Scripture Daily

Context No. 2183 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 9:13-19: in context

13The LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; 16but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth, 17because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go. 18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. 19Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.”’”

As the plagues fall on Egypt, God announces through Moses a devastating hail, heavier than any Egypt had known. It is a judgment on Pharaoh's stubborn refusal to let God's people go. But even in announcing this judgment, God does something merciful: he warns the Egyptians to bring their servants and livestock in from the fields into shelter, so that any who heed the warning will be spared. The hail will strike all that is left in the field, God says; therefore bring your people and animals home. Even in the midst of judgment, a way of escape is offered.

It is worth noticing the mercy woven into this judgment. God does not simply send the hail without warning; he announces it in advance and tells the Egyptians how to be spared: bring your servants and livestock into shelter, and they will be safe. Even against Pharaoh's people, even in the midst of a plague of judgment, God provides a way of escape for those who will heed the warning. And some did: the account tells us that those who feared the word of the LORD brought their servants and livestock inside, and they were spared, while those who did not heed left them in the field to die. Judgment came, but with a means of escape offered to any who would take the warning to heart. This reveals something of God's heart even in judgment. God's judgments are real, and this passage states them plainly; the hail was devastating. But even in judgment, God is merciful, providing warning and a way of escape, not willing that any should perish who would heed him. He takes no pleasure, he says elsewhere, in the death of the wicked, but desires that they turn and live. Even as he judges, he offers a way to be spared, so that the judgment falls only on those who will not heed the warning and take the shelter offered. This is a mercy woven through God's dealings with us. God warns of the consequences of our sin, of the judgment it brings; and in warning us, he offers a way of escape, a shelter for those who will heed him and turn. The judgment is real, but so is the mercy that warns us and provides a way to be spared. He is patient, Scripture says, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This calls us to heed God's warnings and take the shelter he offers. Even in his judgments, God provides a way of escape for those who will heed him, as he warned the Egyptians to shelter their livestock from the hail. And the question is whether we take the warning to heart and flee to the shelter offered, or ignore it and leave ourselves exposed. God's mercy offers a way of escape even in judgment; and the wise heed the warning and take the shelter, rather than ignoring the mercy that would spare them.

Do I take seriously the warnings God gives about the consequences of sin, and the way of escape he offers, or do I ignore them and leave myself exposed, and can the mercy woven even into the plague of hail, where God warned the Egyptians to shelter their livestock so that any who heeded would be spared, move me to see that God offers a way of escape even in his judgments, and to heed his warning and take the shelter he provides rather than ignoring the mercy that would spare me?

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