Introduction

  • Exodus 12:12
  • The plagues were specifically directed against the gods of Egypt, to show God’s power over them.
  • Moses and the Gods of Egypt by John J. Davis
  • The Egyptians had somewhere around 80 gods. Pharaoh himself was considered deity.
  • Exodus 7:5 – It was important that the Egyptians would know about God and not just Israel.
  • Exodus 8:19; 9:20; 18:11
  • Numbers 33:4 – God had executed judgment on the Egyptian gods.

The ten plagues

1st plague – water to blood

  • Exodus 7:17
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Hapi – god of fertility
    • Khnum – guardian of the Nile sources
    • Osiris – god of the underworld
  • Hymn to the Nile

2nd plague – frogs

  • Exodus 8:3
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Frogs themselves were deified.
    • Heqt – frog-headed goddess

3rd plague – gnats (lice)

  • Exodus 8:16-18
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Set – god of the desert
    • Priests – physical purity ruined

4th plague – flies

  • Egyptian gods:
    • Uatchit – associated with one type of fly

5th plague – death of livestock

  • Egyptian gods:
    • Cows were sacred
    • Hathor – goddess represented by cow
    • Apis bull – sacred bull – god Ptah
    • Mnevis – sacred bull – god Ra

6th plague – boils

  • Exodus 9:8-12
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Sekhmet – goddess of epidemics
    • Sunu
    • Serapis
    • Imhotep

7th plague – hail with fire

  • Exodus 9:24
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Nut and Hathor

8th plague – locusts

  • Exodus 10:15
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Isis and Seth – gods of crops

9th plague – darkness

  • Exodus 10:22
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Ra – god of sun, king of gods
    • Horus – another important sun god
    • Aten – the deified sun disc
    • Atum – god of the setting sun
    • Nut and Hathor – goddesses of the sky
    • Thoth – god of the moon
  • A universalist hymn to the sun

10th plague – death of firstborn (people and cattle)

  • Exodus 12:29-32
  • Egyptian gods:
    • Pharaoh – son of Ra
    • Pharaoh’s son – born of the gods
    • Anubis
    • Min – god of procreation
    • Isis
    • Hathor
    • Apis bull – sacred, firstborn animal

Application

Do I give God the honor He deserves?

  • Exodus 20:1-6
  • God must be my priority!

Do I truly repent, or fake it?

  • Exodus 8:8, 13-15
  • Six times Pharaoh quickly turned back to his ways when the immediate panic was over.
  • Do I forget God when times are good?

Have I accepted the salvation God offers?

  • Exodus 8:22-23; 12:7, 12-13; I Corinthians 5:7; Romans 5:8-9