Summary
https://marksbiblejourney.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-book-of-exodus-chapter-1-israel.html
"Three plagues from God strike the land of Egypt in this chapter. Moses continues to go to Pharaoh and tells him to let the Israelites go. Every time that Pharaoh does not let the people go another plague strikes the land of Egypt. The fifth plague on the land of Egypt is the death of all Egyptian livestock: the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. None of the Israelite livestock dies during this plague. After all the Egyptian livestock dies, Pharaoh hardens his heart and does not let the Israelites go. The sixth plague is festering boils on the people nd animals throughout the land of Egypt. Pharaoh's magicians even have boils on them; the Israelites are not struck by this plague. Pharaoh hardens his heart once again, and he does not let the Israelites go. This seventh plague to harm the land of Egypt is a giant hail storm. God sends the worst hail in the history of Egypt to obliterate the land. Any man or animal outside during the hail storm will die. Also, all the crops are destroyed as well. The hail, however, does not fall on the land of Goshen where the Israelites live. Pharaoh finally admits that he has sinned after this plague. He even acknowledges God as the Righteous One, and he tells Moses that he will let the Israelites go after the hail storm ceases. When the storm stopped, Pharaoh hardens his heart, sins again, and does not let the Israelites go."
Exodus 9 - The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Plague: Livestock Diseased, Boils, Hail
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them, 3 now hear this: the hand of the Lord will fall on your livestock which are out in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks—a horrible plague shall come. 4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing that belongs to the Israelites will die.”’” 5 The Lord set a [definite] time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 And the Lord did this thing the next day, and all [kinds of] the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the Israelites, not one died. 7 Then Pharaoh sent [men to investigate], and not even one of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened [and his mind was firmly set], and he did not let the people go.
- THE HAND OF THE LORD. Just like the 4th plague, wherein God set apart the Israelites (in the land of Goshen) so that they will be not be affected by the swarm of flies or bloodsucking insects-- the Lord did the same again and made a distinction (between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt) in the 5th plague. Nothing that belonged to Israel will die, and Pharaoh (maybe out of wonder and curiosity) sent men to investigate, and they confirmed that not even one of the livestock of the Israelites had died. This further proved God's power and supremacy over the 'gods of Egypt'. It is God who gave life (even to animals), and it is also Him who can take it away. At this point, what the Lord said to Moses previously was also happening, Pharaoh's heart continued to harden, and he continue to ignore God's warning and command to let the Israel people go.
- FINE DUST TO BOILS. Instead of Aaron, it was Moses who was commanded by God to do the act of throwing the (handfuls of) soot toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. I noticed that there was no verbal warning from God to Pharaoh, unlike the previous plague (Egyptian livestock died, 5th). It was not directly mentioned if the Israelites were set apart, but it was clear that "all" the Egyptians had it, including the magicians. Those boils must have been painful, and itchy. Also, Pharaoh did not ask Moses to pray and plead with God to stop the 'boils' or the livestock disease before, so I wonder how long the Egyptians suffered from the plagues (how many days, or was it just one day).
- GOD'S NAME BE PROCLAIMED, THROUGHOUT ALL THE EARTH. Just like in the first plague (water into blood), God made Moses get up early in the morning to deliver His message to Pharaoh. God has been patient and merciful to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but still the Pharaoh did not let the people go. God wanted to free His people because of His covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give them the promise land of Canaan, and for the people to serve Him. Pharaoh had no right to own as slaves or oppress all the Hebrews/Israelites. If he was a great leader, and he loved the Egyptian people, he would have made the right thing, to end their suffering from the plagues. But his heart was hard, so now, it makes me wonder what makes a man's heart hard? A lot of things or factors came to my mind, like pride, anger, arrogance (lack of humility), rebellion, conscious ignorance of God's commands (or Word), but it can be summarized into one word, which was "sin". Our main problem, and the reason why God sent His Son Jesus (John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.)
- THERE IS NO ONE LIKE ME IN ALL THE EARTH. Indeed, there is no one like God, and as we read more about the Bible, we continually know and be convinced of that. He alone can make wondrous things, impossible things. God said, He can totally cut off and remove all of Egypt from the face of the earth (just like what happened during Noah's time, great flood)-- but He did not do that. He was giving them many opportunities to repent and believe in Him, and obey Him in the process by letting the Israelites go. If the Egyptians got no solution or help from their gods and goddesses, then they should have been amazed by God's power, I think. From the previous bible studies, we have learned from David Guzik's study guide and commentary that there are some Egyptians that also mixed and joined the Israelites at the time that they left Egypt, so some actually came to believe YHWH (Elohim).
- HAIL IN THE DESERT. Along
with God's message to Pharaoh was the announcement of the 7th plague,
the very first hail-storm in Egypt. That was really frightening to hear,
for me. Still, God made clear instructions, only every man and animal
that was left in the field and not brought home shall be struck by the
hail and shall die. Anyone who feared the word of the Lord will obey,
but those who ignored will be caught off guard and will die once the
hail came at the appointed time. I'm not sure of the weather occurrences
at Egypt, but seeing that it is full of desert, it is miraculous that
it will be rained with hail, not to mention thunders and lightning (fireballs). And, the land of Goshen being set apart and protected by God. So the Israelites at that time can freely go to the field with their livestock.
- PHARAOH ASKED MOSES TO PRAY FOR THEM, AGAIN. For the third time, Pharaoh asked for Moses (with Aaron) to pray and intercede for the hail to stop, promising to let the people go. Moses obliged and asked the Lord about it, however, when Pharaoh's request was granted, he still did not fulfill what he said, and he continued to harden his heart.
b. Let My people go, that they may serve Me: In this appeal two things were clear. First, the people of Israel belonged to God, not to Pharaoh. Second, it was clear that God wanted Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go for the sake of the Lord Himself, not even so much for the sake of the children of Israel.
i. Pharaoh was responsible to treat Israel well for the sake of the Lord, not so much for the sake of Israel. In the same way, we must treat each other well not only for the sake of our fellow brother or sister, but also for the sake of the Lord. We owe it to Him even more than we owe it to them.
a. All the livestock of Egypt died: This plague was directed against the Egyptian god Hathor who was thought to be a mother goddess was in the form of a cow. In addition, Egyptian religion considered cattle sacred and the cow was often a symbol of fertility. God shows Pharaoh and all of Egypt that He was mightier than this imagined pagan god.
i. Cole cites an ancient record of a battle the Egyptians lost because their enemies put a herd of cattle in front of their advancing troops. It worked because the Egyptian soldiers would not shoot at the opposing army for fear of accidentally killing what they considered to be the sacred cattle.
b. They caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast: As the third plague in this second set of three, this plague came without warning. This time, God chose not to mercifully give Pharaoh a previous opportunity to turn.
i. “For the first time the lives of humans are attacked and endangered, and thus it was a foreshadowing of the tenth and most dreadful of all the plagues.” (Kaiser)
b. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh: Here, for the first time, it is said that the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Previously, God announced that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21 and 7:3), and this was the fulfillment of it. Yet it is said at least six times before this that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7). We see that God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was the strengthening of what he already had set himself towards.
i. “This is the first occasion on which this form of words is used after an actual plague. Previously, the position has always been put from the other side: pharaoh has hardened his own heart. The moral would be that God hardens those who harden themselves.” (Cole)
ii. ” ‘Harden’ is the expression, not of the divine purpose but of the result of disobedience to the divine appeals. As a matter of fact, all the plagues were intended and calculated to soften, if Pharaoh had been willing to yield.” (Thomas)
a. I will send all My plagues to your very heart: In this extended warning, God wanted Pharaoh to know who was in control. As bad as it had been to this point, it was only by God’s mercy that Pharaoh and Egypt had not already been cut off from the earth.
b. That I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth: In this bold declaration, God told Pharaoh through Moses that his resistance was being used for God’s glory.
i. If Pharaoh thought he was accomplishing anything with his resistance against God, he was completely wrong. All his stubborn rebellion merely glorified the Lord more in the end.
c. Gather your livestock and all that you have in the field: God invited Pharaoh and the Egyptians to trust Him by recommending precautions before the plague. Some took God’s invitation and spared their livestock, but others did not.
i. “Rainfall comes so occasionally in Upper Egypt that the prediction of a severe hailstorm accompanied by a violent electrical storm must have been greeted with much skepticism.” (Kaiser)
a. I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked: This sounds like perfect words of repentance from Pharaoh, but true repentance had not worked its way into his heart. Pharaoh was grieved at the consequences of sin, but not at the sin itself.
i. “Pharaoh’s ‘I have sinned’ (Exodus 9:27) is one of eight such confessions in Scripture, four sincere and four insincere.” (Thomas) Perhaps it is better to see it as 5 insincere and 3 sincere.
· Pharaoh – a hardened sinner (Exodus 9:27)
· Balaam – a double-minded man (Numbers 22:34)
· Achan – a doubtful penitent (Joshua 7:20)
· Saul – an insincere man (1 Samuel 15:24)
· Judas – the repentance of despair (Matthew 27:4)
· Job – a godly repentance (Job 6:20)
· David – a repentance after a delay (2 Samuel 12:13)
· The Prodigal – the blessed confession of sin (Luke 15:18)
b. I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God: Moses’ response to Pharaoh showed that he was starting to learn and to discern. Moses knew the promise to touch Pharaoh’s firstborn had not yet been fulfilled (first described by God back in Exodus 4:22-23).
i. “Moses does not believe that pharaoh will keep his word, yet he grants the request so that pharaoh may be without excuse.” (Cole)
c. He sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart: Hardening the heart against God is sin; failing to repent when God graciously answers our plea is to ignore His rich mercy is to sin yet more.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Exd/Exd-9.cfm ©2013 David Guzik
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