Continuing with a chronological Bible study:
(Exodus 9:1) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me."'"
At the end of the last chapter, the plague of the flies had been lifted from the land of Egypt because Pharaoh had asked that Moses entreat the Lord for him, which he did. Furthermore, Pharaoh had said he would let the Israelite people go; however, he did not. Now the Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him that the Lord God of the Hebrews again told him to let His people go.
(2) "'“For if you refuse to let them go, and will hold them still, (3) Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon your cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep; there shall be a very severe pestilence. (4) And the LORD shall separate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.”’”
Again Moses, through his spokesman Aaron, was to give Pharaoh a warning of what would happen if he refused to let God's people go. The phrase "there shall be" was added by the KJV translators for clarity; it was not in the original text. Although it does seem to be needed to correctly express the idea, I think the sense is that the Lord, with His hand on the beasts of the land, could immediately bring pestilence to them, without any stretching forth of Aaron's rod or any other fanfare. The Lord's hand was already on them with pestilence ready to be let go at His bidding. The beasts of the earth, all things in nature, and every person's life are held in God's hand and are at His command at any given moment. Because they are at His command, He could easily distinguish between the beasts of Israel and the beasts of Egypt, and He would not allow any of the Israelites' animals to die.
(5) And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.”
Not only could the Lord's hand immediately bring pestilence, but it could do it at any particular appointed time, proving that it could only be the Lord who brought the pestilence. This also gave Pharaoh time to change his mind before the Lord followed through with what He warned would happen if Pharaoh refused to let God's people go.
(6) And the LORD did that thing on the next day, and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel, not one died.
The Lord did as He warned on the next day, bringing pestilence to the livestock of the Egyptians. Regarding "all the cattle of Egypt", I believe it must be read and understood that all the cattle which died were of Egypt, because we later read of a plague affecting the cattle again. Perhaps the plague was brought upon only the "cattle which are in the field", as stated in verse 3, and there were others not affected, or perhaps the pestilence was upon all the Egyptian livestock, but not all died, but all that did die were of Egypt; none of the livestock of the Israelites died. Once again, it must be noted that a plague affected objects of worship by the Egyptians. Egyptian deities proved again to be under the power of the Israelites' God.
(7) And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the
Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not
let the people go.
Pharaoh apparently sent messengers to inquire about the Israelite cattle, and found that none were dead of the Israelites' livestock. It's interesting that he purposely sent messengers to see if what had been promised was indeed true, and remarkable that when he found it was true, he dug in his heels all the more and did not let the Israelites go.
(8) And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. (9) And it shall become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall become boils breaking forth in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”
After Pharaoh again hardened his heart and refused to let the people go, this next plague was to come without warning. The Lord instructed Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of ashes and scatter them toward heaven where Pharaoh could see what they were doing. Throwing the ashes from the fiery furnace up to heaven may have been symbolic; the very furnace at which the Hebrews had been oppressed and enslaved now became the source of the plague upon the Egyptians. The ashes would come down as a fine dust over the land of Egypt causing inflamed boils and blisters all over the Egyptian people and the animals throughout the land of Egypt. Additionally, the symbolic act could have also been a reference to the fact that there were times that the Egyptians sacrificed men, burning them alive, and throwing their ashes up to the heavens.
(10) And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled them toward heaven; and they became boils breaking forth in sores on man and beast. (11) And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for
the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
Moses and Aaron did as God told them, and the ash dust became boils and blistery pustules on man and beast, so severe that Pharaoh's magicians could not even stand before Moses!
(12) And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not hearken to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
Pharaoh still stood obstinate and would not let the people go, as God had told Moses he would. For a previous discussion on the Lord hardening Pharaoh's heart, please see the post on Exodus 4, especially the notes on verse 21.
(13) And the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me, (14) For I will at this time send all My plagues on your heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth."'"
The Lord told Moses to again rise up early in the morning to meet with Pharaoh and tell him God's words, to let His people go in order to serve Him. God said He would at this time send all His plagues on Pharaoh's heart, etc. This would have to be all the remaining plagues He had planned, and it appears that they all would be sent, with no chance to stop them midstream. Either God knew that Pharaoh would not have repented and let the people go before all were accomplished, or else after all the chances Pharaoh had up to this point to repent, now there would be no further chances and God would accomplish all He had planned so that Pharaoh would know in his heart that there was none like Him in all the earth. In the end, everyone will know the truth. All the atheists, all those who ridicule God and the Bible and those who believe, will in the end come to know the truth, for the Bible tells us "every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11). They will bow and confess because they will know that truly they are in the presence of the Lord Almighty. Likewise, Pharaoh would know in his heart that there was none like the one true almighty God of heaven and earth after He sent all His plagues. I do believe it is possible that God would reach a point when He would give no more chances to repent because of the scripture in Isaiah, chapter 55, specifically verse 6, which says, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found..." "While" suggests there will be a time when He won't be found.
(15) "'"For now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. (16) And indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, to show in you My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth."'"
Although the KJV translated verse 15 in the future tense, Biblical scholars say that in the Hebrew the verbs were in the past tense and not in the future, so I have used the translation above that most scholars agree is the correct one. After all, God never struck Pharaoh and all the people with pestilence that removed them from the earth, but it is certainly something He could have done at any time with great ease. That has to be the message to Pharaoh now, that God could have stretched out His hand and struck Pharaoh and all the Egyptians and killed them instantly, but He had a purpose in raising him up and allowing him to be in this position of power at this time. It was to show through him God's power over him and over all his worthless gods and idols, that only the one true God would be declared as Lord of all throughout all the earth.
I have to remind myself of this fact that it is God alone who raises up leaders, when I look around at how far from God we are at this present time in our country. A country that was founded on Christian principles, a country that sought the blessing of Almighty God, one that regularly prayed to Him and sought His guidance, now seeks to remove Him from everything. We now have a president that regularly "quotes" from the founding documents, but leaves out all references to God in those documents. He has actually covered up a reference to Jesus on a stage where he was to talk; he couldn't even be seen in the presence of a reference to Jesus that he didn't himself even make! Actually, that has a very strong spiritual implication that Obama cannot stand in the presence of Jesus, but that is another topic. His party just this last presidential election cycle decided they did not even want God as a part of their platform. We wonder why everything is so bad in this country right now--it is because we tossed aside everything God stands for and decided we wanted Godless people to rule over us! And GOD alone raised Obama up to bring judgment on this country. We wanted Godlessness and God allowed us to have what we wanted. We, as a country, that is. I certainly never wanted a Godless man as president! There are many good Christian people in this country who didn't want him, but as a country, we elected him. He is the very picture of what we have become. He is the most pro-abortion president we have ever had, voting on three occasions before becoming president to allow babies born alive after botched abortions to die on a shelf with no attempt to save their lives! I think of that abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell, who was found guilty of murder because he killed babies born alive that had survived botched abortions. I remember that bewildered look he had when he was found guilty. In his mind, he was only carrying out what he had been paid to do, end the life of a mother's baby, as was her choice. What he did was a very picture of abortion, this woman's reproductive "right" to murder her child! It made people uncomfortable to think he killed a baby outside of the womb, but just inside the womb is okay. When you think about it, Dr. Gosnell was much more humane in killing the baby right away, rather than letting it slowly die on a shelf with no care as Obama proposed we do!! In addition, Obama has done more to promote the homosexual agenda than any other president, something God called an abomination, and something He warned us against when He told us to remember Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of what would happen, "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire". Obama is the most lawless president we have ever had, ignoring laws he does not like, changing laws at his whim, using his pen and his phone to act as our king, and our Congress seems impotent against him. It is because God alone raised him up! Our country chose to be ruled by a Godless man, and here we are!
(17) "'"As yet you exalt yourself against My people, that you will not let them go? (18) Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since its foundation until now. (19) Therefore send now and gather your cattle and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and beast which shall be found in the field and is not brought home, and they shall die.”’”
God was still speaking to Moses, telling him to speak these words to Pharaoh, as thus said the Lord. Still Pharaoh exalted himself above God's people and refused to let them go, but God was about to send all His remaining plagues striking the very heart of Pharaoh, and showing him His power as Lord of all the earth, as stated in verses 14-16 above. God now warned Pharaoh that tomorrow at this time He would send a rain of hail such as had never been seen before. However, He actually mercifully still gave Pharaoh a chance to avoid the hail, if he would just gather all the livestock in the field and bring them in, they would avoid being killed by the hail. Any man or beast in the fields at this time tomorrow would be killed by hail, but they had about 24 hours warning to avoid what was sure to come.
(20) He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee to the houses. (21) And he who did not regard the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.
I love this! It's so simple. Those who believed and feared God among the servants of Pharaoh heeded God's warning and brought all the servants and cattle in from the fields. I believe this is proof that God drew out these plagues upon Egypt in order to give some of the Egyptians time to repent and be saved. He could have swooped in, struck down or frozen Pharaoh and his servants, and allowed His people to go immediately, but He had a purpose in doing it the way He did. He told us in verse 16 it was to show His power that His name be magnified in all the earth. He could have shown His power immediately, but to us dense sinners, we need a much longer look for it to sink in! Adam Clarke wrote a beautiful commentary on this, part of which can be found in my post on chapter 4, especially the notes on verse 21, linked here. Those who believed what they had thus far seen and feared the Lord, were spared; those who did not heed the word of the Lord left their servants and livestock in the fields.
(22) And the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” (23) And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along on the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
The next day at the appointed time, the Lord told Moses to stretch forth his hand toward heaven and thus call the hailstorm onto the land of Egypt, on every man, beast, and herb in the fields. Moses did as the Lord told him, and the Lord sent a horrific hailstorm with thunder and lightning that ran along the ground. This must have been very frightening to the Egyptians who didn't see much rain, let alone thunderstorms, not to mention fierce thunderstorms with severe lightning and heavy hail. This must surely have looked like the wrath of God raining down on the Egyptians, and the ones who had believed were not in the fields and were spared.
(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 struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. (26) Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
The hailstorm with fierce lightning causing hail and fire all through the land of Egypt was like nothing that had ever been seen before in the land of Egypt. The hail struck every man and beast in the field, and struck every herb and broke every tree where it rained. But it did not rain in Goshen where the children of Israel were. God had given warning, and the children of Israel could have easily heeded the warning and brought their livestock and come in and avoided the hail, but God made a very dramatic point in separating His people from the Egyptians. They and their animals, and their herbs, plants, and trees were spared.
(27) And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. (28) Entreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
So fierce and frightening was the plague of hail and lightning, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron to ask them to ask the Lord to remove it. On one hand, Pharaoh called the Lord "Jehovah", the proper name for the one true eternal God, admitted his sin, and called himself and his people wicked. You might think he had had an epiphany and saw the light; he used some of the right words. But I couldn't help notice that he said he sinned "this time"; now maybe he meant that this time, for the first time, he saw his sin and wickedness, but he continued on to ask that they ask the Lord to remove the hail and thundering because "it is enough". Who is he to say that it had been enough? Maybe it had been enough to make him see the light. Although he tried to use the right words, I rather think his arrogance showed through. He did not have a truly repentant heart as he could not totally admit his sin and he seemed to tell the Lord what was enough. He did ask Moses and Aaron to entreat the Lord to end the hailstorms and he did say that he would then let the Israelite people go.
(29) And Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD; and the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. (30) But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.”
Moses agreed to Pharaoh's request. He said as soon as he had left the city, he would spread his hands to the Lord, and the Lord would stop the hail and thunder, so that Pharaoh would know that the earth was the Lord's and at His command. However, Moses indeed did see that Pharaoh's admission of guilt and acknowledgment of Jehovah God were not true and heartfelt; he knew and told him so that he knew Pharaoh and his servants did not yet fear the Lord.
(31) And the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. (32) But the wheat and the rye were not struck, for they were not grown up.
These verses speak of the plants that were struck and destroyed by the hailstorm. The barley had ears and the flax was in bud, so it was struck, but the wheat and rye, as later bloomers, were not yet sprouted from the ground, and so not struck by hail. By this, the time of year can be approximated, which a consensus of the early commentaries state, must have been late February or early March.
(33) And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the LORD; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
Moses did as he told Pharaoh he would, and went out of the city and spread his hands out to the Lord in prayer and supplication for Pharaoh. Indeed the thunder and hailstorm ceased, just as Moses had told Pharaoh it would.
(34) And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were
ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. (35) And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.
Once the hailstorm ceased, Pharaoh sinned again; to begin with, we know he was not thankful to the Lord for answered prayer! He hardened his heart, which sin does, he and his servants both. He sinned again by not fulfilling his promise to let the Israelites go if Moses asked the Lord to remove the hailstorm. It's funny; I started out typing "Unbelievably", etc.; but it's actually not so unbelievable. When you read of these events just boom-boom, one immediately after another, it's hard to believe that Pharaoh could return to his ways after just witnessing such miracles. However, imagine a person praying to God to remove a big problem and promising to change his ways, and after God answers the prayer, he returns to his former ways. Actually, Pharaoh's actions are sadly too credible. His heart was hardened and he would not let the children of Israel go, and this was just as Moses had said, for he knew that Pharaoh did not yet fear the Lord, as he said in verse 30. Moses spoke it, but God had said all along that Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go until all His signs and wonders were accomplished.
Adam Clarke wrote a scathing rebuke to any self-righteous Christian who would think that it was unbelievable that Pharaoh could continue to sin and resist God after so many signs, to those who might believe the only possible explanation must be that God was controlling and hardening Pharaoh's heart against his will:
"...is not the conduct of Pharaoh and his courtiers copied and reacted by thousands who are never suspected to be under any such necessitating decree? Every sinner under heaven, who has the Bible in his hand, is acting the same part. God says to the swearer and the profane, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; and yet common swearing and profaneness are most scandalously common among multitudes who bear the Christian name, and who presume on the mercy of God to get at last to the kingdom of heaven! He says also, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet; and sanctions all these commandments with the most awful penalties: and yet, with all these things before them, and the professed belief that they came from God, Sabbath-breakers, men-slayers, adulterers, fornicators, thieves, dishonest men, false witnesses, liars, slanderers, backbiters, covetous men, lovers of the world more than lovers of God, are found by hundreds and thousands! What were the crimes of the poor half-blind Egyptian king when compared with these! He sinned against a comparatively unknown God; these sin against the God of their fathers - against the God and Father of Him whom they call their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! They sin with the Bible in their hand, and a conviction of its Divine authority in their hearts. They sin against light and knowledge; against the checks of their consciences, the reproofs of their friends, the admonitions of the messengers of God; against Moses and Aaron in the law; against the testimony of all the prophets; against the evangelists, the apostles, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Judge of all men, and the Savior of the world! What were Pharaoh’s crimes to the crimes of these? On comparison, his atom of moral turpitude is lost in their world of iniquity. And yet who supposes these to be under any necessitating decree to sin on, and go to perdition? Nor are they; nor was Pharaoh. In all things God has proved both his justice and mercy to be clear in this point. Pharaoh, through a principle of covetousness, refused to dismiss the Israelites, whose services he found profitable to the state: these are absorbed in the love of the world, the love of pleasure, and the love of gain; nor will they let one lust go, even in the presence of the thunders of Sinai, or in sight of the agony, bloody sweat, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ! Alas! how many are in the habit of considering Pharaoh the worst of human beings, inevitably cut off from the possibility of being saved because of his iniquities, who outdo him so far in the viciousness of their lives, that Pharaoh, hardening his heart against ten plagues, appears a saint when compared with those who are hardening their hearts against ten millions of mercies. Reader, art thou of this number? Proceed no farther! God’s judgments linger not. Desperate as thy state is, thou mayest return; and thou, even thou, find mercy through the blood of the Lamb."
Wow! Definitely thought-provoking words! Bring them into present time and culture, and imagine Christians with Bible in hand who condone the murder of the most innocent as a reproductive right of the mother; those who elevate the sin of homosexuality, something God called an abomination (an act, not a person!), to the status of God-ordained unions and marriage; those who affect to be so intelligent and enlightened that they understand that while they profess to love the Lord, they "understand" that God must be separated from civil society; and all of the above vote for a political party that wants no part of God in its platform. All this from a people who have no excuse! The people in our country have grown up free with God's word readily available in books, on TV, on radio, in a church on every corner. While it's true that not every church or medium that professes to be Christian, truly is the true word of God, any person who truly seeks the Lord and His truth will have no trouble finding it. But they reject the Bible as the inspired word of God and as Mr. Clarke said above, they reject the words of God, Jesus, the prophets, the apostles, and Moses and Aaron in the Mosaic law. This country is without excuse and just look at us! It does make Pharaoh look like a saint in comparison!
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