9:22-26
Moses was then to stretch out his hand over the land and the hail would start to fall. He did so and thunder, hail and fire came down from heaven. The reference to fire flashing is presumably referring to lightning. This was the most terrible storm. So any man or beast out in the open was killed by the storm, and crops were also ruined, along with the trees. The storm had a devastating effect. However, the storm did not affect Goshen. Once again, God drew a distinction between His people and the Egyptians.
9:27-30
Pharaoh appears to be taking things more seriously now, saying that he has sinned and was in the wrong. He pleads with Moses to pray for the storm to stop and promises that he will let the people go. It seems that he has eventually learnt his lesson, but, of course, he hasn’t. Moses says that he will indeed stretch out his hands to the Lord and the storm will stop, but he knows that Pharaoh has not changed his heart, and that he will not keep his promise.
9:31-35
While some of the crops were destroyed, others that were to come later were not affected. The primary purpose of God’s judgement was that men should come to repentance. However, man is stubborn, and Pharaoh is an example of this. Moses went out and stretched his hands to the Lord, and the Lord brought the storm to an end. True to form, as soon as Pharaoh so that the storm had ceased he refused to let the Israelites go. His heart was well and truly hardened.
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