Chapter 6: Fire From Heaven

Moses stood before Pharaoh with a message unlike any before it.

MOSES (to Pharaoh)“For this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”— Exodus 9:16

Through Moses, God was telling Pharaoh why he existed. The reason you sit on that throne is so the entire world can see what happens when a man stands against Me.

But even now, God offered mercy.

MOSES“Send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and beast which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.”— Exodus 9:19

Some of Pharaoh's servants feared God's word and brought their people and animals inside. Others ignored it and left them in the fields.

Moses raised his rod toward the sky. God sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along the ground. It was the worst storm Egypt had ever seen. The hail struck everything in the open, shattered every tree, destroyed every crop. But in Goshen, there was no hail.

Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron.

PHARAOH“I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. Entreat the LORD, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, and I will let you go.”— Exodus 9:27-28

Moses already knew how this would end.

MOSES“The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the LORD's. But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.”— Exodus 9:29-30

Moses left the city and raised his hands to God. The thunder stopped. The hail stopped. The man who had just called himself wicked went right back to being wicked.