Now we’re getting Biblical! Really Old Testament stuff. Moses and the Pharaoh are going through the plagues. What’s cool is that God is no fancier than the Pharaoh’s magicians. Moses turns his staff into a snake, and so do the magicians. Moses turns the waters red with blood, and so do the magicians.

Every once in a while, the Pharaoh wants to relent, but the Lord hardens his heart. This aspect is what makes Him a complete jerk. After the frogs descend, the second plague, Pharaoh is willing to relent, but the Lord doesn’t let him. He wants to teach him a lesson. What that lesson is, he never explains, but I’ve seen the movie, and I knows it’s a powerful one.

As usual, the story is not consistent. The fifth plague, murrain, kills all the Egyptian livestock. The sixth, seventh and eighth — boils, hail, and locusts — all affected the livestock. What livestock?

One part where the movie and book differ is that in the movie, Moses keeps asking to let his people go. In the book, he keeps asking to be allowed to go into the desert for three days to pray. We’ll be right back. The Pharaoh never quite buys it. He offers to let only the men go, or only bring enough livestock to sacrifice. He’s no dummy.

On the other hand, he did enslave the Israelites, so it’s only fair.

Tomorrow: Exodus 11-15