We are getting close to the Passover time of year! How fitting that we are currently in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic at the time of posting this!

Why? Because the Passover started during … THE 10 PLAGUES ON EGYPT!

You should read Exodus chapters 7-12 before reading/listening to this lesson.

Here are some questions to ask ourselves:

Does God allow or even send things like pandemics and plagues?

Is there a purpose to suffering?

Can God use evil for good? How do we define good and evil?

Now, to the big question of the day:

Can we learn from the 10 Plagues today?

Plagues and False Hopes
Exodus 7-12

Ten/10 is the number of completion, so God’s judgment is thorough and complete.

God gave Egypt plagues for each of their most powerful gods and goddesses.

• #1 – Plague of the Nile into Blood
  • Hapi – god of the Nile
    This lasted 7 days, the number of perfection.

• #2 – Plague of Frogs
  • Heket – goddess of Fertility and Water
    She had the head of a frog. Magicians made more frogs appear, but only Moses and Aaron could get rid of them.
• #3 – Plague of Gnats/Lice/Mosquitos
  • Geb – god of the Earth
    1st plague the magicians couldn’t copy
    (8:18-19)
    Remember that we are made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7)

• #4 – Plague of Flies
  • Khepri – god of creation, movement of the Sun, and rebirth
    He had the head of a fly.

• #5 – Plague of the Death of Livestock
  • Hathor – goddess of Love and Protection
    She had the head of a cow
    Economic disaster: food, transportation, and farming is affected.
• Plagues 1-5 remove sources of sustenance and income.

• #6 – Plague of Boils
  • Isis – goddess of Medicine and Peace
    Egyptians were neat-freaks and germophobes.
    This plague announced their uncleanness.

• #7 – Plague of Hail and Fire & Brimstone
  • Nut – goddess of the Sky
    First plague to affect the household of Pharaoh himself.
    Affected the crops of flax and barley: used for making clothing and beer. The Egyptians would not be able to cover their nakedness nor “forget their woes” with alcohol.
    Wheat was not affected, showing God provides bread …

• #8 – Plague of Locusts
  • Set – god of Storms and Disorder
    Locusts eat everything. This devastates even the food supply.

• #9 – Plague of Darkness for Three Days
  • Ra – The Sun god, the highest god
    Their god of light was controlled by God.
    Darkness symbolizes spiritual blindness and death, judgment and hopelessness.
• Plagues 6-9 remove sources of health and peace.

• #10 – Plague of the Death of the Firstborn
  • Pharaoh – the living god
    If their worshiped king cannot stop a foreign deity from killing his son, is he really worthy of their worship? (No.)
    Most obviously, this points to Christ, the only Son of God and firstborn of the Resurrection, all others finding salvation from death through His shed blood.
• Plague 10 removes our self-reliance.

God will allow and even send calamities, pestilences, and pandemics to show His power and sovereignty, and He might also do it to bring judgment on nations.

Think of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, or the locust swarms in Africa at this time. Or think of all of the wildfires in 2019.

Is this a buildup to Christ’s return? Maybe. Maybe not.

At the very least, God is in control, and our world has been pushing Him away like crazy. Just as the Egyptians claimed differing gods and had prophets declaring false things, we see this all over the world today, even within Christianity.

Just as the only salvation from death in the 10^th plague was blood, the only way we know we are saved from eternal death is through the blood of God’s firstborn, Jesus Christ. We may not escape earthly suffering, but we are saved from eternal judgment. (And see the last lesson about those who have not heard the Gospel!)