Exodus 9:1-8 (NKJV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, thatthey may serve Me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the LORD will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep–a very severe pestilence. 4 And the LORD will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”5 Then the LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” 6 So the LORD did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. 7 Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.
1. How is this plague different than the previous ones?
All the other plagues had caused the Egyptians irritation or pain to their bodies, but now God began to reduce their wealth.
“The religious implications of this plague are most interesting and instructive. A large number of bulls and cows were considered sacred in Egypt. In the central area of the Delta, four provinces chose as their emblems various types of bulls and cows. A necropolis of sacred bulls was discovered near Memphis which place was known for its worship of both Ptah and a sacred Apis bull. The Apis bull was considered the sacred animal of the God Ptah; therefore, the associated worship at the site of Memphis is readily understood. There was at any one time only one sacred Apis bull. As soon as it died another was chosen to take its place, an event that attracted a great deal of attention in the area of Memphis. The sacred bull was supposed to have been recognized by twenty-eight distinctive marks that identified him as deity and indicated that he was the object of worship.
“Amenhotep II [the Pharaoh of the plagues] surpassed all his predecessors in his fanatical devotion to the worship of animals, and especially of the bull. In 1906 a statue made of sandstone was excavated representing a cow and Amenhotep II leaning his head under its head; he is also depicted kneeling under a cow, drinking its divine milk. He is thus seen as child and slave of the cow goddess. What a threat this must have been to him!”
The expression “all the livestock” (v. 6) evidently refers to all cattle in the fields (v. 3). Some cattle survived this plague (cf. vv. 19, 20, 22).
The only new element in this fifth report is the notice that Pharaoh sent to Goshen to check on the predicted exclusion of the Israelites’ livestock from the epidemic (v. 7).
Exodus 9:9-12 (NKJV) And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”10 Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
2. Why use ashes from the furnace to begin the plague?
Take … soot … toss it into the air. Perhaps symbolizing either the widespread extent of the plague of boils or their black coloration. Aaron and Moses took two handfuls of soot, not just from any furnace, but from a lime-
kiln or brick-making furnace. That which participated so largely in their oppressive labor became the source of a painful health hazard for the oppressors!
3. What kind of plague is this?
boils. Possibly skin anthrax (a variety of the plague that struck the livestock in vv. 1–7), a black, burning abscess that develops into a pustule. men and animals. The plague on the livestock now extended to other animals as well as to the people of Egypt.
Dt 28:27 The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and the tumors, the scurvy and the itch, from which you cannot be healed.
Dt 28:35 The Lord will smite you on the knees and on the legs with a sore boil that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
There is some speculation that this may have been bubonic plague. Bubonic plague. Black plague which killed over 50 million people in the 1400’s in Europe. .. the late-stage sign of the disease, in which the sufferer’s skin would blacken due to subepidermal hemorrhages (purpura), and the extremities would darken with gangrene .
Albert Camus The Plague is considered an existentialist classic.
Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and hence are absurd), because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual. “The Absurd,” therefore, is commonly used in philosophical discourse to refer to the clash between the human search for meaning and the human inability to find any.
This comes into play when bad things happen to people and they search for meaning. In the book The Plague an entire city is devastated by the disease bubonic plague and as thousands suffer and die a horribly painful death, a theme runs through the book. Why, what does thing mean? Life can not have any meaning if things like this happen.
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, regarded as the father of existentialism,maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving their own life meaning and living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom. Though a Christian Kierkegaard’s worldview became perverted by modern atheists.
This kind of thinking had infiltrated our culture when I was in college. The Kennedy Assination, Woodstock, Watergate, the Vietnam War. There was nothing to believe in, nothing made any sense. As a result an entire generation dropped out. The mantra was sex, drugs and rock and roll.
Or as the bible says, “eat drink and be merry, for tommorow we die”
4. What is different about this plague?
5. The condition of the magicians tells us what about God.
God has a sense of humor.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
The reference to the hapless magicians (7:11) is almost humorous. Not only were they powerless, but they also suffer themselves from the plague.
The magicians could not stand. A side comment indicates that these men (who in Egyptian eyes were men of power) had been so sorely afflicted that they could not stand, either physically or vocationally, before God’s spokesmen. Although they are not mentioned after the third plague, they apparently had continued to serve before Pharaoh and were undoubtedly there when plagues 4 and 5 were announced. Their powerlessness had not been sufficient as yet for Pharaoh to dispense with their services—an outward symbol, perhaps, of Pharaoh’s unwillingness to grant the God of Israel total sovereignty.
The “boils of Egypt” seriously affected the knees and legs. The priests who served in the Egyptian temples had to be clean, without any type of breaking out or sickness. Suddenly this plague of boils comes upon them and they are unclean, unfit to serve in the temples. This brings to a halt all of the false worship in Egypt.
The city of Memphis. The ruins are practically all gone now, but archaeologists know something of the extent of that great city. Up one thoroughfare and down the other was temple after temple. There were over one thousand temples in Memphis, and priests served in all of them. You can imagine what this plague of boils did to the services in these temples.
Signs—-No temple worship today, because of sickness. In case of emergency dial 1 800 False God.
6. So at that point the Pharaoh repented saw the error of his ways and let the people go?
The Lord hardened. For the first time, apart from the words to Moses before the plagues began Ex 4:21; 7:3), the statement is made that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. In the other instances, the record observes that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Each instance records “as the Lord commanded,” so what happened did so from two closely related perspectives: 1) God was carrying out His purpose through Pharaoh, and 2) Pharaoh was personally responsible for his actions as the command of v. 13 implies. Pharaoh himself is afflicted with boils,
Like Dr. J Vernon McGee says, If you put pottery clay out in the sun it hardens like a rock, if you put candle wax in the sun it softens and runs. Same sun, but different materials. The Pharaohs heart got harder as God put pressure on him, other men would have repented and sought God under the same pressure. Different hearts.
Exodus 9:13-19 (NKJV) 13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me, 14 for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know thatthere is none like Me in all the earth. 15 Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.16 But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. 17 As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. 18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. 19 Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ‘ “
7. What is Moses telling Pharaoh in verses 15 and 16 ?
I have to the power to strike you with a pestilence that would have wiped out all the Egyptian nation, but I’m using you for a demonstation. Your
just like the stain in the Oxyclean commercials, the harder you are to clean the more my effectiveness is shown.
Romans chapter 9 Paul talks about how God raises up certain people for His own purposes. Nebacanezzer, Persians, Assyrians. Nothing happens without God’s approval. Satan had to get permission to torment Job.
Exodus 9:20-21 (NKJV) He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. 21 But he who did not regard the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.
8. Why would some Egyptians have their livestock go indoors and others didn’t?
I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist to start to understand that when Moses says something is going to happen it does.
Those who did not believe God made no provision for protection. The message God gave to the Egyptians is the same one He gives to the world today. Judgment is coming. Man is not wise to go on as if nothing is going to happen. It was that way in the days of Noah, and it will be that way when Christ comes again in judgment. Many people in Egypt did not believe God, and they paid the price for their unbelief. All God asks is that you believe Him.
Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
1 Cor 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;
Exodus 9:22-26 (NKJV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt — on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”23 And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.25 And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck 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, there was no hail.
9. What do you see as unusual about this thunder storm?
So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail,
Egypt gets less than 1 inch of rain per year.
The Weather Channel and Storm stories and storm chasers, but fire?
3 Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. NASB
fire ran down to the earth … fire flashing. The violent, electrical thunderstorm brought with it unusual lightning, or “fireballs,” which zigzagged (lit. “fire taking hold of itself”) to and fro on the ground with the hail.
This plague was directed against Isis (sometimes represented as cow-headed), goddess of fertility and considered the goddess of the air. She is the mythical daughter of Set and Nut, the sister and wife of Osiris, and the mother of Horus. It is said that the tears of Isis falling into the Nile River caused it to overflow its banks and bring nourishment to the land. Isis was a prominent goddess in Egypt, and the plague of hail was directed against her.
This was something new. Frogs snakes bugs we know about but this had never been seen
Again the hail storm misses the land of Goshen
Exodus 9:27-35 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.28 Entreat the LORD, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.” 31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops. 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the LORD; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD
10. What does the Pharaoh mean “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous and my people and I are wicked”?
I have sinned this time. Any improvement in Pharaoh’s theological understanding, notwithstanding the following confession of a righteous Lord and of a wicked people, was rendered suspect by the face-saving caveat “this time.” Lacking repentance, it brushed aside all previous reaction and disobedience as having no significance.
What about all the other times? It’s like the guy on cops. Ok you got me I’ll confess to this but….
For the first time mention is made of the stubborn resistance of Pharaoh’s entourage, all of whom had hardened their hearts
This is getting serious animals and people are dying plus all the trees are knocked down. That would be enough to get all the tree huggers to repent.
11. Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.Why would God mention this?
3500 years ago, but God is very detailed
The flooding of the Nile (the possible occasion of the first six plagues) came to an end late in the fall. The hailstorm is thus in the proper chronological position, taking place in January or February when the flax and barley were in flower but the wheat and spelt had not yet germinated (see vv. 31–32).
9:31, 32 flax and the barley were ruined … the wheat and the spelt were not ruined. A very brief bulletin on which crops were damaged and which
were not placed this plague in Feb. All 4 crops mentioned were important economic resources. Wheat would be harvested only a month later than flax and barley together with the aftercrop “spelt”or “rye.” God’s timing of the disaster to two crops left room for Pharaoh to repent before the other crops might be destroyed.
- ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes
- MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
- NIVSN…..NIV Study Notes.
- JVM ….J Vernon McGee,
- ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary
- BN …..Barnes Notes
- WBC…… Wycliffe Bible Commentary
- CN …… Constables Notes
- IC……….Ironside Commentary
- NET………Net Bible Study Notes.
- JFB…………..Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
- VWS……………..Vincent Word Studies
- CMM………….Commentary on Matthew and Mark
- BDB………….. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
- Darby………..John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
- Johnson………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
- NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary: Matthew and Mark.
- BKC………………….Bible Knowledge Commentary
PCB…………………… Popular Commentary of the Bible,
SSN…………………..Scofield’s Study Notes
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