Could the Ten Plagues of Egypt Have Occurred Naturally?

Uriya asks: "Hello. I recently met a childhood friend who has yet to return to faith. He claims that the Plagues of Egypt could have occurred naturally, and that people in the past were primitive and didn't understand reality."

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Hello Uriya. If your friend truly seeks truth, try directing him to the Hidabroot website. Also, suggest he search on Google for "Critical Dialogue," where he'll find a compelling booklet about the basics of faith. You might also benefit from reading it.

Before we answer the question, it's important to correct a common misconception:

People of the past were not "primitive" as often portrayed in the media. To this day, top researchers are baffled by the incredible genius of past societies, who were able to achieve impressive astronomical knowledge, as well as advances in architecture, philosophy, mathematics, and natural medicine. This includes how they preserved bodies for thousands of years and created astounding architectural wonders with ingenious engineering (did you know the Great Pyramid of Giza is made up of 2 million gigantic stones, each weighing 2.5 tons?).

Even the so-called "primitive" tribes we find around the world have roots in magnificent civilizations that were either conquered or destroyed (the wandering Native Americans once belonged to the grand empires of the Inca and Maya).

People of the past did not appear as a primitive tribe of unclothed individuals seeing a rainbow or solar eclipse, believing they witnessed a supernatural event of a divine revelation... The wise always attributed natural events to a divine will, but they never denied their natural occurrence. The common belief that people in the past worshipped idols because they thought the statue was a deity is untrue. They bowed to statues as a way to communicate with a god or angel in the heavens, never thinking the statue itself was a god (in the sin of the Golden Calf, the sinners sought to worship Hashem through a golden calf statue, a method forbidden by the Torah, for which they were punished).

Ancient people were not primitive. Even thousands of years ago, humans could observe and learn about nature—and even predict solar eclipses and comets, map large geographical areas and seas, and establish complex kingdoms and empires. People of the past could recognize natural phenomena such as tides, storms, floods, solar eclipses, rainbows, or volcanic eruptions. They documented these occurrences and could predict them.

The argument that the Ten Plagues of Egypt were "natural events" has been made throughout history, but it never stood up to historical and factual scrutiny. A famous story illustrates how Napoleon Bonaparte tried to calculate the tides in the Red Sea with the help of the great scholars he took on his journey. His aim was to cross the sea with perfect timing along with his army, proving that's how the Israelites crossed when leaving Egypt. However, his plan showed the exact opposite: midway through, after Napoleon had crossed part of the sea with his horses, the waters suddenly became turbulent with great force, and Napoleon nearly drowned with his entire army. Only with tremendous effort did he make it back. Napoleon then admitted in awe that the splitting of the sea was a divine, supernatural miracle that could not be timed by any human means.

Of course, we don't need Napoleon's experiments and scholars' interpretations to recognize divine truth. The miraculous events described in the Torah are presented in a historical, critical, and detailed manner, so anyone who reads about the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the source will immediately notice that the verses describe a supernatural reality of changing nature and altering the laws of nature.

Through the Ten Plagues of Egypt, Hashem demonstrated His control over all the laws of nature and proved that He alone is the Creator of the world:

In the plague of blood, Hashem showed His control over water; in the plague of frogs and lice, His control over small creatures; in the mixed wild animals, His control over larger animals; in pestilence and boils, His control over diseases; in hail, His mastery over the laws of nature, as fire and hail descended together from the heavens; in locusts, His control over crops; in darkness, His control over day and night; and in the death of the firstborn, His control over the life of every person. The Torah documents the plague of the firstborns (Exodus, Chapter 11): "And Moses said, 'Thus says Hashem, 'Around midnight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones, and all the firstborn of the animals.' And it was at midnight that Hashem struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt."

It is said that all of Egypt’s firstborns died at once, particularly the firstborns. Here, too, the Torah emphasizes that only the Jews were spared from the plague after being asked to paint their doorposts with blood—a symbolic act designed to show Hashem's selective divine act targeting the Egyptians in a deliberate and miraculous manner.

The precise timing of the miracles to benefit the people of Israel and the fact that the Israelites were unharmed by them demonstrate that the events were not natural. Even naturally, such a precise and calculated coincidence is impossible, apart from the explicit warning given before each plague in Egypt, and each plague ceasing the moment Pharaoh yielded to G-d's command.

When the Torah tells us about the splitting of the Red Sea, it explicitly states (Exodus 14:22): "And the children of Israel came through the sea on dry land, and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left," thus teaching us that this is not the common phenomenon of tides. Needless to say, it is never naturally possible for an entire sea to split in two, with walls of water standing to the right and left, allowing an entire nation to pass through during the night. Pharaoh and his army drowned in the sea immediately upon entering between the water walls. When the Torah describes the plague of darkness that lasted three days in a very unnatural manner, wherein "all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings," as the Torah phrases it, it’s clear this was not another common sandstorm known in Egypt's desert climate. The Torah explicitly described miraculous, supernatural plagues not recognized in nature.

We must not forget the pillar of fire that appeared every night and the cloud pillar every day—accompanying the people of Israel for forty years in the desert—as well as the manna they ate during all their days in the wilderness, the water provided to the people, and the countless other miracles that accompanied Israel during their decades in the Sinai Desert. It is clear that the Torah describes miracles, not natural events.

Excuses come and go, yet with such clear truth, there really is no room for argument.

With blessings,

Daniel Bles