These are some Egypt ian fake gods’ and fa l se

pol i t ical powers laid waste by the Word of the living

God. God was protecting His tiny f lock of be l ievers .

1 12 Exodus Plagues 2016

PLAGUE 5 : dies i

Plague 7 - Hai l Plague 8 L o c u s t s

Exodus 10-14 Egypt was in chaos. The crops were

dead and dying; animals dead and dying.

economy dead and dying. Their false reli-

gious philosophies proved to be powerless,

hopeless, deceit.

The unbelievers of Pharaoh’s court

probably explained these disasters away by

saying Moses was at fault The Pharaohs were

the ones who coerced the gods and god-

desses for justice, order and balance.

The Egyptians likely blamed Pharaoh

for not being strong enough to protect them.

The Egyptians were ruined because Pharaoh

did not listen to God’s Word through Moses and Aaron. EVE-

RYBODY suffered, everybody cried, no one had comfort or

hope….except those who listened to the Words of the living

God.

In Exodus 14:4, The living Lord God promised He alone

would overwhelm Pharaoh and the strongest army in the world!

The Lord promised it. The Lord kept His promise. The Lord re-

vealed again: there simply is no other god. Period. Lesson to be

learned? Listen to God’s words and trust Him, only Him, for

rescue from trouble in this life and in the one to come.

1. People are hurt when they base their life on worthless

words and false philosophies of this world. Why does

God emphasize that He alone is the real and true

God?

2. God is real and God really loves people so much that

He really did enter His creation to live, die, and rise

again for us. There simply is no other god like the Lord

Jesus Christ. What are some ways I thanked and

pra ised and served H im th is past week for H is

fa i th fu l k indnesses in Jesus, my Sav ior? What am

I p lanning on doing for H is g lory next week?

G o o d S h e p h e r d Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA, 54494

3 2

10 PLAGUES AGAINST FALSE LIES OF FALSE GODS (quick overview)

Blood (7:14‐24). The blood of the plague

makes the Nile’s water undrinkable

and k i l l s the f i sh (7 :21) – a major

industry along the Nile. This plague

was a direct blow against every

Egyptian god.

Frogs (8:1‐15). Frogs in Egypt were asso-

ciated with the god Hopi and the goddess

Heqt, goddesses of childbirth, and families.

For a l l the f rogs to d ie and rot in p i les

was a d i rect b low agains t the fa l se

promise of blessings from false gods

Gnats (8:16‐19). “Gnats”, “lice”, “Fleas”. We

don’t really know what kind of it was exactly.

But priests and people, even the pharaoh, were

“unclean” for their false gods worship. They could

not gather to worship. This plague was a direct

blow against the false power play over the peo-

ple by Pharaoh and the priests.

Flies (8:20‐32). “Swarms [of flies]” in verse 20 is

“mixture,” “a ceaseless motion”. The decaying

frogs of plague #2 may have provided food for

these little critters. If this was the well -known gad-

fly, there is a painful bite along with the univer-

sal irritation. This plague it is described as a “severe

swarm.”; another direct blow against Egypt’s gods that

falsely promised goodness and balance.

Death of Livestock (9:1‐7). Since

“cattle” were believed to be gods in

animal form, this plague was a direct

and lingering blow against Egypt’s

gods and their false philosophies of

protection and wealth.

Boils (9:8‐12). “Ashes of the furnace” that

Moses and Aaron threw into the air would

be black and fine like soot. “Festering

boils”, perhaps, “boils breaking out into

pustules.” Egypt’s worship of false gods

takes yet another hit with this one affect-

ing people personally.

Hail (9:13‐35). Perhaps these were even

larger that 8” in diameter. All livestock

and all people left in the open died. The

food in the fields for the next year was de-

stroyed. This plague was an-

other strike against Egypt’s relying on

wealth for political power.

Locusts (10:1‐20). Amos 7:1‐3; Joel 1:1‐7

points out that this is a dreadful picture

of God’s severe judgment. Devoured all

that was left after the hail (10:15a). This

plague calls to mind that God’s severest

judgment is taking away His Word,

a famine for hearing the Gospel of for-

giveness and mercy. God’s judgment is pub-

lic and profound.

Darkness (10:21‐29). This darkness that

can be “felt” was a direct blow

against Pharaoh and his pretend

power over his pretend gods and

goddess, wealth and warmth all went

away into the dark.

Death of firstborn (11:1‐10; 12:29‐32)

animals and people. The word

“wretched” does not come close to de-

scribing this. All firstborn, beasts and peo-

ple, were dead and gone.

Set