10-01

the God of Israel

Pharaoh may have thought that this God of Israel only ruled over the Israelites. He did not yet understand that the God who ruled over Israel also ruled over the entire world.

Let my people go!

God told Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (See: 09:13).

Pharaoh did not listen to them

Pharaoh heard what Moses and Aaron said, but did not do what they told him to do.

he forced them to work even harder

Pharaoh was angry that the Israelites wanted to leave Egypt. He made them work harder as a way to punish them for that desire.

10-02

ten terrible plagues

Plagues are events which cause suffering or death to a large number of people. Often a plague is a disease that spreads quickly and causes many people to die before it can be stopped.

he is more powerful than Pharaoh and all of Egypt’s gods

Pharaoh asked the false gods of Egypt to stop the plagues, but the plagues continued. This proved to Pharaoh and the Egyptians that the God of Israel also ruled over Egypt.

10-04

Pharaoh hardened his heart

Pharaoh became stubborn and decided not to believe and obey God. Pharaoh did this after most of the plagues.

10-07

but not on the Israelites

God caused the sores to affect only the Egyptians in order to show that he was against the Egyptians, but not against the Israelites.

10-08

hail

Hail is chunks of ice that fall from the sky. These chunks are often large enough to destroy plants, and can even kill people or animals.

I have sinned

Pharaoh finally realized that he had disobeyed God and that the plagues were God’s punishment for not letting the Israelites leave Egypt.

10-11

there was light where the Israelites lived

This was not a normal darkness. The parts of Egypt where the Egyptians lived was completely dark even during the daytime. But the places in Egypt where the Israelites lived had sunshine in the daytime as they normally did.

10-12

one last plague

This final plague would be much worse than the previous ones. It would be so terrible that it would force Pharaoh to finally agree to let the Israelites leave Egypt.