The Plagues In Egypt

TEXT: Exodus 5:1-2; 6:1-2; 7:20; 8:6,17,24; 9:6,10,23; 10:13,22; 12:29-31

OBJECTIVE

The students will be able to tell about the different plagues that came upon Egypt. They can explain that God used these events to deliver the Children of Israel, and understand that when troubles come into their lives they can turn to God and He will deliver them also.

BIBLE LESSON OUTLINE

Introduction: Cut out the letters of the word ''trouble" and spread them out on your table. As you open your class session, let the children help you arrange the letters to spell the word. Explain to your group that their lesson today is about some bad trouble that came on the people of Egypt because their ruler would not let the Children of Israel leave as God had commanded.

1. Moses and Aaron warned Pharaoh that he should let the Children of Israel leave Egypt, but he refused.
2. The Lord sent national calamities upon Egypt. Nine terrible plagues came and yet Pharaoh would not let the Children of Israel go to worship God.
3. Ten plagues were: river turned to blood, frogs, lice, flies, cattle died, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, firstborn of men and animals died.

Climax: The Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. This tenth plague brought terror in Egypt, and Israel was delivered from Egypt.

Conclusion: The ten plagues were used of God to bring about Israel's deliverance from the afflictions in Egypt. We can trust God to deliver us from our problems in miraculous ways.

Response: The students will be able to enumerate the ten plagues. They can explain that God has the same power today and He can deliver them from trouble and problems.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

When God sent Moses to Pharaoh to deliver the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, He also planned to punish the Egyptians at the same time. The Egyptians had not only been cruel to the Israelites, but they were a nation that did not regard the living God. They worshiped many different gods and goddesses that were symbolized by animals and other objects in nature. The utter worthlessness of these gods was manifested when the God of Israel struck at them directly or used them to bring misery upon the Egyptians. God purposely hardened Pharaoh's heart so that the power of God could be demonstrated.

The Nile River is practically the only source of water for the land of Egypt. The first plague that God sent was turning the water to blood which showed the powerlessness of Hapi, god of the Nile. The plague of the frogs showed the superiority of God over their frog god. Hathor, the cow goddess, could not stop the plague on the cattle. Amon-Ra, the sun god, could not prevent total darkness from covering the land of Egypt. But the God of the Israelites kept the sun shining in the land of Goshen. The goddess of harvest, Rennutet, could not keep the locusts and the hail from destroying their crops.

The final plague defied all the gods of Egypt and the Lord slew the firstborn of man and beast throughout Egypt. The Children of Israel who had the blood on their doorposts and lintels escaped this terrible judgment.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

• Have a puppet named "Clue" take an item or a drawing of an item from the list below up to a volunteer (child). Let the child see if he can determine which plague it represents. He gets a smiley sticker if he guesses correctly.
  1. Water colored red
  2. Frog
  3. Lice or person scratching
  4. Fly or fly swatter
  5. Cow or carton of milk
  6. Band-Aid
  7. Ice cube
  8. Grasshopper
  9. Light bulb or blindfolded face
  10. Picture of a baby
• Use the figures suggested for the overhead review as stick puppets. Scale to an appropriate size and cut around them. Glue each one onto a Popsicle stick, and hold them up as you tell about each plague.
• Use the finger puppets given for Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh to enact the story (see Patterns).
• Make a game to review the plagues that came to Egypt. Copy and laminate, or cover with clear plastic contact paper, the Trouble in Egypt game board and markers (see Patterns). Cut apart the markers and place them in an envelope. Let the children take turns pulling a plague marker from the envelope, match it to its correct shape on the board, then tell what that plague was.
• Help each of your children make a frog as a symbol of the plagues that came to Egypt (see Patterns).

QUESTIONS

1. Which plague would have bothered you most?
2. Why didn't Pharaoh know who the Lord was?
3. How was God going to change Pharaoh's mind?
4. Do you think Pharaoh knew who God was after the plagues hit Egypt?
5. How would you like to turn on the faucet in the kitchen and have blood come out instead of water?
6. Name the plagues.
7. If you had been living in Egypt what would you have wanted Pharaoh to do about the Israelites? Why? How do you think the Children of Israel felt?
8. Why was Pharaoh so stubborn?
9. Why are people still too stubborn to listen to God?
10. Have you ever been in a place where it was so dark you couldn't even see your hand? How would it feel to stay in that dark place for three whole days?
11. Why do you think Pharaoh let the Children of Israel go after the last plague?
12. Why do people sometimes only believe or turn to God after they've had great sorrow? When is the best time to believe in God?

PRE-SCHOOL SUGGESTIONS

• Explain to your little ones that when bad things happen to us, we are sad. (Show a sad face.) What are some of the things that make us sad? Owies (show bandaid), dark rooms (cover eyes) and big bugs (show plastic bugs). The people in our story today had all sorts of sad things happen to them because they wouldn't be kind to the people who loved God. God wants us to be kind to others. (Use books on kindness.)
• Draw a sin-spotted heart in the center of a large piece of construction paper. Around the heart, allow your little ones to paste circle stickers on which you have drawn sad faces. Talk about how doing naughty things makes us and everyone around us sad.
• Take a number of pennies and put press-on round circles on each one. On half of them draw sad faces, and on the other half draw happy faces. Place on your desk the two simple pictures showing Egypt and Goshen (see Patterns). Let your children sort the sad and happy penny faces, putting the sad faces on the Egypt picture and the happy faces on the Goshen picture.

REVIEW IDEAS‍

Prepare an overhead showing what each of the plagues were (see Patterns).

Pre-tape a series of simulated "news flashes" describing the various plagues as they occurred in Egypt. Have them done like a radio broadcast. It would be effective to use different voices. Have the speakers put lots of drama and excitement into their voices. If you wish, turn off the tape between each segment and discuss what the effect of that particular plague would have been upon the people.

SUPPORT MATERIAL

• Moses and the 10 Plagues — Arch Book