The LORD spoke to Moses again and told him to go to Pharaoh and tell him (v1-4), “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, behold, the hand of the LORD will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. And the LORD will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” “
God, in His mercy, gives him another warning of the next plague should he refuse to let His people go to serve Him. This was going to be a very severe plague – horses, cattle, donkeys, camels, oxen and sheep belonging to him will die, but not the animals belonging to Israel. Again, The LORD, showing His power and protection over the Israelites, His people.
God told him that it would happen tomorrow, so He gave Pharaoh time to repent. He didn’t repent so the very next day all Egypt’s livestock died, but not one of Israel’s livestock died (v5-7). Pharaoh even sent someone to check on Israel’s livestock and, sure enough, not one died, but Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he wouldn’t let them go.
This would have been catastrophic to the Egyptians. One of their gods was Hathor who was in the form of a cow. Cows were sacred and a symbol of fertility. Their strength in battle would be greatly reduced with no horses. We shall see very soon that they had horses and chariots later, but now they would be grounded. Surely, he could see the power of Almighty God and give in, but no, his stubborn heart was hardened. In every way it didn’t make sense, he had checked and found that the livestock of Israel was intact, but he refused to bow to God.
The next plague comes without warning (v8-10) and it would be very painful as it involved boils on man and beast. I don’t know how long all this was taking but they had obviously replaced some animals after the death of those in the previous plague. Maybe Pharaoh thought that his stubbornness was paying off and they were recovering, but not for long. Moses and Aaron were commanded by The LORD to take handfuls of ashes from a furnace and scatter them as fine dust which caused boils to break out on them all. This was the first real attack on humans. The lice would have been inconvenient, but boils would be debilitating. Having one boil is painful enough but this was multiple, boils breaking out in sores.
I believe that the boils were only on the Egyptians (v11,12) and not Israelites. The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils, and I couldn’t imagine they wanted to bring on more. Despite this Pharaoh’s heart was hard. In this instance The LORD hardened his heart. This plague was probably against their god Imhotep, their god of medicine. It is the first time that we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God said He would in 4:21 and 7:3 but we also read several times that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. One commentator said, ‘God hardens those who harden themselves’. This was all in God’s plan and He would bring it to fruition.
God in His mercy, gives Pharaoh warning of the next plague (v13-21), and told Moses to get up early and go to Pharaoh and say, “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let my people go, that they may serve Me….” He was to go on to tell Pharaoh that God will send all His plagues to Pharaoh’s heart, on his servants and his people so that he will know that there is no other God like God in all the earth.
That was the purpose of the plagues and God went further to remind Pharaoh that it was only for God’s mercy that Pharaoh and his people were still alive. Pharaoh might have though he was in control, but God was telling him that he wasn’t, and that God had raised him to his position to show His power and declare His name in all the earth. Pharaoh’s refusals were simply making God’s Name great not his own, it will all bring glory to God.
The LORD said that tomorrow at this time He would cause heavy hail to fall such as had never been seen before. God gave him the opportunity to bring home his livestock and everything in the field. Failure to do so would mean that they would all die, servants and livestock. God was giving them warning and opportunity to save them. Some of Pharaoh’s servants feared The LORD and did so and those who did not, left them in the field.
God was being gracious to him just as He is with mankind. God has warned us of the wages of sin, we have the opportunity to be saved. God so loved that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). We are all sinners, and God could strike us all down without warning but in His mercy and grace He offers us salvation. How vital that we repent of our sin and receive Him as our Lord and Saviour.
The time to escape being over, The LORD told Moses to stretch out his hand heavenwards for hail to fall on man, beast and every herb of the field throughout Egypt. There was thunder and lightning (fire from heaven) and hail so much so that had never been seen before in Egypt. It struck down all that was in the field, man and beast, every herb and even broke trees. Amazingly, in the power of God, only the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was spared and there was no hail.
This was no doubt the most frightening plague so far (v22-26), it struck all who hadn’t prepared. It is thought this was directed against their sky goddess Nut.
I remember many years ago we had hailstones as big as golf balls, it was quite scary. It caused damage breaking windows, damaging roofs etc.
Pharaoh again sent for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. Entreat the LORD, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
Was this genuine or not? We had a similar situation in the previous chapter when it was obviously false. Was it any different this time? In verses 27-35 we read that Moses faithfully promised Pharaoh that he would entreat The LORD for him, but he wasn’t naïve, and he said to Pharaoh that he knew that Pharaoh and his servants would not fear The LORD. He told Pharaoh that God would stop the hail so that he would know that the earth is The LORD’s. However, the flax and barley were already struck because they were early crops, but the wheat and spelt were not struck for they were late crops. Moses did pray to The LORD and He stayed the thunder and hail and rain.
When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder ceased, he sinned even more. He and his servants hardened their hearts, and he wouldn’t let Israel go, just as The LORD had spoken by Moses.
He said that he had sinned, but it wasn’t true repentance. Having worked for over forty years in Magistrates’ Courts, I’ve often asked defendants did they want to say anything before being sentenced. It was usually, ‘I’m sorry’ and even sometimes, ‘I won’t do it again’. If I had £1 for each one, I would be a rich man, but sadly most of them returned more than once. Being sorry is not repentance, sorrow is part of it, but repentance is far more, it is more an about turn, leaving the old life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 ‘I am a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. All things have become new.’
Pharaoh regretted what had happened to him and his people and his land, but it went no further.
How often have we rejected God’s acts of mercy and continued in our sinful ways. He is gracious but we are unthankful. Many are without excuse for God’s goodness, but we ignore His amazing goodness and continue to reject Him. The most amazing act of God’s goodness is found in Our Lord Jesus Christ who gave His life on the cross for us, to cleanse us from our sin, sin which we could never wipe out by ourselves.
