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Exodus 9:22–26
“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. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail” (vv. 25–26).
Hail of an unprecedented nature was promised as the seventh plague upon Egypt, though the grace of protection from the elements was also announced for those who would believe the word of the Lord and shelter their animals (Ex. 9:17–21). Today’s passage records the actual plague itself. Once Moses followed the Lord’s instruction to stretch out his staff toward heaven, “the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt” (v. 23).
Scripture states that this hail fell with particular ferocity. We read that there was “fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail” (v. 24). This could refer merely to lightning, but the language may also suggest that actual balls of fire ran along the ground when the lightning struck the earth. Essentially, God’s Word describes the hailstorm as cataclysmic. It was “very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation” (v. 24). Egypt became a nation when Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were united into one empire in about 3200 BC, and the events of the exodus most likely took place around 1450 BC, though the much less likely date of about 1250 BC is also possible. Either way, this was the worst hailstorm that Egypt had experienced in at least eighteen hundred years.
Exodus 9:25 reports that as Moses had predicted, every living thing in the fields—people, beasts, and trees—were struck dead. Only those that remained sheltered survived, with one exception. Hail did not fall in the land of Goshen. Once again the Lord made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians, causing the hail to fall only where it would hurt the unbelieving citizens of Egypt (v. 26). When God’s judgment falls, He is free to shelter those whom He chooses, so comprehensive is His control over the natural order. After all, the Lord “makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind” (Ps. 104:3).
The Lord’s control of the hail and all the other plagues demonstrates His full sovereignty over creation. John Calvin comments on the hailstorm recorded in today’s passage that “all the elements, although without sense, are still ready to render any kind of obedience to their Maker.” God is not at the whims of the wind, the rain, the lightning, or the hurricane, for He ordains and directs even the weather, working out all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). Even the winds and sea obey Him (Mark 4:35–41).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
We are accustomed to explaining the weather according to natural, cyclical patterns, and there is some truth in this explanation. But that is not the whole story. God controls the elements, and the wind blows where it does according to His design. Let us remember His direction of the elements and be ever conscious of His full sovereignty over everything that ever happens.
For Further Study
- Job 38:25–38
- Psalm 107:23–25
- Matthew 14:22–33
- Revelation 8:7