Ten Plagues: The Exodus Great Balls of Fire
He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.
He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. Psalm 147
Kindness and Compassion in the Tempest
The Plague of Hail is what precipitated this whole series on the Ten Plagues. I am so thankful to have spent the time learning the faith lessons embedded within the pages addressing the plagues of Egypt. On the last two plague animal disease and boils there was not allot of commentary. Why does the Bible deem it necessary to narrate the devastation? If the Plagues were merely to save the Hebrews one plague could have achieved that outcome. Some believe that the plagues were punitive. In the Plague of Hail we actually see the kindness of God shining forth through the raging tempest. Their purpose was to be an unequivocal demonstration of God’s power. For this reason, the plagues became progressively stronger. These faith lessons were teaching Egypt the fallacy of idolatry and the reality of the Creator was the purpose in each successive wave of plague.
Moses never used the pressure of the plagues to obtain concessions from Pharaoh. The plagues’ purpose was to teach Egypt knowledge of God. Moses always removed the plague upon Pharaoh’s request, and Moses did not hold out on removing the plague until Pharaoh conceded to Moses’ requests. Moses wished that Egypt recognized God through wisdom, not coercion. What a faith lessons for us! How often do we attempt to extract an end goal through pressuring someone through the storms in their life? God, Moses and Aaron do not use the tactics that will become manifest in the beast system, Anti-Christ, and False Prophet instead kindness and compassion are exemplified especially in this Plague of Hail.
Pharaoh vacillated in an emotional state as the plagues unfolded-stressful pressure from each plague, to repent of his sin, to be a man of his word, but each time Pharaoh conceded to obstinacy.
Moses directs Pharaoh to an analog: God is the source of both nature, and man: God has been compassionate to you, (flexible crops) but at a certain point, this kindness will no longer be extended. When sin is matured, (stiff crops) there is no turning back, and you will snap as do stiff crops.”
This was Moses’ message to Pharaoh. Man sins by nature, and therefore, God affords man opportunities to correct his ways. But once sin captivates the whole personality and values of any given man or people, God will destroy that person or people. This plague was a warning to Pharaoh - in the form of an analogy.
Man feels he may sin and repent later, but there may not be a later. The opportunity to repent is a Divine gift, and must be seized when presented, lest we lose the chance. There is a point of no return. This is an extremely timely message as we wade deeper into the events of the Revelation and prophecy.
We learn of the compassion of God on His creations: on mankind. God allows man time to exert his free will to bring himself in line with truth. “Those who He loves, God rebukes”. The plagues were an attempt to remove Egypt’s false ideas, enabling them to embrace God’s absolute truths.
As the lashes of judgment are felt upon our backs let us remember that this is God's kindness and compassion towards us. We are firmly in the hand of God's iron crucible that will burn away the dross of our lives as He prepares us for eternity with Him.
Verse 16 clearly states that, I have let you Pharaoh endure so that you might see My strength and glory. As we are beset with the troubles of prophecy coming to pass let us see His strength and glory in those dark hours.
Stretch our your Hand Heavenward
Our Plague of Hail takes place 'Eth' was Memphis in the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. 'Eth' has Messianic implications that one can find in the original Hebrew including the first sentence of the Bible. It means the Beginning and the End, Aleph and Tav, Alpha and Omega.
Stretch your hand towards heaven (firmament not heaven literally)…
The Egyptians ignored the warning for the cattle be brought in from the field to a place of shelter. Once warned the decree was extended; hail would come down also upon man and beast in the field. The Hebrew text indicates that more than one kind of hail would be active against them.
In many of the plagues God had Aaron stretch forth his hand, but in this Plague of Hail God instructed Moses to stretch forth his hand.
Extend your hand to heaven, unleash My power… Here is yet another faith lesson for us! At the bidding of the Lord we must extend our hand, as He directs and extends His hand. Through that connection the very powers of creation can be released. We need to remember this in the days to come.
Confrontation
God commanded Moshe to arise early to confront Pharaoh at his place of worship, the Nile. The plague of hail was the first plague, of the third group of plagues in Egypt. This third group included plagues taking effect in the heavens or air: hail, locusts (via the wind), and darkness. Previously God addressed the god's of the waters and the gods of the lands. God wished to demonstrate His omnipotence in all areas of the universe.
The Egyptian gods of the heavens were mocked by the inability to stop the raging hail sent by the true God of the heavens. Thus, Nut-the sky goddess, Isis-the goddess of life, and Seth-the protector of the crops were affected.” It appears as though the Eternal One was going toe-to-toe with demonic powers and principalities in His plan of redemption for the Hebrew people.
By subjugating all the forces in nature God demonstrated how totally useless the forces of nature were in defense of those who believed in them.
Pharaoh's heels were dug in and he still believe other gods controlled the earth and him at times so this time I will send all My plagues so that you will know that there is none like Me in all the earth.
Because you still exalt yourself above My people….You (Pharaoh) are growing haughty in your heart against letting the Hebrews go. Therefore, at this time- precise hour- I will cause a heavy hail such as had not been seen in Egypt.
As we meander through the verses on the Plague of Hail we should be reminded that in the Old Testament the punishment for idolatry was stoning. How can an entire idolatrous nation be stoned simultaneously? Through a Plague of Hail.
Plagues against the Heart
The bible describes this Plague of Hail sent by God as a direct result of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, which had prevented him from obeying God.
For this time I will send all my wonders to your heart, and in your servants and in your people, in order that you shall know that there is none like Me in all the land. Exodus 9:14
This plague was an educational tool. Some Egyptians did fear God through His education via the plagues. But those who did not give heart to the matter is to teach us that there are none that didn’t fear, but only those who deny reality. Didn’t give heart, means that in order to oppose God’s absolute truths, they had to shut their hearts and minds from any investigation. It is not the absence of fear, but a more primary block: they denied any investigation into the plagues.
God warned Pharaoh that He was about to send all My plagues against your heart.
This Plague of Hail is a wonder, is a supernatural event, all subsequent plagues – commencing with this hail – will have new effect. That those who fear God and His Word will be protected while those who do not fear God and His Word will be harmed.
Snare
The Lord sent thunder and hail …Moshe having informed Pharaoh that tomorrow at this time I will cause…to rain down, was specified by a line on the wall. Naturally, the Egyptians would carefully attend to the exact instant of the arrival of the plague so that they could discredit him.
The Laws of Nature dictate that it takes a few moments for hail to leave the clouds and to reach the ground, even as, it also takes time for thunder to be heard below and for lightning to be seen the instant it leaves its origin.
Thunder is produced first at intersection before electrical discharge. Lightning is always registered by the visual sense before the aural sense is triggered. Lag times would be exploited by the Egyptians because neither thunder, nor hail, will reach the ground at a set time.
Here a great miracle took place! Within the same instant of thunder and hail leaving the clouds, Legend says, that they arrived below with lightning-like speed, so that instead of the natural pattern, whereby the lightning is detected before the thunder-here the thunder, since it was produced first and observed prior to the lightning.
The usual lag time between the speed of light and the speed of sound was suspended. Consequently, the verse says, the Lord sent the hail. It does not say that the Lord caused the hail to rain down i.e. to rain down naturally, since it did not travel as natural rain. By affecting this miracle God provided for the arrival, first of all, of the thunder and hail; and only then did then a fire passed down upon the earth i.e. the fire of lightning.
It was however, necessary to invoke this great wonder only during the initial moments, in order to assure Moshe's prediction. It would not have been possible for the thunder and the hail to move at their natural velocities and yet arrive in time. Subsequent to these initial moments, then, the verse accents the thundering and the hail reaching the ground naturally. Once the miraculous intervention had come to an end the Lord caused hail to rain down upon the land of Egypt. It came down naturally, with a time delay that accorded with the laws of gravity and the laws of motion.
Components of Hail
閃電的科學: 紅妖電、噴射流和發光球
Within this plague are embedded many components: huge hailstones, fire burning within each stone v 24, deafening thunder, flaming lightning v 23, Psalm 105:23, and heavy rainstorms. Any one of these would be considered a plague.
In the Bible all is sometimes used to mean most or a great amount. It can also refer too many of the components of this plague that are mentioned above. In a normal year, each, in-and-of-itself would be considered a plague.
God begins to drill down that He alone is Master of the four foundational elements:
- Thunder represents air,
- Hail represents water,
- Flames are the fire,
- Ground is the earth.
God reverses the order to show His mastery over the world. This plague unites all the elements to demonstrate that there is no one like Me in the land. The Egyptians were forced to witness that the forces of nature that they believed were their defense, were useless to all those who believed in them.
This is a compound miracle. It is not the typical nature of fire to shoot downward but to rise. Fire and water are opposites but here they join to serve God, functioning in unison.
Hastily Assemble the Remnant
Send therefore hastily (haez) means to flee or gather V 19
The Plague of Livestock disease only killed the cattle in the field. Exodus 9:3Those in shelters did not perish, but in accordance with God's Will, He allowed a remnant to escape here and also referenced in Ezekiel 9:8. God warns them to gather the livestock into a fortified location (haez-strong) against the elements. Pharaoh was warned that while this plague was meant to strike outdoor plants and vegetation (grass of the field), any man or cattle in the field at the time would be stricken by hail. God's mercy is great, Therefore, He instruct sinners in the way Psalm 25:8 We often attribute to the strong men advising humanity of their coming actions when they are but mere clay in the hand of the Master to Whom we really should be ascribe these warning to God's great mercy of instructional warning.
Perfect Supernatural Storm
Your fathers and grandfathers have never seen the likes of it. Because the hail was not in a natural order, nothing like this has ever occurred before. From before the inception of Egypt as a nation, because of the sins of the fathers, surely there was no reason for such hail to come.
The hail was very strange because of the absence of precipitation in Egypt. There are other places in the world that naturally hails. The world had never seen the likes of such a plague and certainly not in Egypt where this kind of meteorological phenomenon was totally unknown. At the time of the Plague of Hail dew was about the only precipitation that rains upon Egypt. V18
and the fire went earthward…In Egypt, where there is hardly any precipitation, this hail signified a major change in the environment.....
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