EXODUS 9
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.
– Exodus 9:22-26
EXODUS 9 HAIL AND FIRE PLAGUE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
The Lord is just and merciful, he wants mankind to repent and turn to him
He wanted the Egyptians to acknowledge him and turn away from sin
He gives them a chance to take his word and believe and serve him
But they continued with their ways so, he sent thunder, hail and fire
He made sure that Goshen was spared from this plague
So, there was hail everywhere in Egypt except in the land of Goshen.
According to some commentary, other enemies of Israel were also threatened with hail. The Canaanites were struck with hailstones so big and numerous that more died from them than the children of Israel slew with the sword in Joshua 10:11. In Isaiah 30:30-31, hailstones were predicted against the invading Assyrians and the future invader Gog in Ezekiel 30:18,22. So, this must be God’s way of punishing those who inflict harm on his children.
I can’t imagine how this would look and feel like. It is interesting that the hail didn’t put off the fire and the fire didn’t stop the hail. It just goes to show that only God can do these wonders. He punishes anyone who makes his children’s lives miserable.
REFLECTION
- What lesson can we learn from this plague of hail and fire?
