Warning to Pharaoh to Repent

The fifth plague and the second plague both began in a similar pattern with God instructing Moses to appear before Pharaoh and demand that the Jews be allowed to worship God in the wilderness (Ex. 8:1). He continued to give Pharaoh multiple opportunities to repent before He hardened Pharaoh’s heart with the final judgments.

The Plague hits the Egyptian livestock

Moses returned to Pharaoh and told him to let the Israelites go, but he refused. God sent a plague on the livestock of Egypt which killed the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. This was against animals that were kept outside and those that took them inside would have safe. Those that did nothing would have lost everything. But God preserved all the livestock of the Israelites. After the plague, Pharaoh hardened his heart again. The Egyptian economy would have been hit hard by this.

This plague was directed against the Egyptian god Hathor who was thought to be a mother goddess in the form of a cow. In addition, Egyptian religion considered cattle sacred and the cow was often a symbol of fertility. God shows Pharaoh and all of Egypt that He is mightier than this imagined pagan god.

You again have a plague on the animals that are a little higher up from the earth and they begin to die as the plague move towards the sky.

Categories: Exodus

Tags: bible, Exodus, god, moses, pharaoh