When God sent the ten plagues upon Egypt, He did it not only to punish the Egyptians for enslaving the Jews, but also to show His superiority to anything that the Egyptians worshipped. In Exodus 12:12, Moses wrote that God would execute judgments “against all of the gods of Egypt.” Each of these plagues affected one or more of the Egyptian gods.
First Plague: Nile River to Blood
The Nile River, considered sacred by the Egyptians, was turned into blood. Khnum, guardian of the Nile, could not protect his own river. Hapi, the spirit of the Nile, could not prevent the Nile from turning into blood. Osiris was affected because the Nile River was considered his bloodstream. Sepek, the crocodile god, was affected. Neith, protector of the lates (the largest fish of the Nile), as well as Hathor, protector of the chromis (a major fish of the Nile), were unable to keep these fish from dying.
Second Plague: Frogs
Hapi, the spirit of the Nile, again failed to intervene as the Nile swarmed with frogs. Heqt, the frog goddess, could do nothing to stay this plague as well.
Third Plague: Gnats
Seb, the earth god, could not stop the “dust of the earth” from becoming gnats.
Fourth Plague: Flies
Baalzebub, lord of the flies, was not able to control the fly population.
Fifth Plague: Disease upon Egypt’s Cattle
Apis and Mnevis were sacred bulls of the gods Ptah and Ra, respectively. These bulls were always kept out in the open, so they would have died in this plague. Hathor, also the protector of cows, could not rescue any of the cattle out in the field. Since rams too would have died in this outbreak, the ram-headed god Khnum was again affected.
Sixth Plague: Boils
The goddess Sekhmet, who had power over epidemics, could not avert this particular epidemic. Seraphis, the god of healing, could bring no healing to the Egyptians. Imhotep, the god of medicine, could not produce medicine that would alleviate the suffering from the boils.
Seventh Plague: Hail and Fire
Shu (the sky god) and Nut (the sky goddess) could not keep hail and fire from falling from the sky. Seth (the god of agriculture) and Isis (the goddess of agriculture) could not save the flax and the barley crops that had started to grow by this time.
Eighth Plague: Locusts
Again, Seth and Isis were shown to be impotent as they were incapable of salvaging whatever was left in the field from the locust invasion.
Ninth Plague: Darkness
The darkening of the sun affected three Egyptian sun gods: Ra, Khepre, and Harakhte. The sun disk gods, Aton and Horus, were affected. Atum, the god of the setting sun, was affected. Thoth, the moon god, was affected. And again, Shu and Nut, supposed rulers of the sky, were also affected.
Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn
Min (the god of procreation and reproduction), Isis (the goddess of life), Osiris (the giver of life), and even Pharaoh (considered to be a god himself by the Egyptians) were all powerless against the one true God of Israel. All the firstborn of Egypt died anyway.
Ariel Ministries Australia
About The Author
