Estimated reading time: about 10-12 minutes
Exodus 9:13 Adonai said to Moshe, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Here is what Adonai says: “Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 14 For this time, I will inflict my plagues on you, yourself, and on your officials and your people; so that you will realize that I am without equal in all the earth. 15 By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such severe plagues that you would have been wiped off the earth. 16 But it is for this very reason that I have kept you alive — to show you my power, and so that my name may resound throughout the whole earth. 17 Since you are still setting yourself up against my people and not letting them go, 18 tomorrow, about this time, I will cause a hailstorm so heavy that Egypt has had nothing like it from the day it was founded until now. 19 Therefore, send and hurry to bring indoors all your livestock and everything else you have in the field. For hail will fall on every human being and animal left in the field that hasn’t been brought home, and they will die.”’”
20 Whoever among Pharaoh’s servants feared what Adonai had said had his slaves and livestock escape into the houses; 21 but those who had no regard for what Adonai had said left their slaves and livestock in the field.
Ever wonder why Abba doesn’t just eliminate evil people?
Me too. Then again, what if I qualify as evil? In that case, maybe I’m kind of glad He holds back His judgment the moment I deserve it. But this is Pharaoh. You know, the arrogant and powerful world leader who answers to absolutely no one. Shouldn’t he qualify as one that deserves to be taken out?
Apparently not.
Now, I understand giving him a time or two to get his act together, but he’s had six chances. Six! Wouldn't it have been easier for Abba to simply eliminate this oppressive jerk at this point? Seriously, why does He let Pharaoh stick around?
It seems other people may have been asking this exact same question. Have a look at verses 15 and 16:
15 By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such severe plagues that you would have been wiped off the earth. 16 But it is for this very reason that I have kept you alive — to show you my power, and so that my name may resound throughout the whole earth.
God Himself admits that He could have gotten rid of Pharaoh long ago. But getting rid of the problem does not solve the problem. Because the problem everyone thinks is the problem is obviously not the problem. So what is the problem?
I think it’s safe to say that the first 6 plagues have been quite effective. Allegiance to false gods has been strained and some of the people of Egypt are starting to change teams. Did you pick up on that?
20 Whoever among Pharaoh’s servants feared what Adonai had said had his slaves and livestock escape into the houses; 21 but those who had no regard for what Adonai had said left their slaves and livestock in the field.
Some people began to fear YHVH over Pharaoh. This is a very big deal. Treason, even. Consider the consequences of choosing a God you cannot see over one that you can see.
In Egypt, Pharaoh was not merely a king. He was worshiped as a divine figure, the earthly embodiment of the gods. To fear someone or something above Pharaoh was to reject the very foundation of Egyptian authority. When some of Pharaoh’s own servants began to heed YHVH’s warning and brought their livestock indoors, they were acknowledging that the God of the Hebrews carried more weight than Pharaoh’s decrees. In effect, they were committing treason against Pharaoh’s divine status by shifting their ultimate allegiance to another power.
This fear was not small or symbolic. In ancient cultures, loyalty to the king was bound up with loyalty to the gods. By trembling at YHVH’s word instead of Pharaoh’s, these Egyptians were stepping into a dangerous divide, publicly acting on their faith in Israel’s God over Egypt’s ruler. It marked the beginning of a visible crack in Pharaoh’s absolute control. His people were defecting in their hearts, recognizing that YHVH could protect or destroy while Pharaoh was powerless. This was more than an act of survival, it was the seed of a mass reordering of authority, where even Egyptians started to confess with their actions that Pharaoh was not supreme.
Like I said, this is a very big deal.
So the problem is not simply removing Pharaoh the person, it’s removing Pharaoh the god. And sadly, it’s going to take a few more plagues to fully get to that point.
But for now, let’s continue breaking down the pantheon.
The seventh plague, hail mingled with fire, directly challenged several of Egypt’s most prominent deities connected with the sky, storms, and agriculture. Chief among them was Nut, the sky goddess often pictured arched protectively over the earth. Egyptians believed she shielded the land and maintained cosmic order, yet in this plague the very heavens became a weapon against Egypt. Instead of shelter, the skies poured down destruction.
Alongside her stood Shu, the god of the air, who was supposed to keep harmony in the atmosphere. His inability to calm or prevent the violent hailstorm proved that Egypt’s gods had no real control over creation whatsoever.
Another figure undermined by this plague was Tefnut, the goddess of moisture. Normally moisture was life-giving through rain, dew, and fertility, but here the moisture came as catastrophic hail, destroying crops and livestock. The plague twisted the Egyptian expectation of blessing into curse, revealing that YHVH alone decides whether water brings growth or devastation.
Even Seth, often associated with storms, chaos, and violent weather, is indirectly confronted. If Egypt had looked to him as the master of destructive powers, they would see that this storm was beyond even his supposed domain. This was a force so unusual that it mingled hail and fire together, something no natural deity or phenomenon could explain.
The agricultural gods were also humiliated. Isis, sometimes invoked as a patroness of crops, and Osiris, god of fertility and vegetation, were powerless as the fields of barley and flax were destroyed. The Nile, usually Egypt’s source of abundance, could not rescue them from the ruin that fell from above. By timing the plague at a moment when the crops were nearly ready for harvest, YHVH exposed the futility of trusting in gods of fertility and harvest. Egypt was left stripped of its food security, watching their idols mocked through the precision and force of divine judgment.
Through this single plague, Egypt’s entire system of deities tied to the sky and land was shown to be nothing more than idols. The storm revealed that what they considered stable (the cycles of nature, the dependability of their gods) could be overturned in an instant by the Word of Israel’s God. Instead of divine protection, the heavens became Egypt’s undoing. This exposed the impotence of their gods while magnifying YHVH as the one who controls the skies, the waters, the fire, and the harvests, leaving no sphere of creation outside His command.
And sadly, these gods die hard.
In modern times, the gods challenged by the seventh plague mirror our misplaced trust in human mastery over the environment and natural cycles. Just as Egypt trusted Nut, Shu, and Tefnut to preserve balance in the skies and air, many today place their faith in technology and climate science to control weather, mitigate disasters, or ensure food security.
While scientific advances are invaluable, the plague of hail reminds us that no human system can ultimately prevent devastation when God Himself wields creation as a tool of judgment. Our confidence in weather prediction (we all see how well that’s working these days, right?), infrastructure, or even geoengineering often borders on idolatry when we assume we can guarantee safety apart from Him.
The agricultural deities Isis and Osiris find their modern parallels in our dependence on industrial farming, global trade networks, and biotechnology to provide for us. We believe that supply chains will always hold, that science can engineer more resilient crops, or that the economy will keep storehouses full.
But this plague in Egypt (and the COVID pandemic) demonstrates how fragile these systems are. A single disruption -- drought, storm, blight, or economic collapse -- can ripple across nations, leaving shelves empty. Just as the Egyptians were left hungry after their gods failed, we too are vulnerable when we worship the illusion of control instead of the One who gives daily bread.
Seth, the god of storms and chaos, also has a modern echo. Today people often personify “chaos” in terms of market crashes, climate catastrophes, or political upheaval, speaking of them almost as forces beyond comprehension. We brace ourselves with insurance, reserves, and contingency plans, yet if the living God permits calamity, none of these can shield us. The mingling of fire and ice in Egypt’s storm was a picture of unnatural judgment, a reminder that disasters do not simply “happen,” but can serve as instruments in His hand.
Egypt trusted a pantheon that could not deliver. We often lean on human expertise, economic security, or environmental stewardship, forgetting that all these are secondary to the Creator’s authority. The plague of hail teaches that only YHVH commands both destruction and restoration. He alone can turn the skies from wrath to blessing, and He alone provides a foundation that cannot be shaken.
This should rattle you to deep repentance. The seventh plague forces us to ask: where do we place ultimate trust? In 2020, most of us were rattled to see how much we really do rely on so much more than Abba Himself. In His mercy, we were given a glimpse into what the days ahead will be.
As this Age comes to a close, there are some things we should watch for:
Seal 1: Oppressive leadership rises in the earth (white horse, conquest and control)
Seal 2: People begin to turn on one another (red horse, war and bloodshed)
Seal 3: The financial system crumbles (black horse, famine and economic collapse)
Seal 4: Death spreads on a massive scale (pale horse, plague, hunger, and the sword)
Seal 5: The cries of the martyrs reach heaven (souls under the altar calling for justice)
Seal 6: The earth and heavens shake as a global warning (cosmic signs, terror, men hiding from the wrath of the Lamb)
As you can see, seals 1-6 are the result of the decisions of men. But with the 6th, something new comes to the front. The heavens and the earth begin to execute warnings. Why? Because of an agreement that was made several thousand years ago:
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, 20 loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.”
Much the same way a bride and groom today have witnesses to their covenantal union, YHVH has the same with His witnesses: heaven and earth. These two are called to watch over the people to make sure they remain in covenant with their Creator. And once man begins to unravel and it is clear they are not choosing life, the witnesses step up to remind the covenant partner of the agreement they made long ago.
What’s nice, though, is they enter the scene simply offering up a warning. No death just yet, just a challenge to the hearts and minds of men. And there is an alignment that takes place in the heavenlies (see Revelation 7) as everyone prepares for the 7th seal. And when the 7th seal is torn back? Wait for it…silence.
A different alignment takes place: the angels are given their shofars and judgment is set to come forth.
As a recap, let’s see how we got here. Man is off his rocker and the inhabitants of the earth feel the weight of their own decisions. Signs begin to come from heavens and earth to try and get people to repent. Finances and health get hit because this is usually a really good tool. People start complaining about the “One sitting on the throne and from the fury of the Lamb”.
Looks very similar to the rattle the Egyptians experienced and for the exact same reasons. But it’s what comes next that we want to address.
Revelation 8:6 Now the seven angels with the seven shofars prepared to sound them. 7 The first one sounded his shofar; and there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was thrown down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Hail and fire yet again. Not as a warning, but as judgment. Man has clearly violated the covenant and the witnesses, heaven and earth, cast the first stone. Hail and fire in Egypt, but here we have an additional element: blood: Why?
Hebrews 9:18 This is why the first covenant too was inaugurated with blood. 19 After Moshe had proclaimed every command of the Torah to all the people, he took the blood of the calves with some water and used scarlet wool and hyssop to sprinkle both the scroll itself and all the people; 20 and he said, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has ordained for you.” 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
As we see here, if the earth is going to be purified, it needs to be sprinkled with blood. And so it is. The Blood of the Covenant, Yeshua’s blood, is sprinkled on the whole of the earth -- alongside hail and fire, water and Spirit.
1 John 5:6 He is the one who came by means of water and blood, Yeshua the Messiah — not with water only, but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
Does that mean the fire that comes is representative of His Spirit? Maybe.
Acts 2:1 The festival of Shavu‘ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. 2 Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
The point is that warnings will have been put behind us. Here is the good news though (and bad news, I guess): we have not yet reached this point in history. That means you still have time to shift your allegiance from Pharaoh to YHVH.
Exodus 9:19 “Therefore, send and hurry to bring indoors all your livestock and everything else you have in the field. For hail will fall on every human being and animal left in the field that hasn’t been brought home, and they will die.”
And die, they will.
The hail that fell on Egypt was not a one-time event locked in history. The prophets spoke of hail reserved in heaven’s storehouses “for the day of battle and war” (Job 38). Isaiah declared that “the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies” (Isaiah 28), and Ezekiel warned of a day when God would judge Gog “with pestilence, bloodshed, torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur” (Ezekiel 38).
Revelation shows these storehouses opening again. The sixth seal serves as a global warning, shaking earth and sky so all people know judgment is near. Then the first trumpet sounds, and once again hail and fire are hurled to the earth. What began in Pharaoh’s fields will culminate across the nations, until the seventh trumpet declares Yeshua’s reign and the seventh bowl unleashes hail like the world has never seen. Egypt was the pattern; the end is the fulfillment.
Are you ready?