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Plagues of Egypt

Historical Data

The plagues of Egypt are dated somewhere between 1575 and 1300 BC which corresponds to the Egyptian accounts of slaves running away and the Israelite's deliverance from slavery. The fact that Ramses II ruled during this period also gives evidence that the events really did happen, so the Bible is historically accurate for stating that the plagues did happen. The question is not did if the plagues happen, but were they actually caused by divine intervention. To decide on this one must look at the plagues individually.

Nile Turning to Blood

The first plague that struck Egypt after the Hebrew Moses appeared before Pharaoh was that the Nile river turned to what looked like blood. The Nile river has a tendency to turn the color red in the summer. This is caused by either ochreous earth brought down from the upper country or caused by tiny minute insects. The thing that is important is that the Nile was still drinkable during this time period. The soil and insects were not harmful to the life in the Nile nor to the Egyptians that used the water for drinking. When the water turned red at the time of the plague the water was not fit to drink at all. The fish in the Nile died and the Nile became undrinkable so that the Egyptians had to dig beside the Nile to get water to drink. This had never happened to the Nile River before. It could be coincidence that this happened because something may have happened to the soil that turned the Nile red. Something may have contaminated it making the soil carry a deadly poison. Which would explain the fact of the fish dying and that the Nile would be undrinkable to the Egyptians. The only other thing that the Bible says about the condition of the Nile was that it happened at the exact time that Moses of the Hebrews said it would. The only problem is that the magicians of the Egyptians also did the same thing. Therefor this all could have just been a coincidence.

Plague of Frogs

The second plague that struck Egypt was a plague of frogs. The frogs came up out of the marshes that surrounded the Nile River. The frogs were never a problem to the Egyptians because the snakes and crocodiles usually kept them in check. The plague of frogs can be easily explained given the previous condition of the Nile. Since everything in the Nile river died after the first plague, the crocodiles would have been counted among the animals affected by the plague. The frogs could easily have become too numerous for the snakes to take care of by themselves. The frogs could have simply become so numerous that they spilled over onto the land of Egypt. There is a problem with this explanation and that is that there is only a period of seven days from when the plague on the Nile was struck to when the frogs appeared on the land. This could be explained in that the frogs were already there they just did not come to the land because of the crocodiles. The other problem is that this happened at the word of Moses, but the magicians did the same thing again so it could all be natural or just a fancy parlor trick. The major difference between this plague and the first is that this one also ended exactly when Moses prayed to his God for it to end. This starts to hint of divine intervention.

Plague of Lice

The third plague was a plague of lice. Lice were not uncommon to the Egyptians, but the major thing was that the lice seemed to form when the ground was stuck by Moses. It could be said that the lice were actually already on the ground and all Moses did was stir them up. The lice could also have accumulated because at the end of the plague of frogs, all the frogs died. The frogs used to eat the lice, but with no frogs the lice could multiply. They Egyptian magicians seemed to have thought these things; that was until they tried to make lice come forth by hitting the ground as Moses had and could not. The magicians are then said to have gone to Pharaoh to say that this plague was done by the very finger of God. This plague like the others was also time specific in that it happened when Moses said it would and went away in the same manner.

The plague of flies that followed the plague of lice seemed to have all the same properties. Flies were not that uncommon in Egypt, but they once again came and left at Moses' word. There is a new factor involved with this plague and that was that it is recorded that the flies did not affect the land of Goshen where the Hebrew slaves lived. The Bible records this as God making a distinction between His people and the Egyptians. This definitely seems to say that all the plagues that have happened were done by God and not simply acts of nature.

Plague of Flies

Plague on the Livestock

Like the plague of flies, there was a distinction between the livestock of the Egyptians and that of the Hebrews. The day following the one that Moses told Pharaoh that this would happen, all the livestock of the Egyptians died. Now one could say that this was all coincidence and that a disease struck all the livestock of the land. Pharaoh may have thought this so he sent men to go to the land of Goshen to see if the livestock of the Hebrews had contracted the same disease. When the Egyptians got there, they found that none of the livestock belonging to the Hebrews had died. These are only the first five of the ten plagues and it seems that something has to be in control of the plagues to have them so time and place specific.

Plague of Boils

The next plague that stuck was the plague of boils. It is recorded that Moses took soot from a furnace and threw it in the air and as the soot went into the air, boils and sores broke out on the Egyptians and animals. The only thing that can come even close to explaining this scientifically is that dust and heat mixed together could sometimes cause ophthalmia. Ophthalmia is inflamation around the eye, but one can see that this is not what happened to the Egyptians. An outbreak of boils was very uncommon and the plague was too time specific because it happened right as Moses tossed the soot into the air.

Plague of Hail

The seventh plagues was a plague of hail. In the land of Egypt hail was not completely uncommon, but it was rare. This plague could be just a turn in the weather patterns and therefore a complete coincidence. One might state that the Bible talks about fire striking the ground, but the Bible also talks about thunder which means the "fire" could be nothing more then lightening. The fact that the hail did not fall in Goshen does not actually prove anything because everyone knows that just because one city has one type of weather does not mean a neighboring city has the same weather. The only thing is that unless Moses was a very good meteorologist, something was behind the storm. It is recorded that Moses gave the Egyptians fair warning of the plague and some of the Egyptians took some of the possessions inside. Those that did not believe Moses suffered great loss to their possessions.

Plague of Locus

The eighth plague was a plague of locus. Locus were not exactly uncommon to the Egyptians and even the Bible states that the locus were carried by the wind. This is actually how the locus always gets around. They travel from place to place via the wind. The only thing is that, like all the others, this seemed to happen at the command of Moses. The locus came on an east wind and stayed until Moses prayed and then a west wind caught the locus and carried them out to sea so that not even a single locus was left in all of Egypt. The fact that it is recorded that it was only after Moses prayed that the locus were taken away strongly suggests that this was done by a divine power.

Plague of Darkness

The ninth plague was a plague of darkness throughout the land of Egypt except for the area of Goshen where the Hebrews lived. One thing could be said about the plague of darkness and that is that it could have been caused by a strong wind picking up the sand from the Sahara Desert. This happened quite a few times in the past, but one thing that throws this theory off is that there is no record of a strong wind picking up and evan if there was, there was still light in the land of Goshen. This is very uncommon for when the area of Egypt was darkened by the sands from the desert Goshen was darkened as well. The last fact is that just like all the other plagues, this one seemed to be at the command of Moses. After this plague Pharaoh told Moses that the next time Moses saw him would be the day that Moses died. Evan after all that had happened to Egypt, Pharaoh was not willing to let the Hebrews go. So one final plague was unleashed on the Egyptians, the plague of the first born.

Plague of the Firstborn

This final plague was a plague that targeted all the first born of all who lived in Egypt. Moses told the Hebrews that they themselves would not be spared unless they did exactly what the Lord told them to. Each man was to take a lamb for his family, but if the family was too small they could join with the closest neighbor to eat the lamb. The lamb had to be one year without a blemish. The animal was to be slaughtered at twilight and some of the blood smeared on the sides and top of the door frame where the animal was to be eaten. The animal was to be roasted over a fire and all of it was to be eaten and nothing was to be left until morning. If some was left until morning, it was to be burned. The people were to eat with their cloaks tucked into their belts, sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand. If the Hebrews did all this then they would be spared from the plague that was to hit Egypt. All of the Hebrews did just as they were told and in the middle of the night a great cry went up in all of Egypt and then during the night Pharaoh summoned Moses back to himself and told him to take the Hebrews and leave. It was only after this tenth and final plague that the Hebrews were released. There is no evidence that can be found that does not say that this a supernatural event. There is no disease that is race specific that would only target Egyptians and not Hebrews and why the Egyptian animals were hit and not the Hebrews. There is also no reason that smearing blood on a door frame would save a house hold. This plague is too specific in all manners to not be supernatural. It was race specific, it was foretold by Moses and it came to pass just as Moses had said.

Wrap up

These plagues, based upon the evidence, were all supernatural in occurrence. It could be argued that Moses was just a fancy magician, but he grew up among the Egyptians, so they knew that this was not true. All of the plagues were actually foretold to Abraham many centuries before all of it came to pass. As soon as the last plague was finished, the Hebrews were freed to go to the land that had been promised to them many years before. There has never been such disasters on a single nation since the Hebrew's release from slavery in Egypt and there probably never will be. These plagues were too people specific and time specific to be anything, but the very work of God.