Ex 9: More Plagues: Livestock death, Boils, Hail

This time if Pharaoh doesn't let Israel go, there will be a plague that kills the livestock. And Israel will be protected again. Pharaoh even looked into the Israelite herds and found that not one had been touched by this plague. Pharaoh does his country a favor and...still doesn't let Israel go. The magicians weren't recorded as even trying this one.

The next plague is one of boils. What is a boil? Well, pretty much the most heinous skin infection you can get. Have you ever had an infected hair follicle? That's a boil. Usually you get one, stick a hot needle in it, and your done. Well, Moses tosses a handful of soot into the air and it spreads throughout the land, covering Egyptians with boils. Imagine being covered with boils. It was so bad, the magicians couldn't even stand before Pharaoh. I figure a lot of it had to do with that they didn't want to test their magic and risk further boilage. But Pharaoh's heart is hardened.

By this time, God is interested in letting Pharaoh know there is none like Him in all the Earth. God instructs Pharaoh that He could have wiped him and his people off the face of the earth. Pharaoh wasn't getting it. But God spared him for the purpose of God using him to show His great power. Could it be that this was the sole purpose of Pharaoh's life? And the existence of Egypt and other nations outside of God's covenant? And He was going to show it with a hailstorm of biblical proportion, a storm so intense that any head of cattle or person caught out in it would perish. But God forewarned Pharaoh.

The Word says those who feared the word of the LORD brought their cattle (and slaves) inside. Those who ignored the warning left them out.

Then this hailstorm comes and the hail beats down everything growing. It even stripped the plants of their leaves. It didn't hail in Goshen, where the Israelites lived though. They were protected.

Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron, saying he has sinned. Saying "The Lord is right, and my people and I are in the wrong." Humble words. "Tell God to stop!"

Moses is like, "Alright, but I know you still don't fear the Lord." So Moses spread out his hands to the Lord, and just like usual, the plague goes away, and Pharaoh goes back to his old ways.