Is there a similarity between the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the 21 Judgements of Revelation?

The Ten Plagues of Egypt and the 21 Judgements of Revelation?

Is there a similarity to the Ten Plagues of Egypt mentioned in the Book of Exodus all those thousands of years ago in the times of Moses and the future calamities and Prophecy mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Is there something to be learned from the Ten Plagues of Egypt and their possible similarities to the Book of Revelation and the 21 Judgements of The Seals, The Trumpets and The Vials? Do the judgements of God change over time in line with changes in different civilisations, or is it a case that times change but God's judgements remain the same, but just demonstrate a slight variation to an already tried and trusted theme?

Something I think about a lot, maybe others do as well.......... hence this article.

The Ten Plagues of Egypt mentioned in Exodus
God gave Pharaoh ten chances to allow the children of Israel to leave Egypt so they could worship their God freely and come out of slavery. The Pharaoh of Egypt and his people were subjected to the Ten Plagues which affected all in Egypt as he would not release the ill treated children of Israel from their bond with Egypt.

According to the Book of Exodus, God hardened Pharaoh's heart so he would be strong enough to persist in his unwillingness to release the people, so that it would serve as a benchmark from which other people would discuss for generations to come. The Pharaoh gave in after the tenth plague, which was the triggering the Exodus of the release of the Hebrew people and their Exodus, hence the name of that particular Book in the Bible.

The Ten Plagues of Egypt are listed below and also the possible parallel verses in the Book of Revelation that either tie up moderately or precisely

1. Water into blood: Ex. 7:14–24. Parallel Rev 8:8-9 Rev 11;6  Rev 16:3-6

2. Frogs: Ex. 7:25–8:15. Parallel Rev16:13-14 But not mentioned as a judgement

3. Lice: Ex. 8:16–19. No real mention in Revelation apart from a possibility in Rev 6:8 as "The Beasts"

4. Flies: Ex. 8:20–32. Possible Parallel Revelation 6:8 "The Beasts"

5. Diseased Livestock (Animal Pestilence:) Exodus 9:3-4   Rev 6:8
6. Boils: Ex. 9:8–12. Parallel Rev 16:2

7. Thunderstorm of hail : Ex. 9:13–35. Parallel Revelation 8:7

8. Locusts: Ex. 10:1–20. Parallel Rev 9:3-4

9. Darkness for three days Ex. 10:21–29. Parallel Rev 8:12 Rev 16:10

10. Death of firstborn sons: Ex. 11:1–12:3. Parallel  Rev 19:19-21

Exodus and Revelation Bible Quotes comparison

Exodus 7:17-18 Rivers to Blood Parallel Revelation 8:8-9

Exodus 7:17-18
17. Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

18. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

Revelation 8:8-9
8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

9. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

Frogs: Exodus 8:6. Parallel Revelation 16:12-14
Exodus 8:6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

Revelation 16:12-14
 12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Lice: Exodus 8:16-17.  Parallel No direct mention to Lice in Revelation but see Revelation 6:8

Exodus 8:16-17
16. And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

17. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Possibly Revelation 6:8
8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Flies: Exodus 8:21-22 Parallel Rev 6:8 "The Beasts"

Exodus 8:21-22
21. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

22. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

Revelation 6:8
8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.


Pestilence on Cattle Exodus 9:3-4.  Parallel remotely Rev 6:8

Exodus 9:3-4
3. Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

4. And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.

Revelation 6:8

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Boils Exodus 9:8-9. Parallels Rev 16:2 Grievous Sore

Exodus 9:8-9
8. And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

9. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.



Revelation 16:2
2. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

Hail: Exodus 9:23-26. Parallel Revelation 8:7

Exodus 9:23-26
23. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

26. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

Revelation 8:7
7. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.


Locusts: Exodus 10:13-15. Parallels Rev 9:3-4

Exodus 10:13-15
13. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

14. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

15. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

Revelation 9:3-4
3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

Darkness: Exodus 10:21-23 Parallel  Rev 8:12 & 16:10

Exodus 10:21-23
21. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

22. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

23. They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

Revelation 8:12
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Revelation 16:10

And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

SUMMARY

The Book of Revelation contains 21 judgements and some but not all bear more than a passing resemblance to one of the ten plagues mentioned in Exodus 7-11. This is surely no coincidence.

It has been noted throughout the Bible that four judgements keep recurring and that is The Beasts, The Sword, Pestilence and Famine. The Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse mentioned in Revelation 6 as the Fourth Seal of Revelation contains all four of these Judgements in some shape or form, again this is no coincidence.

The last plague The Torah describes God as actually passing through Egypt to kill all firstborn children and cattle, but passing over the houses which have the sign of lambs' blood on the doorpost and leaving them unaffected, hence the Jewish festival of Passover. A similar situation exists in Revelation but this time the distinguishing mark is in and on the person and not externally on a building.

Revelation 9:4
They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

This distinction was made throughout the ten plagues of Egypt where Moses and The Children of Israel remained unaffected by any one of the ten plagues. In Revelation a similar distinction is made but this time it will be Christians who will be unaffected either by being ruptured out before the tribulation and being present during some of it and being unaffected.

The Locusts in Exodus were real live locusts that destroyed every green thing, but the locusts mentioned in Revelation sound completely different where they are told not to touch vegetation but to seek those with the mark of the beast. They also sound like either helicopters or drones?

The similarities between Exodus and Revelation are not 100% but they are compelling enough to see that there are similarities there that cannot be ignored or denied.

Why is this? It's because the source is constant. It's just another illustrator that times change but God does not change and neither do his judgements, they seem to have an uncanny similarity throughout the Old Testament and seem to repeat themselves in the last book of the New Testament the Book of Revelation but with some updated  new additions with a few twists and turns thrown into the mix to keep people on their toes but the source will never be in denial.