I have never understood the reasoning behind the 10 Plagues in Exodus until now and it is quite amazing! It is not just blood, frogs, lice and flies oh my... but an outright chess match with God declaring CHECK MATE in the end. The Hebrews had been in bondage/slavery for 215 years. The United States of America has barely been a nation compared to the amount of time they were in slavery in Egypt. Generations had passed and they lost sight of the one true God (big "G") and had been worshipping the Egyptians gods (little "g"). Moses came onto the scene and through him God declared He was going to make a display of His glory before His people, Israel. They didn't know the "I Am."
Each Plague signified a defeat over a specific Egyptian pantheon god they worshipped. Blood (Osiris), Frogs (Heket), Lice (Geb), Flies (Kheper), Cattle (Apis), Boils (Heka), Hail (Nut), Locusts (Ceres), Darkness (Ra), and Death of First Born (Pharoah thought he was son of Ra). Now if that wasn't amazing enough, God tells His people after they celebrate Passover to "camp before Baal-zephon and face it (north)." Why? I thought God parted the Red Sea like in the movies right away... nope!
(Exodus 14) Baal was god of the Sea and most worshiped. His temple was on the top most mountain in the north. God had His people encamp over night while He parted the waters all night long (making it clear He was God over the Sea) while an Angel went before their camp and a pillar of cloud went behind the camp against the Egyptian army. In the morning God told His people to walk across dry ground safely, but God "removed the Egyptian wheels from their chariots so they drove heavily into the sea floor." Awesome!!!
50 days after Passover the children of Israel received the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai from God Himself and what was the 1st Commandment given? I AM the Lord your God... Strong, Mighty, Hero, Shepherd. The 2nd Commandment is: You shall have NO OTHER gods before me... God vows that He is our God and our response is that there shall be no other. God made His point very clear! The Ten Commandments are His Covenant with us. ❤️
