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In anticipation of the movie Exodus: Gods and Kings, Animal Planet aired a program titled, “Surviving Exodus.” For some reason, I assumed that it would be historically- or archaeologically-oriented (perhaps because archeologist Robert Cargill was interviewed extensively in the program). It wasn’t quite what I expected, and that isn’t a bad thing. It was actually a re-creation of the biblical plagues. Clips of the upcoming movie were interspersed throughout the program, which showed survival experts attempting to weather each plague as it was reproduced under controlled conditions.
The destruction wrought by the ten plagues cannot be overestimated. To see the suffering and devastation each plague could bring upon Egypt in “Surviving Exodus” was both fascinating and sobering. It is difficult to imagine being unable to evade the invasive swarms of frogs and flies; to be unable to move without being ravaged by the searing pain from boils covering your skin; to vainly attempt to escape hailstones falling from the sky at a rate of speed that could approach 100 miles an hour; to see a swarm of locusts each as much food as a city of 100,000 residents. The plagues were no mere inconvenience. They were judgment.
I’m looking forward to seeing the movie and writing a review for it. The effects should be spectacular. I only hope that it, unlike the Noah movie earlier this year, accurately preserves the biblical message. Hollywood films tend to provide stunning visuals, yet find a way to deplete the biblical message of its power when translating it to the big screen.
Image courtesy of James Barker / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Looking at All Things Biblically 
Excellent point that the plagues were not an inconvenience, but judgment. They wrought wide-spread devastation!
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Absolutely, Don. And it underscores the gravity of sin. We tend to take sin very lightly in our culture. It is explained, excused, and dismissed without a great deal of thought. We compare ourselves to others; if we aren’t as bad as someone else, we think, then perhaps were really not bad at all. The Egyptians suffered devastation because of the king’s hubris; Christ suffered it at the cross for our sin.
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