Links for today’s readings:
Read: Exodus 9 Listen: (5:31) Read: Matthew 20 Listen: (4:22)
Scripture Focus: Exodus 9:16–18
16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.
Reflection: When All Hail Breaks Loose
By Erin Newton
Years ago I was crouching in the closet of my friend’s house while the deafening sound of a storm pounded the roof with softball-sized hail (11cm) that damaged our roofs, destroyed our cars, and demolished plant life—a typical spring day in Texas.
Hailstorms in Egypt, however, are rare. Exodus 9 says it was “the worst … ever.” A common hailstorm is a nuisance; a record-breaking hailstorm is a devastating catastrophe.
The signs and wonders from God escalate in intensity and destruction. Gnats and boils were things that caused a disruption, but nothing too extreme. The bloody river and the dead livestock—these signs were all bad, but not as bad as what was coming.
There is no real escape from hail if you’re caught outside. Everyone was at risk from servants in the fields to children in the street. Small hail stings and bruises. Large hail kills.
The hail was so damaging “it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree” (v. 25). It was not just a nuisance. Crops were ruined. Trees were laid bare.
All those years ago, I remember walking out of the house to see everything shattered. The lawn was glistening white, covered in unfathomably large chunks of ice. Limbs and leaves were scattered everywhere. We were spared a tornado that day, but the hail had done equal damage.
Pharaoh thought of himself as a god. He was the sun. He was the cosmic power—at least in his own eyes. There was nothing he could not do, or so he thought. But the hailstorm in Exodus 9 was a display of real divine power.
The Almighty God did not challenge Pharoah to a duel as if he were an equal. He rightly affirmed, “I could have … wiped you off the earth,” (v. 15) if he had wanted. But he is also mighty in mercy—hoping that Pharaoh would repent.
The scene echoes the words later penned in Job: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you. … Have you … seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?” (Job 38.3, 22-23).
The battle between God and a self-important ruler was on. Pharaoh soon learned, it was not a battle he ever had hopes of winning.
Signs and wonders show us not only how powerful God is, but how powerless humans truly are.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, for I have taken refuge in you; in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge until this time of trouble has gone by.
I will call upon the Most High God, the God who maintains my course.
He will send from heaven and save me; he will confound those who trample upon me; God will send forth his love and his faithfulness. — Psalm 57.1-3
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Idol-Destroying Plagues
The plagues systematically and categorically destroyed everything that Egypt trusted in and worshiped.
Read more: Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols
It’s easy to be judgmental of ancient people’s idols…But these gods were normal…practical SOP that promised financial ROI.
