September 28, 2025 - The Seventh Plague: Hail, Part 2 (Exodus 9:22-35)

The Seventh Plague: Hail, Part 2 (Exodus 9:22-35)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” 23 And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. 27 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. 28 Entreat the Lord, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops. 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. 34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

Introduction

As you know very well, Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech at Standard University in 2005. And he passed away in 2011 which means in 2005, it was a peak time in his life and career. He shared his two methods of success to students at that university and those methods were, “Stay hungry and stay foolish.” This means to always stay hungry which means to always stay longing. And secondly, stay foolish which means to always have the heart to learn. I think these were his methods that helped him become successful. There was another person who shared that God created everything from nothing and the people that God uses are those with nothing. God makes people realize that they are nothing and God uses those who realize that they are nothing. God never uses those who think that they are mighty. Why is that? To be a child of God means that you know that God has died on the cross for you and you have died on the cross with Jesus. When you have also died on the cross, this means that you don’t exist and we should look towards the cross. May we receive great answers today.  

1. Moses' Answer

(1) Toward heaven

Verse 22 - This means that all power is within God’s hands. That is why we are always told to raise our hands towards heaven. Why did God give this command to have hail come upon the land of Egypt? The reason why God allowed the plagues to come upon Egypt was to fulfill His covenant. Also another reason was so that the Israelites can give worship and glory to God. These were the reasons that God wanted. What God desires the most are worship and glory. That is why God commanded Moses to stretch out his hands towards heaven and what does God mean by this? God wanted Moses to pray to Him. God called Moses so that he can receive God’s word and obey God’s word exactly. This was all Moses had to do. God didn’t need anything else from Moses. God wanted Moses to receive God’s word, obey it, and pray with it. The plagues started in Egypt when Moses stretched out his hands towards heaven. When did the hails stop? They stopped as seen in verse 33 when Moses stretched out his hands towards heaven again. This shows how important it is when we pray to God. 

Exodus 17:11 “And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.” - When Moses would raise up his hands, Israel was winning but when Moses lowered his hands, Amalek started winning. This meant that when Moses was praying, Israel started winning but when Moses stopped praying, Israel would start losing. This means that works do not only arise when Moses starts praying but when we pray, great works will arise. We are praying for America and Korea, and for our church. When we start praying to God and stretch out our hands to God, then God will work. Through our prayers, it will save America and our church. When you start stretching out your hands for your family and children, then God will save your family and children. The same great works will arise. 

(2) Stretch out your rod

Verses 23-24 - What is the rod? It says that this rod was the rod of God. It did not say the rod of Moses but it was the rod of God. Then this means that this shows the power of God through this rod. In order for Moses to perform miracles, he had to lift up the rod. When Moses lifted up the rod, hail came upon the land of Egypt. Let us look at this very carefully. Fire came down with hail from the sky. It didn’t just come down little by little but it came down like rain, sticking the land with fire. It said that hail came down with speed. So much hail and fire came down that it came with so much force that it lit everything on fire. 

Verse 25 - When did this happen? It happened the moment Moses raised up the rod.

Exodus 14:16 “But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” - This was when the Red Sea split. When Moses lifted up the rod, the Red Sea split and there was dry ground that the Israelites could cross through. What was the meaning of the rod of God that Moses had? The rod represented Jesus Christ. The rod of Moses was showing the name of Jesus Christ. It was showing the victory of the name of Jesus Christ on the cross. 

John 14:14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” - It says, “If you ask anything…” God said that He will do it if we ask it in His name. When we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, then great power will be revealed. Through this rod, the army of Amalek was broken down. In the name of Jesus Christ, darkness is bound. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Red Sea split and hail and fire came down from the sky. Do you believe in this? Believe in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the power of creation. The power of heaven and earth is in His name. The power of the heavenly throne is within His name. Do you believe in this? Believe in this when we pray. When you pray, answers will come upon you. The same power that split the Red Sea will be upon you when you pray in the name of Jesus. Believe in this. Have faith. I have this faith when I pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, it will be fulfilled. 

2. Pharaoh's Spiritual State

(1) Pharaoh's repentance

Verses 26-30 - It was a very interesting event. The entire land of Egypt was hit with fire and hail but the land of Goshen was not touched. I feel like we are living like this. Many nonbelievers are living in so much suffering and torment. They are bound by so many problems and spiritual problems that they are living in constant torment. I believe that people who were living in Goshen didn’t know what was going on in Egypt and they were still complaining about what they were eating. If they knew what was going on in Egypt then they had no choice but to give thanksgiving to God. Why was that? 

Verse 27 - Pharaoh confessed that he has sinned before God for the first time before God. And he confessed that he was wicked and God was righteous. This was the first time that pharaoh repented before God and Moses. What does this show? God is alive and living. This was what pharaoh realized. God was trying to show that through this hail and fire that people will know that He is God, the almighty and powerful God. 

After pharaoh repented, Moses said in verse 29 - Moses received an answer meaning that God accepted pharaoh’s repentance. Moses was telling the pharaoh that if the hail stops after Moses prays, then people will realize that the earth is the Lord’s. 

Verses 26-30 - After Moses saw that pharaoh repented, he knew that pharaoh was giving a fake repentance and pharaoh was going to harden his heart again. If Moses knew this, why did Moses still pray to God once again? What is repentance? Repentance means to give yourself up and you are realizing that you are nothing before God. When you repent, then God will accept it. God is glorified when we repent because we are confessing before God that He is the true God and the almighty God. Whoever repents before God, He will accept it. That is why God accepted pharaoh’s repentance. Even that same short moment of repentance from pharaoh, God received it. God becomes so weak hearted when we repent before Him. God accepts our repentance no matter how many times we sin and repent before Him. 

(2) Pharaoh's spiritual state

Verse 34 - Pharaoh hardened his heart again. What was the reason? 

Verses 31-32 - It shows the reason here. This means that when everything seems to be in complete ruins and destroyed but not everything was destroyed. Pharaoh saw that. Even though the pharaoh experienced the judgment of God but pharaoh didn’t change his mind. This was because pharaoh still was not able to discard and throw away his idols. For pharaoh, he still held onto his gods, the sun god and he still believed that he was a god himself.

3. Important Answers

(1) Fundamental healing: faith

The darkness inside of us stays still and stays dormant if we don’t change our fundamentals. You think that once you repent, it will all change. But if you don’t change your fundamentals and the roots of fundamentals, you will not change. You need to uproot your fundamentals. It is through the blood of the cross. You need to go inside the blood of the cross. You need to die on the cross with Jesus. This will help you become a new creation. That is why we must enter into 24 hours. You will receive important answers. 

You can change your fundamental problems through Genesis 15:5-6 “Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ 6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” - The start of all answers it through faith. The faith to believe that your fate has changed and leading us to the pentecost. 

(2) Fundamental strength: the Word

Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” - When we hold onto God’s word and the pulpit message and enter into 24 hour prayer, then darkness will break down. When we lose hold of prayer, then darkness will come find us. We need to stay steadfast in prayer. We need to have the correct direction. 

(3) Fundamental mission

We need to set our direction by holding onto Romans 14:7-8 “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” - Because you still exist, you still live and die for yourself. Through the seven bartizans, we need to hold onto the covenant and enter into prayer. Always give thanksgiving to God. There are also seven journeys. Enjoy the seven guideposts. 

Conclusion

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” - Hold onto this covenant. The 10 plagues that happened in Egypt, it didn’t end there but the same answers and works can come upon us. We might not have the rod of Moses but we possess the name of Jesus Christ. If we hold onto the name of Jesus Christ, then the same works of splitting the Red Sea will come upon us. Wherever we go, the power of the heavenly throne in the name of Jesus Christ will come upon us.