10 Plagues
I’m reading through Exodus right now and I read about the 10 plagues last night. They start off relatively weak, turning the Nile into blood so the Egyptians have to get water else where. Then the frogs, gnats, and flies. Then it starts to get interesting with God killing off their livestock, afflicting them with boils, hail that starts to crush everything (of note: verses 31 & 32. (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)), locust, darkness, and final the Passover.
It takes some understanding of Egyptian culture to see this (not like I’m an expert or anything). The Egyptians were an agrarian society and they despised sheperds (Gen 46:34) so killing off their livestock was not detrimential to their way of life. Then God afflicts them which is painful and annoying but not life threatening. Then comes the hail that destroys the barley and flax. There is still hope for the Egyptians as the wheat is still to come. However, next is the locust that completely ruin their crop. Now they really have nothing. They now have no food, their careers are basically over. This was their money winner esp. during the famine 430 years ago and now it’s completely gone. What can only be worse is death itself as found in the 10th plague.
What’s really interesting is the 9th plague. Here inbetween the destruction of their lifestyle and their lives, in an increasing order of severity in plagues, is this one plague of darkness. There is no light for 3 whole days. I think what makes this plague fall to where it is, we would have to look ahead to when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” They are living in darkness for three days, three days of living without Jesus. It’s like Hell on Earth. That would be pretty bad.
Of course this is just speculation.