E
X O D U S
CHAP. IX.
In
this chapter we have an account of three more of the plagues of
Egypt
. I. Murrain among the cattle,
which was fatal to them, ver. 1-7. II. Boils upon man and beast, ver. 8-12.
III. Hail, with thunder and lightning. 1. Warning is given of this plague,
ver. 13-21. 2. It is inflicted, to their great terror, ver. 22-26. 3. Pharaoh,
in a fright, renews his treaty with Moses, but instantly breaks his word, ver.
27, &c.
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The
Plagues of
Egypt
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B.
C. 1491.
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1 Then the LORD
said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD
God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2
For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
3 Behold, the hand of the LORD
is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the
asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be
a very grievous murrain. 4 And the LORD
shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there
shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.
5 And the LORD
appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD
shall do this thing in the land. 6 And the LORD
did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the
cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7 And 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.
Here is, I. Warning given of another plague, namely, the murrain of beasts.
When Pharaoh's heart was hardened, after he had seemed to relent under the
former plague, then Moses is sent to tell him there is another coming, to try
what that would do towards reviving the impressions of the former plagues.
Thus is the wrath of God revealed from heaven, both in his word and in his
works, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 1. Moses
puts Pharaoh in a very fair way to prevent it: Let my people go, v.
1. This was still the demand. God will have Israel released; Pharaoh opposes
it, and the trial is, whose word shall stand. See how jealous God is
for his people. When the year of his redeemed has come, he will give
Egypt for their ransom; that kingdom shall be ruined, rather than Israel
shall not be delivered. See how reasonable God's demands are. Whatever he
calls for, it is but his own: They are my people, therefore let them
go. 2. He describes the plague that should come, if he refused, v. 2,
3. The hand of the Lord immediately, without the stretching out of
Aaron's hand, is upon the cattle, many of which, some of all kinds,
should die by a sort of pestilence. This was greatly to the loss of the
owners: they had made Israel poor, and now God would make them poor. Note, The
hand of God is to be acknowledged even in the sickness and death of cattle, or
other damage sustained in them; for a sparrow falls not to the ground
without our Father. 3. As an evidence of the special hand of God in it,
and of his particular favour to his own people, he foretels that none of their
cattle should die, though they breathed in the same air and drank of the same
water with the Egyptians' cattle: The Lord shall sever, v. 4.
Note, When God's judgments are abroad, though they may fall both on the
righteous and the wicked, yet God makes such a distinction that they are not
the same to the one that they are to the other. See Isa. xxvii. 7. The
providence of God is to be acknowledged with thankfulness in the life of the
cattle, for he preserveth man and beast, Ps. xxxvi. 6. 4. To make the warning
the more remarkable, the time is fixed (v. 5): To-morrow it
shall be done. We know not what any day will bring forth, and therefore we
cannot say what we will do to-morrow, but it is not so with God.
II. The plague itself inflicted. The cattle died, v. 6. Note, The
creature is made subject to vanity by the sin of man, being liable, according
to its capacity, both to serve his wickedness and to share in his punishment,
as in the universal deluge. Rom. viii. 20, 22. Pharaoh and the Egyptians
sinned; but the sheep, what had they done? Yet they are plagued. See
Jer. xii. 4, For the wickedness of the land, the beasts are consumed.
The Egyptians afterwards, and (some think) now, worshipped their cattle; it
was among them that the Israelites learned to make a god of a calf: in this
therefore the plague here spoken of meets with them. Note, What we make an
idol of it is just with God to remove from us, or embitter to us. See Isa. xix.
1.
III. The distinction put between the cattle of the Egyptians and the
Israelites' cattle, according to the word of God: Not one of the cattle of
the Israelites died, v. 6, 7. Does God take care of oxen? Yes, he
does; his providence extends itself to the meanest of his creatures. But it is
written also for our sakes, that, trusting in God, and making him our refuge,
we may not be afraid of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, no,
not though thousands fall at our side, Ps. xci. 6, 7. Pharaoh sent to
see if the cattle of the Israelites were infected, not to satisfy his
conscience, but only to gratify his curiosity, or with design, by way of
reprisal, to repair his own losses out of their stocks; and, having no good
design in the enquiry, the report brought to him made no impression upon him,
but, on the contrary, his heart was hardened. Note, To those that are wilfully
blind, even those methods of conviction which are ordained to life prove a
savour of death unto death.
8 And 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.
9 And 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. 10 And 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. 11 And
the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil
was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12 And the LORD
hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD
had spoken unto Moses.
Observe here, concerning the plague of boils and blains,
I. When they were not wrought upon by the death of their cattle, God sent a
plague that seized their own bodies, and touched them to the quick. If less
judgments do not do their work, God will send greater. Let us therefore humble
ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and go forth to meet him in the way of
his judgments, that his anger may be turned away from us.
II. The signal by which this plague was summoned was the sprinkling of warm
ashes from the furnace, towards heaven (v. 8, 10), which was to
signify the heating of the air with such an infection as should produce in the
bodies of the Egyptians sore boils, which would be both noisome and painful.
Immediately upon the scattering of the ashes, a scalding dew came down out of
the air, which blistered wherever it fell. Note, Sometimes God shows men their
sin in their punishment; they had oppressed Israel in the furnaces, and now
the ashes of the furnace are made as much a terror to them as ever their
task-masters had been to the Israelites.
III. The plague itself was very grievous--a common eruption would be so,
especially to the nice and delicate, but these eruptions were inflammations,
like Job's. This is afterwards called the botch of Egypt (Deut. xxviii.
27), as if it were some new disease, never heard of before, and known ever
after by that name, Note, Sores in the body are to be looked upon as the
punishments of sin, and to be hearkened to as calls to repentance.
IV. The magicians themselves were struck with these boils, v. 11. 1.
Thus they were punished, (1.) For helping to harden Pharaoh's heart, as Elymas
for seeking to pervert the right ways of the Lord; God will severely
reckon with those that strengthen the hands of the wicked in their wickedness.
(2.) For pretending to imitate the former plagues, and making themselves and
Pharaoh sport with them. Those that would produce lice shall, against their
wills, produce boils. Note, It is ill jesting with God's judgments, and more
dangerous than playing with fire. Be you not mockers, lest your bands be
made strong. 2. Thus they were shamed in the presence of their admirers.
How weak were their enchantments, which could not so much as secure
themselves! The devil can give no protection to those that are in confederacy
with him. 3. Thus they were driven from the field. Their power was restrained
before (ch. viii. 18), but they continued to confront Moses, and
confirm Pharaoh in his unbelief, till now, at length, they were forced to
retreat, and could not stand before Moses, to which the apostle refers (2 Tim.
iii. 9) when he says that their folly was made manifest unto all men.
V. Pharaoh continued obstinate, for now the Lord hardened his heart, v.
12. Before, he had hardened his own heart, and resisted the grace of God; and
now God justly gave him up to his own heart's lusts, to a reprobate mind, and
strong delusions, permitting Satan to blind and harden him, and ordering every
thing, henceforward, so as to make him more and more obstinate. Note, Wilful
hardness is commonly punished with judicial hardness. If men shut their eyes
against the light, it is just with God to close their eyes. Let us dread this
as the sorest judgment a man can be under on this side hell.
13 And the LORD
said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and
say unto him, Thus saith the LORD
God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14
For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy
servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none
like me in all the earth. 15 For now I will stretch out my hand,
that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut
off from the earth. 16 And in very deed for this cause have
I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be
declared throughout all the earth. 17 As yet exaltest thou thyself
against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 18 Behold, to
morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as
hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast 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. 20 He that feared the word of the LORD
among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the
houses: 21 And he that regarded not the word of the LORD
left his servants and his cattle in the field.
Here is, I. A general declaration of the wrath of God against Pharaoh for his
obstinacy. Though God has hardened his heart (v. 12), yet Moses must
repeat his applications to him; God suspends his grace and yet demands
obedience, to punish him for requiring bricks of the children of Israel when
he denied them straw. God would likewise show forth a pattern of
long-suffering, and how he waits to be gracious to a rebellious and
gainsaying people. Six times the demand had been made in vain, yet Moses
must make it the seventh time: Let my people go, v. 13. A most
dreadful message Moses is here ordered to deliver to him, whether he will hear
or whether he will forbear. 1. He must tell him that he is marked for ruin,
that he now stands as the butt at which God would shoot all the arrows of his
wrath, v. 14, 15. "Now I will send all my plagues."
Now that no place is found for repentance in Pharaoh, nothing can prevent his
utter destruction, for that only would have prevented it. Now that God begins
to harden his heart, his case is desperate. "I will send my
plagues upon thy heart, not only temporal plagues upon thy body, but
spiritual plagues upon thy soul." Note, God can send plagues upon thy
soul." Note, God can send plagues upon the heart, either by making it
senseless or by making it hopeless--and these are the worst plagues. Pharaoh
must now expect no respite, no cessation of arms, but to be followed with
plague upon plague, till he is utterly consumed. Note, When God judges he will
overcome; none ever hardened his heart against him and prospered. 2. He must
tell him that he is to remain in history a standing monument of the justice
and power of God's wrath (v. 16): "For this cause have I raised
thee up to the throne at this time, and made thee to stand the shock of
the plagues hitherto, to show in thee my power." Providence
ordered it so that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn
spirit as he was to deal with; and every thing was so managed in this
transaction as to make it a most signal and memorable instance of the power
God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. Every thing
concurred to signalize this, that God's name (that is, his incontestable
sovereignty, his irresistible power, and his inflexible justice) might be
declared throughout all the earth, not only to all places, but through all
ages while the earth remains. Note, God sometimes raises up very bad men to
honour and power, spares them long, and suffers them to grow insufferably
insolent, that he may be so much the more glorified in their destruction at
last. See how the neighbouring nations, at that time, improved the ruin of
Pharaoh to the glory of God. Jethro said upon it, Now know I that the Lord
is greater than all gods, ch. xviii. 11. The apostle illustrates
the doctrine of God's sovereignty with this instance, Rom. ix. 17. To justify
God in these resolutions, Moses is directed to ask him (v. 17), As
yet exaltest thou thyself against my people? Pharaoh was a great king;
God's people were poor shepherds at the best, and now poor slaves; and yet
Pharaoh shall be ruined if he exalt himself against them, for it is considered
as exalting himself against God. This was not the first time that God reproved
kings for their sakes, and let them know that he would not suffer his people
to be trampled upon and insulted, no, not by the most powerful of them.
II. A particular prediction of the plague of hail (v. 18), and a
gracious advice to Pharaoh and his people to send for their servants and
cattle out of the field, that they might be sheltered from the hail, v.
19. Note, When God's justice threatens ruin his mercy, at the same time, shows
us a way of escape from it, so unwilling is he that any should perish. See
here what care God took, not only to distinguish between Egyptians and
Israelites, but between some Egyptians and others. If Pharaoh will not yield,
and so prevent the judgment itself, yet an opportunity is given to those that
have any dread of God and his word to save themselves from sharing in the
judgment. Note, Those that will take warning may take shelter; and those that
will not may thank themselves if they fall by the overflowing scourge, and the
hail which will sweep away the refuge of lies, Isa. xxviii. 17. See the
different effect of this warning. 1. Some believed the things that were
spoken, and they feared, and housed their servants and cattle (v.
20), like Noah (Heb. xi. 7), and it was their wisdom. Even among the servants
of Pharaoh there were some that trembled at God's word; and shall not the sons
of Israel dread it? But, 2. Others believed not: though, whatever plague Moses
had hitherto foretold, the event exactly answered to the prediction; and
though, if they had had any reason to question this, it would have been no
great damage to them to have kept their cattle in the house for one day, and
so, supposing it a doubtful case, to have chosen the surer side; yet they were
so foolhardy as in defiance to the truth of Moses, and the power of God (of
both which they had already had experience enough, to their cost), to leave
their cattle in the field, Pharaoh himself, it is probable, giving them an
example of the presumption, v. 21. Note, Obstinate infidelity, which is
deaf to the fairest warnings and the wisest counsels, leaves the blood of
those that perish upon their own heads.
22 And the LORD
said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine 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. 23 And 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. 24 So 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. 25 And 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 brake every tree of
the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of
Israel were, was there no hail. 27 And 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. 28
Intreat the LORD
(for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and
hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29 And
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
thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD's.
30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD
God. 31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was
in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 32 But the wheat and
the rye were not smitten: for they were not grown up. 33
And 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. 34 And 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. 35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would
he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD
had spoken by Moses.
The threatened plague of hail is here summoned by the powerful hand and rod of
Moses (v. 22, 23), and it obeys the summons, or rather the divine
command; for fire and hail fulfil God's word, Ps. cxlviii. 8. And here
we are told,
I. What desolations it made upon the earth. The thunder, and fire from heaven
(or lightning), made it both the more dreadful and the more destroying, v.
23, 24. Note, God makes the clouds, not only his store-houses whence he drops
fatness on his people, but his magazines whence, when he pleases, he can draw
out a most formidable train of artillery, with which to destroy his enemies.
He himself speaks of the treasures of hail which he hath reserved against
the day of battle and war, Job xxxviii. 22, 23. Woeful havoc this hail
made in the land of Egypt. It killed both men and cattle, and battered down,
not only the herbs, but the trees, v. 25. The corn that was above
ground was destroyed, and that only preserved which as yet had not come up, v.
31, 32. Note, God has many ways of taking away the corn in the season
thereof (Hos. ii. 9), either by a secret blasting, or a noisy hail. In
this plague the hot thunderbolts, as well as the hail, are said to
destroy their flocks, Ps. lxxviii. 47, 48; and see Ps. cv. 32, 33.
Perhaps David alludes to this when, describing God's glorious appearances for
the discomfiture of his enemies, he speaks of the hailstones and coals of fire
he threw among them, Ps. xviii. 12, 13. And there is a plan reference to it on
the pouring out of the seventh vial, Rev. xvi. 21. Notice is here taken (v.
26) of the land of Goshen's being preserved from receiving any damage by this
plague. God has the directing of the pregnant clouds, and causes it to rain or
hail on one city and not on another, either in mercy or in judgment.
II. What a consternation it put Pharaoh in. See what effect it had upon him,
1. He humbled himself to Moses in the language of a penitent, v. 27,
28. No man could have spoken better. He owns himself on the wrong side in his
contest with the God of the Hebrews: "I have sinned in standing it
out so long." He owns the equity of God's proceedings against him: The
Lord is righteous, and must be justified when he speaks, though he speak
in thunder and lightning. He condemns himself and his land: "I and my
people are wicked, and deserve what is brought upon us." He begs the
prayers of Moses: "Entreat the Lord for me, that this direful
plague may be removed." And, lastly, he promises to yield up his
prisoners: I will let you go. What could one desire more? And yet his
heart was hardened all this while. Note, The terror of the rod often extorts
penitent acknowledgments from those who have no penitent affections; under the
surprise and smart of affliction, they start up, and say that which is
pertinent enough, not because they are deeply affected, but because they know
that they should be and that it is meet to be said. 2. Moses, hereupon,
becomes an intercessor for him with God. Though he had all the reason in the
world to think that he would immediately repent of his repentance, and told
him so (v. 30), yet he promises to be this friend in the court of
heaven. Note, Even those whom we have little hopes of, yet we should continue
to pray for, and to admonish, 1 Sam. xii. 23. Observe, (1.) The place Moses
chose for his intercession. He went out of the city (v. 33), not
only for privacy in his communion with God, but to show that he durst venture
abroad into the field, notwithstanding the hail and lightning which kept
Pharaoh and his servants withindoors, knowing that every hail-stone had its
direction from his God, who meant him no hurt. Note, Peace with God makes men
thunderproof, for thunder is the voice of their Father. (2.) The gesture: He spread
abroad his hands unto the Lord--an outward expression of earnest desire
and humble expectation. Those that come to God for mercy must stand ready to
receive it. (3.) The end Moses aimed at in interceding for him: That thou
mayest know, and be convinced, that the earth is the Lord's (v.
29), that is, that God has a sovereign dominion over all the creatures, that
they all are ruled by him, and therefore that thou oughtest to be so. See what
various methods God uses to bring men to their proper senses. Judgments are
sent, judgments removed, and all for the same end, to make men know that he
Lord reigns. (4.) The success of it. [1.] He prevailed with God, v. 33.
But, [2.] He could not prevail with Pharaoh: He sinned yet more, and
hardened his heart, v. 34, 35. The prayer of Moses opened and shut
heaven, like Elias's (Jam. v. 17, 18), and such is the power of God's two
witnesses (Rev. xi. 6); yet neither Moses nor Elias, nor those two witnesses,
could subdue the hard hearts of men. Pharaoh was frightened into a compliance
by the judgment, but, when it was over, his convictions vanished, and his fair
promises were forgotten. Note, Little credit is to be given to confessions
upon the rack. Note also, Those that are not bettered by judgments and mercies
are commonly made worse.
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