The Plagues, the Passover, & the Parting of the Red Sea 

Basic Info

Exodus 5:1—15:18

In the Book of Exodus, after the incident at the Burning Bush, Moses had some exchanges with Pharaoh (who was stubborn) that God backed up with 10 plagues of increasing devastation: the Nile turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock death, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of the firstborn. God warned the Israelites about the final plague, saying that if each family killed a lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorposts and lintels, God would spare their firstborn children. That night they ate the lambs and unleavened bread while wearing their traveling clothes. This is the event celebrated in the annual Passover Feast because God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites.

Upon the death of his firstborn, Pharaoh relented and told Moses that the Israelites could leave Egypt. Moses led the people east, but before long Pharaoh changed his mind again and sent his armies after Moses and the Israelites. Moses and the Israelites arrived at the Red Sea with the Egyptian armies in pursuit. Moses told the people not to worry, that God would defeat Pharaoh’s army, but God answered back that Moses should raise his staff and tell the people to walk on dry land to the other side of the sea. When the Israelites were safely on the other side, Moses lowered his staff and the sea came rushing back in to drown the Egyptian armies. The people were led by a pillar of cloud in the daytime and a pillar of fire at nighttime. The pillar moved around to the back when they were crossing the Red Sea. When it was all over, the Israelites sang a song recording the event. It is sometimes called Miriam’s song, after Moses’ sister who led the women in singing the refrain while they all danced with tambourines (Genesis 15:20).

The artworks tend to treat all of this as about God’s immense power but sometimes two other elements of the story are also evident. The desire of the people to be free to worship their own God and their faith that God would be with them on the journey to freedom despite the peril posed by Pharaoh’s men being in hot pursuit is the faith element of the story. The escape from the peril of destruction so that they could experience the freedom of worship in the Promised Land is the abundant new life in God element of the story.

What to Look For

• Signs of God’s presence (column of smoke or fire, miracle occurring, etc.)
• Signs of God’s power (plagues, Red Sea parting, etc.)
• The reaction of the people to God’s power / presence
• Moses’ appearance and authority as agent of God’s power (humility, grandeur, concerned, etc.)
• The people’s commemoration of God’s goodness (Passover celebration, Miriam’s song, etc.)
• Indications of peril (water, Pharaoh, army, etc.)
• Indications of Moses’ faith (expressions, gestures, posture, etc.) 
• Indications of the people’s faith (expressions, gestures, postures, the religious objects they had packed for the journey, etc.)
• Indications of the freedom that awaited (landscape on the far side of the water, the water killing the army, etc.)

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

Does the artwork seem to emphasize more the faith of Moses and the people, the power of God, or the new abundant life in God that is the reward of faith?

Freedom from oppression / slavery is often is often cited as the meaning of the Exodus story, sometimes to the exclusion of the freedom to worship aspect of the story. Which side of the story does this artwork emphasize?

How many devices, events, or symbols does the artist use to convey the excessive power of God?

How do the people depicted react to God’s powerful actions? 

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Today’s common scientific worldview offers “natural” explanations for the 10 plagues. Does the artist’s rendition of the event lean toward the conclusion that God acts through nature or that God’s miracles are above or beyond nature (supernatural)?

Does the artwork bring to mind any of the barriers in your life? Are you struggling with a freedom from issue or a freedom to issue? Does the faith aspect of the artwork encourage you in any way? How will your freedom bring you closer to God?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation



Does the artwork refer to any grand, powerful, miraculous, or otherwise unexplained events that might have occurred in the artist’s time and place (plagues, ice ages, famines, pandemics, etc.)?

What barriers to freedom of worship may have been present in the artist’s time and place that might be explored in the artwork?