This article was written after watching Exodus: God and Kings.
First, I must say that this post is not to say that God did not send the plagues upon Egypt. It’s very clear that He did. However, whether He did it through means of supernatural power working counter to nature, or simply by using process He already established within the natural order to work out His plans. We simply don’t know. What I do know, however, is that most Christians are too afraid to even think about God uses nature to do things (even though He put it into being) that they’ve never even heard this theory. And I think that’s problematic.
1. River of Blood
The first plague turns the Nile river into blood. The movie uses crocodiles attacking humans and each other (in an all out massacre) to do this. They also describe it in the movie as the crocs riling up clay in the river that turns it red. I find this to be a rather unlikely possibility. However, red tide is a complete possibility. Even today we see red tide, which is basically just a large scale algae bloom that kills off many of the wildlife (including fish) in whatever body of water it occurs and turning it red as blood.
6. Boils
Other types of diseases that these insects carry can harm humans but in different ways. For instance, fly bites can cause infections that lead to boils.
8. Locusts
With large volcanic eruptions comes large-scale weather changes. Large scale weather changes cause differences in animal behavior. For instance, locusts could have been attracted to higher precipitation and humidity in Egypt that was caused by the volcanic fallout.
10. First Born Son
With all the bugs, disease, and weather changes, it should be as no surprise other diseases would make their way into the city. There are fungi that invade stored grains and can be very dangerous to humans. Things that increase the likelihood of this fungi growing on stored grain is high moisture, high temperature, and extensive insect activity. Egypt has seen all three of these at this point in Egypt so the likelihood of the fungi having grown is rather high. But why just the first born son? Well, the fungi would most likely only be present on the top few layers of the grain, and because Egyptians thought continuing their legacy was very important they always gave their first born son the first portion of food- right off the top of the grain storage.
There’s a scientific explanation for this as well. Because the reef off the sea was closer to the service during this time, it would be easier for it to be exposed. Scientists found that a constant wind of 67mph blowing all night could expose the reef and allow the Hebrews to walk across. They figured it would take about 4 hours for all of them to cross, and then within 30 minutes after the wind ended the water would return to normal.
I still think they’re miracles. But I think the miracle is in the timing. – Colin Humphreys