Passover Plagues--Day 5

This plague is one of my favorites. Don’t get me wrong--I am sure I would not enjoy it if I actually had to live through the “real deal” but the reenactment is quite entertaining. It is more than likely my favorite because it is the easiest. Although it is also the one that makes the kids suffer the most.


Today all of our children’s stuffed animals, plastic animals and all other play animals are lying all over the floor on purpose. The tricky part--the sacrificial part--is that they are not allowed to play with them because the are “dead”. And it is Saturday, no less!!

The Plague on Livestock (Exodus 9:1-7)
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats.

And as Matt summarized it this morning at breakfast, God said to Pharaoh, “I am sending a plague on your ass!” (I couldn’t resist. That was funny.)

The verse continues…“But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’ The LORD set a time and said, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.” And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.”


No, I probably would not be able to handle this plague had it actually happened in my life time. The stench alone would have done me in. One thing that I am sure the Egyptians were thankful for was that the flies came before the all of the dead animals and their carcasses. Man, that would have been a horrible retched mess! And this has already been a stinky and smelly adventure.

And if the mess and smell of their dead animals wasn’t enough, what would they have for supper for the next month or so? (Something I had not thought about until reading it this year.)
Well at least none of the plagues have hurt us physically…well, at least not yet. Who knows what tomorrow holds.