There is No One Like the Lord
Three Purposes in the Plagues
Aaron Lee | September 27, 2026 | FCBCW Children’s Worship | Exodus 7-10
10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. (Exodus 8:10)
Why did God send the Ten Plagues? Couldn’t God just free the Hebrews by himself? Why did it have to take so long? What was God doing?
The story of the Ten Plagues might be one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It’s a big fight between Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh. The Israelites have become slaves in Egypt. God speaks through Moses to Pharaoh saying, “Let my people go.” But God will harden Pharaoh’s heart, he will do signs and wonders, Pharaoh will not listen, and God will lay his hand on Egypt and bring his people out by great acts of judgment, and the Egyptians shall know that God is the Lord when he stretches out his hand and brings out Israel:
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. (Exodus 7:5)
As the plagues unfold, God tells us why he is doing these things:
To show God's power
To proclaim God's name
To make God known personally
Big Idea
This is the big idea: Don’t harden your heart against God!
God has a reason for doing things.
1. To show God’s power
God’s first purpose is to show his power:
16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power (Exodus 9:16)
I’m taking this point later in our text from Exodus 9:16, but we can clearly see it play out in the first three plagues.
The first plague is that the water is turned to blood. Water is a life-giving resource, and this is especially apparent in the desert of Egypt. The magicians are able to do the same by their secret arts, so Pharaoh’s heart remains hardened.
The second plague has frogs swarming the nation. They come out of the nile and cover the land. They even go into homes and bedrooms, in ovens and bowls. The frogs aren’t just sitting there – they’re coming up on the people. God is getting up close and personal now. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts. Pharaoh starts to relent, asking Moses and Aaron to plead with God to take away the frogs and he will let the people make sacrifices to the Lord. So Moses and Aaron prayed to God, and all the frogs die. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen.
The third plague has gnats. Aaron stretches out his hand with his staff, strikes the dust, and it becomes gnats. They get on the people and the animals. The magicians could not produce gnats with their secret arts. God was clearly more powerful. And the magicians tell Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart remains hardened, and he would not listen to them.
Application
So, will you submit to God’s power?
God shows his power, demonstrating that he is Lord over all things and that no one can go against God and win. He is our Creator. He is our Maker. An application can be found by looking at Pharaoh: We must take God seriously, obey, and listen to him—something Pharaoh did not do as he hardened his heart:
23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. (Exodus 7:23)
16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. (Exodus 8:16)
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. (Exodus 8:19)
God is always showing his power in the world. From natural disasters to personal health problems, God is in control of it all. We submit to God by taking him seriously, obeying, and listening. We acknowledge his authority over our lives. It helps to remember that God is faithful. He keeps his promises to his people, and he takes care of his children.
A hardened heart does not want to listen, obey, or take God seriously. Read the Bible. Do not harden your heart before God. Submit to his authority.
2. To proclaim God’s name
God is now going to start doing something different with the plagues, and he is going to set his people apart. The plagues will affect Egypt, but God’s people will not be impacted. God is making his name known—he is showing Egypt that he is the true God and the God of his people. He says this himself in Exodus 9:16:
16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)
In the Bible, God links his name to his people. God even identifies himself as the God of the Hebrews:
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews…, (Exodus 9:13)
The fourth plague is the plague of flies. God sends swarms of flies on the people and into the houses, and even on the ground. They can’t move without stepping on flies. But God’s people dwell in a territory called Goshen, and there are no flies there. There is a division between God’s people and what Pharaoh thinks is his in Egypt. The land of Egypt was ruined by the flies. Pharaoh tells Moses and Aaron that God’s people can make sacrifices to God in Egypt. But Moses says that this would not be right, because it’s an abomination to the Egyptians and they will be stoned, so they need to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to God as he told them. Pharaoh says okay but don’t go far away, and for them to plead to God for him. So Moses prays, and the flies are removed. But Pharaoh hardens his heart, and did not let the people go.
The fifth plague is that the Egyptian livestock die. All the livestock, the horses, the donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks are plagued and die. This is their food, their trade, their transportation, their military might for war, their clothing, their comfort. But God separates the livestock of Israel – they are spared. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and did not let the people go.
The sixth plague is the plague of boils. Moses takes handfuls of soot from the kiln, and throws it in the air in front of Pharaoh. It becomes fine dust all over the land of Egypt and becomes boils breaking out in sores through Egypt. The magicians get the boils and cannot stand before Pharaoh. The Lord hardenes the heart of Pharaoh and he does not listen to them.
The seventh plague is the plague of hail. God makes it clear that he could just strike Pharaoh and his people down (Exodus 9:14), making that distinction again from God and God’s people, but he has his purposes. God causes heavy hail to fall, striking down everything in its path. There was thunder, hail, and fire. It’s mentioned that there had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation (Exodus 9:24), again showing the distinction. Not only did it break man and beast, but also plants and trees and fields. But in the land of Goshen, where God people dwelled, there was no hail. Pharaoh says he has sinned, that the Lord is in the right, and that he and his people are in the wrong. Moses prays to God, and it stops, but he also says that he still knows that he does not yet fear the Lord God. Pharaoh sinned yet again and hardened his heart, and he did not let the people go.
Application
So, will you stop exalting yourself and fear (respect) God’s name?
In verses 17, 20, and 30, we see some applications:
17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. (Exodus 9:17)
20 Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. (Exodus 9:20)
30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer[h] were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) (Exodus 9:30)
Pharaoh was exalting himself against God. He was acting as though he were the one to be worshiped. But worship belongs to God alone. We are not to worship things or people, and we are not to worship ourselves. We must worship God alone.
A hardened heart does not want to worship God alone. Pray to God. Do not harden your heart before God. Fear and respect him. Worship him only.
3. To make God known personally
The last purpose we’re going to see today is so that you may personally that he is the Lord:
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” (Exodus 10:1-2)
The eighth plague is the plague of locusts. There are so many that you can’t even see the land. They eat whatever is left after the hail, and there is an interesting thought that there are so many that the fathers or grandfathers have seen in Egypt (10:6). Moses says that the families will go have a feast to the Lord, but Pharaoh says no – only the men can go. Note the personal details in the story now. God brings wind to drive a dense swarm of locusts into Egypt. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened. They ate everything so not a green thing remained. Pharaoh says he has sinned, Moses pleads with the Lord, and God lifts the locusts out with another wind – driving them into the Red Sea. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.
The ninth plague is the plague of darkness. It’s darkness that you can feel. Pitch darkness for three days. The Egyptians did not see each other, and no one could rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. Pharaoh finally says that the families can go, but he says they must leave their livestock. Moses says no – we need them to make sacrifices and to serve the Lord. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. And he tells Moses that if he comes back, he will kill him. A very personal claim here. So Moses leaves.
Application
Back in 10:3, Moses and Aaron give us an application:
So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? (Exodus 10:3)
We must humble ourselves before God. Humility is seeing our need for God in our lives. Sometimes we resist the things of God, we are slow to confess sin, we take his commands lightly, and we neglect time in his word. God doesn't just want you to know facts about him. He wants you to know him, trust him, love him, and follow him.
A hardened heart does not want to know and follow God. Keep coming to church. Do not harden your heart before God. Humble yourself before him.
The Gospel
Pharaoh repeatedly saw God's power. He even admitted that he had sinned. But he kept refusing to obey God. Being sorry that sin has consequences isn't the same as truly turning from sin. True repentance means turning away from our sin and turning to God. The problem is that our heart will always be this way unless God gives us a new heart. Jesus came to save us:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)
Conclusion
God has been showing you who he is through his Word, through the world, through his works, and through the good news about Jesus. He is being patient with you. Do not harden your heart against God. Ask him to give you a new heart that loves, knows, and follows Jesus.