Exodus 9 Study Notes

9:1 This was the fifth time God sent Moses back to Pharaoh with the demand “Let my people go.” By this time, Moses may have been tired and discouraged, but he continued to obey. Is there a difficult conflict you must face again and again? Don’t give up when you know what is right to do. As Moses discovered, persistence is rewarded.

9:12 God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to heed Moses’ warnings. But finally God seemed to say, “All right, Pharaoh, have it your way,” and Pharaoh’s heart became permanently hardened. Did God intentionally harden Pharaoh’s heart and overrule his free will? No, he simply confirmed that Pharaoh freely chose a life of resisting God. Similarly, after a lifetime of resisting God, you may find it impossible to turn to him. Don’t wait until just the right time before turning to God. Do it now while you still have the chance. If you continually ignore God’s voice, eventually you will be unable to hear it at all.

9:20, 21 If all the Egyptian livestock were killed in the earlier plague (9:6), how could the slaves of Pharaoh bring their livestock in from the fields? The answer is probably that the earlier plague killed all the animals in the fields (9:3) but not those in the shelters.

9:27-34 After promising to let the Hebrews go, Pharaoh immediately broke his promise and brought even more trouble upon the land. His actions revealed that his repentance was not real. We do damage to ourselves and to others if we pretend to change but don’t mean it.