The Plagues

‘Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. ‘ Exodus 10:22-23

Spending time in nature

When Pharaoh’s servants went to him in hopes of keeping Egypt from any more dangers, they asked, “how long will this man be a snare to us?” For the outside activity today, try to get out of a snare. Take a long string (1.5 meters) and tie a single loose loop on each end. Place a person’s hands through each loop. Cross a second string over the first by putting it through the arms of the first person. Do the same to this string, with two loose loops, put them over a second person’s hand. The two lines should link the two people together now. See if they can uncross the strings and free themselves. They can use any means possible. The easiest way to uncross the two lines is to take one and put it through one of the loose loops on either hand and put the string over the hand. Pharaoh worshiped many of the things that were destroyed in Egypt during the plagues. His loyalty belonged to gods that were deaf and without life. Though his servants asked how long they would be in a snare, they couldn’t see their bondage existed long before God went to free the Israelites. Just like the strings, the solution might have seemed easy at first, but the more attempts to free yourself, the more clouded your previous actions become. He had a solution right in front of him, yet he thought his power and force were influential enough.

Tip

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8) Knowing and devouring the bible, is key to understanding God will and fine tunes our ears to hear His voice.

Do Something Creative

The first three signs the wise men of Egypt were able to replicate. For the craft today, you are going to be the counterfeiter. With the below supplies, create a small money printer using the following steps. One, create a base for the printer by laying down three “popsicle sticks” and gluing two additional sticks across each end to make a base resembling a small raft. Trim the excess if you want. Two, flatten one side of two more popsicle sticks, line them up and drill two small holes; the holes should be in the same exact spot for both. Three, glue them to the base, so they rest against the sticks laying across the bottom on the center “stick.” Four, take two hot glue gun fillers and cut them to get a loose fit on the inside of the two sticks you just glued on. Five, while holding the glue stick between the printer “frame,” pierce a toothpick through one of the drilled holes and into the glue stick on one side and puncture a paperclip in the shape of a “stiff Z” on the other side. Do the same for the bottom holes. You should have two perpendicular glue sticks suspended between two hanging popsicle sticks. Six, tape a piece of crepe paper to the top glue stick; it should be as wide as the glue stick and as long as your forearm. Seven, use the crank to roll the crepe paper onto the glue stick. Eight, before the final end, is rolled through, tape it to the bottom glue stick. Nine, take some form of paper currency; after cranking once or twice to cover the bottom stick, place the money between the roller and crank until it is hidden within the crepe paper. Ten create a counterfeit bill and insert it between the rollers. After a couple of turns, the counterfeit will be sucked in, and the printed bill will emerge. Now you have a fun new trick you can show your friends and family. It is true the magicians were able to produce the three signs; they merely had to utilize what was already available. To produce the lice, they would have had to create something that was not yet created. This stands for all of God’s works, each day we consume the bible so we can identify the truth.

What you will need:

• Large popsicle sticks
• Hot glue gun and three hot glue sticks
• Something to make small holes (drill and a bit the size of a toothpick)
• Two paper clips
• Toothpicks
• Crape paper
• Tape
• paper money
• blank sheet

Family worship idea

For family worship, read Exodus 7:15-10:29, the story of the plagues. If you only want to read about a specific sign, the verses are provided below. For each wonder, God brought forth have a new sound bit playing in the background to help the story come to life. Have water trickling sounds for the first plague, farm animal sounds for the pestilence, and so forth. For the darkness, try to be as quiet as possible, listen to the story, and try to hear any other sounds. To keep the jitters low, see if the listeners can draw each plague as you read about it. Through these chapters, the writer doesn’t give an abundance of description in some areas of the story. Moses does tell us some of the Egyptians were becoming believers. With each plague, more evidence God was not like the stone lifeless gods of other nations was brought forth; He is a living God. For believers, there is no amount of evidence to prove God is not real because the evidence is in our peace. In the face of turmoil Goshen was safe. Sharing this peace with others opens up a new way of living in this world where peace is hard to find.

Hiding His word in your ❤

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:5