Pestilence, Boils, and Hail -- Oh Wow!

Exodus 9

I not certain why Moses has the run of the palace, coming and going whenever he wishes.  Do the Egyptians still consider him a member of the royal family? Are the guards afraid of the man who can change sticks into snakes?  In any case, Moses doesn't seem to have any problems when it's time to see Pharaoh.

Plague Number 5: Pestilence

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. But if you refuse to let them go and keep holding them, then the Lord’s hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field—the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die.” 

And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died.

Pharaoh sent messengers who saw that not a single one of the Israelite livestock was dead. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

I guess the Egyptian magicians didn't want to conjure up plague with their bare hands. It seems they took a pass on this one.


Plague Number 6: Boils

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses is to throw it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.  

These furnaces represent the toil of the Israelites in Egypt, baking bricks to build Egyptian cities and monuments.  God uses the remnants of that labor to strike Egypt.

It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt. It will become festering boils on man and beast throughout the land of Egypt.”  So they took furnace soot and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it toward heaven, and it became festering boils on man and beast.  The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.  

This time the magicians cannot duplicate God's miracle and they cannot prevent it from affecting them as well.. They are playing way out of their league, and their god Imhotep doesn't seem to be healing them.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses.


Plague Number 7: Hail

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.  Otherwise, I am going to send all My plagues against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like Me in all the earth. 

By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth.  However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth.  You are still acting arrogantly against My people by not letting them go.

Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.  Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.” 

God is reversing roles again.  After beating the Israelites and treating them as service animals, now the Egyptians and their animals and their plants will receive blows.

Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters,  but those who didn't take the Lord’s word seriously left their servants and livestock in the field.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven and let there be hail throughout the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.”  So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.  Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field.  The only place it didn't hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.

Let's see if thunderhail get's Pharaoh's attention. It certainly looks like Thermuthis, the Egyptian goddess of the harvest isn't doing too much, and Hathor and Nut, and the other gods and goddesses of the sky and the animals are nowhere to be seen.

Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “Yahweh is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones.  Make an appeal to Yahweh. There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.”

The "this time" remark shows Pharaoh is still not getting the message.  His gift of reality has not yet come.

Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will extend my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth belongs to Yahweh.  But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear Yahweh our God.”

Busted!

The flax and the barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe and the flax was budding, but the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed since they are later crops.

This sets these events in mid-February or early March (our calendar).

Moses went out from Pharaoh and the city, and extended his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the land.  

When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials.  So Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses.

Losing the flax and barley will impact the Egyptian's ability to make clothing and to feed their livestock. That God didn't damage the wheat and rye (spelt) means the people's food supply is intact, although bringing in a harvest without animal power will not be easy.

Three more plagues await Egypt.  And now that we have an idea of the time of year, we will see that each wave of plagues occurs quickly - one after the other - like birth pangs.