CHAPTER 9

(1491 B.C.)

THE CATTLE

¹Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let My People go, that they may serve Me. (This Chapter portrays the plagues of God deepening in their intensity. When they are concluded, mighty Egypt will be seriously affected. The Lord God of Heaven was not ashamed to call Himself the Lord God of the Hebrews, individuals who were slaves. He calls them My people.)

²For if you refuse to let them go, and will hold them still (a people still amid the defilements and abominations of Egypt could not have been a witness for the Holy One; nor can anyone now, while mixed up with the defilements of a corrupt, worldly religion, possibly be a bright and steady witness for a crucified and risen Christ),

³Behold, the Hand of the LORD is upon your cattle which is in the field (did not include those in stalls, etc.), upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain (their three popular gods were the bull, the cow, and the ram; murrain means a plague that kills).

⁴And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt (the word cattle stood for all type of domestic animals): and there shall nothing die of all that is the Childrens of Israel. (All of this affords a striking demonstration of the absolute rulership of God. He completely controls every creature He has made. The herds of the Egyptians might be dying all around them, but the cattle of Israel were as secure as though there had been no epidemic at all.

There is a spiritual meaning and application to all of this. And it is that meaning that we here, as Believers under the New Covenant, must derive.

This world and all its works will be destroyed as completely as were the beasts of Egypt. By contrast, the sparing of the cattle of the Israelites intimates that the works of the new nature in the Believer will abide [I Cor. 3:14].)

⁵And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. (If it is to be noticed, the Lord gave time to Pharaoh to repent, in other words, to obey in allowing Israel to leave before He brought this other plague on the land. But all were to no avail.)

⁶And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died (all domestic animals): but of the cattle of the Children of Israel died not one.

⁷And 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. (The Cross of Christ has not only put away the Believers sins, but also dissolved forever our connection with the world; and, on the ground of this, we are privileged to regard the world as a crucified thing, and to be regarded by it as a crucified one [Gal. 2:20]. Thus, it stands with the Believer and the world it is crucified to him and he to it. This is the real, dignified position of every true Believer. And, to be sure, this position will ultimately guarantee release from all of Satans bondages.)

BOILS

⁸And 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. (The furnace mentioned here was probably the furnace where human victims to the god Typhon were offered in sacrifice. These victims were offered in order to avert plagues.)

⁹And 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. (If the sacrifices of human victims among the Egyptians were offered to avert plagues, the ashes which Moses was ordered by the Lord to scatter instead of doing so brought a fresh plague, which proclaims the helplessness of these demon gods.)

¹⁰And 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. (This was the sixth plague, and was brought about without any notice. It was also, like the third, a plague which inflicted direct injury upon the person. As well, this plague proclaims the fact that the Lord can send sickness upon individuals, if He so desires. While all sickness and death are the result of the Fall, still, the Lord has total control of these things, as should be obvious.)

¹¹And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. (The magicians made no attempt to exert their so-called magical powers, and for all the obvious reasons. The boils were upon Pharaoh as well. But, instead of it causing him to humble himself before God, it seemed to have the very opposite effect.)

¹²And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses. (Once again, the Lord provided the means for Pharaoh to harden his own heart. The Lord did not tamper with the will of the Monarch in all of this. In other words, Pharaoh was not forced by the Lord to take the position which he took. All of this was of his own volition.)

HAIL

¹³And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let My People go, that they may serve Me. (In all of this, we learn that Satan does not let Gods people go easily. In other words, when the Believer first begins to hear the Message of the Cross, and this great truth is made real to his heart, and he realizes through the Cross that he can be free from the dominion of sin, Satan always puts up quite a fight in order to discourage such a Believer from continuing on this course of victory. All of this concerning the Children of Israel and Pharaohs obstinacy portray the example. But, as the example continues, if the Believer will persevere, total and complete victory will be his [Rom. 6:14; 8:1-2, 11].)

¹⁴For I will at this time send all My Plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants, and upon your people; that you may know that there is none like Me in all the Earth. (With Pharaoh failing to respond to Mercy and Grace, the Lord resorts to judgment, i.e., plagues, and first of all for the purpose that Egypt, and all the other surrounding nations, might know that their gods, whatever they were, were nothing but fanciful objects and, in reality, there was only one God, i.e., Jehovah.)

¹⁵For now I will stretch out My Hand, that I may smite you and your people with pestilence; and you shall be cut off from the Earth. (God will further show Pharaoh that He is the Supreme One over the elements, and that they, under His Will and Command, can be either instruments of blessing or destruction. Actually, this Verse proclaims Grace, for it gave Pharaoh warning.)

¹⁶And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, for to show in you My Power; and that My Name may be declared throughout all the Earth. (Up until now, Jehovah was known only to the descendants of Abraham. But now, and because of the obstinacy of Pharaoh, all the nations in that vicinity would learn Who Jehovah was, and eventually the entirety of the Earth, which is now the case.)

¹⁷As yet you exalt yourself against My People, that you will not let them go? (As stated, Satan does not give up easily; however, if the Believer will keep his Faith in Christ and the Cross, to be sure, ultimately victory will be his [I Jn. 5:4].)

¹⁸Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. (The Lord gives warning as to when the next plague was going to come tomorrow. Once again, this is Grace.)

¹⁹Send therefore now, and gather your cattle, and all that you have 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.

²⁰He who feared the Word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses (those who believed the Word of the Lord, and feared it, would get under shelter; he who did not regard the Word of the Lord would ignore the shelter but to their peril; it is the same presently; they who believe the Word give their hearts to Christ; they who do not, ignore that Word, and to their peril):

²¹And he who regarded not the Word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field. (It would seem strange, and considering the miracles of the recent past, that anyone in Egypt would still be in a state of unbelief; however, this Passage plainly tells us that such persons existed. It is the same presently!)

²²And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth your 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. (Whatever crops there were in Egypt at that time were totally and completely destroyed, along with all cattle and sheep which were left unattended.)

²³And 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. (This hail was mingled with fire, such as Egypt, and no doubt the world, had never seen.)

²⁴So 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. (As the boils were physical portrayals of the spiritual morality of unredeemed man, likewise, this judgment was expressive of the wrath of a Holy and sin-hating God.)

²⁵And 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. (This plague of thunder, hail, and fire was directed against Isis and Osiris, the gods of light, health, fertility, arts, and agriculture. Water, fire, earth, and air were all objects of Egyptian idolatry. God showed Pharaoh and his people that He was the Supreme One over these elements, and that, instead of helping the Egyptians, they, under Gods Will and Command, were instruments of destruction.)

²⁶Only in the land of Goshen, where the Children of Israel were, was there no hail. (The only thing that stands between man and Hellfire is the Cross of Christ.)

²⁷And 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. (While the right words were said, it was an insincere repentance. He was only admitting what was obviously the truth. He didnt intend to change his ways. True Repentance is a turning from the wrong direction to the right direction. And Repentance cannot be true unless Faith is anchored in Christ and the Cross, of which the Sacrifices which Moses demanded were a symbol.)

²⁸Intreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer. (His words were hollow, and because his repentance was insincere.)

²⁹And 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 you may know how that the Earth is the LORDs. (As Pharaoh would not admit that the Earth is the Lords, neither will modern man.)

³⁰But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God. (Moses knew that the repentance of Pharaoh was surface only.)

³¹And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled (the flax and the barley harvests were lost, which no doubt caused great hardship in Egypt).

³²But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up (were not yet planted; the previous two Verses tell us that the entirety of the time frame of the ten plagues probably was about three to four months in duration).

³³And 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. (Moses and Aaron evidently had some type of shelter over their heads to protect them as they left the palace, or else the Lord withheld the hail and rain from them wherever they went, which very well could have been the case.)

³⁴And 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. (Such is the state of many. They repent at the threat of judgment or its actual advent, but when it is lifted, they renege on their promise.)

³⁵And the heart of the Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the Children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses. (A few days ago, I was praying for particular individuals, asking the Lord to warn them. He spoke to my heart, telling me, I am warning them constantly, and in many and varied ways, but they will not see or listen.)