The Ten Plagues of Egypt Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Each of those plagues confronted the Pharaoh and his Egyptian Gods, serving as "signs and marvels" issued by God after the Pharaoh taunted that he does not know Yahweh, saying, "The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD". In the Book of Exodus, God commissioned Moses and his brother Aaron to facilitate the ten plagues, telling Moses that he would harden the Pharaoh's heart so that he wouldn't let the people go. So then, these were the ten plagues or calamities that afflicted Egypt, demonstrating God's power.

The First Plague: Plague of Blood, aka Turning Water into Blood. Moses and Aaron approached the river and dipped their staffs into it. The Nile River turned to blood, killing the fish and making the water undrinkable. The fish said, "Hey what the Hell did WE do wrong?!" But it wasn't just the Nile River that turned to blood, but all the water in Egypt whether in a drinking ewer or other container. The bloody river smelled awful as this plague lasted for seven days.

The Second Plague, Plague of Frogs: God sent an overwhelming number of frogs to cover Egypt; frogs swarmed the land, invading homes and causing distress. The frogs arose from the Nile River and invaded homes, beds, ovens, and even food supplies. It was a direct challenge to Heqet, the Egyptian god who was associated with fertility and water and was often depicted as a frog.

The Third Plague, Plague of Gnats (or Lice, depending on the translation) was inflicted upon Egypt. The King James Version, the most widely known significant English translation, uses the term "lice". The New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), use the term "gnats". Dust turned into gnats, pestering both people and animals.

The Fourth Plague, Plague of Flies: From Exodus 8:20-24, (NIV): Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses." And that's what happened. Swarms of flies filled the homes of the Egyptians, but did not affect the Israelites, marking a turning point in the plagues, as God began to separate the Israelites from the Egyptians, showing His attention for His chosen people.

The Fifth Plague, Pestilence of livestock: God sent a severe deadly disease that afflicted all the livestock of the Egyptians, including their horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats, but the Israelites livestock were unharmed. But this served also to harden the Pharaoh's heart against the Israelites even moreso when his officials reported back to him the situation.

The Sixth Plague, the Plague of Boils: God instructed Moses and Aaron to gather soot from a furnace and when they were in the presence of the Pharoah, to toss the soot into the air near him. Upon doing so, the soot spread throughout all of Egypt, causing boils to break out and fester on the Egyptian people and their animals. It was painful and humiliating. Even Pharaoh's magicians, who had previously tried to copy the earlier plagues, found that their powers were so much more limited and inferior to God's, and the Plague of Boils proved no different.

The Seventh Plague, the Plague of Thunderstorms: God sent a catastrophic storm of hail mixed with fire/lightning. Crops were destroyed, livestock was murdered and people out in the open were devastated as well. "It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation" (Exodus 9:22-26, NIV). This time, the Pharaoh actually admitted his sin and asked Moses to pray for the storm to stop, in return for his promise to free the Israelites go. So, Moses did pray, and the storm stopped. But once the Pharaoh saw they were out of danger, he went back on his word.

The Eighth Plague, the Plague of Locusts: Before he sent the locusts, God warned Pharaoh by way of Moses, to let the Israelites go, giving him yet another chance to repent. The Pharaoh's officials even pleaded with the Pharaoh, but to no avail. The Pharaoh did offer a compromise, saying that he'd allow only the Israelite men to go, but Moses insisted that no, it must be everyone, men, women, children and livestock. The Pharaoh refused, and so God sent a massive swarm of locusts that covered all Egyptian land. The locusts ate up every plant and tree that had survived the previous plagues. There was nothing verdant remaining. The Plague devastated Egypt's agriculture, food supply, and economy. The Egyptian gods of crops and fertility, Osiris and Seth, were bested, and famine ensued.

The Ninth Plague, the Plague of Darkness: It was Three days of darkness, to be exact. God blanketed Egypt in a darkness so intense that it could be felt, and no one could see or move here and there. However, God showed his favorites, the Israelites, his love as those Israelites in the land of Goshen had light in their dwellings. This Plague symbolized not only a physical darkness, but a spiritual darkness due to the Egyptian's resistance of God's will. Once again, the Egyptian gods were shown to be insignificant compared to God, and in this case, it was the Sun god Ra who was outshined.

The Tenth Plague, the Plague of the Death of Firstborn Son: Iin the final Plague, God sent the Angel of Death to kill the firstborn son in every Egyptian household, from the lowest servant to Pharaoh himself. Even the firstborn of their livestock fell victim to this Plague. The Israelites were told to protect themselves by marking their doorposts with the blood of a lamb, which would signal to the Angel of Death to pass by their homes, sparing their firstborn. It was this Tenth Plague that led to the sacred observance of Passover, giving thanks to God for his saving them. Israelites were instructed to eat a roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, so as to be ready to leave Egypt quickly. When the Pharaoh's firstborn son was killed, he finally relented and allowed the Israelites to vamoose. And as parting gifts, the Egyptian gave the Israelites gold, silver, and clothing.