Exodus Chapter 9

• Exodus 9:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 

One thing any nation should never do is hinder someone from freely worshipping God. Surely judgment comes quicker to a nation that persecutes or tries to hinder the worship of God's people. Why did the Roman Empire collapse? Look at the many true Christians they killed for their faith. 

God surely could have wiped out Egypt and freed Israel without all this struggle back and forth but God gives enemies a chance to find God if they desire to find Him. He seems to do things in a way to make sure He is known and people have a chance to save themselves from the wrath to come. God judgment comes as a last resort but it does come because He will not let sin and suffering continue forever.

• Exodus 9:2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 
• 3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 

Murrain is an old term for an infectious disease effecting cattle and sheep causing death.

They were warned time and time again to not hinder the will of God. God wanted them out and wanted the children of Israel free to worship Him in a place He chose for them. 

• Exodus 9:4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. 
• 5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 
• 6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 
• 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. 

You would think he would finally realize who God was but it wasn't enough. God's judgment wasn't complete.

• Exodus 9:8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 
• 9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 
• 10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 
• 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 
• 12 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses. 
• 13 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 
• 14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 
• 15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. 
• 16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 
• 17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 
• 18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. 
• 19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. 
• 20 He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 

Some of the Egyptians wised up and saved their cattle. Here is a little hint of salvation by faith. Those that feared God and believed would escape any judgment of God.

That is true now. Those that believe God and believe the gift that He gave us through His Son, Jesus, is saved from the wrath of God. Those that laugh and ignore the salvation God provides for us will be lost for eternity. God is always faithful to give us a chance to respond. We see a final repeat of many plagues in the book of Revelation to take place just before Christ returns with all His faithful believers to set up His kingdom on earth. He gives people one last chance to repent and believe the gospel at that time but we see that the majority still do not believe. 

Here we see that the fear of God was being taught to the Egyptians. 

• Exodus 9:21 And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field. 
• 22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. 
• 23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 
• 24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 
• 25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. 
• 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. 
• 27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 
• 28 Entreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 
  29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD's. 
• 30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God. 
• 31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 
• 32 But the wheat and the rye were not smitten: for they were not grown up. 
• 33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. 
• 34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 
• 35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses. 

I notice that Pharaoh reminds me of lukewarm unstable Christians. They are up and down on an emotional roller coaster. One minute they are fired up and on fire for God and the next week they are backslidden. I may be guessing but it seems as if when that happens there is a lack of the knowledge of God's word. Some people get stirred up by the music, hype and an atmosphere of being excited about God which is not bad, don't get me wrong. God is someone to get excited about and not just sit like a statue when it's time for worship, but its possible to be part of a great worship service and yet be shallow in the word of God and when the music stops, the trials come and we are weak in faith. We need the God within our innermost being. An example of this is when people were excited about Jesus one time when He entered Jerusalem but just a few days later, many of the same people were yelling for Him to be crucified.

Usually the lukewarm do very little praying on their own and no study of the word. I love services where the spirit of God is moving and people are shouting praises but I also love verse by verse studies of the word. That will sustain us through the bad times. 

"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might no sin against thee." 

Egypt was known as the land of Ham:

• Psalm 106:21 They forgot God their savior, which had done great things in Egypt; 
  22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. 

This passage is lamenting the children of Israel's departure from following God after God delivered them from Egypt. 

I sometimes wonder how God must feel when after saving them from the flood of Noah's day, the great grandson of Noah, Nimrod led a rebellion against God. 

We see that in Egypt where other descendants of Ham went. They had idols and did not fear the real God Jehovah. It is sad to see even today when the gospel has been preached all over the world, the civilized world speak out against Him and even call His true followers bigots and other names. They do not fear God. 

In the days of the tribulation plagues will again be poured out, but instead of one nation, it will be over many nations. We must hide in Jesus Christ by faith to escape. Just as those that placed blood on the doorposts in Egypt escaped death of the firstborn, our faith in Christ will be our escape from the wrath of God. Just as the ten plagues of Egypt was a judgment against the gods of Egypt, I wouldn't be surprised if the latter day judgments will represent something also. 

There are some that believe hurricane Katrina was a direct result of deporting all those Jews from Gaza. Just as the influence of American presidents to pressure Israel into making land for peace deals causing many to lose their homes, many Americans were made homeless during hurricane Katrina. I don't know if this is the case or not but if I were an American president I would be very careful how I dealt with Israel. 

We will never get away with ignoring the word of God. I don't care if we claim to believe in evolution. I don't care what modern science comes up with. I don't care who says what and whether they believe or not, God's word will not change. He gave that land to Israel through His promise to Abraham and we have no right to change it. That doesn't mean Israel is perfect and does not make mistakes. I know they have rejected Jesus Christ. I know they have done things that are wrong but the word of God cannot change. God's gifts and callings are without repentance. What He says will come to pass no matter what modern researchers or scientists have to say about it.  Bible prophecy will come to pass. Satan tried to stop the plan of God to bring forth the Christ child and it didn't work. -DC

Exodus 10

Exodus Index