Exodus 9, Livestock Deaths, Boils, Hail

Four plagues have descended on Egypt.  Despite a series of plagues, the Egyptians refuse to let Moses and his people go.  Three more will come in this chapter... and three more in the next.

Exodus 9: 1-5, Plague on livestock

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, `This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me."  If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field--on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.'"

    

The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land."

Now livestock will die.  Again, the Israelites will be spared.

Exodus 9: 6-7, Livestock of the Egyptians die

And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

      

Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.

Pharaoh is warned again.  Again another plague, the fifth, descends on Egypt.  Although livestock died, none of the Israelites lost livestock. This is to indicate the special divine action involved in the deaths.

Exodus 9: 8-12, Now boils

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land."   

    

So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals.   

     

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.

    

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.

The sixth plague is some type of skin disease, here "boils breaking out."  This is the second time that Pharaoh is not warned.  The magicians' attempt to duplicate the "trick" is stymied by the fact that they have boils!

It have been noted that one of the signs given Moses by YHWH in Exodus 4 is a skin disease of white skin, generally translated "leprosy".  But Moses does not use that sign before Pharaoh. Is that sign showing up here?

This is the first time where YHWH, not Pharaoh, is attributed with the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Instead of giving in, Pharaoh now "doubles-down" on his stubbornness.

Exodus 9: 13-15, "Let my people go... or I will send the full force of plagues"

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, `This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth."

Moses is able to speak directly to Pharaoh.  He is to confront Pharaoh with the statement that things have only begun, unless the king relents. This confrontation probably occurs along the Nile, not far from the place where an earlier princess pulled a baby out of the water.

Exodus 9: 16-21, "Tomorrow, a hailstorm"

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.

    

Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.'"

    

Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.

Note that this plague separates out some Egyptians who "fear the word of the Lord."  Reading carefully into the text over the ensuing chapters, we will get hints that some Egyptians join the Israelites, indeed, some follow in the Great Exodus to come.

NIV footnotes: The phrase "I have raised you up" in verse 16 might be translated "I have spared you."

Exodus 9: 22-26, Thunder, hail, lightning

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt--on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt."

    

When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields--both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

Now a dramatic hailstorm destroys the land -- except in Goshen.

Exodus 9: 27-32, Relief from the storm

 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."

    

Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's.

    

But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God."

    

(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

Pharaoh once again repents.  Sorta....

Exodus 9: 33-35, But the Pharaoh's heart is hard.

Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.

    

So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

What is going on in Pharaoh’s heart when it hardens?  Does he look out at the fields and say, “This was just coincidence, it was not really God"?