In "The Reaping," Hilary Swank plays a
former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was tragically
killed, and has since become a world renowned expert in disproving religious
phenomena. But when she investigates a small Louisiana town that is suffering
from what appear to be the Biblical plagues, she realizes that science cannot
explain what is happening and she must regain her faith to combat the dark
forces threatening the community.
The following is a summary of the Biblical account of
the plagues which is found in chapters 7-12 of Exodus.
From
Wikipedia website
Prelude (5:1 - 5:9,
7:8 - 7:13)
Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh, and delivered
God's demand that the Israelite slaves be allowed to
leave Egypt for the purpose of observing a holiday of
worship and prayer for their God. After an initial
refusal by Pharaoh, God sent Moses and Aaron back to
show him a miraculous sign of warning - Aaron's staff
turned into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers, using
trickery, also turned their staffs into snakes, but
Aaron's swallowed up theirs. Pharaoh remained
unimpressed.
Blood (7:14 - 7:25)
דָם
The first plague was blood. God instructed Moses to
tell Aaron to extend his staff over the river Nile; all
of its water turned into blood. As a result of the
blood, the fish of the Nile died, filling Egypt with an
awful stench. Other water resources used by the
Egyptians were turned to blood as well (7:19). Pharaoh's
sorcerers demonstrated that they too could turn water to
blood, and Pharaoh therefore made no concession to
Moses' demands. this plague last for 107 days
Frogs (7:26 - 8:15)
צְּפַרְדֵּעַ
The second plague of Egypt was frogs. God commanded
Moses to tell Aaron to stretch his staff over the water,
and hordes of frogs came and overran Egypt. Pharaoh's
sorcerers were also able to duplicate this plague with
their magic. However, since they were unable to remove
it, Pharaoh was forced to grant permission for the
Israelites to leave so that Moses would agree to remove
the frogs. To prove that the plague was actually a
divine punishment, Moses let Pharaoh choose the time
that it would end. Pharaoh chose the following day, and
all the frogs died the next day. Nevertheless, Pharaoh
rescinded his permission, and the Israelites stayed in
Egypt.
Gnats or Fleas (8:16
- 8:19) כִנִּים
The third plague of Egypt was fleas. God instructed
Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff and strike at the
dust, which turned into a mass of gnats that the
Egyptians could not get rid of. The Egyptian sorcerers
declared that this act was "the Finger of God", since
they were unable to reproduce its effects with their
magic.
Beasts or Flies
(8:20 - 8:32) עָרוֹב
The fourth plague of Egypt was Arov.
Commentaries usually render this word as flies,
but some understand it to mean beasts, capable of
harming people and livestock. The Torah emphasizes that
the arov only came against the Egyptians, and
that it did not affect the Land of Goshen (where the
Israelites lived). Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this
plague and promised to allow the Israelites to worship
God in the wilderness. However, after the plague was
gone, Pharaoh "hardened his heart" and again refused to
keep his promise.
Pestilence (9:1 -
9:7) דֶּבֶר
The fifth plague of Egypt was an epidemic disease
which exterminated the Egyptian livestock; that is,
horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The
Israelites' cattle were unharmed. Once again, Pharaoh
made no concessions.
Boils (9:8 - 9:12)
שְׁחִין
The sixth plague of Egypt was shkhin (š'ћin).
The Shkhin was a kind of skin disease, usually
translated as "boils". God commanded Moses and Aaron to
each take two handfuls of soot from a furnace, which
Moses scattered skyward in Pharaoh's presence. The soot
induced festering Shkhin eruptions on Egyptian
men and livestock. The Egyptian sorcerers were afflicted
along with everyone else, and were unable to heal
themselves, much less the rest of Egypt.
Storm (fiery hail)
(9:13 - 9:35) בָּרָד
The seventh plague of Egypt was a destructive storm.
God commanded Moses to stretch his staff skyward, at
which point the storm commenced. It was even more
evidently supernatural than the previous plagues, a
powerful shower of hail intermixed with fire. The storm
heavily damaged Egyptian orchards and crops, as well as
men and livestock. The storm struck all of Egypt except
for the Land of Goshen. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove
this plague and promised to allow the Israelites to
worship God in the desert, saying "This time I have
sinned; God is righteous, I and my people are wicked."
As a show of God's mastery over the world, the hail
stopped as soon as Moses began praying to God - hail
which was then in the air never reached the ground; it
simply disappeared. However, after the storm ceased,
Pharaoh again "hardened his heart" and refused to keep
his promise.
Locusts (10:1 - 10:20)
אַרְבֶּה
The eighth plague of Egypt was locusts. Before the
plague, God informed Moses that from that point on He
would "harden Pharaoh's heart," (as promised earlier in
4:21) so that Pharaoh would not give in, and the
remaining miracles (the final plagues and the splitting
of the sea) would play out.
As with previous plagues, Moses came to Pharaoh and
warned him of the impending plague of locusts. Pharaoh's
officials begged him to let the Israelite go rather than
suffer the devastating effects of a locust-swarm, but he
was still unwilling to give in. He proposed a
compromise: the Israelite men would be allowed to go,
while women, children and livestock would remain in
Egypt. Moses repeated God's demand that every last
person and animal should go, but Pharaoh refused.
God then had Moses stretch his staff over Egypt, and
a wind picked up from the east. The wind continued until
the following day, when it brought a locust swarm. The
swarm covered the sky, casting a shadow over Egypt. It
consumed all the remaining Egyptian crops, leaving no
tree or plant standing. Pharaoh again asked Moses to
remove this plague and promised to allow all the
Israelites to worship God in the desert. As promised,
God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not allow the
Israelites to leave.
Darkness (10:21 - 10:29)
חשֶׁךְ
God instructed Moses to stretch his hand over Egypt,
and this brought a plague of complete and utter
darkness, which lasted for three days. This was an
unnatural darkness, and was tangible. However, there was
light where the Israelites lived. After the plague
subsided, Pharaoh summoned Moses, and again tried to
bargain with him: he offered to let all the Israelites
go out to the wilderness, but required them to leave
their livestock in Egypt. Moses refused this condition,
and implied that before long, Pharaoh himself would
offer to provide the sacrifices, as long as the
Israelites would leave. This outraged Pharaoh, and he
threatened Moses with death.
Death of Firstborn
(11:1 - 12:36) מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת
The tenth and final plague of Egypt was the death of
all Egyptian first born males - no one escaped, from the
lowest servant to Pharaoh's own first-born son,
including first-born of livestock. This was the hardest
and cruelest blow upon Egypt and the plague that finally
convinced Pharaoh to submit, and let the Israelites go.
God told Moses that this plague would cause Pharaoh
to send the Israelites away, and ordered him to prepare
the people to leave. He also commanded Moses to teach
the ritual of Pesah - the sacrifice of a lamb for
God, and the eating of Matzot ("Poor-man's Bread"
לחם עוני). God told Moses to order the Israelites to
mark their doorpost with the lamb's blood, in order that
the plague of death would pass over them.
In the middle of the night, God himself came upon
Egypt and directed the Angel of Death to take the life
of all the Egyptian first-born sons, including Pharaoh's
own son. That night, there was a great cry in Egypt,
such as had never been heard before, or ever will be
heard again. However, no Israelite first-born was
killed, as God "passed over" the Israelite houses.
After this, Pharaoh, furious and saddened, ordered
the Israelites to go away, taking whatever they wanted.
The Israelites didn't hesitate; and at the end of that
night Moses led them out of Egypt, with "arms upraised".
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the intellectual property holder of 'The Reaping & hold copyright over the
movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.
