The Seventh Plague Continued (Exodus 9:27-34)

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. [Is Pharaoh saying he is actually sorry for his sin? Is this his first step in a conversion process? Pharaoh spoke in Egyptians to Moses who wrote in Hebrew. The Hebrew translation could be rendered in English as “I have acted unjustly” or “I have been unfair.” It seems most likely he is admitting to unjust treatment of the Hebrew people rather than admitting he is a sinner in the sight of a holy God who is seeking God’s forgiveness.] 28 Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. [He wants the plague to end; he is not asking for a closer relationship with God.] I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. [Twice the phrase “out of the city” is used to show that Moses was not afraid of the storm and its deadly effects. He could even walk through the middle of it and be unharmed.] The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” [Why is Moses so skeptical of Pharaoh? Moses knows the English translation in verse 27 is wrong! This is the first appearance of the phrase “fear of the Lord” that represents an important theological concept. It means that God’s people stand always in awe of him, appreciate his supremacy and greatness, fear the consequences of disobeying his will, and take seriously their covenant relationship with him and the severe or even fatal consequences should they break covenant with him.] 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) [This information sets the date for these events as flax and barley were harvested in February-March and wheat and emmer (spelt) a full month later, at the time of the tenth plague itself. This info comports with the idea that the plagues occurred every seven days over a period from winter to early spring.] 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out [reached out] his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. [Sin can also be understood as doing the wrong thing in Pharaoh’s willful intent to disobey what he knew of the will of God. He did the wrong thing while Moses did the right thing. The plague stopped immediately but Pharaoh and his advisors resumed their stubborn stance against any compromise with the Israelites. We can discern that Pharaoh and his servants are not in control of their own destinies but were being forced to repeat actions to their own disadvantage as punishments. “Using their pride, their willfulness, their cultural assumptions, their emotional tendencies, and any and all other characteristics under his control, [God] simply made them do what would be to their disadvantage: he made them resist yet further.” (Stuart)]