'Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Early tomorrow morning present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to serve me, for this time I will unleash all my blows upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me anywhere on earth. For by now I should have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such pestilence that you would have vanished from the earth. But this is why I have let you survive: to show you my power and to make my name resound throughout the earth! Will you continue to exalt yourself over my people and not let them go? At this time tomorrow, therefore, I am going to rain down such fierce hail as there has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded up to the present. Therefore, order your livestock and whatever else you have in the open fields to be brought to a place of safety. Whatever human being or animal is found in the fields and is not brought to shelter will die when the hail comes down upon them. Those of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried their servants and their livestock off to shelter. But those who did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left their servants and their livestock in the fields.
The Lord then said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that hail may fall upon the entire land of Egypt, on human being and beast alike and all the vegetation of the fields in the land of Egypt. So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent forth peals of thunder and hail. Lightning flashed toward the earth, and the Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and lightning flashing here and there through the hail, and the hail was so fierce that nothing like it had been seen in Egypt since it became a nation. Throughout the land of Egypt the hail struck down everything in the fields, human being and beast alike; it struck down all the vegetation of the fields and splintered every tree in the fields. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was there no hail.
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! The Lord is the just one, and I and my people are the ones at fault. Pray to the Lord! Enough of the thunder and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” Moses replied to him, “As soon as I leave the city I will extend my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”
Now the flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was in ear and the flax in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they grow later.
When Moses had left Pharaoh and gone out of the city, he extended his hands to the Lord. The thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down upon the earth. But Pharaoh, seeing that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, sinned again and became obstinate, both he and his servants. In the hardness of his heart, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses (Ex. 9:13-35).’
The plagues were getting progressively worse and hail from the seventh plague affected animals, humans, and plants. The plague would severely hamper the ability of Pharaoh’s people to sustain themselves. In the OT, hail, lightning and thunder was a sign that God was making himself manifest; 'Now Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the Lord had come down upon it in fire. The smoke rose from it as though from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The blast of the shofar grew louder and louder, while Moses was speaking and God was answering him with thunder (Ex. 19: 18-19).’ Some of the Pharaoh’s ministers acknowledged the superiority of the God of the Hebrews and ordered their servants to shelter the livestock. Nut was the ancient Egyptian goddess of the sky, but Pharaoh appeared to acknowledge the superiority of the God of the Hebrews; “I have sinned this time! The Lord is the just one, and I and my people are the ones at fault. Pray to the Lord ! Enough of the thunder and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer (v. 27-28).” Pharaoh’s confession of God’s superiority was pragmatic but not from the heart as indicated by his refusal to let God’s people go.
Almighty God, look into our hearts and show us when we act like Pharaoh and ask for your mercy but then reject the grace that leads us to a conversion of heart. Through your mercy grant that we may stay focused on your Word and be counted among the faithful that you lead to salvation. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Luis A. Martin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Antonio Garcia-Moreno, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy, & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (1999). The Navarre Bible - The Pentateuch. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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