Exo 9.1-35 tells us about the continuing battle between two realities-Yehovah’s and Pharaoh’s; Egypt lives in a delusion and God will continue to impose his reality on Pharaoh and Egypt by the fifth plague on the livestock; a sixth plague of boils and its effects; the seventh plague of hail and lightning bringing fire from heaven; Pharaoh falsely repents and his heart gets even harder.
v 1…Then the Lord said to Moses (Yehovah is going to show Pharaoh what being precise in time and space really is), “Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord (Yehovah), the God (power) of the Hebrews, “Let me people go, that they may serve me (three days).
v 2…For if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them,
v 3…behold (see), the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence (plague) on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks.
v 4…But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die that belongs to the sons of Israel (precision).”
v 5…And the Lord set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land (precision of space and time; this should impress Pharaoh).”
v 6…So the Lord did this thing on the morrow, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died (the fifth plague against Apis, the bull god, did not touch Israel).
v 7…And Pharaoh sent (out scouts), and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened (“kavad ha lev”-stubborn), and he did not let the people go.
v 8…Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
v 9…And it will become fine dust over all the land of egypt, and will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt (the sixth plague was against Thoth, the god of medicine and wisdom).”
v 10…So they took soot from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast.
v 11…And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians (they thought one of the “elohims” or powers was mad at Pharaoh).
v 12…And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (“chazek ha lev”; God gave him the courage and strength to stay in the fight and not quit-v 16) and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken (what pagan god could do all this; to continue he has to ignore reality and the obvious).
v 13…Then the Lord aid to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Henrews, “Let my people go that they may serve me (three days).
v 14…For this time I will send all my plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may known that there is no one like me in all the earth.
v 15…For if by now I had put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would have been cut off from the earth.
v 16…But indeed, for this cause I have allowed you to remain (and not quit; that’s why God hardened his heart), in order to show you my power (as the creator God, who I was) and in order to proclaim my name (Yehovah) through all the earth (God wanted Pharaoh to surrender based on who he was, the creator God. If not, Yehovah was going to make sure Pharaoh got what he needed to continue till the end).
v 17…Still you exalt yourself against my people by not letting them go.
v 18…Behold, about this time tomorrow (in God’s timing), I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in egypt from the day it was founded until now.
v 19…Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home when the hail comes down on them, will die.”
v 20…The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses;
v 21…but he who paid no regard to the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
v 22…Now the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that hail may fall on all the land of egypt, on man and beast and on every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt (the seventh plague against Nut, goddess of the atmosphere).”
v 23…And Moses stretched out his staff towards the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down on the earth (lightning). And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
v 24…So there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation (this was not like any hail they have seen before; the fire and ice “gods” would have never joined forces because they can’t exist together; this was the work of a single God who controls both fire and ice).
v 25…And the hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree (hail was like cluster bombs).
v 26…Only in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail (so it was not a natural phenomenon).
v 27…Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones (but he will recant not realizing the trouble was meant to turn him around-Job 33.14-17).
v 28…Make supplication to the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
v 29…And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands (like Yeshua on Golgotha-John 3.14, 21.18) to the lord, and the thunder will cease (Yeshua caused the wrath of God to cease), and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.
v 30…But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not fear the Lord God.”
v 31…Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear (Hebrew “aviv” meaning green and ripe) and the flax was in bud (in the stalk and grown).
v 32…But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they ripen late (not grown up).
v 33…So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder (lightning) and the hail ceases and rain no longer poured on the earth.
v 34…But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder (lightning) had ceased, he sinned again (why is it called sin? he now knows there is a creator God called Yehovah in v 27 but he just doesn’t care and is going against him) and hardened (“kaved ha lev” or stubbornness) his heart, he and his servants.
v 35..And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (“chazek ha lev” or strengthened to continue in the fight; this is the first time that both phrases are used together-v 34-35) and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses (Exo 4.21).
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