At first Pharaoh of Egypt hardened his own heart against the Jew’s God. But then God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he could not change his mind as the plagues worsened.
This meant that not only did he not heed what Moses and Aaron said but he also would not heed what his own advisors told him.
His advisors got anxious to get rid of the Israelites and their terrible plagues before more bad fortune befell the Egyptians.
The magicians, in particular, wanted rid of them. They were no longer able to duplicate the plagues, but they were also not able to get rid of them. This conundrum is ruining their reputations.
Pharaoh is nothing more than an evil ruler who is bringing destructions on the people he claims to represent and love. Pharaoh’s stiffened heart continued to create problems.
Once again the Lord told Moses, “Early in the morning, present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go.”
God then threatened to send all the plagues upon Pharaoh and all his citizens. He told Pharaoh He could have erased them from the face of the earth entirely. But He spared them in order to show His power and for the purpose of spreading God’s name throughout the whole universe.
After which, God told Moses to tell Pharaoh God would rain down a very heavy hail of which they had never seen in their life. Then Pharaoh was to announce to ALL the people that they must bring all their livestock and anything of value inside under shelter.
This instruction creates a conundrum. During a past plague we are told “all the livestock of the Egyptians died”. No one really knows why or how there are more livestock to take inside. And I am certainly not going to argue with the scholars guessing at the meaning.
Now we all know God even warned that anyone who did not take cover would be killed by the hail. With hindsight we can see the irony. Here was the ‘most high’ leader of the land having to follow the orders of the Israelites God. It must have been a very humbling situation.
Remember, they were warned that every man and beast that remained outdoors would be killed. But as human nature would have it, there were those who did not obey the Lord and they left their slaves and cattle outdoors.
Moses was told by God to hold out his arms toward the sky that hail might fall on all the grasses of the field in Egypt.
When Moses held out his arms, hail, thunder and lightning fell down upon the land of Egypt. The sad part of this situation was it was not just the livestock that were killed, but also the Israelite slaves that took care of the livestock.
The slaves were not evildoers but they had the misfortune of living with the evil doers and therefore were caught in the punishment.
Not only did the hail strike down all that were in the field but it also struck down all the grasses of the field and shattered all the trees of the field. And as promised, there was no hail in Goshen, where the Israelites lived.
Of course, Pharaoh was up to his old tricks. He sent for Moses and Aaron and said: “I stand guilty this time. The Lord is right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord that there may be an end to God’s thunder and hail.”
Moses answered that he would plead with the Lord to stop the hail, but then he added, “I know that you and your courtiers do not yet fear the Lord.”
Scripture tells us the flax and the barley were ruined, as they were ripe for harvest, but the wheat and the emmer, which is another type of wheat, were not ruined because they were late crops.
Moses did as he said he would and the hail and thunder ceased. It was wonderful for Pharaoh to be believed. The problem was he could not be believed. He reverted back to his old guilty ways.
We all know people like that. Humble when they are caught and punished, repentant when they have no choice, but quickly return to their old ways when they think they got away with it. And low and behold, his courtiers were exactly the same way.
Once again Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he would not “let the people go”!
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