Exodus 9:13 "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."
Exodus 9:16 "And in very deed 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.
Exodus 9:18-21 "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. 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. He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field."
As you read this ninth chapter of Exodus, you will find that the LORD God of the Hebrews sent a plague of death upon all the livestock of Egypt. Pharaoh sent someone to check on the Israelite’s cattle. None of the livestock of the children of Israel was affected, and it does not appear that Pharaoh’s magicians tried to duplicate this feat. Still Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let Israel go (Exodus 9:1-7).
Following this plague, God commanded Moses to take some ash from the furnace and toss it up into the air. He was to do this in the presence of Pharaoh so that Pharaoh might know that this came from God. As Moses did according to God’s command, God turned the ash to a fine dust that spread all over Egypt. This dust caused boils (an inflamed ulcer) to come upon every man and beast that it touched. This time, the scripture tells us that Pharaoh’s magicians could not stand before Moses, and still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (Exodus 9:8-12).
In verse thirteen, we see the LORD was again declaring unto Pharaoh exactly who He was. Then God humbles Pharaoh by letting him know that neither he nor his family got any credit for the throne he sat upon. God told Pharaoh that He had raised him up. Further, He instructed him that he had not been raised up to get glory for himself. He had been raised up by God so that the power of God might be seen and declared “throughout all the earth.”
Again, God set Pharaoh a time and told him exactly what He was going to do. God left Pharaoh a way for his people and his livestock to escape some of the devastation. This time we see a shift in the attitude of some of Pharaoh’s servants. There were some of them who had learned to fear (revere) the word of the LORD. They moved with haste to heed the word of the LORD to gather their cattle and their servants from the field and to “flee” into a place of shelter.
Dear ones, our God is faithful to His word and able to bring about His will. He can do this instantly, as in the days of creation, or He can do it over a period of time as with His deliverance of the children of Israel. Regardless of how He does it, that which He raises up will show forth the power of God. He will cause His name to be declared everywhere. As He causes men to feel the might of His power, He also causes some of them to learn to revere His word. While our eternal salvation is in Christ alone, know that there is deliverance in heeding what God has told us as we live in this world.