Hail

Story: Hail

Passage: Exodus 9:13-35

Characters:  Moses, Aaron, God, Pharaoh

Summary: 
God warns Pharaoh that the next plagues will be on Pharaoh’s heart.  God warns that hail will fall that will kill anyone outside. Those who feared God took cover and were spared, but those who ignored God were struck down.  It did not hail in Goshen.  Pharaoh said he had sinned and said he would let them go.  Moses doubted Pharaoh’s sincerity but he prayed and God stopped the hail.  But Pharaoh hardened his heart again and did not let the people go.

Notes: I actually found a lot of interesting stuff in this passage!  First, the Lord specifies that now the plagues will be sent on Pharaoh himself, or on his heart depending on how you translate the Hebrew.  God gives the reason for this; that they may know there is none like God in all the Earth.  God actually goes into a lot of detail explaining the reason for these plagues.  He points out that He could have wiped Egypt out long ago.  The reason for all these drawn out plagues is not merely punishment, but so that God’s name would be proclaimed in all the Earth when they see His power.   In fact, God says that this is the reason He raised Pharaoh up.  I find this terrifying honestly.  I have heard it said that God is for God.  God’s ultimate will is for His own glory.  That is why He created us, that is why He saved us, for His own glory.  This is hard to accept, I prefer to think I play a bigger role in God’s plans, but this passage sure seems to support it.  It seems that we exist to bring God glory.  Pharaoh did not willingly glorify God, but God still used his life to bring Himself glory.  God’s end goal was not punishment for Pharaoh, but glory for Himself.  In fact, everything God does indeed seems to be for His own glory.  Eternal punishment seems cruel, but it is just.  God is the only perfect holy being.  He is the only one in the universe who deserves glory and worship.  When we choose not to give that glory and worship to Him but rather focus it on creation, we disqualify ourselves from eternal unity with Him.  Think about it, what is the purpose of heaven?  Is it for our enjoyment and pleasure?  No! It is for worship.  Heaven is about glorifying God for eternity because He alone deserves it!  Once we turn our worship to other things, it makes total rational sense that we are no longer able to worship Him for eternity without some change in us.  That change came through Christ.  But anyway, my point is that God’s glory comes first.  That is the reason that the Egyptian people suffered through ten agonizing plagues rather than being instantly wiped out.  God is not cruel. God just deserves the glory we are giving to other things.  He is jealous for our attention.  We find out in the next verse that Pharaoh was still exalting himself above the Israelites.  That is the core issue here.  Pharaoh was making himself god, as was the Egyptian tradition.  Pharaoh was not just denying the true God, he was blatantly trying to replace Him.
This is an interesting plague in that God allowed people who believed and feared Him to be spared.  We read that some of Pharaoh’s servants did indeed fear God and took shelter.  Some left their servants and livestock outside though.  I wonder if any Hebrew slaves were left outside.  Anyway, apparently it hailed for quite some time.  Pharaoh sounded repentant.  He claimed he had sinned against God and he was wrong.  Moses straight up told Pharaoh that God would end the hail, but Pharaoh was lying.  This ended up being true.  Pharaoh once again hardened his heart.  This is called sin by the way.  Pharaoh did nothing physical that was sinful here.  Simply hardening his heart was considered sin.  I find it interesting that some of the crops had not grown yet and were thus unaffected.  Even in God’s judgment, He provided for the Egyptian survivors.  This shows that even in His justice, He was loving.  Even as He destroyed, He provided.  This also supports the fact that His main goal is His glory.

Questions:  Were any Hebrew slaves left in the storm?  Why did God raise Pharaoh up just to destroy him?  Why was Pharaoh still not repentant?  How many Egyptians believed God and were spared?

Lessons:  This passage shows us a little bit about the character of God.  We see examples of His righteous jealousy.  While this is a little scary, it is also encouraging.  It shows us that God deserves and desires our worship.  When we give God glory with our lives, He is pleased.  This isn’t selfish because He deserves that glory.  This passage should show us how important it is to not exalt ourselves, others, or other things above God.  We need to give Him the glory He deserves.  Our whole lives need to be for His glory and not our own.  When we put our image, our finances, our comfort, etc. above Him, we are giving our affections to His creation which does not deserve our affections.  Keep your affections on the creator.