Exodus 7:14-12:30. The Pharaoh or king of Egypt would not let Moses take God’s people back to the promised land.
The death of all firstborn, which included both people and livestock, was the last plague of the ten which struck Egypt.
This plague dealt with Pharaoh himself. The Egyptians worshiped him as the god Horus in human form. His first born son held equal status with him on the throne.
So God said that He would send plagues to demonstrate His power to Pharaoh so strongly that he would have to harden his heart in order to resist and keep God’s people in Egypt. At the end of all the plagues, Pharaoh would have to let God’s people go.
The ten plagues from God on the King of Egypt consisted of:
blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally the death of the firstborn. The plagues attacked the demons behind the gods the Egyptians worshiped.
Background Reading:
1. The first Plague – Water is Turned into Blood
7:14 Then the LORD told Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard. He has refused to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he’s going down to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile River and meet him. Be sure to take with you the staff that was turned into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you. He says, “Let my people go so they may serve me in the desert, but until now you haven’t obeyed.”’
17 “‘This is what the LORD says: “This is how you’ll know that I am the LORD: Right now I’m going to strike the water of the Nile River with the staff that’s in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. 18 The fish in the Nile River will die and the river will stink. The Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile River. ”’”
19 The LORD also told Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their Nile River , over their ponds, and over their reservoirs, and they’ll become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in their wood and stone containers.’”
20 Moses and Aaron did just what the LORD had commanded. Aaron raised his staff and struck the water in the Nile River in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and all the water in the Nile River turned to blood. 21 The fish in the Nile River died and the river stank. The Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile River, and blood was throughout the land of Egypt. 22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their secret arts. Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. 23 Then Pharaoh turned away, went to his palace, and paid no attention to any of this. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile River for water to drink because they could not drink from the water in the Nile River.
Exodus 7:14-24
Read the rest of the Plagues Exodus 7:25-11:10.
Other slides in this module:
- Life of Moses – Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
- 300-year gap between Joseph and Moses
- First 40 years of the life of Moses
- Thutmose I, the Pharaoh or king of Egypt
- Miriam kept eye on Moses after he had been placed as a baby in a boat
- Second 40 years of the life of Moses
- God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush
- Moses was asked to take off his sandals by God
- The third 40 years of the life of Moses
- Aaron’s Staff becomes a Snake
- The ten plagues of Egypt
- 1st Plague – Blood
- 2nd Plague – Frogs
- 3rd Plague – Lice or Gnats
- 4th Plague – Dung beetles
- 5th Plague – Pestilence
- 6th Plague – Boils
- 7th plague – Nut – Egyptian Goddess of the Sky
- 8th Plague – Locust
- Ninth plague – Darkness
- Tenth plague – Firstborn die
- Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt
- Moses the friend of God
- Pillar of Cloud by Day
- Pillar of fire by night
- The Chariots of the Egyptian army
- Moses crosses the Red Sea
- Moses’ older sister Miriam sings a song
- Waters of Marah and Elim
- Manna means ‘What Is It?’
- Water from The Rock at Massah
- Moses at Mount Sinai
- The Ten Commandments or Ten Words of God
- The Three Annual Feasts of God
- The Feast of Passover
- Feast of Weeks or Pentecost
- Feast of Trumpets or Feast of Shofars
- The Golden Calf, the idol made by Aaron
- Moses with the New Stone Tablets
- 1st five of the Ten Commandments
- 2nd five of the Ten Commandments
- Ark of God
- The High Priest of Israel
- Tabernacle of God
- Aaron and Miriam oppose Moses
- Exploring Canaan by 12 spies
- 37 years in the wilderness
- Aaron’s Rod that budded
- Speak to the Rock “Give Water”
- Death of Aaron
- The Bronze Snake
- Balak Summons Balaam
- Six cities of Refuge for Israel
- Daughters of Zelophehad
- Moses Blesses the Tribes with Three Sermons
- Moses lived for 120 years
- Caleb was the son of Jephunneh
- Joshua – The Fall of Jericho
- Questions and Answers 1-16
- Questions and Answers 17-32
- Questions and Answers 33-49
- Time Line for Life of Moses
- Background Information – Life of Moses
- Next Module – Judges or rulers of Israel
- Resources – Life of Moses
- The Jewish Festival of Sukkot
- Yom Kippur, means “Day of Atonement”
- Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah (The Day of the Sounding of Shofar)