Exodus 9:22 - Meaning and Application

The threatened hailstorm is called down by the mighty hand and staff of Moses (Exodus 9:22, Exodus 9:23), and it obeys, or rather it obeys God’s command. Fire and hail carry out his word (Psalm 148:8). Here we see both the damage it did and the effect it had on Pharaoh.

It caused terrible ruin across the land. Thunder and fire from heaven, likely lightning, made the storm even more frightening and destructive (Exodus 9:23, Exodus 9:24). God uses the clouds not only as storehouses that pour blessing on his people, but also as armories from which he can draw deadly weapons against his enemies. He speaks of the “stores of hail” he has kept for the day of battle and war (Job 38:22, Job 38:23). This hail brought miserable destruction on Egypt. It killed people and animals, and it knocked down not only plants but also trees (Exodus 9:25). The grain that was already growing was destroyed, and only what had not yet sprouted was spared (Exodus 9:31, Exodus 9:32). God has many ways of taking away the harvest at the right time, either by quiet disease or by loud hail (Hosea 2:9). In this plague, the hot bolts of lightning, as well as the hail, are said to destroy their flocks (Psalm 78:47, Psalm 78:48), and see also (Psalm 105:32, Psalm 105:33). David may have had this event in mind when he described God’s powerful actions against his enemies with hailstones and coals of fire (Psalm 18:12, Psalm 18:13). There is also a clear reference to it in the pouring out of the seventh bowl of wrath (Revelation 16:21).

Yet the land of Goshen was protected and suffered no damage from this plague (Exodus 9:26). God directs the rain clouds and makes it rain or hail on one city and not on another, either to show mercy or to bring judgment.

The plague also threw Pharaoh into panic. See what it did to him. First, he humbled himself before Moses in the language of a penitent, someone who sounds sorry for sin, though he was not truly changed (Exodus 9:27, Exodus 9:28). No one could have spoken better. He admitted he was on the wrong side in his fight with the God of the Hebrews. “I have sinned,” he said, in resisting so long. He also admitted that God was just: “The Lord is righteous,” and must be shown right, even when he speaks through thunder and lightning. He blamed himself and his people: “I and my people are wicked, and deserve what has come on us.” He asked Moses to pray for him: “Pray to the Lord that this terrible plague may be taken away.” And finally, he promised to let the people go: “I will let you go.” What more could anyone ask? Yet even then, his heart was still hard.

This shows how fear can force out words that sound humble, even when the heart is unchanged. Under the pain and shock of trouble, people may say the right things, not because they truly feel them, but because they know they ought to.

Second, Moses became an intercessor, someone who pleads for another, before God. Though he had every reason to think Pharaoh would quickly change his mind again, and even told him so (Exodus 9:30), Moses still promised to pray for him. We should keep praying for, and warning, even those who seem unlikely to change (1 Samuel 12:23).

Notice where Moses prayed. He went out of the city (Exodus 9:33), both to be alone with God and to show that he was not afraid to go outside, even while hail and lightning were falling. Pharaoh and his servants stayed indoors, but Moses knew every hailstone was under God’s control and meant no harm to him. Peace with God makes people safe even in thunder, because thunder is the voice of their Father.

Notice also his posture. He spread out his hands to the Lord, which showed earnest desire and humble hope. Those who come to God for mercy should be ready to receive it.

The goal of Moses’ prayer was that Pharaoh would know, and be convinced, that “the earth is the Lord’s” (Exodus 9:29). That means God has sovereign rule over all creation, and all things are governed by him. Pharaoh himself should have lived under that rule. God uses many different methods to bring people to their senses. He sends judgments, then removes them, all for the same purpose, to make people know that the Lord rules.

The prayer succeeded with God (Exodus 9:33), but it did not change Pharaoh. He sinned again and hardened his heart (Exodus 9:34, Exodus 9:35). Moses’ prayer opened and shut heaven, as Elijah’s prayer later did (James 5:17, James 5:18), and this is also the power given to God’s two witnesses (Revelation 11:6). Yet neither Moses, Elijah, nor those two witnesses could break the hard hearts of men. Pharaoh was scared into compliance by the judgment, but when the storm was over, his convictions disappeared and his promises were forgotten. We should place little trust in confessions made under pressure. Those who are not made better by judgments and mercies are usually made worse.