Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain
Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 9
Exodus 9:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. And thou shalt speak unto him: ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me!” 2For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, 3behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague! 4And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!’”
5And Yehovah put an appointment to say, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” 6And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow. And every cattle of Egypt died. And not one from the cattle of the children of Israel died. 7And Pharaoh sent. And behold, not unto one from the cattle of Israel died. And the heart of Pharaoh weighted. And he did not send the people.
Ashen Boil
8And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe] and unto Aharon, “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace. And Draw [Moshe] shall sprinkle him heavens-ward to the eyes of Pharaoh. 9And he shall become to powder over all the land of Egypt. And he shall be upon the adam and upon the beast for a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions in all the land of Egypt.” 10And they took the ash of the furnace. And they stood to the faces of Pharaoh. And Draw [Moshe] sprinkled him heavens-ward. And the boil of the eruptions-eruptions flowered in adam and in beast. 11And the diviners were not able to stand to the faces of Draw [Moshe] from the faces of the boil. For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt. 12And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not hearken unto them just as Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe].
Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain
13And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh. And thou shalt say unto him, ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me! 14For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land! 15For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land! 16And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land! 17Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them! 18Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now! 19And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field. All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”’”
20The fearer of the speech of Yehovah from the slaves of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee unto the houses. 21And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah, and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field.
22And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens! And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!” 23And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the heavens. And Yehovah gave voices and hail! And fire walked landward! And Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt!
24And hail was very heavy, and fire taking herself in the midst of the hail—that there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race! 25And the hail smote all that is in the field from adam and unto beast in all the land of Egypt. And the hail smote every herb of the field. And he broke every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are there, hail wasn’t.
27And Pharaoh sent. And he called to Draw [Moshe] and to Aharon. And he said unto them, “I sinned the stroke! Yehovah is the righteous! And I and my people are the culpable-ones! 28Entreat-ye unto Yehovah, and multiply from there being voices of gods and hail. And I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!” 29And Draw [Moshe] said unto him, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah! 30And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, 31and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!” For the barley is spring, and the flax is exalted-above. 32And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened.
33And Draw [Moshe] exited the city from with Pharaoh. And he spread his palms unto Yehovah. And the voices ceased, and the hail and rain. And he did not pour-forth landward. 34And Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, and the hail and the voices. And he added to sin. And his heart heavied—he and his slaves. 35And the heart of Pharaoh gripped. And he did not send the children of Israel just as Yehovah spoke via the hand of Draw [Moshe].
I. The Threat to Herd and Flock (verses 1-4)
Yehovah commanded Moshe to come unto Pharaoh. Moshe introduced whom he was quoting: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah’s command to Pharaoh was the same as it had previously been: “Send my people, and he has served me!” Moshe then gave Yehovah’s threat: “For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague!”
Moshe then declared the segregation that Yehovah will perform: “And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!”
Questions
1. Why did Yehovah insist that Pharaoh send Yehovah’s people (instead of just leading them out, and stopping Pharaoh from stopping them)?
2. Does Yehovah ever threaten anyone?
3. What is the Hand of Yehovah, and how does this hand differ from Yehovah?
4. Yehovah threatened the horses, asses, camels, herd and flock of Pharaoh and all Egypt (except for the Israeli herds and flocks) if Pharaoh didn’t send the people of Israel. Why was Yehovah willing to harm animals that couldn’t do anything about what Pharaoh chose to do?
5. Why did Yehovah segregate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt? Define segregation:
6. How many animals of the Israelis normally died on a daily basis in Egypt?
II. One Day’s Notice (verses 5-7)
Yehovah Himself set the appointment for this event, and Moshe told Pharaoh this: “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.”
The text then explained that Yehovah did this speech (what He said) from tomorrow—that is, it began starting the next day. Every cattle of Egypt died. Not even one of the Israelis’ cattle died!
Pharaoh sent investigators to see if any of the Israelis’ cattle died, and they found that not a single animal died. How did Pharaoh respond? His heart (mind) weighted—he became concerned about what would happen if he sent the Israelis. He didn’t send the people.
Questions
1. What is an appointment in the Bible, and why is this word so important?
2. Verse 5 states, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” What speech will He do?
3. The next statement says, “And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow.” What does from tomorrow mean?
4. How many of the Egyptian cattle died in this plague?
5. How many died from the Israeli cattle?
6. For what purpose did Pharaoh send, and whom did he send?
7. Why did Pharaoh’s heart weigh, this time, and what does this mean?
III. Boils with Eruptions (verses 8-12)
Yehovah now directed both Moshe and Aharon: “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace.” Thus, they filled their four fists with furnace ash. Yehovah told only Moshe to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens directly in the sight of Pharaoh. When Moshe does this, the ash shall become a powder over all the land of Egypt! The powder will land upon ‘the adam’ (the human, referring to every human) and upon the beast (referring to every beast). It will then become a boil that flowers and erupts over again over all the land of Egypt.
Moshe and Aharon did as they were told, taking ash of the furnace. They then stood directly in front of Pharaoh. Moshe sprinkled the ash toward the heavens. The boils flowered with eruptions in man and animal.
The diviners couldn’t stand directly in front of Moshe because of the faces of the boil! The diviners erupted with boils, as well as all Egypt.
This time, Yehovah gripped the heart (mind) of Pharaoh! Pharaoh didn’t hearken unto them, which is what Yehovah had said Pharaoh wouldn’t do.
Questions
1. Why did Yehovah command both Aharon and Moshe to take a fistful of ash from a furnace when only Moshe was commanded to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens?
2. What does “upon the adam” mean (when ‘adam’ isn’t capitalized)?
3. What is a boil?
4. What does “a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions” mean?
5. What beasts were there since so many of the cattle of the Egyptians died?
6. Why did Yehovah also put boils on Egyptian cattle?
7. Did the Israelis’ cattle also suffer with boils?
8. Would Egyptian cattle that was temporarily grazing on Israeli lands and in the hands of the Israelis be safe from the boil?
9. Why weren’t the diviners able to stand in front of Moshe?
10. What does “For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt” mean?
11. How long did the boils and the ‘boil plague’ last?
12. Did Pharaoh get hit with the boils?
IV. Yehovah’s Threat and Editorial (verses 13-19)
Yehovah had new orders for Moshe: “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh.” Yehovah identified Himself in the normal way: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah commanded Pharaoh in the usual way: “Send my people, and he has served me!”
Yehovah then followed this with a direct threat: “For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land!”
Yehovah then gave the result of this threat being carried out: “For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land!”
Why did Yehovah tolerate Pharaoh? He explained: “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land!”
Yehovah openly stated Pharaoh’s motives: “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them!”
Thus, Yehovah told Pharaoh what was next coming: “Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now!”
Yet, Yehovah told Pharaoh what to do to save the humans and the cattle: “And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field.”
He gave the results of not doing this: “All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”
Questions
1. Did Pharaoh enjoy seeing Moshe early in the morning?
2. Why did Yehovah use the very same wording over and over again when He said, “Send my people, and he has served me”?
3. What does stroke mean in, “For in this stroke, I am sending…”?
4. What did Yehovah mean by, “in this stroke, I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart?
5. What was the purpose for sending all these plagues?
6. Yehovah said, “For now I sent my hand.” What does this mean?
7. What will the hand be doing, according to verse 15?
8. What does smite mean?
9. What does pestilence mean?
10. What does expunged mean?
11. Who will be expunged from the land?
12. Wouldn’t this be a direct threat to Pharaoh’s life from Yehovah? Wouldn’t Pharaoh become very angry being threatened in this way?
13. What does stood mean in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”?
14. Why did Yehovah use silently in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”?
15. What two reasons did Yehovah give for ‘standing’ Pharaoh?
16. What land did Yehovah have in mind when He said, “in order to publish my Name in all the land”?
17. What would be accomplished if Yehovah published His Name in all the land?
18. Yehovah said through Moshe, “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them.” What was Pharaoh doing, according to this description?
19. How heavy is heavy hail?
20. Had there been hail in Egypt before this time?
21. When Yehovah gave the command, “And now, send,” whom was Pharaoh to send, and for what purpose?
22. What does “Firm thy cattle” mean?
23. What is an ‘adam’?
24. How many of the animals and humans that remain in the fields will die?
V. The Fearer and the Ignorer (verses 20-21)
Pharaoh’s slaves heard these words. Every slave who feared the speech of Yehovah made his slaves and his cattle flee unto (toward) the houses. Every slave who didn’t put his heart (mind) unto the speech of Yehovah abandoned his slaves and his cattle in the field.
Questions
1. What is a “fearer of the speech of Yehovah,” and does that person have faith in Yehovah?
2. What does “And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah” mean?
3. Why does the text state, “and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field” instead of stating, “and he left his slaves and his cattle in the field”?
VI. Hail, Thunder, Lightning (verses 22-23)
Yehovah commanded just Moshe to: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens.” Yehovah told Moshe the results: “And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!”
Moshe did as he was commanded, stretching his rod upon the heavens. Yehovah gave voices and hail! Fire walked toward the land! Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
Questions
1. How can Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens when Moshe just isn’t that big?
2. When did Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens?
3. Wasn’t Moshe outside when this occurred? If so, wasn’t Moshe in danger of being hit by the hail and being killed?
4. What else besides humans and cattle was destroyed?
5. In what danger was the land of Egypt because of this hail, besides those who were killed by it?
6. Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the heavens; Moshe stretched his rod upon the heavens. Did Moshe do wrong?
7. What does “Yehovah gave voices” mean?
8. What causes these voices?
9. What does “fire walked landward” describe?
10. The text doesn’t describe any rain. Did it rain?
VII. Devastation (verses 24-26)
The hail was very heavy (both in the amount of hail and in the size of the hail). Fire took herself in the midst of the hail! That is fire and ice at the same time! This kind of a hailstorm never occurred from the time that Egypt (the original person) became a race! The hail smote (attacked with the force to kill) everything in the field including man and animal. The hail smote every herb of the field. It also broke every tree of the field! There was no hail, however, in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are.
Questions
1. How heavy was the hail?
2. What does “fire taking herself in the midst of the hail” describe?
3. What does “there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race” mean?
4. What does smote mean?
5. How many herbs of the field survived this hail?
6. How many trees survived this hail?
7. Did the Israelis see the hail?
8. Were the Israelis being slave-driven during this time?
VIII. False Repentance (verses 27-30)
Pharaoh sent and called Moshe and Aharon. He admitted that he had sinned this time, and that Yehovah is righteous. He then stated that he and his people are the culpable ones.
He told them to entreat unto Yehovah, and multiply from their beings voices of gods and hail. On this condition, Pharaoh stated, “I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!”
Moshe responded, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah!”
Moshe then added, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!”
Moshe explained, “For the barley is spring,” that is, the barley is coming up well, as it does in the spring of the year. “And the flax is exalted-above,” meaning that it is already several inches high. “And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened,” meaning that the tender plants haven’t yet broken aboveground.
Questions
1. When did Pharaoh send for Moshe and Aharon?
2. Where were Moshe and Aharon located during the storm?
3. What does “I sinned the stroke” mean?
4. Pharaoh also said, “Yehovah is righteous!” Did he mean it?
5. Was “I and my people are the culpable-ones” true?
6. What does entreat mean?
7. What does “multiply from there being voices” mean?
8. Pharaoh called the thunder voices of gods. Was he right?
9. Pharaoh promised that if Moshe and Aharon entreated unto Yehovah, and if Yehovah stopped the voices of gods and the hail, he would send the Israelis. Was this true?
10. Pharaoh also said, “And ye shall not add to stand.” What does that mean?
11. Did Moshe believe him?
12. Moshe told Pharaoh that he was going out of the city, at which time he would spread his palms unto Yehovah. Wasn’t he afraid of being hit by the hail or struck by the lightning?
13. What was the point of this terrible destruction, according to verse 29?
14. Who is ‘I’ in, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew”?
15. What did he know?
16. What is flax?
17. What is barley?
18. What does “barley is spring” mean?
19. What does “the flax is exalted above” mean?
20. What does being darkened mean in verse 32?
IX. Sinning More (verses 33-35)
Moshe left the city and Pharaoh. He spread the palms of his hands unto Yehovah. The voices ceased, as well as the hail and the rain. The rain didn’t pour down on the land.
Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, as well as the hail and the voices. He sinned even more! His heart (mind) heavied, and so did the heart of his slaves!
Pharaoh’s heart gripped, hanging on to his views from before. He didn’t send the children of Israel, exactly as Yehovah spoke by means of the hand of Moshe!
Questions
1. Verse 34 states that Pharaoh “added to sin.” What did he do that was sin?
2. What does “his heart heavied” mean, and why did the heart of his slaves do the same thing?
3. The next text states that the heart of Pharaoh gripped. What does this mean?