In Exodus 7-12, Moses, through the power of God, releases ten plagues of different sorts on the land of Egypt, which included turning all the water to blood, plagues of insects, boils, and hail. Finally, the death of every firstborn son included the death of Pharaoh’s eldest, who would someday inherit the kingdom of Egypt.
We will see that they were delivered not just to let Pharaoh know who God was but also to let the Israelites know who God was. Because they had been enslaved for four hundred and thirty years, they didn’t know God; they had become used to being enslaved and used to being around the idol gods of Egypt. And so not only did God have to convince Pharaoh who He was, but He also had to convince the Israelites who He was.
Some people question whether the miracles recorded were actually miracles. Note the following thoughts.
1. In each case, they were accurately foretold, as to the time and place of occurrence.
2. The intensity of such things as the frogs and lice was beyond all possibility of what could have been expected naturally.
3. Both their occurrence and their ending were demonstrated to be under the control and subject to the Word of God through Moses.
4. There was discrimination, some of the plagues afflicting the Egyptians and yet at the same time sparing the Israelites.
5. There was orderliness in their appearance, each event more severe than the one that preceded it, concluding with the most devastating of all, the death of the firstborn.
6. Also, there was a progression in relation to the reaction of Pharaoh’s servants. At first, they could do anything that Moses did, but at last, they admitted their failure and affirmed that ‘This is the finger of God!’
7. Over and beyond all this, there was a moral purpose in the plagues; they were not mere freaks of nature.
Now, remember that the ten plagues were actually ten disasters sent upon Egypt by God to convince Pharaoh to free the Israelite slaves from the bondage and oppression they had endured in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. When God sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, He promised to show His wonders as confirmation of Moses’ authority, Exodus 3:20.
This confirmation was to serve at least two purposes: firstly, to show the Israelites that the God of their fathers was alive and worthy of their worship and secondly, to show the Egyptians that their gods were nothing.
The Egyptians worshipped a wide variety of nature gods and attributed to their powers the natural phenomena they saw in the world around them. There was a god of the sun, of the river, of childbirth, of crops, etc. Events like the annual flooding of the Nile, which fertilised their croplands, were evidence of their god’s powers and goodwill.
When Moses approached Pharaoh, demanding that he let the people go, Pharaoh responded by saying, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go,” Exodus 5:2. And so from that point onwards, the challenge was on to show whose God was more powerful.
It appears that Moses and Aaron could go to Pharaoh at any time they wanted to, Exodus 9:8. Moses and Aaron were to now take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh, Exodus 9:8. Notice a furnace is mentioned.
Fields, in his commentary, says the following.
‘If these ashes did come from a brick kiln, there is a sardonic twist of vengeance revealed. The Israelites had been enslaved at brick-making, and now the ashes that made the lives of the oppressed bitter smite the oppressor with boils.’
Here we find the sixth plague, which was boils, Exodus 9:9. This was a judgment against several gods over health and disease: ‘Sekhmet’, ‘Sunu’, and ‘Isis’. Notice again, God gave Pharaoh no warning or time to think before sending this plague, just like He did earlier with the plague of gnats, Exodus 8:16. As the dust of the ashes spread through Egypt, it caused boils, Exodus 9:10 / Exodus 28:27.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These boils were the first of the plagues to endanger (perhaps even destroy) the lives of men, and in this respect it was the first foreboding of the death which Pharaoh would bring upon himself by his continued resistance.’
The magicians are mentioned, and they couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians, Exodus 9:11. This tells us that these religious leaders were powerless against the God of Israel.
We also find the first mention of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, Exodus 9:12, which we dealt with back in Exodus 4:21. As a result of Pharaoh’s hard heart, he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron and allow God’s people to go, Exodus 9:12.
Honeycutt Jr, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Any direct action which the Lord may have taken (in this hardening) was consonant with the character of Pharaoh and operated within the framework of Pharaoh’s freedom.’