Exodus 9:13-18

PLAGUE VII

"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth: but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now."

"Let my people go ..." (See under Exodus 9:1.)

"I will this time send all my plagues upon thy heart ..." Notice the progression here. Pharaoh had not been moved in heart by previous plagues, because, as the privileged ruler, he was not really touched by them, but now God will break his heart in the subsequent visitations culminating at last in the death of the firstborn and heir to his kingdom. Following that tragedy, "Never again did Egypt rise to the height of power and glory reached in this dynasty."[17]

This Plague VII receives more space in the sacred record than any other, being three verses longer than the next longest (Plague VIII), and nineteen verses in excess of the shortest (Plague III). Part of the reason for this lies in the fact of God's taking pains to explain to Pharaoh WHY God had not already taken him off the face of the earth.

"For this cause have I made thee to stand ..." God had "raised up" Pharaoh precisely for the purpose of glorifying God's name, which purpose would indeed be fulfilled, but it was entirely up to Pharaoh as to just how that would happen. If he had obeyed God, that would have declared God's name throughout the world, but Pharaoh chose instead to oppose God to the bitter end that led to his perishing in the Red Sea. That event too caused God's name to be declared throughout all the earth. Esses caught the spirit of Exodus 9:16 thus: "For this cause, I have let you live that you might see my salvation if you would choose to accept it. You have seen all my miracles that I have brought upon you, but you have refused to receive my salvation."[18]

Exodus 9:17 is understood by some as an imperative sentence, but we believe that it is properly punctuated here as a question. As a mere statement, it would express amazement on God's part, something that cannot be imagined, for God had predicted exactly what Pharaoh would do. As a question, however, it stands in the same category as God's asking Adam, "Where art thou? ... This was directed to the conscience and was used for the purpose of bringing conviction."[19]