1. Exodus 7:18-19; This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I
am the Lord: With the staff that
is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into
blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;
the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ ” [1]
This
passage, on the first of the plagues, can be divided into three parts: God’s
instructions to Moses and Aaron (vv. 14-19), the miracle through Moses and Aaron (vv. 20-21), and the
resulting action of Pharaoh and his people (vv.
22-25).
The
Nile, considered the source of Egypt’s livelihood, was regarded as a god. When
the Nile flooded its banks in July and August it inundated the soil, thus
making it possible for the people to grow bountiful crops.
Moses was to inform Pharaoh of the reasons for the
judgment. Pharaoh had failed to
recognize the true God (7:16), which explained
the nature and ramifications of the coming judgment (vv.
17-18). The judgment would fall on the
river, its tributaries, and even the smallest common receptacles (v. 19).[2]
As Aaron
through Moses’ direction held his staff over the Nile the
awful judgment occurred—the water turned to blood. Some
commentators have suggested that the water did not literally become blood, but
simply became reddish in color. Cassuto suggests that this red color came
through “minute fungi and other red vegetable matter, or tiny insects of
reddish hue” (A Commentary on the Book of Exodus, p. 98). This, however, is not warranted, nor does it
explain the suddenness of this miracle or the extensiveness of death to the fish.
Though the chemical makeup of the red substance is unknown, to the Egyptians it
looked and tasted like blood. The dead fish in the river caused it to stink (v. 18; cf. smell bad, v.
21). Since the Nile was so vital to Egypt’s
agriculture and economy, this miracle was alarming. Several Egyptian gods were
associated with the Nile including Hapi, Isis, Khnum (see the chart “The
Plagues and the Gods and Goddesses of Egypt”). Also the yearly miraculous
rebirth of Osiris, a god of the earth and vegetation, symbolized the flooding
of the Nile. Other gods supposedly protected fish in the Nile. Since the
Egyptians believed the Nile was Osiris’ bloodstream it is remarkable that the
Nile was turned to blood (Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt,
p. 94).[3]
2. Exodus 8:1-2; Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and
say to him, ‘This is what the Lord
says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse
to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.[4]
God
told Moses to return to Pharaoh with an ultimatum to release the
Israelites or face further judgment, this time frogs. Frogs were
normally abundant in the Nile after the waters receded in December, but
the people would not have expected them in August. The frogs would normally
stay near the Nile but now they left the Nile, invading the houses (8:3), courtyards, and fields (v. 13) probably because of the
dead fish in the Nile. The Egyptians regarded frogs as having divine power. In
the Egyptian pantheon the goddess Heqet had the form of a woman with a frog’s
head. From her nostrils, it was believed, came the breath of life that animated
the bodies of those created by her husband, the great god Khnum, from the dust
of the earth. Therefore frogs were not to be killed.[5]
3. Exodus 8:16; Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and
strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will
become gnats.”[6]
Unlike
the previous two plagues, this one came without warning. This was also true of
the sixth and ninth plagues. This may have been because of Pharaoh’s false
promise of release (vv. 8, 15). This plague
may have been an attack against Set, god of the desert. Also it may have been
directed against the Egyptian priesthood. The priests prided themselves in
their purity with their frequent washings and shavings, and their wearing of
linen robes. Here the Lord polluted the religionists with pesky insects.[7]
4. Exodus 8:20-21; Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the
morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, ‘This is
what the Lord says: Let my people
go, so that they may worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go,
I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into
your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the
ground where they are. [8]
This
fourth plague begins the second cycle of three judgments; this is evident by
the phrase in the morning (v. 20; cf. 7:15; 9:13). Like the
first three plagues, these three were restricted to the Egyptians (I will
deal differently with the land of Goshen, where My people live, 8:22). This showed that God made a distinction
between the Israelites and the Egyptians (cf.
9:4; 11:7),
marking His people for deliverance and the others for judgment. This would
further demonstrate God’s sovereignty and power.
The
Lord instructed Moses to confront Pharaoh once again by the Nile (cf. 7:15) about
releasing the Hebrews. If Pharaoh refused, swarms of flies (8:21) would be sent on the Egyptians and in
their houses. The flies may have been attracted to the decaying frogs.
These flies may have been the dog flies known for their painful bites. They may
have represented Re, a prominent Egyptian deity. Or the flies may have been Ichneuman
flies, who depicted the god Uatchit.[9]
5. Exodus 9:1-4; Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and
say to him, ‘This is what the Lord,
the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” 2
If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, 3 the
hand of the Lord will bring a
terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and
camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the
livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the
Israelites will die.’ ”[10]
Again
Moses demanded the release of the Israelites. If Pharaoh refused, Moses
said, the hand of the Lord
(cf. 3:19; 6:1) would bring a . . . plague on their
domesticated animals: horses . . . donkeys . . . camels . . . cattle . . .
sheep . . . goats. With dead frogs throughout the land and with swarms of
flies spreading germs, this was so destructive to animal life, this may have
been the infectious disease known as anthrax. This would have been in January
when cattle were led out to pasture after the Nile inundation subsided. This
plague would have been economically distressing for the Egyptians. Also many
animals were sacred (cf. 8:26), the bull which represented the god Apis or Re,
and the cow which represented Hathor, the goddess of love, beauty, and joy.
Hathor was depicted in the form of a woman with the head (or sometimes only the
horns) of a cow. Also Khnum was a ram-god. The animals of the Israelites, the
object of God’s mercies, would not be affected by the plague (9:4; cf. 8:22-23; 11:7).
But if all the cattle died in
this plague, how can one explain the presence of animals later in verse 10 and of livestock in verses 20-21? Two explanations are possible: (1) The word “all” (v. 6) may be
employed hyperbolically, as a figure of speech for a large quantity without
meaning the totality of the livestock. (2) Perhaps a better explanation is that
the plague killed all the animals in the field (v.
3) but not those in shelters.[11]
6. Exodus 9:8-9; Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take
handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the
presence of Pharaoh. 9 It will become fine dust over the whole land
of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the
land.” [12]
Like
the third and ninth plagues, this one was not announced to Pharaoh. This
plague, the first to endanger human life, resulted in open sores (festering
boils, vv. 9-10). The Egyptians, fearfully aware of
epidemics, worshiped Sekhmet, a lion-headed goddess with alleged power over
disease; Sunu, the pestilence god; and Isis, goddess of healing. Yet these
deities could not deliver the people and animals from their torments. The
magicians of Egypt were again helpless (cf.
8:18) because they were similarly afflicted (9:11) and found their own deities powerless. [13]
7. Exodus 9:18; Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will
send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was
founded till now. [14]
This
judgment commences the third cycle of the plagues. These three plagues (seven,
eight, and nine) were more severe than the previous ones and are described in
more detail. This seventh plague resulted in great economic duress. Clearly the
abilities of several Egyptian gods were again being challenged. Nut, the sky
goddess, was not able to forestall the storm; and Osiris, the god of crop
fertility, could not maintain the crops in this hailstorm; nor could Set, the
storm god, hold back this storm.
The
lengthy section describing this plague includes four things: the instructions
to Moses (vv. 13-19),
the destruction of the plague (vv. 20-26), Moses’ discourse with Pharaoh (vv. 27-32), and the
impenitence of Pharaoh (vv. 33-35).
9:13-19. Again Moses was to see Pharaoh early in the
morning (cf. 7:15;
8:20). The reason for the impending judgment
was again Pharaoh’s unwillingness to release God’s people. Pharaoh had
failed to recognize the worth of the God of the Hebrews (cf. 3:18; 5:3; 7:16; 9:1; 10:3). He would
not admit that there is no one like Him in all the earth. Though
God had been gracious in not displaying the full fury of His wrath (9:15), this plague would teach them something
of His power. In fact God said this was why He had raised . . . up Pharaoh
(cf. Rom. 9:17,
22). God was about to demonstrate His power by
a hailstorm of huge proportions, without historic precedent (Ex. 9:18; cf. v. 24). Yet in His
grace God told the king to have livestock (cf.
comments on vv. 5-7) and people brought under shelter.
In Egypt cattle were usually outdoors from January to April, before the
summer heat set in.
9:20-26, 31-32.
Hearing of Moses’ forewarning, some of the Egyptians believed God’s word through
Moses and responded appropriately.
The
Lord brought destruction on the Egyptians as He had
predicted, though the hail (and rain, vv. 33-34) did not fall on the Israelites in the
land of Goshen (v. 26). Men and animals were killed by the hail, and
crops were demolished. However, the phrase everything growing in the fields (vv. 22, 25) is qualified by the statements in verses 31-32. “Everything” refers to those crops about to be
harvested, namely, flax (used in making linen cloth), and barley. Wheat
and spelt (an inferior type of wheat) were unaffected. Flax and barley
blossomed in January and were harvested in March-April. Wheat and spelt ripened
about a month later (in April) and were harvested in June-July. So this plague
may have occurred in February.[15]
8. Exodus 10:3-4; So Moses and Aaron went to
Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord,
the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself
before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you
refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. [16]
This
record of the eighth plague can be divided into four sections: the instructions
to Moses (vv. 1-6),
the discourse with Pharaoh (vv. 7-11), the destruction by the locusts (vv. 12-15), and the
humbling and hardening of Pharaoh (vv. 16-20).
This
plague reveals another purpose for the judgments. Besides humbling Pharaoh and
bringing about Israel’s deliverance, the plagues showed God’s power, which they were to tell to
their children and grandchildren. By these signs Israel would know
that God is the Lord
(Yahweh).
Locusts,
flying by the millions, can
completely devastate miles of crops (cf. Joel 1:2-7; Amos 7:1-3),
eating leaves and even tree bark. Much of a city’s or a nation’s food supply
from crops can be wiped out completely in minutes or hours.
What
the previous plague of hail did not destroy—wheat and spelt (9:32), fruit (10:15),
and other field vegetation (10:12, 15)—would now be devoured. Like the frogs (8:3-4) and flies (8:21,
24), the locusts would enter people’s houses.
Like the hail (9:18) the locust invasion
was unprecedented in Egypt (10:6; cf. v. 14).
The
devastation was beyond imagination; their numbers were so massive that the
ground . . . was black (10:15). All . .
. Egypt was affected. Egypt was deprived of her natural beauty with
tragic economic, social, and theological consequences. Nut, the Egyptian sky
goddess, could not control these locusts and Osiris, god of crop fertility,
could not prevent the destruction of the crops.[17]
9. Exodus 10:21; Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your
hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can
be felt.”[18]
Like
the third and sixth plagues this ninth judgment came without warning. When
Moses extended his hand (cf. 9:22; 10:12-13), the
land was draped with a thick cloak of darkness . . . for three days, except
in the land of Goshen. The exact nature of the darkness is uncertain,
but since Goshen was spared it could not have been an eclipse of the sun. Some
interpret darkness that can be felt (10:21)
to mean a massive sandstorm with its darkness and heat that would cause people
to seek shelter. With the land bare from the loss of crops by hail and locusts,
a sandstorm, possibly flowing from the south in March, would have been
unusually fierce.
This
plague was aimed at one of the chief Egyptian deities, the sun god Re, of whom
Pharaoh was a representation. Re was responsible for providing sunlight,
warmth, and productivity. Other gods, including Horus, were associated with the
sun. Nut, the goddess of the sky, would have been humiliated by this plague (as
well as by the plagues of hail and locusts).[19]
10. Exodus 11:4-5; So Moses said, “This is what
the Lord says: ‘About midnight I
will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die,
from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son
of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle
as well.[20]
From
the three cycles of three plagues, the land lay in ruins. God had demonstrated
His mighty power by showing up the impotence of the gods of Egypt. And by
devastating that powerful nation economically, He struck fear into the hearts
of the people. He had caused the Egyptians to be eager for the removal of the
Israelites though Pharaoh was yet to be humbled. The 10th plague would bring
great sorrow to every Egyptian family with children. This plague would
result in the release of God’s people.
Like
plagues three, six, and nine this 10th one came with no warning to Pharaoh and
with no opportunity for him to repent beforehand. Possibly these verses
continue the confrontation between Pharaoh and Moses in 10:24-29. The judgment was specific: in every Egyptian
family the firstborn son would die in the middle of the night—from
the poorest of the poor (the firstborn son of the slave girl) to the
royal household (the firstborn son of Pharaoh). A firstborn son received
special honor and a Pharaoh’s son, heir to the throne, was even considered a
god. The wailing over the loss of sons would be unprecedented.
Why
would God bring such a calamity on the Egyptians? It must be remembered that
God is sovereign over all human affairs. People’s prosperity or judgment is not
because of God’s favoritism or lack of it but because He desires to accomplish
His will on earth. Since He alone is holy, He has the right to use and dispose
of mankind as He wills. Anything God does is right because He is God! (Ps. 115:3; Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases
him. [21])
Also one must remember that the Egyptians were polytheists, worshiping many
idols and false gods. Refusing to worship the true God, they became objects of
His judgment (cf. Rom. 1:18-20, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against
all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of
the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have
been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are
without excuse. [22] ).
The
goddess Isis, the wife and sister of Osiris, supposedly protected children. But
this plague showed her to be totally incompetent to do what the Egyptians
trusted her for!
In
this great plague the Israelites would lose no one. In fact at midnight not
a dog would bark (lit., “not a dog
will sharpen its tongue”). That is, no dog would growl or bite because no harm
would come to God’s people. By this special treatment of the Hebrews, Egypt would
know that God favored Israel (cf. Ex. 8:23; 9:4). Therefore
Pharaoh’s officials, who after eight plagues urged their king to release
the Israelites (cf. 10:7),
would directly urge Moses to take his people away.[23]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 7:17-18
[2] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:121
[3] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:121
[4] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 8:1-2
[5] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:121-122
[6] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 8:16
[7] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:122
[8] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 8:20-21
[9] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:122-123
[10] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 9:1-4
[11] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:123
[12] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 9:8-9
[13] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:123
[14] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 9:18
[15] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:123-124
[16] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 10:3-4
[17] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:124-125
[18] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 10:21
[19] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:125
[20] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 11:4-5
[21] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 115:3
[22] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ro 1:18-20
[23] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:125-126
