Take this 3-question quiz first to see how much you know BEFORE you read!
This Week's Reading: Exodus 7-13
Come Follow Me Insight #1
Have you ever wondered why– if God truly knows everything– He chose to save the Israelites from bondage?
If He knew how wicked and awful they would be even after He saved them (and that they’d end up being exiled again anyway), why bother?
This is where we see again the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant (and what it has to do with you and me). It didn’t matter that the Israelites were a pretty rotten group as a whole– God had made a covenant and would keep that covenant no matter what.
His “chesed” (His covenantal love and mercy) wouldn’t allow Him to do anything else! Which is great news for you and me– as we read the story of the Israelites we can be reminded that God’s covenantal love for us is so strong that He will literally never give up on us– no matter how rotten we are.
Come Follow Me Insight #2
Why did God bring down ten plagues on the Egyptians? Why not start with the last one and bring the Egyptians right to their knees? Or maybe just two or three?
The ten plagues had one important eternal purpose: to teach both the Israelites and Egyptians that the God of Israel was all-powerful, and that the Egyptian gods were nothing.
Each of the ten plagues was a direct attack on one (or more) of the gods the Egyptians worshiped; and with each plague God and Moses showed everyone that those gods were no match for the God of Israel.
- Plague 1: Water turned to blood (Hapi, god of the Nile)
- Plague 2: Frogs from the Nile (Heqet, goddess of fertility who had the head of a frog)
- Plague 3: Lice from the dust of the earth (Geb, god of the earth)
- Plague 4: Swarm of flies (Khepri, god of creation who had the head of an insect)
- Plague 5: Death of cattle and livestock (Hathor, goddess of the sky whose principal form was a cow)
- Plague 6: Boils and sore (Isis, goddess with magical healing abilities)
- Plague 7: Hail fireballs (Nut, goddess of the sky)
- Plague 8: Locusts (Seth, god of storms and disorder)
- Plague 9: Three days of darkness (Ra, sun God)
- Plague 10: Death of firstborn (Pharaoh)
Come Follow Me Insight #3
Why did God kill the firstborn Egyptian children; wasn’t that kind of mean?
We have to keep in mind that the last of the ten plagues was the plague that finally saved the entire nation of Israel. The death of the firstborn was proof to Pharaoh that he couldn’t possibly beat the God of Israel and needed to let the Israelites go free.
Also, 80 years earlier the Pharaoh at the time had ordered the murder of all of the Israelite newborn sons. With this last plague God turned the tables on Pharaoh and killed the sons of the Egyptians. (Source)
My Favorite Scriptures for the Week
- Exodus 8:8, 10
- Exodus 8:15
- Exodus 12:5
- Exodus 12:13
- Exodus 12:27
- Exodus 13:3
- Exodus 13:21
The Ten Plagues and a Kind God
Looking for more help in understanding the Old Testament?
Grab my Old Testament Story Outline for FREE!
