The Book of Exodus

Explanation

The fifth plague strikes at Egypt's wealth. "The hand of the LORD" falls on the cattle in the field, and a "very grievous murrain," a deadly livestock disease, sweeps through the horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep. But once again God makes a division: "the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt," so that "there shall nothing die" of Israel's. When the day appointed comes, "all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one." Notice that the plague named the animals "in the field," which is why cattle still remain to be struck by boils and hail in the plagues that follow; not every beast in Egypt was in the open pasture. Pharaoh even sends to check, and finds it true that Israel lost nothing, yet "the heart of Pharaoh was hardened." Even a fact he verified with his own messengers could not bend him.

Gospel Focus

"The LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt." God keeps drawing the line He first drew at the flies, and it deepens with every plague. He is able to protect His people precisely in the place where judgment falls, to keep them untouched while the world around them suffers loss. This is the promise that steadies the believer in an evil day: "there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling" (Psalm 91:10). It does not mean God's people never suffer; it means nothing can touch them apart from His hand and His purpose. God knows how to make a difference, to shelter His own in Goshen while Egypt mourns. And there is a solemn note in Pharaoh here. He sent and confirmed the miracle with his own eyes, and still his heart hardened. Evidence alone never saved a soul. A man can see the plain hand of God, verify it, and remain unmoved, for the trouble was never a lack of proof but an unwilling heart.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

At God's word Moses takes ashes from the furnace and throws them toward heaven, and they become fine dust that settles over Egypt as "a boil breaking forth with blains," painful sores on man and beast alike. This is the sixth plague, and it marks the end of the magicians. Earlier they had copied the serpents, the blood, and the frogs; at the lice they failed and confessed the finger of God; now they cannot even appear. "The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians." The very men who once stood proudly in Pharaoh's court to oppose God's servant are now covered in sores, unable to show their faces. The counterfeit that could not win has now been swept from the contest entirely. And for the first time the text says plainly, "the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh," the judicial hardening of a man who had hardened himself again and again.

Gospel Focus

The disappearance of the magicians preaches a quiet sermon. The powers that set themselves against God can resist for a season, but they are progressively stripped and finally silenced. They mimicked, then failed, confessed, and at last could not even stand. So it will be with every power that opposes God: "God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7), and every enemy is put under His feet in the end. The apostle names these same magicians as a pattern of last-days deceivers who resist the truth, "but they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was" (2 Timothy 3:9). There is the promise. The counterfeit has a stopping place fixed by God. However bold the opposition to the gospel looks today, its folly will be made plain, and it will not stand before the Lord. The rod of God swallowed their rods at the start; now the plague of God has driven them from the room. God always has the last word.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Before the seventh plague God speaks His fullest word yet about His purpose. He could have wiped Egypt out with pestilence long ago, "cut off from the earth" in a moment, but He has kept Pharaoh standing for a reason: "for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth." Pharaoh's stubborn resistance was not defeating God's plan; it was the stage on which God displayed His glory to the whole world. Then God warns of a hail such as Egypt has never seen and, in mercy, tells them how to escape it: bring your servants and cattle in from the field. Here a beautiful thing happens. "He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses," while "he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field." Even in hardened Egypt, the warning of God separated the fearful from the careless.

Gospel Focus

This is the verse Paul lifts to teach the sovereignty of God: "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth" (Romans 9:17). God is so completely sovereign that He can take the hardest, proudest enemy and make him serve the glory of His name. This does not excuse Pharaoh, who chose his own rebellion; it declares that no rebellion can escape being folded into God's purpose. What men mean against God, God bends to His own ends. And notice the mercy hidden in the warning, and the division it made. God did not have to tell Egypt how to shelter from the hail, but He did, and "he that feared the word of the LORD" was spared while "he that regarded not the word" lost all. The word of God still divides men this way. It is preached to all, but only those who fear it and act on it are sheltered. To hear the warning and leave your cattle in the field is to perish with the storm. "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). Faith is the man who believed the word enough to run for the house.

Explanation

Moses stretches out his rod and God sends thunder, 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." It smites man, beast, herb, and tree throughout Egypt, "only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail." Under this terror Pharaoh makes the strongest confession of his life: "I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked." He begs Moses to pray, promising to let Israel go. Moses agrees to pray, so Pharaoh "mayest know how that the earth is the LORD'S," but adds a sober warning: "I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God." And he was right. When the thunder and hail ceased, "he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants." His confession lasted exactly as long as the storm. The moment relief came, his true heart returned.

Gospel Focus

Pharaoh's "I have sinned" is a warning against a repentance that is only sorry for the consequences. He did not hate his sin; he hated the hail. When the pain lifted, so did his sorrow, and he "sinned yet more." Scripture draws the sharp line: "godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (2 Corinthians 7:10). Worldly sorrow weeps at the punishment and returns to the sin the moment it is safe; godly sorrow hates the sin itself and turns from it to God. Many a person has cried "I have sinned" in a crisis, a sickbed, a courtroom, a storm, only to forget God entirely when the trouble passed. True repentance is not measured by the tears of the bad hour but by the walk of the days after. Do not mistake the fear of consequences for the fear of the LORD. And take heart from the mercy still on display: God warned before He struck, and He sheltered Goshen through it all. He is righteous in judgment and faithful to His people, and His patience is meant to lead us, unlike Pharaoh, to a repentance that lasts.