Rabbi Moshe Taragin is a well known Jewish Rabbi who teaches a phenomenal series on the ten plagues. He brings to life dynamics in the story that I had never considered before. The series is available via a KMTT Torah podcast, and I highly recommend it. In case you don’t have the time to listen to the whole series, I’ve tried to commit to text those details I found most insightful. He begins. . .
Before the plagues unfold, Egypt is the place to be. It is the center of the world. It is Mother Rome before Rome exists. It’s rich, it’s prosperous. The Egyptians at this time are like New Yorkers who live in modern day New York City––it’s like, “If you can’t make it here, you can’t make it anywhere.” Suffice to say, they’re a proud lot, and to a great degree they have reason to be. They’re a developed nation, the world’s superpower, and they have it all.
Even still, their might is no match for God. In just ten maneuvers, they will be checkmated. Keep in mind, each plague is a multi-functional attack. This is a battle being waged by God on many different fronts.
1 The Nile Turns to Blood
Reading this, we have to think back to the character the Nile River last played in the narrative. Jewish babies were being drowned in this river according to Pharaoh’s orders. Here at its next appearance, the Nile River is converted to blood. We must ask, whose blood? It may well have been the blood of those innocent victims. Recall, in Genesis 4, God said Abel’s blood cried out to Him from the ground. This implies that blood has a voice that God perceives. So here, God is revealing to the Egyptians how He perceives the Nile in light of their actions. The blood of the murdered babies cries out to Him, so God lets the Egyptians experience the Nile as He has to.
We know that the entire economy of Egypt depends on the Nile. Thus, the very first plague hits them where it hurts: their wallet. To make matters worse, the fish in the Nile die off. Fish are a center piece of Egyptian diet. When it comes to hitting close to home, what comes closer than one’s wallet and diet? There is one thing: one’s senses. Here also, their senses are attacked. The smell is inescapable. They can’t get it out of their nostrils. The rotten odor of decomposing fish wells up from the Nile such that the whole of Egypt suffocates under its weight. Suddenly all of their beautiful monuments and gardens aren’t as attractive. You know how it is: you can admire something that’s very beautiful, but if it's accompanied by a horrible stench, the experience is totally ruined. The image is revolting. You can’t appreciate any kind of beauty if your sense of smell is being assaulted. And this is what is going on in Egypt.
God tells Moses, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.” This is spooky, because it means that even reservoir water is affected. We’re talking about water isolated in containers and pitchers. An Egyptian goes to sleep with a cup of water on his night stand, and when he wakes up and goes to drink from it, blood unexpectedly pours into his mouth.
On another note, Pharaoh’s morning visit to the Nile most likely has religious connotations, religious symbolism. Considering all that the Nile represented to the Egyptians, this is probably a ceremonial ritual performed daily by Pharaoh. God wants Moses to interrupt this “sacred” moment. Since each plague will target and cut down an Egyptian God, it makes sense that the first plague would interrupt a religious ceremony. God is about to overrule their whole religious system.
There’s another less dignified element to consider here. Beneath the surface, Pharaoh travels to the Nile every morning to hide the fact that he is human, to hide the fact that he has to defecate. He is a man trying to pitch himself as a god; to convince others of his deity, something so low as going to the bathroom has to kept secret. So there’s a physiological ploy at play: this is Pharaoh when he’s trying to conceal his humanity, and Moses is to approach him in this moment of vulnerability in hopes that his confidence will be shaken. Perhaps he’ll be more inclined to listen. But as we know, he doesn’t.
2 Frogs
What is so terrible about this plague? One of––if not the most––pressing and tormenting aspects of this plague is the sound. The frogs are a plague not just because they cover the land, not just because they make walking and cooking difficult, but because their croaking and screeching overwhelms the Egyptians. The volume of it is uncontrollable. The bellowing never ends day or night. It causes insomnia. On edge, agitated, and arguing with each other, the Egyptians cannot escape the sound. Compounded with this is the presence of frogs in their streets, courtyards, even in their beds. It is a kind of hell on earth.
Moses basically tells Pharaoh, “Let me know when you want this to stop. I’ll talk to God, and it will stop.” And Pharaoh says, “Tomorrow.” How stubborn! In other words, I can handle this. What’s another day? Tomorrow’s fine. Moses responds, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.” When the next day arrives, the frogs die out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. The people gather the dead frogs together in heaps. Now the smell is even worse than before. Not just the Nile reeks but now the whole land does. There is brilliance in this, in that God is ensuring that the tourists get out of town! Why? Because God aims to strike down the Egyptians, not the out-of-towners. By way of the first two plagues, God is prompting the tourists to leave before things get even worse.
3 Lice/Gnats/Insects
This is the first plague delivered without warning. God is knocking the Egyptians down a peg, and here's how: this is a plague of humiliation. The Egyptians are clean shaven people who bathe often. They feel an air of superiority when they compare themselves to those filthy Hebrew slaves who don't get to bathe as much. Over time, a certain class discrimination has developed. Lice are something they associate with slaves and animals, those undignified sorts beneath them. But this plague undoes that division, as it brings the hygienic Egyptians down a notch. It obliterates the boundary between them and the animals and slaves. Naturally it comes without warning, because if you’re trying to embarrass someone, you don’t tell them what’s coming.
“All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.” Exodus 8:17
When the dust of the earth becomes insects, there’s one industry that grinds to a halt: the construction industry. First of all, the dirt is their primary source of brick and mortar. During this plague, to dig in the dirt is to see it immediately filled and infested with teams and scores of insects. Essentially a person can’t draw any raw material from the ground to build with. All construction stops. And it’s not just the materials that are affected. It's the ground itself. The land is too unsettled, too brittle and frail, to bare the weight of any kind of structure. The entire construction industry grinds to a halt.
As a result, the bondage of the Jewish people starts to loosen. If the construction industry grinds to a halt––and of course the fishing industry isn’t what it used to be––then the Jews are no longer working as hard as they once were. Slowly but surely the Jews are being released from their labor. Instead they are staying at home with their families.
4 “Swarms”––Traditionally Flies/Mosquitoes. (In Hebrew, this plague is called the plague of swarms. Rabbi Taragin understands this plague as being swarms and packs of wild animals. Instead of sharing with you his take on this plague, allow me to share an insight provided by Teacher Grant Luton.)
Pharaoh is beginning to realize he doesn’t have complete control over the situation, so here he starts to offer Moses compromises. These compromises are instructive, because the enemy will offer you and I the same compromises as we begin to break free from his power. You will see the parallels:
Pharaoh’s first compromise to Moses: Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” The enemy's first compromise to us: “Sure I'll let you serve God, just keep living like you lived before. You can start going to church, as long as you continue the same lifestyle as before.”
Pharaoh’s second compromise to Moses: “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away.” The enemy's second compromise to us: “Sure you can be Christian, just don't go too far with it. Praying at a restaurant? That's too far. Stay closer to your old way of doing things.”
Pharaoh’s third compromise to Moses: “Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” The enemy's third compromise to us: “Sure I’ll let you serve God, just don't reproduce. Don't evangelize.” Or, “Serve God, but leave your family out of it. Don't include your wife or kids in your spiritual walk.”
Pharaoh’s fourth compromise to Moses: “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” The enemy's fourth compromise to us: “Sure I’ll let you serve God, as long as you don’t make any sacrifices.”
5 Pestilence
As Rabbi Taragin explains, this plague is caused by the hand of God––not the finger of God like in Exodus 8:19, but the hand of God. We must understand that the Egyptians make idols out of everything they see in nature. Every aspect of nature is deified. Of all the plagues, the plague that has the least physicality to it––the one that has no palpable reference––is this one. It comes by way of some unseen microbe that attacks the cattle. It is invisible, and it teaches the Egyptians that there’s a world the eye can’t see, that the mind can’t detect, but it’s a powerful world. It’s a world that characterizes the one true God, a God that can’t be seen.
When Moses tells them that this would be caused by the hand of God, the Egyptians picture something physical, something like a retile hand stretching out from heaven and grabbing the cattle and squeezing them to death. So here they are, waiting for the hand of God to come down––they’re waiting for something they can see––but nothing happens as far as they can perceive. What does happen comes invisibly. The cattle just start dying, and the pagan Egyptians start to realize the hand of God can’t be seen.
This is a basic lesson in monotheism. It’s being directed toward pagans, so it has to be done in graphic terminology. They all have to look to heaven and expect to see a hand, then see nothing, only to realize that God’s hand is unseen. It highlights God’s non-physicality. God is not an object in nature. He transcends nature.
There is another layer to this plague, and that is its reinstating and resurrecting Jewish pride. Back in Genesis, the Jews told Pharaoh that they were shepherds. So before being enslaved, we know that the Jews were shepherds. Shepherding was an art, a skill, a profession; it was the Jewish profession. But the Jews had been enslaved and forced into construction, forced into back-breaking labor which stripped them of their historic identity. But this plague resets the clock, because a great deal of Egypt's cattle are killed, and so the primary cattle-owners in Egypt become the Jewish people. So first of all, a redistribution of wealth takes place. The balance of wealth shifts in favor of the Jews. But more important than gaining wealth, they are once again shepherds. They return to what they’re meant to do. They reconnect with their heritage. It’s a revolutionary moment in the life of a slave. They had heard stories about their great-grandparents, about what life was once like, but up until now, they had been so separated from that way of life. Now all of a sudden, they wake up in the morning and they have to tend to their cattle! It’s a very real sign that things are changing. The aftermath of this plague is that the Jewish people are reconnected to their roots, to their historic activity. There is a restoration of what once was.
6 Boils
This is plague#6. In Jewish thought, 6 is the number of man. Man was created on the 6th day. Man labors 6 days a week. Man’s history plays out over 6000 years. The 6th commandment is “Thou shall not murder [your fellow man].” Man is limited to 6 dimensions of movement: up, down, left, right, backward, forward. Man was brought through the flood by a 600 year old man. Again, 6 is the number of man. Here at plague 6, we see a plague that literally attaches itself to man. It afflicts his very body. It’s very personal. And it’s very embarrassing.
This plague dismantles Egyptian society. Quarantine goes into effect. In fear, people no longer live in close precincts.
Moses takes two handfuls of ashes and hurls them to heaven, and it becomes like fine dust that dissipates in the air. Note, God specifically told Moses to use soot from the kiln. The kiln is the instrument used to fire bricks. The dust is what the Jews had been forced to make bricks with. The dust and the kiln are symbols of their slavery. So it’s like, “Pharaoh, you afflicted the Jewish people with the dust of Egypt. So now the dust of Egypt will afflict you.”
Contrary to the previous plague, this is the plague where God beats them in a way they can comprehend, in that this plague has the effect of magic. It’s not like a supernatural decree commanding gnats and lice to appear out of nowhere. It’s not like calling into force unseen microbes to attack the cattle. This one is different: taking dust, hurling it into the air, watching that dust dissipate into a cloud that then settles on the Egyptian audience, which in turn causes their skin to bubble up with boils. Truly this has the effect of magic. There's a sort of performance, a sort of drama to it. And it debunks the Egyptians in a way that they can comprehend.
7 Fiery Hail
This is really the first time people die in mass. The plague of hail causes total civil disintegration. If this had come as the first plague, so many out-of-towners would have perished in the chaos.
It says there is fire in the hail. Ordinarily such a thing is impossible. Fire and ice are mutually exclusive elements, yet here God brings the two together. It’s like justice and mercy: two elements that seem mutually exclusive, yet God brings the two together. The resounding justice of God is displayed as He rains down destruction on Egypt. And yet, we also see the mercy of God demonstrated, because He first warns the Egyptians to find safe shelter for themselves, their slaves, and whatever livestock they have that survived the pestilence. So here, in the same plague, we see both justice and mercy, fire and water.
8 Locusts
By now 7 plagues have come and gone, and redemption for the Jews is well underway. The burden of slavery has relaxed. As such, plague 8 carries with it expectations for the Jewish people. This is a plague that Moses expects them to describe to their children and grandchildren. They’re expected to be active participants. They’re expected to be story tellers. The fact that Moses tells them to tell their grandchildren is itself inspiring and liberating. Slaves very rarely have a sense of future, of family lineage. But now, it is dawning on them: mothers will one day be homemakers; fathers will one day be story tellers. It’s getting real. This is really happening. God’s people will triumph.
The 8th plague is the final nail in the coffin for Egyptian agriculture. It should be noted that plague 7 and 8 are connected, in that 8 destroys what 7 left behind. These two plagues are the consummation of warfare. God has launched an all-out tactical war against the Egyptians. In plague 7, He readies the archers and rains down fiery arrows. After this bombardment, He then sends in the infantry to sweep up what’s left. The locusts are the infantry. They are the invasion––this massive, oppressive force of foot soldiers invading Egypt, an army dispatched against a woefully unprepared opponent. This is why, when they are removed, they relocate. Like an infantry, they move in, they occupy, and then move on. Compare the locusts to frogs: frogs are different because their movements are disorganized and sporadic. They’re croakers; they aren’t eaters. Locusts, on the other hand, eat everything, and the movements of a swarm are seemingly cohesive in that they’re directed by the wind. The wind coordinates their motion. With some imagination, you can picture millions and millions of locusts covering ground and shifting in masses, moving like organized units of an advancing army. The sheer terror of it is extraordinary. Yet it is not as scary as what comes next.
9 Darkness
According to many interpretations, the darkness sets in at midday. This is an attack on the sun, the highest of all Egyptian deities. It proves that the God of the Hebrews controls not just the earth below but also the heavens above.
This darkness is not like a typical night time setting. It is far more than that! This darkness is strange. It is palpable; it has weight; it soaks into their senses. People just sit and lay down like a vegetable, debilitated, covered in darkness, afflicted with darkness. Exodus 10 says that “there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light in their dwellings.” In other words, outside it is pitch black everywhere, but inside the homes of Goshen, there is light.
Here’s what is crazy: in Egypt, candles don’t work. In Egypt, fire doesn’t light. They go to light a candle, but it refuses to spark. For three whole days, not a person in Egypt can start a fire. The darkness extinguishes the fire! The darkness overpowers the light. God strips the Egyptians of their ability to access the light of a fire. Hence, there is pitch blackness in all the land of Egypt, and the Egyptians are utterly disabled. More than that, they are afraid. Experiencing this in real time, they wonder, is there something lurking in the darkness? Is there something else coming for me? The unfamiliar silence makes it all the more frightening. After all, the Egyptians are city-dwellers; they're used to the sounds of livestock and commerce, the hustle and bustle of the streets. But now, for three consecutive days, there is no movement at all. There is nothing but total silence. Imagine sitting down in a cave without a candle by yourself for three days.
10 Death of the Firstborn
We must understand that the firstborn enjoy a special status in Egyptian society. In their culture, the first born are more than an ordinary family member. In Egypt, the firstborn represent a political echelon. They are a privileged class, a sort of aristocracy. They are favored politically and socially. This dynamic is common in ancient societies which tend to be more agriculturally based. Egypt is no exception.
By now, everyone realizes that Moses’ words aren’t empty declarations. So when Moses announces that every firstborn in Egypt is going to die, the firstborns are outraged! Collectively they riot. They gather outside Pharaoh's palace and they demand the immediate release of the Jewish people. But little do they realize, God has supernaturally hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God has committed Pharaoh to this process.
As far as everyone else is concerned, they are thinking more rationally. Their heart hasn’t been supernaturally hardened. So when Pharaoh again refuses to release the Jewish people, there is an insurrection! A sort of civil war breaks out that night, and people are killed in the frenzy. The aggressors––the firstborn––clash against Pharaoh’s guards in all-out rebellion.
This civil unrest is a component of the plague! God is disrupting Egyptian politics and cracking open their ranks. What was seen up until now as a national Egyptian struggle is being splintered into an attack on specific groups. Such a targeted attack creates a volatile political climate. The civil war that ensues is spearheaded by the firstborn. With this plague, God isn’t just attacking Egypt’s firstborn; God is attacking Egypt through their firstborn.
Stepping back, we can see the plagues as being three levels of assault on the Egyptians. The first 3 plagues strike at Egyptian economy: the Nile, tourism, the construction industry. The middle 3 plagues attack Egyptian society: the ability to draw social distinctions, to maintain boundaries of civilization, to live together in large groups. The last set of plagues is attacks on basic human existence: the ability to see, walk, talk, live.
