Plagues 5-9

INTRO

In the previous lesson, we began talking about the ten plagues—the water turned into blood, frogs covering the land, a plague of gnats (which the Egyptian magicians could not replicate), and a plague of flies which affected the Egyptians but not the Israelites. Wiersbe said: “Another reason for the display of His wonders during the plagues is that the Jews might be able to tell the greatness to come about the awesome power of their great God.”¹

TEACHING

Exodus 9:1–3: God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.” Notice that God again referred to Himself as “Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews.” God warned Pharaoh what would happen if he refused to let the Israelites go. “The Lord’s hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field—the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.”

Exodus 9:4: As in the previous plague, God made a distinction between the livestock of the Egyptians and the livestock of the Israelites. MacArthur said this was a direct attack on the false gods of the Egyptians.²The Egyptians prized the bull Apis as a sacred animal, identified as the son of the goddess Hathor, and was assigned a significant role in her worship. Apis was also considered to serve as the intermediary between humans and other powerful gods such as Pitah (god of craftsmen and architects), Osiris (god of the afterlife), and Atum (finisher of the world). Evidence suggests Apis was the first god of Egypt. God told the Israelites to settle in Goshen where He would take care of them (Genesis 45:9–11). God had brought not just the people but their animals into Goshen, and He protected them. God also took the animals out of Egypt in the Exodus (Exodus 12:37–38).

Exodus 9:5–11: “And the Lord set a time, saying, ‘Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land’” (v. 5). God gave Pharaoh a 24-hour warning: “The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died” (v. 6). Imagine being an Egyptian farmer, not being aware of this conversation between Pharaoh, and Moses and Aaron, and walking out to the field to see all of your livestock dead (v. 3). Pharaoh sent out messengers to see if what Moses and Aaron said was true. Although Pharaoh saw the truth, he still hardened his heart. Nothing fazed him. He feared no one! God told Moses and Aaron: “Take handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses is to throw it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh” (v. 9). Black soot symbolized the blackness of the skin in the disease.³The Israelites were probably still making bricks, and they put the soot in a kiln to make the bricks. Moses took something that had been part of their bondage and threw it toward heaven to bring judgment on the Egyptians. Remember, there was a pattern of warning before some plagues and no warnings before others: (1) water to blood—warning; (2) frogs—warning; (3) gnats—no warning; (4) flies—warning; (5) livestock—warning; (6) boils—no warning. “So they took furnace soot and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it toward heaven, and it became festering boils on man and beast.” These boils were a “rash, which occurs in summer, chiefly toward the close of the time of the overflowing of the Nile, and produces a burning and pricking sensation upon the skin which give strong twitches and slight stinging sensations, resembling those of scarlet fever.”⁴The magicians had the boils as well, which were so painful that they could not stand before Moses (2 Timothy 3:8).

Exodus 9:12–13: “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to them.” This was the first time the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was attributed to God. Constable said, “If a person continues to harden his own heart, God will then harden it further in judgment”⁵((Proverbs 29:1). Notice the repetition as the seventh plague is introduced (see underlined phrases in the verse): “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.’”

Exodus 9:14–19: God promised to send all His plagues against Egypt—with one purpose—so they would know there was no one like God. God planned to bring His full force against Pharaoh. The word “all” is used 12 times in this passage. “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” (v. 15). Remember the use of the word “strike” in previous lessons. Although God had the power to strike them, Wiersbe noted, “In His mercy God decides to still spare them.”⁶God identified His whole purpose in allowing Pharaoh and the Egyptians to live: “to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth” (v. 16) (Romans 9:17). God said Pharaoh was still acting arrogantly against the Israelites by refusing to let them go. Hamilton said that God had a plan for Pharaoh.⁷(Jeremiah 29:11). “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” (v. 18). God warned them and even told them to bring their animals into shelter. Pharaoh had to respond to God. Hamilton said, “Those are always the two options when a word from God goes forth to any people: obey/disobey, listen/do not listen, respond/ ignore, fall at his feet and worship him/unless I see I will not believe, soften your heart/harden your heart.”⁸

Exodus 9:20–26: Even Pharaoh’s officials realized God was real and began turning against Pharaoh. Those who didn’t take God seriously left their servants and livestock in the field. “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” (v. 23). John McArthur said it was a “violent electrical thunder storm that brought unusual lightning and these fireballs that zigzagged down on earth, bringing destruction on anything they touched.”⁹This plague was a picture of what will happen in the future; it was just a taste of what’s coming in the end (Revelation 8:7). “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.” Everything that happened was a foreshadowing—it is coming again (Revelation 16:21). Hail struck through Egypt, bringing death and destruction of man, beast, plant of the field and every tree. Only in Goshen were the Israelites safe (v. 26). All of these plagues did not happen to God’s people. In Exodus 10:23 (the plague of darkness), the Israelites had light when everyone else had darkness. God was clearly making His name known as the God of the Hebrews.

Exodus 9:27–35: Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, admitted his sin, and proclaimed Yahweh as the Righteous One. While Pharaoh sounded sincere, it didn’t lead to repentance. Greenberg said, “He acknowledged guilt but went right on being guilty.”¹⁰Moses called Pharaoh out, pointing out that neither he nor his officials feared Yahweh. Constable said, “Fearing Him means bowing in submission to Him as sovereign over all the earth.”¹¹Pharaoh only gave lip service to God. The ripe crops of flax and barley were destroyed, but the wheat and the spelt (raw wheat) were not destroyed because they are later crops. Moses left Pharaoh and the city, and then extended his hands to God and everything stopped. But Pharaoh and his officials hardened their hearts. Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10: This chapter gives details of the eighth and ninth plagues: the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness.

CLOSING

God is giving us the Light. He’s giving us the Spirit. He wants us to experience the fullness of God. Let’s not be like the Egyptians and Pharaoh and say, “No, I don’t want that.” He has given us a Deliverer. We can’t act like we’re in bondage when we’ve been given life.