Bible Study: Ten Deadly Plagues of Egypt

The ten plagues of Egypt were sent by God through Moses and Aaron to the Pharaoh of Egypt.

These plagues were sent one at a time whenever Pharaoh said that he would not allow God's people of Israel (held as slaves in Egypt) from freely exiting Egypt. (This is why the book of the Bible is named Exodus or the Exit of).

Each time Pharaoh begged Moses and Aaron to take the plague away he agreed to let the people go, but soon after his heart would harden and Pharaoh would change his mind and told Moses they cannot leave. This cycle continued 10 times. On the 10th plague, Pharoah finally allowed them to go. After they had left, he began to yearn for revenge for his own son died in the last plague. With chariots, Pharaoh's army raced out to catch up with them. They met their doom while trying to catch them going over the parted Red Sea. Once the people of Israel had crossed the dry sea bed, the wall of water collapsed on the Egytians. The plagues are listed as follows:

1. Blood (Exodus 7:14ff) All waters in the area of Egypt turned into blood. This included not only the waterways, but also stored water.

2. Frogs (Exodus 8:1ff) Frogs covered the entire area of Egypt

3. Gnats (Exodus 8:16ff) Dust of the land of Egypt turned into swarms of gnats. The gnats covered the land, the Egyptians and their animals.

4. Flies (Exodus 8:20ff) The flies were in the Pharaoh's palace and in every Egyptian home. The whole country was in turmoil.

5. Livestock (Exodus 9:1ff) This plague killed every Egyptian horse, donkey, camel, cattle and sheep. Although, the people of Israel had animals too, these animals would not be harmed by the plague.

6. Boils (Exodus 9:8ff) Soot from a furnace tossed in the air by Moses spread like fine dust all across Egypt. As the dust touched the skin of Egyptians, the skin turned into a boil.

7. Hail (Exodus 9:13ff) This was the worst hailstorm ever seen. Every person or animal left outside would die from the hail. There was great thunder and lightning. Nothing outside was saved, including the crops.

8. Locusts (Exodus 10:1ff) The entire land was covered with locusts to the point where one couldn't see the ground. Everything that was left from the hailstorm was destroyed by the locusts, including trees. It was the worst onset of locusts they had ever seen. There was nothing green left.

9. Darkness (Exodus 10:21ff) A deep dark shadow descended on the land for three days. The people of Israel had normal light, while the Egyptians could not move for the darkness was so deep, they couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

10. Death of Firstborn (Exodus 11:1ff) The Israelites again were safe from this deadly plague. All families of Egypt, including Pharaoh's, had their firstborn die after midnight. Wailing could be heard like never heard before.



by Martin Miller


Also look at:
http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/wings/lbcexo9-10.htm
http://hubpages.com/hub/Ten-Plagues-For-Ten-Gods