the last plague that required Aaron's involvement, as the next set of three plagues are issued by the word of Moses himself.
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| God of the earth, vegetation, fertility, earthquakes, snakes |
(Geb was represented usually as a man wearing a combination of the white crown and the Atef crown, although he was also depicted as a goose, his sacred animal. In the form of a man, Geb is depicted as personifying the earth and is shown green colored with vegetation growing from his body. As the earth, he is often seen lying on his side with one knee bending towards the sky. In compositions and hymns, Geb is a very important god in the Book of the Dead who plays a part in watching weighing of the heart of the dead at the Judgment Hall of Osiri
Geb is one of the most important Egyptian God in ancient Egypt history. Geb was known as the God of Earth. He is also being referred as Seb, Keb, Kebb or Gebb in various literatures and the idea of Geb as a healing god is also found in texts dealing with scorpion stings and how to heal them.
His appearances portrayed as a man with a goose on his head. Goose was a sacred animal to Geb, as such he was also called “The Great Cackler”. Sometimes, he also portrayed as a man lying underneath the arch of his wife the sky goddess Nut. His skin generally in green color (the color of living things), represent the vegetation of the earth.
According to the ancient Egyptian myth during the kingship struggle between Horus and Set, Geb divided the earth into two parts, giving the Lower Egypt to Horus and Upper Egypt to Set.
Geb was the son of Shu the God of Air and Tefnut the Goddess of Moisture. Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys were the children of Geb and Nut, the Goddess of Sky the twin sister and the wife.
The ancient Egyptian believed Geb’s laughter was to start earthquakes. His is the masculine Earth God, which opposite with many other religions where the earth is feminine.
Egyptian Plague- Swarms of Flies
With the fourth Egyptian plague, which consisted of flies, begins the great miracle ot separation or differentiation. Moses met Pharaoh at the Nile River in the morning and made the demand, speaking on behalf of the Lord, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me." Again, Pharaoh hardened his heart and disregarded the request, resulting in a pronouncement of swarms of flies.
This time, however, only the Egyptians are affected by the judgement, or plague, and the children of Israel remain unscathed. This wonder also moves the Egyptian plagues to a different level, adding destruction as well as discomfort to the consequence of their decisions.
Plagued by flies, Pharaoh tried a new tactic and begins bargaining with the Lord, showing his desire to maintain power and authority over God. He tries to dictate the terms and conditions of the offer, telling them they may sacrifice but only "in the land" clearly not complying with the requested "three days journey" that the Lord required. Moses wouldn't budge, and Pharaoh relented allowing them to leave, but telling them not to "go very far."
Khepri- Egyptian God of creation, movement of the Sun, rebirth
Hathor-Egyptian Goddess of Love and Protection
Egyptian Plague- Death of Cattle and Livestock
Moses once again demanded of Pharaoh, "Let my people go, that they may serve me", revealing also the next Egyptian plague to occur on the condition of continued disobedience to the request. This plague was given with an advanced warning, allowing a period of repentance to occur, which goes unheeded.
"Tomorrow" the hand of the Lord would be felt upon all the cattle and livestock, of only the Egyptians, as"grievous murrain." This means that disease and pestilence would fall upon their livestock with so severe a consequence as to cause them to die. This plague affected the Egyptian by creating a huge economic disaster, in areas of food, transportation, military supplies, farming, and economic goods that were produced by these livestock. Still Pharaoh's heart remained hard and he would not listen to the Lord but remained faith to the Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Isis- Egyptian Goddess of Medicine and Peace
Egyptian Plague- Ashes turned to Boils and Sores
As with the previous two, throughout the remaining Egyptian plagues the division is drawn between the Egyptians and the children of Israel, as God gives protection to his covenant people. The severity of the judgment of God has now become personal, as it is actually felt by the people themselves.
Cleanliness being paramount in the Egyptian society, this plague pronounces the people "unclean." The magicians who have been seen throughout the previous plagues are unable to perform ceremonially rituals to their Egyptian Gods and Goddesses in this unclean state, not allowing them to even stand before Pharaoh; they are seen in the scriptural account no more. It is great to notice the contrast shown as Moses and Aaron are the only ones left standing in front of Pharaoh, with the "One True God" as their support.
Nut- Egyptian Goddess of the Sky
Egyptian Plague- Hail rained down with strong lightning
Again warning is given before the enactment of the plague takes place. Pharaoh is warned of the impending doom that will be faced if he does not listen to the Lord, and forget his own Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Hail of unspeakable size and ability to destroy, would rain down from the sky and turn to fire as it hit the ground. The Lord, in showing Pharaoh that "there is none like Him in the Earth", allows those who are willing to hear His word, and do as He commands, to be saved.
A division is now felt between the Egyptians in the form of those "converted" to the Lord, as shown by their obedience and willingness to escape to the protection of their "houses." Similarly we are warned to make our houses a place of refuge from the world today, we have been warned.
Interestingly enough, the crops that were destroyed by the hail consisted of flax and barley, which were ripening in the fields. These two particular crops were not the mainstay of their diet, but were used more specifically for their clothing and libations. This destruction would make their life uncomfortable, but as far as effecting their food supply , the wheat still survived. This gave the Egyptians still another chance to turn to "the One True God", and forsake their own Egyptian gods and goddesses, thus showing His mercy and grace even yet.
Seth- Egyptian God of Storms and Disorder
Egyptian Plague- Locusts sent from the sky
Still Pharaoh would not listen to the message of the Lord, still he relies on his own Egyptian gods and goddesses.
The eighth plague issued by the Lord had an even greater purpose than all the others, it was to be felt so that Pharaoh would tell even "his sons and son's sons" the mighty things of the Lord, thus teaching even future generations of the power of the "strong hand of God" over all the other Egyptian gods and goddesses.
Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh with the same request, "Let my people go so that they may serve me", and pronounced the judgment of locusts if not heeded. This is the second wave of destruction to follow the hail, and whatever crops were left in tact after that display, were now completely consumed by the swarms of locusts that were unleashed from the sky. This wonder definitely affected their life source. By hitting them in their food supply, the Lord displayed the possibility of eminent death if a change of heart did not occur. Yet still, Pharaoh would not listen.
Ra- The Sun God
Egyptian Plague- Three Days of Complete Darkness
Darkness now fell upon Egypt, unannounced, as a prelude to the future fate to be felt by the Egyptian empire when the message of the Lord was not heeded, and they still turned to their own Egyptian gods and goddesses. Three days of palpable darkness, that was so immense it could be physically felt, covered the land of Egypt.
The sun, the most worshipped God in Egypt other than Pharaoh himself, gave no light. The Lord showed that he had control over the sun as a witness that the God of Israel had ultimate power over life and death. The psychological and religious impact would have had a profound influence on the Egyptians at this point. Darkness was a representation of death, judgment and hopelessness. Darkness was a complete absence of light.
Pharaoh- The Ultimate Power of Egypt
Egyptian Plague- Death of the Firstborn
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was worshiped by the Egyptians because he was considered to be the greatest Egyptian God of all. It was believed that he was actually the son of Ra himself, manifest in the flesh.
After the plague of darkness felt throughout the land was lifted, Pharaoh resumed his position of "bargaining with the Lord" and offered Moses another "deal." Since virtually all of the Egyptian animals had been consumed by the judgments of the Lord, Pharaoh now consented to the request made, to let the people go, but they must leave their animals behind.
This was a totally unacceptable offer, as the animals were to be used as the actual sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord is uncompromising when He has set the terms.
Enraged by the refusal, Pharaoh pronounced the last deadly plague to be unleashed upon the land from his very own lips as he warns Moses, "Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die."
And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn 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. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more."
At this point the passive obedience that the children of Israel have shown is now moved to a level of active obedience. They are given strict instructions to follow so that they do not also feel the judgment of this last plague sent by the Lord. These instructions are known as "The Feast of Passover", "The Feast of Unleavened Bread", and "The Law of the Firstborn." In these rituals are displayed the law of sacrifice, the law of the gospel, and the law of consecration, all necessary requirements to receive ultimate salvation from spiritual death.
"Let My people go that they may serve Me"
As God's children today we have learned through this great show of power that ultimately it will require "active obedience" to receive salvation from the "One True God."
Looking back over the instructions that were given to Pharaoh to "let my people go that they may serve me", this principle is manifest throughout. Service to the Lord is the requirement of His people, and the blessing for this show of obedience and sacrifice is the ultimate salvation not only from physical death but from spiritual death as well.
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