Moses & The Ten Plagues of Egypt, Senior - I, Lesson - 9

SENIOR

AGE GROUP: 14 - 15 YEARS

STANDARD (GRADE): IX & X

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LESSON – 9

MOSES & THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT

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Moses, the Egyptian Prince

Moses was born to Amram and Jochebed from the Levi tribe of Israel. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt when Moses was born. Pharaoh, the King of Egypt wanted to kill all the Israelite boy babies. To save baby Moses, his mother placed him in a basket made out of bulrushes, and kept him by the reeds along the Nile river. The daughter of the Pharaoh found the baby, named him as Moses and brought him up as an Egyptian prince. 

However, Moses knew that he was an Israelite and when he grew up, he became very distressed at seeing his own people suffer. When Moses was forty years old, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrew men. Moses killed the Egyptian and escaped to a desert called Midian fearing punishment from the Pharaoh. (To know more about the life of Moses, click this link, Intermediate, Lesson - 6, Moses, the son of Pharaoh's Daughter)

Moses at Midian

Moses lived in Midian for 40 years as a shepherd, until God called him to go to Egypt to deliver His people from the Egyptian slavery. God revealed Himself to Moses in a “flame of fire from the midst of a bush”. God told Moses to gather the Israelites to approach the Pharaoh, and to tell him to let the Hebrew people go into the wilderness for a three-day journey to hold a feast for their God.  But Moses told the Lord that he is not eloquent enough, and that he is too slow of speech and tongue. God told Moses to take his brother Aaron along with him to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf. Moses was 80 years old and his brother Aaron was 83 when they went to Egypt to rescue their people from the Pharaoh.   

God’s judgment on Egyptians

When Moses and Aaron first approached the Pharaoh and told him to let the Israelites go, the Pharaoh refused. So, God did two miracles in front of the Pharaoh and his court through Moses and Aaron. But Pharaoh’s magicians could also imitate these miracles, so Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he refused to let the Israelites go. 

After that, God released a full set of 10 powerful judgments on the Egyptians. It was a judgement against the Egyptian gods. 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. 

First Plague – Water turned to Blood

Egyptian God: Hapi- Egyptian God of the Nile

The first plague from God was that of turning the water to blood. Aaron touched the "rod" of the Lord to the Nile River and it immediately turned to blood, all the fish died, and the river stank. Pharaoh’s magicians could also do this miracle. So Pharaoh was unmoved by this miracle. This plague lasted for seven days. 

Second Plague – Frogs coming from the Nile River

Egyptian Goddess: Heket- Frog Goddess of Fertility, Water, Renewal

The second plague sent upon Egypt, was that of frogs. The frogs came up from the river and were in their houses, in their food, in their clothing and in every place possible. Pharaoh's magicians could also imitate this miracle and were able to bring more frogs, but they could not make them go away. Pharaoh needed Moses’ help to make the frogs go away. 

Third Plague – Lice from the Dust of the Earth

Egyptian God: Geb - Egyptian God of the Earth

The third plague was lice. When Aaron stretched forth his rod and smit the dust of the earth, the dust became lice throughout all the land. Pharaoh’s magicians could not replicate this miracle and they called it “the finger of God." This was the last plague that required Aaron's involvement, as the other plagues were brought forth by the word of Moses himself. 

Fourth Plague - Swarms of Flies

Egyptian God: Khepri – The God with head of a fly

The fourth Egyptian plague consisted of flies. It began the great miracle of separation or differentiation. From this plague onwards, only the Egyptians were affected by the judgement. Pharaoh tried to bargain with the Lord, showing his desire to maintain power and authority over God. Pharaoh told them they may sacrifice but they should not leave Egypt and make their sacrifices in Egypt itself.   

Fifth Plague – Death of Cattle and Livestock

Egyptian Goddess: Hathor - Egyptian Goddess of Love and Protection (Egyptian Goddess depicted with the head of a cow)

The fifth plague was a pestilence that fell upon their livestock causing them to die. This plague was given with an advanced warning that the plague would occur the next day, but the warning was ignored.  This plague may have affected the Egyptians by creating a huge economic disaster. 

Sixth Plague – Ashes turned to Boils and Sores

Egyptian Goddess: Sekhmet- Goddess of Epidemics

The sixth plague was ashes turned to Boils and Sores. This plague was given without prior announcement directly attacking the Egyptian people themselves. Moses took ashes from the furnace of affliction, and threw them into the air. As the dust from the ashes blew all over Egypt, it settled on man and beast alike in the form of boils and sores. Even the magicians could not stand before the Pharaoh.

Seventh Plague – Hail rained down in the form of fire

Egyptian Goddess: Nut- Goddess of the Sky

The seventh plague was “Hail raining down in the form of fire”. Hail of unspeakable size and ability to destroy, would rain down from the sky and turn to fire as it hit the ground. Only flax and barley, used for their clothing, ripening in the fields were destroyed by the hail. This destruction would make their life uncomfortable, but wheat, the main source of their food supply still survived. This gave the Egyptians another chance to turn to "the One True God of Israel". 

Eighth Plague – Locusts sent from the sky

Egyptian God: Osiris - God of crops and fertility

The eighth plague was “locusts sent from the sky”. Whatever crops were left intact by hail were now completely consumed by the swarms of locusts. This affected their food supply. Still, Pharaoh would not listen. 

Ninth Plague – Three Days of Complete Darkness

Egyptian God / Goddess: Ra- The Sun God

The ninth plague was “three days of complete darkness”.  The sun, the most worshipped God in Egypt other than Pharaoh himself, gave no light. The Lord showed that he had control over their sun god. 

Tenth Plague – Death of the Firstborn

Egyptian God: Pharaoh- The Ultimate Power of Egypt

The tenth plague was the last and the most severe of them all, the death of the firstborn. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was worshipped 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. During the tenth and final plague, the Israelites were told to mark their doors with the blood of a lamb they’ve sacrificed. 

When At night, God passed through the land of Egypt and struck down the firstborn of every household even the firstborn of Pharaoh died, but when God saw the blood on the doorpost, he passed over the Israelite homes, so their firstborns were safe. (To know more about the Passover lamb, click this link, Senior, Lesson - 11, The Passover Lamb)

Israelites leave Egypt

This last and final judgment finally broke the Pharaoh and he agreed to let the Israelites go. This is exactly what God said would happen. Moses and all the Israelites left in a hurry. Their bread did not even rise, and this is why Jewish people today still celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also called the feast of the Passover. The Bible says that the Israelites had been kept under Egyptian rule for 430 years. The Israelites were finally set free for good from Egypt!

Bible Reference: Exodus 2- 12; Acts 7:20-36

Memory Verse: 10. to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt; His love endures forever. 11. and brought Israel out from among them; His love endures forever. 12. with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever Psalm 136: 10-12 (NIV)

HISTORICAL EVIDENCES

Pictures of slaves making mud bricks in the Tomb of Rekhmire the Vizier (tomb TT100) in ancient Thebes (Luxor). Dated from the time of the Exodus in 1446 BC.

AMARNA TABLETS / AMARNA LETTERS

In 1988, about 400 cuneiform tablets were discovered from a place called Amarna, which were part of the royal archives of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) who reigned about 1400 BC. They were written during the time of Moses. They provide the first evidence of the Hebrew tribes entering into the land of Canaan in ancient times. Photos: Public Domain

Nile River in the present times.

10 PLAGUES OF EGYPT /  

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GODS & GODDESSES

God released a full set of 10 powerful judgments on the Egyptians to release the Israelites from slavery. The Holy Bible says that it was a judgement against the Egyptian gods (Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:4). We can see the list of the ten plagues and the gods of goddesses of the ancient Egypt in the following chart. 

Plague	Egyptian God
1.     Water turned to Blood	Hapi- Egyptian god of the Nile
2.    Frogs	Heket- Frog goddess of fertility, water, renewal
3.    Lice	Geb - Egyptian god of the Earth
4.    Flies	Khepri – The god with head of a fly
5.    Death of Cattle	Hathor - Egyptian goddess of Love and Protection (Egyptian goddess depicted with the head of a cow)
6.    Boils	Sekhmet- Goddess of Epidemics
7.     Hail	Nut- Goddess of the Sky
8.    Locusts	Osiris - God of crops and fertility
9.    Darkness	Ra- The Sun God
10.        Death of the Firstborn	Pharaoh- The Ultimate Supreme Power of Egypt

IMAGES OF SOME ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GODS & GODDESSES

Image of goddess Sekhmet carved in the Kom Omba Temple

Image of Sun god Ra carved in the Tomb of Ramses IV

The stone statue of one of the Pharaoh's of Egypt Ramses IV

Images of some of the gods and goddesses of Egypt

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ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY

I.           Fill in the Blanks:

1. Aaron touched the "rod" of the Lord to the Nile River and it immediately turned to …………………

2. When Aaron stretched forth his rod and smit the dust of the earth, the dust became ……………… throughout all the land.

3. In the seventh plague, ………………. and ……………….. used for their clothing, were destroyed by the hail.

4.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is also called as the feast of the ……………………. 

II.       Give short answers:

1. What was the plague that was called the “finger of god”?

 

 

2. Which plague marked the beginning of separation?

 

 

3. How did the seventh plague gave another chance for the Egyptians to repent?

 

 

4. What was the eighth plague and how did it affect their food supply? 

 

III.          Give brief answers:

1. Write in brief about the tenth plague and how the Israelites were set free.