Parent Note: This is a quick story of 9 of the 10 plagues that God sends against the Pharoah to convince him to let the Israelites depart, go free and worship him. The tenth plague cannot be told effectively, as it should be in one paragraph, so I dedicate an entire story of the Passover. I suggest you read these stories back-to-back. This first story ends in a cliffhanger. 

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I have provided a couple of links for you to help in telling the stories. I like to use visuals in storytelling so the children can see and hear. Some are visual learners, and these can help get a better understanding of what is taking place. There are several good images of the ten plagues you can find if choose to use them. The two I have provided for you are the sounds of frogs but you can find your own examples with an internet search.

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The second visual is an image of a swarm of locusts.

You can find your own examples with a visual search on the internet. The story can be told without them, but I wanted to offer the idea to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also show a hailstorm.

This story is something God refers to many times in scripture. It is therefore an important one to tell our children. 

 

A long time ago God’s people (who were called Israel) were bound in slavery in Egypt. The king of Egypt, known as Pharaoh, was cruel to the people. They were forced to build him cities. They spent all day working in the fields and making bricks. At one point, God told Pharaoh through his servants, Moses and Aaron, to free his people and let them go. Instead, the king made things much harder on Israel. Before God made the demand for freedom, Pharaoh provided all the materials for making bricks to the slaves. But after Moses tells him God wants the people set free, Pharaoh forced them, after working all day, to gather the material themselves to make the bricks. The people cried out to God for deliverance. The Lord heard the people’s prayers and made a special plan so that Pharaoh would finally agree to let them go. Let’s find out what God did to change Pharaoh’s mind. 

God sent ten plagues against Pharaoh and his people, the Egyptians. A plague is a punishment from God, which we will see in the story are unusual things that happened to them that made their lives miserable. If these things happened to us, we would be miserable too!

The first punishment comes when God sends Moses out telling him to place his rod against the river. When he does this, all the water in the land turns to blood! All the fish in the water die because of the blood, and the land begins to stink! Of course, no one can drink blood. So, all the people of the land must go out and dig in the ground around the rivers and try to find water that was not blood. Pharoah said he was sorry, so God turns the waters pure again so people could drink. But then Pharoah changes his mind and still does not let the people go. 

The second punishment comes when God sends frogs into the land. Yes, you heard me right, frogs! And they were everywhere! People find frogs in their beds, in their ovens, on their couch. Children can’t play in the yard because everywhere they keep stepping on frogs. The noise of them ribbeting and croaking is horrible. It keeps everyone awake at night. (Play some ribbet sounds for the kids.) Wouldn’t that be awful? It wasn’t a few frogs, but millions of frogs! Pharoah again tells Moses he is sorry but changes his mind again once the frogs are gone.

Next, the third punishment comes when God sends lice. Aaron, the brother of Moses, strikes the ground and the Lord causes the dust becomes lice. Lice are pests that can ruin a fun time. They live by drinking people’s blood. They make your head terribly ich! Like the frogs, the lice are everywhere. Outside, inside, at restaurants, at the playground, and at school! It drives people crazy. You can guess what Pharoah does. He tells Moses he is sorry and if he will get rid of the lice, he will, truly, this time set God’s people free from slavery. Once the lice were gone though, he changes his mind again and will not set them free.

Things are only going to get worse. Remember there are ten plagues and this next one is number four. This time God sends flies! Oh man! Flies are terrible. We hate it when one fly gets in our house. They buzz and bother us. But the people of Egypt must deal with thousands and thousands of flies. Just like the frogs and the lice, they are everywhere. And files bite. We use fly swatters and sprays to keep them out of our house, but there are so many flies in Egypt, they cannot possibly kill them all. Can you guess what Pharoah does…? Right! He repents and says, “I’m really, really sorry. I’ll let the people go this time.” But he is lying! As soon as the flies are gone, he does not let Israel (God’s people) go.

The fifth plague comes from God when he strikes all the cattle in the land with a disease. All the cows of the people of Egypt get sick. Do you know what food and drink from cows? Milk comes from cows. Hamburger and steak come from cows. People cannot get milk or meat because the cows are sick. But guess what…? God doesn’t send any of these plagues on his people who live in a special place called Goshen, which is a part of Egypt but a different neighborhood. The water didn’t turn to blood for God’s people. They had no frogs, or lice, or flies, and their cows didn’t get sick. Pharoah says, “Oops…sorry! Please make our cows better and I’ll set Israel free from slavery. Really, I will this time!” You know what happens, right…? He lies again. This is the fifth lie he tells God.

So, a sixth punishment comes. Things are getting more dangerous for the Egyptian people. This time God has Moses get some ashes out of a furnace and throws it in the air! When he does, God causes boils to come upon all the Egyptians. Boils are an infection in the skin. They can be on your face, neck, armpits, shoulders or on your booty! They can make a person very sick, but even if they don’t, they hurt badly. In Egypt, moms, dads, children, babies, teenagers, doctors, teachers, grandparents – everyone has boils! People demand the king do something. Even he has boils! He begs Moses to get rid of the boils and he will let the people of God go free. God heals everyone and Pharoah says, “Nope. I’m not letting anyone go!”

Next comes hailstones and fire from heaven to the earth. You might have seen a hailstorm. Ice falls from the sky and sometimes they can be as big as golf balls or softballs! They can hurt people, animals, and cars. Not only is ice falling, but so is fire, like lightning. We know how dangerous lightning bolts are when they strike the ground! In this plague the fire is running along the ground, catching things on fire. Lightning bolts are hitting everywhere, and hail is damaging everything. No one dares go outside so they don’t get hurt or killed. But everyone who didn’t listen to God’s warning dies if they stay outside. Pharoah says, “Get rid of this horrible weather, Moses, and I promise, promise, promise to let the people go!” When the sun comes out and it is a wonderful day again, Pharaoh says, “I lied. I’m not letting them go.”

The eighth plague are locusts. They are grasshoppers and come to eat everything that is green – all the leaves on the trees, and all the grass on the ground. God tells us these locusts are the worst he has ever sent to the earth. They destroy crops quickly. A few grasshoppers are not dangerous, and we like to play with them. But when a lot of a certain group of grasshoppers, called locusts, get together, it is called a swarm. They can fly fast, and they eat all the plants in sight. They never seemed to get filled up. They just keep eating until everything is gone. (Show a picture of a swam of locusts!) This is serious! All the crops are eaten, and the people demand the king do something. Pharaoh begs Moses: “If you will get rid of the locusts, this time, I will keep my word and let the people go.” When the locusts are all gone, he tells Moses, “Forget it. No one is leaving.”

The ninth plague comes when God sends darkness over the whole land of Egypt. It is pitch black dark all the time – for three long days! There are no lights (they didn’t have electricity in that day). People could light candles inside, but if they were outside, they could not see their hands right in front of their faces. It was very scary to be outside and not be able to see enough even to walk. It was like people were blind when they went outside. Pharaoh tells Moses, “If God will give us the light back, I will let Israel go.” When things are normal again, and the sun is shining, Pharaoh, one last time lies. 

God tells Moses, “I have one more plague to send against Pharaoh and his people. After the next one, he will let all my people go free. He will beg you and all the people to leave. The Egyptians will want you to leave so much that they will give you money, animals, and gold, silver, and jewelry.” 

Next time…I will tell you the story of the tenth and last plague. It is the worst one yet and it is a lesson that God tells us all never to forget!

Questions: How many of the 9 plagues can you name? Which of them do you think was the hardest to live through? Why? Can you think of any reason Pharoah kept saying he would set the people free from slavery but continued to refuse? (Answers might include he didn’t want to lose people who were building him cities or making bricks for him, he might not have liked God, he might not have liked Moses). We call what he did lying. He did it on purpose. He knew what he was doing when he said one thing and did another. We must always tell the truth. Pharoah, the king, was not only was untruthful, but was also stubborn before God. He would not give in even when he was wrong. We must recognize when we are stubborn for the wrong reasons. When God talks to us about our sins, we must repent – admit we are wrong and change. Pharaoh refused to repent. We must not be stubborn unless it is about what God wants when someone is trying to get us to do wrong. We must always be willing to change our minds and our behaviors when we know we are wrong! 

Let’s pray and ask God to help us to obey him.