Dementia for 2

If you do any type of research on the plagues of Egypt, you will find many explanations for them. Some try to debunk them altogether. Others try to explain them through natural events. But, most will compare them to the gods of Egypt. There is great significance in the plagues that God chose to bring upon Egypt and the meaning behind them.

The first is not really a plague; it is more of a demonstration of God's power.

1. The snake. While the Bible doesn't say what type of snake Aaron's rod became, we know from history that the cobra was the predominate snake symbol in Egypt. The cobra was a symbol of power. Since Pharaoh wore a cobra on his head, this symbolizes God overcoming the power of Pharaoh.

2. The Nile turned to blood and all the fish died. This was a two-fold strike. First, the Nile is considered the "river of life" in Egypt. The god Hapi, the spirit of the Nile, was considered the "giver of life" to all men. You also have the fish goddess Hatmeyt involved.

3. Frogs. The fertility goddess Hekt supposedly played a part in creation. However, she could not control the abundance of these frogs.

4. Lice. The only thing I could find on this was the fact that the magicians could only attribute it to "the finger of God" since they could not duplicate it.

5. Flies/Beetles. Some scholars think that this plague may have been flies of beetles but, I think it was as God said flies. Some soldiers wore a golden fly as a symbol of bravery. However, I am not sure what the fly god's name is.

6. The Death of Cattle. There were several gods associated with cattle. The goddess of love, Hathor was worshipped by Pharaoh.

7. Boils. This was directed at the god of healing, Im-Hotep.

8. Hail. The sky goddess Nut was supposed to protect the land from heavenly destruction. (hail, rain, etc.) Incidentally, she is also the mother of the sun god Ra.

9. Locusts. The locust-headed god was Senehem. The bible states that the locusts were so thick that the sky was sun was darkened. This is also one of the attacks against Ra.

10. Darkness. This was a direct hit on Ra. He made all growth possible. You can find many writings on the sun god Ra. Pharaoh referred to himself as the "son of the sun". Because he was so revered, this had to have a devastating effect on the Egyptians.

11. Death of the firstborn. This is another fact that thee movies misconstrued. This is the death of ALL firstborn regardless of age. All firstborn children, and animals. When you think about this it can be quite overwhelming. Imagine your firstborn son dying as a baby or as a young man. What if you only have one cow and it is the first born? Or one goat? Your livelihood is gone! I read something I found quite interesting. The fact that Pharaoh's son died like the animals, proved he was not a god! The article stated that this was directed not only at Pharaoh who considered himself a god, but at his son the future god of Egypt.

Now that you know some of the significance of the plagues, I can continue my thoughts in part deaux of this article.