seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 9:27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.”
29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”
31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. 32 The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)
33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”
31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. 32 The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)
33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
Why is it that the commentaries get so mired down in conventional words? There's quite a story here and it seems to overwhelm the commentary. God has been attacking Pharaoh and his little gods. God is messing with everything that Egypt worships, the beautiful Nile, their animals, and the people even got boils. God told Moses that nothing He did would stop Pharaoh from being an irritating self anointed little god. Moses was smart to tell Pharaoh that he would stop this plague after he left the city. If Pharaoh had caught him, he would have put him in chains, IMHO.
Remember, this is a horrific storm. The lightning must have been almost continuous. The thunder must have been almost continuous. I can imagine that every burst of thunder and every flash of lightning must have seemed to be right on top of the Egyptians. The rain must have been torrential! I've been through some pretty hefty hurricanes and I still remember the day La Plata was flattened. This storm must have been bigger and badder that all those storms put together. This was not a natural storm. This was a storm inspired and orchestrated by God Himself. The Israelites had lost nothing in this storm. God had positioned this storm right over Egypt with the exception of the land of Goshen where the Egyptians had agreed to let the Israelites tend the herds.
This commentary comes from bible-studys.org.
Pharaoh’s confession was accurate but insincere; as he admitted only what he thought he must in order to relieve the pressure. He had not yet come to “fear the LORD God”.
“I have sinned this time”. The phrase this time means “now at length” or “this once,” which might reflect some of the arrogance and the shallowness of his confession. Interesting, he says, “the LORD is righteous”, and I and my people are wicked,” when only a few months before had refused to even acknowledge the existence of Yahweh (5:2). “Righteous” may refer only to this particular event.
Any improvement in Pharaoh’s theological understanding, notwithstanding the following confession of a righteous Lord and of a wicked people, was rendered suspect by the face-saving caveat “this time.” Lacking repentance, it brushed aside all previous reaction and disobedience as having no significance.
Here, we see Pharaoh almost begging Moses to go and talk with God for him. You would think that he was sincere as bad as this hail was. It was obviously from God, because the Hebrews were not experiencing this horrible hail. We must remember how evil Pharaoh was. It really surprises me that Moses believed him.
We see, here, that Moses and Aaron would leave the city and, probably go into Goshen, where the other Hebrews were. The complaining of the Hebrews had long since stopped. Probably, the one thing that convinced them more than anything else, was because these last few judgments had fallen on the Egyptians and spared the Hebrews, who lived in the same country. We see in the first part of verse 29, that Moses prayed with his hands lifted in the sky. God loves for us to praise Him as we pray. We know that the world, and everything in it belongs to God.
“Flax and the barley was smitten … wheat and the rie were not smitten”: A very brief bulletin on which crops were damaged and which were to place this plague in February. All 4 crops mentioned were important economic resources. Wheat would be harvested only a month later than flax and barley together with the after crop “spelt” or “rye.” God’s timing of the disaster to two crops left room for Pharaoh to repent before the other crops might be destroyed.
Verses 31 and 32 were describing the damage done to the fields. The flax was used in clothing (making linen), and the barley was used to make beer. So you see these were not primary food sources. The wheat and rye were food substances, and they were not really damaged.
Moses did not fear the storm. Though it still raged, he left the shelter of the city, and went out into the midst of it, and spread out his hands to God, when lo! At once the rain, and hail, and thunder ceased at his bidding, and soon “there was a great calm.”
“I have sinned this time”. The phrase this time means “now at length” or “this once,” which might reflect some of the arrogance and the shallowness of his confession. Interesting, he says, “the LORD is righteous”, and I and my people are wicked,” when only a few months before had refused to even acknowledge the existence of Yahweh (5:2). “Righteous” may refer only to this particular event.
Any improvement in Pharaoh’s theological understanding, notwithstanding the following confession of a righteous Lord and of a wicked people, was rendered suspect by the face-saving caveat “this time.” Lacking repentance, it brushed aside all previous reaction and disobedience as having no significance.
Here, we see Pharaoh almost begging Moses to go and talk with God for him. You would think that he was sincere as bad as this hail was. It was obviously from God, because the Hebrews were not experiencing this horrible hail. We must remember how evil Pharaoh was. It really surprises me that Moses believed him.
We see, here, that Moses and Aaron would leave the city and, probably go into Goshen, where the other Hebrews were. The complaining of the Hebrews had long since stopped. Probably, the one thing that convinced them more than anything else, was because these last few judgments had fallen on the Egyptians and spared the Hebrews, who lived in the same country. We see in the first part of verse 29, that Moses prayed with his hands lifted in the sky. God loves for us to praise Him as we pray. We know that the world, and everything in it belongs to God.
“Flax and the barley was smitten … wheat and the rie were not smitten”: A very brief bulletin on which crops were damaged and which were to place this plague in February. All 4 crops mentioned were important economic resources. Wheat would be harvested only a month later than flax and barley together with the after crop “spelt” or “rye.” God’s timing of the disaster to two crops left room for Pharaoh to repent before the other crops might be destroyed.
Verses 31 and 32 were describing the damage done to the fields. The flax was used in clothing (making linen), and the barley was used to make beer. So you see these were not primary food sources. The wheat and rye were food substances, and they were not really damaged.
Moses did not fear the storm. Though it still raged, he left the shelter of the city, and went out into the midst of it, and spread out his hands to God, when lo! At once the rain, and hail, and thunder ceased at his bidding, and soon “there was a great calm.”
See, God messes with Beer and people listen.
