1 Then the I AM said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the I AM, God of the Hebrews, says, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
2 “For if thou refuse to let them go, and will keep holding them,
3 “See, the hand of the I AM is on thy cattle which is in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep: there shall be a very serious disease.
This could have been Anthrax, Hoof And Mouth, or a number of other deadly diseases that hit cattle.
Hathor was the mother goddess often prayed to for fertility, love, and safe travel. She was shaped like a cow. As a result, the Egyptians wouldn’t kill cows, much like in India today. In fact, Archeology tells us the Egyptians lost a major battle because their enemies ran a herd of cows in front of them and they couldn’t fight for fear of killing one of them.
God is proving He is God of the cattle, too.
4 “And the I AM shall make a difference between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and there shall nothing die of all belongs to the children of Israel.”
5 And the I AM appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the I AM shall do this thing in the land.”
6 And the I AM did it on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died. But of the cattle of the children of Israel not one died.
Verse three doesn’t mention goats, one of the most common farm animals in the world. It also says “in the field,” so it is possible that this disease only hit the animals kept outside, or for some reason spared the goats.
On the other hand, goats aren't very different from sheep. They are separate species, but so close you can do a bit of cross breeding, much like crossing a horse with a donkey gives you a mule. So it's possible when the Bible says "sheep" here, it means "sheep and goats."
7 And Pharaoh sent and saw that there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
8 And the I AM said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
9 “And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall become a festering, open boil with open sores on man, and on beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.”
This is rendered “festering boils,” “open sores,” “boils with open sores,” and “raised pustules” in other translations. Plain ole’ boils would be bad enough, but these were evidently boils and open, festering sores, especially of the glandular regions (neck, underarms, genitals).
10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky, and it became festering boils breaking open into sores on man, and on beast.
11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, because they were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians.
This plague is likely aimed at Imhotep and/or Isis. They were the gods of medicine. Even their most loyal worshipers, the magicians, were so affected they could not even stand before Pharaoh.
(The original Imhotep was likely a real man, the most powerful visor to Pharaohs in Egyptian history, and possibly the Patriarch Joseph or even Noah’s son Ham. In a pagan society it would be normal to deify such a powerful man after his death and add him to their assembly of other gods.)
12 And the I AM hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he wouldn't listen to them, as the I AM had said to Moses.
13 And the I AM said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘This is what the I AM, God of the Hebrews, says, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
14 “For I will at this time send all My plagues on thine heart, and on thy servants, and on thy people, that thou may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.
15 “For now I will stretch out My hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
The Egyptians have been invaded by frogs, bugs, terrible sores and have had their water turned into undrinkable blood and God says “I am fixing to get serious now.” He has only just begun.
16 “And in fact, this is why I have put thee in this position, to shew in thee My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.
God is proving that He is the only God.
Neferhotep I (the Pharaoh we are increasingly believing this was) was the son of either a priest or a military commander. He was not related to the previous pharaohs. God put this man in this office for a specific reason; He wanted to show all Egypt and all the world that He is God.
17 “As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people, that thou will not let them go?
18 “See, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very bad hail, such as has not been in Egypt since its foundation, even until now.
At this point Egypt is about 395 years old.
An Egyptian chronicler from just before the birth of Christ said Egypt lasted 1663 years. It was conquered by Persia in 526BC, so Egypt was founded in AM1858 (2188BC.)
Since Moses was born in AM2433 (1613BC) and is now 80 years old, this would be the year AM2253 (1533BC). AM2253 (the date of the plagues) minus AM1858 (Egypt’s birth) is 395 years old. This is about how long it has been since the Pilgrims came to America (for comparison).
19 “Send out now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou have in the field. For on every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die.”‘“
God, being way more merciful than any of us deserve, gives the Egyptians twenty-four hours’ notice to get all their animals and slaves indoors.
The Egyptians would have immediately sought out replacements for their cattle that died in the previous plague, possibly enriching Israel along the way by buying all their extra animals. Plus, as I mentioned before, verse three doesn’t list goats with all the other cattle, and it does say the ones in the field died of the murrain.
20 He that feared the word of the I AM among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses.
By this time many of the Egyptians are convinced of the power of Moses’ God.
21 And he that didn't believe the word of the I AM left his servants and his cattle in the field.
I wonder if Pharaoh had his animals brought in.
22 And the I AM said to Moses, “Stretch out thine hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”
23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward the sky. And the I AM sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along on the ground, and the I AM rained hail on the land of Egypt.
24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very bad, such as had never happened in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
This plague would have been aimed at several gods responsible for the weather and such, but especially Nut the sky goddess.
There have been a couple of times when hail storms mingled with burning sulfur have been observed. These happen after a volcanic eruption. The lava spews into the atmosphere and the wind carries it quite a distance away. The moisture (most of what comes out of a volcano is actually steam) turns to hail stones so you have both hail (ice) and fire falling from the sky.
Archeology tells us that there were several major volcanic eruptions in the Mediterranean throughout history, one of the biggest in all of history just before this time (Thera of the island Santorini just north of Crete). And they have found pumice stone (cooled lava) in Egyptian ruins that test to be from Santorini (and Egypt has no volcanoes of its own).
God would have timed the eruption He used to cause this storm just right, giving Moses the twenty-four hour notice he needed to warn the Egyptians, and making it so the minute Moses pointed his rod at the sky, everything broke loose.
25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
Can you imagine how terrifying and devastating? The entire country would have been on fire, and anything that didn’t burn would have been beaten to the ground by the hail.
26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
God protects His people (He probably had coastal winds blow the storm past them).
27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The I AM is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
28 “Beg the I AM (for I've had enough) that there be no more mighty thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.”
Pharaoh sounds scared. Unfortunately, his fear will only last as long as the storm.
29 And Moses said to him, “As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the I AM, and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail, that thou may know how that the earth is the I AM's.
30 “But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the I AM, our God.”
Moses knows very well that this is not over yet. God told him from the start that He was going to kill Pharaoh’s son and that hasn’t happened yet.
31 And the flax and the barley was destroyed, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
Flax is for clothing. It’s what linen is made from. Barley is dark and heavy. It is the poor man’s bread, and the bread of sacrifices.
32 But the wheat and the rye were not destroyed, for they were not grown up.
This statement lets us know that all this happened in less than one year. There has only been one planting/harvest cycle. In fact, Jewish legend says all ten plagues took about forty days, and since God seems to like the number 40 as punishment elsewhere in the Bible, this is totally possible.
Barley blooms in February in Egypt while wheat blooms in March.
Passover is celebrated in March or April. So we can tell these plagues took no more than a few months at most, and likely less.
Moses was 80 when the plagues started, wondered in the wilderness for 40 years before dying at age 120. So all these plagues could not have lasted a year.
33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to the I AM, and the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
I wonder how Moses was able to walk about without being hit by hail when no one else was able to?
34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder were stopped, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the I AM had spoken by Moses.