Most of us are familiar with the story of the Exodus, of how God freed Israel from Egyptian bondage. We recall the biblical account of how God delivered ten plagues against Egypt, until that nation was glad to see Israel go. But we may not have considered how the plagues totally repudiated the supposed gods that Egypt worshipped.

Moses' delivery of God's ten plagues is one of the most dramatic events in biblical history. Their cumulative effect humbled and devastated the mighty power of Egypt and its Pharaoh and demonstrated, to both the Israelites and the Egyptians, Jehovah's power, "who" He is, and the necessity of listening and obeying when He speaks.

The plagues are often correctly enough understood to be the tool God used to deliver His people. But this barrage from heaven did much more than deliver God's people. Indeed, God had declared that He would bring Israel out of Egypt by striking that nation with "wonders" and making the disaster so great that the Israelites would not go empty-handed, but with Egypt's wealth (Exodus 3:20-22; 11:2; 12:35-36).

But we must also view the plagues as God's challenge to the supposed power and reality of the gods of Egypt. We clearly see this in the words recorded in Exodus 12:12: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord." Numbers 33:4 states that as the Egyptians buried their dead firstborn, "also on their gods the Lord had executed judgments."

Pharaoh had asked Moses "who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?" By the time the plagues were completed, Pharaoh was well-acquainted with Israel's God. God declared, "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them." (Exodus 7:5)

Pharaoh's question contained in it the presumption that he and the multitudinous gods worshipped by the Egyptians were superior and more powerful than Jehovah. The plagues proved that premise to be totally false.

The Egyptians worshipped more than 80 gods. "They considered sacred the lion, the ox, the ram, the wolf, the dog, the cat, the ibis, the vulture, the falcon, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cobra, the dolphin, different varieties of fish, trees, and small animals including the frog, scarab, locust and other insects. In addition to these, there were anthropomorphic gods; that is, men, such as Amun, Atum, or Osiris, who were in the prime of life." (John Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, page 95)

"Even Pharaoh was viewed as a god, always the son of Amon-Ra, ruling not merely by divine right but by divine birth, as a deity transiently tolerating the earth as his home. On his head was the falcon, symbol of Horus and totem of the tribe; from his forehead rose the uraeus or serpent, symbol of wisdom and life, and communicating magic virtues to the crown. The king was chief-priest of the faith, and led the great processions and ceremonies that celebrated the festivals of the gods. It was through this assumption of divine lineage and powers that he was able to rule so long with so little force." (Will Durant, The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage, Vol. 1, page 201)

The more you learn about the gods of Egypt, the more obvious it becomes that each of the ten plagues was a direct assault upon, or insult to, these supposed gods.

The Egyptians had a plurality of imagined gods, supposedly in control of various aspects of life and the world. However, God demonstrated through His wonder and plagues that He, in actuality, controls all creation--nature, the animal kingdom, disease, the weather, light and darkness, and even life and death itself. Thus, the only true God was glorified and shown to be preeminent in power and position. At the same time, the gods of Egypt were shown to be powerless and helpless idols created by men to represent them.

Various Bible students and scholars have observed several patterns in the nature, order, and purposes of the ten plagues. Arthur W. Pink and others noted that, generally, the plagues appear to increase in severity. As Pharaoh ignored lesser afflictions and continued to refuse to release Israel, God sent greater and greater plagues, culminating in the massive, nationwide execution of all of Egypt's firstborn.

God also demonstrated His ability to "target" the plagues, striking the Egyptians with pinpoint accuracy and exempting the Israelites from harm, though they lived in the same nation.

The following table shows a portion of the "gods of Egypt" and their supposed areas of influence and control, as well as their physical images or representations in Egyptian culture and religion. See which plagues attacked or ridiculed the supposed power of which Egyptian gods.