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Exodus 7–10: The Plagues
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The story of the ten plagues is one that captures the imagination in different ways depending on who you are. Little children and Hollywood scriptwriters love it because it has heroes, villains, spectacular action, and a satisfying ending. But for many of us—especially those in comfortable, secular contexts—the story raises difficult questions. Archaeologists ask if it's historically true. Physicists question how it's chemically possible. Theologians wrestle with God hardening hearts and then judging them. And ethicists worry about fairness to the Egyptians and even the animals.
Yet despite these challenges, this story speaks powerfully to us today. It's ultimately about how God conquers his enemies—and those enemies still afflict us. Three enemies in particular appear in this story: fear, slavery, and idolatry. Understanding how God overcomes them can transform how we live.
Every story in the Bible works at three levels, like Russian dolls. There's the individual level, featuring named people with their own hopes and fears. This level sits within a corporate level, concerning God's people—Israel, the church. And both of these sit within a cosmic level, where God is at work to overthrow evil, renew creation, and restore all things under Christ's lordship.
We'll explore the story of the plagues at all three levels.
At the individual level, this is Moses' story. Moses is a man gripped by fear. He has been asked to do something far beyond himself, and he knows it. His question haunts him: "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?"
Everybody asks this question in some form. Deep down, we've all wondered: "I'm a nobody. How will anyone listen to me? How can I possibly convince them to do what needs to be done?" For many people in Scripture, asking "Who am I?" is actually the beginning of their calling—Sarah, Gideon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zacchaeus. They all start there.
But notice how God answers Moses' fear:
First, God says: "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet." To Pharaoh, you will appear as a deity with miraculous power. Your brother Aaron will be your spokesman. Pharaoh will think he's facing a god.
Second, God gives a surprising answer: "He won't listen to you." That's it. Direct and honest. Don't worry about convincing him—he won't listen. God will harden his heart. This might sound like a failure, but it's actually liberating.
Third, God says: "I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my people out by acts of judgment. Then they will know I am the Lord." The deliverance won't come because Moses was persuasive. It will come because God acts.
This reveals something profound: the root of most fear is the false belief that ultimate responsibility rests with us. We think, "I've been given this task, but I'm not good enough. Therefore, I'm afraid."
But God reframes it entirely. You are called to obey. I am responsible for the results. Your obedience is your responsibility; the outcome is mine. You don't need to be afraid of whether you're adequate for the task—you're not, and that's fine. I will deliver.
There's a children's story that illustrates this beautifully. A mouse encounters various predators and keeps saying he's going to have tea with a Gruffalo. He makes it all up—no Gruffalo exists. But then he meets a real Gruffalo with terrible teeth and purple prickles. The mouse tells the Gruffalo, "Everyone is afraid of me. Just walk behind me."
When they walk back through the forest, the snake, owl, and fox all see the Gruffalo and flee in terror. The Gruffalo thinks they're running from the mouse, but of course they're running from him. Finally, the mouse says, "My favorite food is Gruffalo crumble," and the Gruffalo runs away in fear.
The point is this: The mouse's power isn't his own. It comes entirely from the mighty creature behind him. As long as he stands in the shadow of that power, his enemies flee—not because he's powerful, but because of what stands behind him.
That's what Moses must learn. This isn't about Moses. It's about the God behind him. And that's how God conquers fear: by revealing that our success depends not on us, but on him. When we are commissioned by God and stand in his shadow, we are free from fear.
At the corporate level, this is fundamentally a story about liberation from slavery. The refrain echoes throughout: "Let my people go!" But this isn't freedom from service altogether. The people are being freed from serving Pharaoh in order to serve the Lord. True freedom, paradoxically, is found in serving God.
But why plagues? Why not use an abolitionist movement, a political argument, or a civil war—the methods actually used in the 18th-20th centuries? The answer reveals a deep truth: God conquers slavery by exposing it for what it is.
The Nile has been a river of blood since chapter 1. Baby boys of Israel have been thrown into it to drown—a genocidal river. When God turns it to blood in the plague, he's making visible what was always true: this is what your system is.
Similarly:
Each plague exposes a hidden reality. Abolitionism worked partly the same way—as people saw the reality of slavery exposed, it became unacceptable.
This same pattern appears in our struggle against sin. When we are enslaved to a habit or pattern of sin, God's way of breaking us free begins with exposure. He shines the light of his word and spirit into the darkness, saying, "Look at this. See how horrible this thing you're enslaved to really is."
That exposure doesn't instantly fix things—we must still repent, make good choices, and often work hard to grow. But it always begins with God saying, "Look, it's a river of blood. Look, the sky is falling. Look, your stronghold is crumbling." And in that exposure, captivity can begin to break.
At the cosmic level, this is God's war against idolatry itself. The Egyptian gods—Khnum (god of the Nile source), Hapi (god of the flood), Heqet (frog goddess), Geb (god of earth), Hathor and Apis (bull gods of fertility), Isis (goddess of healing), Nut (goddess of sky), Ra (sun god)—are all real in the minds of Egyptians. And God takes them on, one by one.
The key insight: This isn't primarily a battle between God and the Egyptian people. It's a battle between God and the Egyptian gods. The plagues systematically dismantle each deity:
Interestingly, in the first nine plagues, almost no one dies. That's because the battle is against the gods, not the people. Most Egyptians are themselves slaves to Pharaoh. God is declaring: "You false gods have no power. You cannot enslave my people, and you cannot protect yours. I will liberate them from you."
This prepares us for God's first command at Mount Sinai: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of slavery. You will have no other gods before me." The Ten Commandments don't begin with rules. They begin with deliverance and exclusivity.
We're unlikely to worship Apis or Ra today. But we all have our own gods of wood and stone—some of them small, fitting in our pockets. We serve gods of comfort, control, money, sex, power, or achievement. These gods promise freedom but deliver slavery.
God conquers idolatry by exposing false gods as powerless and declaring himself alone as our true savior. "I am the God who brings you out." No other god can.
God conquers fear by revealing that he—not we—holds ultimate power and responsibility. God conquers slavery by exposing the true nature of what enslaves us, breaking its power through light and judgment. God conquers idolatry by proving that he alone is worthy of devotion and able to save.
Next week, we'll see how God accomplishes this ultimate victory through the blood of a slain lamb—the Passover, which points forward to Christ.
