1. Blood. Warned. Their god, the Nile.
2. Frogs. Warned. Frogs worshiped.
3. Lice. No warning. Made from dust.
4. Flies. Warned. The god, Beelzebub.
5. Murrain. Warned. Animals worshiped.
6. Boils. No warning. Made from ashes.
7. Hail. Warned. Gods, Isis and Osiris.
8. Locusts. Warned. Serapis impotent.
9. Darkness. No warning. Sand?
10. Death of firstborn. Warned. No hope left.
The above outline is condensed and embellished, based on that in the Companion
Bible. The nine are aimed at the gods of Egypt and to show their inability
to help. Nine is the number of judgment.
The third plague is interesting. Lice (or maybe small mosquitoes) were made
from dust, the same material as man.
The sixth is also interesting, for it is quite likely that Moses took the
ashes from the furnace where human sacrifices were made. And these were the
cause of the boils.
The ninth plague was darkness and it could be felt. It may be that it was
a terrific sandstorm. If so, then we have dust, ashes, and sand the causes
of the 3 unannounced plagues.
But all of the nine plagues were to show that the gods of Egypt were nothing.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt
this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man
and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment: I am
Jehovah (Ex 12:12).
There was a belief in Egypt that if at any time the gods would fail them,
there was one supreme sacrifice they could make that would bring them out
of any calamity. That was a sacrifice of the firstborn. So we see that after
nine plagues were directed against the gods and they were powerless to prevent,
the one and only hope that Egypt had left was taken away from them. The firstborn
of every family died, from palace to hovel. And not only was any hope of
a human sacrifice taken away, but the firstborn of all animals died too.
This helps us to see the awful despair there was in Egypt and their desire
to get the Israelites out as soon as possible. Moses and Aaron had made their
point. Their God was greater than others.
The name Jehovah was made known with a special meaning to Moses at the burning
bush. This knowledge was to be transmitted to Israel. And also God determined
to make His name known among the Egyptians who had sunk into the grossest
of idolatries, worshipping creeping things (
Romans 1:23).
And further than this, God determined to make His name (Jehovah) known among
all the nations of that time. And this was accomplished. When the spies went
to Jericho, the people were greatly afraid because of what had happened to
Egypt. It is reported that even Tyre and Sidon were looking for help against
the Habiru (Hebrews) who had left Egypt in ruins. A time is coming and may
be near when the nations will again have to learn this.
