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Bible Study Online ArticleLocated at the Bottom of Page In the last article I ended up touching on the viewpoint that it's better to be with God than against Him. I'd also pointed out that even though one is found to be within God's New (Blood) Covenant that was made available through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, this doesn't necessarily excludes us from having to deal with the sorrows and hardships that comes with following His ways and everyday life.
As a matter of fact, this should be expected: "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger... "In purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything." - 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 And know that the Lord didn't intend on it being this way, for in the beginning He did give us everything when he placed us in the "Garden of Eden". But being that this was all that we knew, we didn't know what paradise truly was, for we had nothing to compare it to. This is why Adam and Eve had so foolishly thrown it away, for they didn't know the true value of what they already had. And because of this, a judgment was passed against the human race, and unfortunately, a judgment that we continue to endure to this very day: "To the woman [the Lord] said: 'I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.' To Adam He said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat of it," 'Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. "It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.'" - Genesis 3:16-19 Understand that these are the types of passages that "worldly servants" continue use to this very day, in order to portray God as being mean and vengeful. But on the contrary, it's these types of passages that remind us - just how forgiving, loving and merciful the Most High God is when it comes to us. For He could have immediately destroyed the human race after Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be deceived by the "worldly spirit (Satan) - but as we can see, the Lord didn't do this. What He did instead was to give us a chance at redemption. Make no mistake; there was no way that the Lord was going to let Satan destroy us. There was no way; He was going to let us destroy ourselves - no matter how hard we continue to try. For my faith convinces me that the Lord loves us too much to allow this to happen. And rest assured, if we didn't know what paradise was before, we certainly will - after we come through these "worldly trials and hardships" that we continue to endure to this very day. And you know what? Something tells me that we will long for that paradise that the Lord tried to give us, and once we're there, I believe that we will never give it up again. I thank God everyday for giving us that opportunity - for giving us a chance to make a choice. I often wonder, will we choose to come into His New Covenant and obtain eternal life (a divine paradise) through the "blood offering" that the Lord Jesus Christ had made for us - or will we continue to make the same mistake that Adam and Eve had made long before us - by listening to "worldly powers" and the servants that have sold their souls in order to serve them. Be that as it may, let's move forward: "Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die." - Exodus 9:18,19 Now we find from within this passage, the Lord not only telling the Egyptians what the next "judgment plague" would be - but we also find that the Lord announces the exact time that the plague was to hit. Know that by doing this, the Lord is giving the Egyptians a chance to somewhat avoid, or gain some relief from the disastrous plague that's about to hit the kingdom. And just like the Lord had done with all His other plagues, we find that He's taking things up another notch. Understand that this "judgment plague" will be the deadliest up to this point: "I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now." Now I also want to point out that we find the Sacred Record once again, mentioning the Egyptians "livestock." Know that the livestock that the passage is referring to deals with domestic animals like: Camels, donkeys, goats, horses and sheep - not necessarily cattle. Also note that we're now beginning to see a division between the Egyptians, for the Sacred Record reveals that some Egyptians are beginning to wise up: "He who feared the Word of the Lord among the servants [Egyptians] of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses." - Exodus 9:20 And of course there are those who remained loyal to Pharaoh and their deities, by ignoring the warning that the Lord had sent forth: "But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field." - Exodus 9:21 However, let's take this time to take a look at the deity that this "plague of hail" might be directed towards. Now from within the census of opinion when it comes to this passage, the deity that's normally associated with this plague would be Nut the Sky goddess. Again I'm not going to get into the mythology of this deity, for it doesn't matter which deity it is, or what attributes they carry, know that none of them can come close to the One True God. Nonetheless we move forward: "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.' 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." - Exodus 9:22,23 And like always, the Lord kept His Word and all that He spoke through His servant Moses would quickly come to pass: "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. 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. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail." - Exodus 9:24-26 Notice how this wasn't your typical hail storm, for we find that it was mixed with both thunder and fire. And of course the Sacred Record would make it clear that the Israelites were exempt from this deadly plague. For it's a reminder to Pharaoh (and to that certain human element that continues to oppose God) that the main reason why all this was happening, was due to the fact that the Lord will always take care of those who are found to be faithfully in His covenant (Old & New). Now that Pharaoh and his kingdom is once again, being afflicted through the "judgment process" that the Lord was unleashing upon them. What will be his next move? Will he reach out to Moses and Aaron again? Will he try to wait out the plague? Will he finally release the Israelites?
Moses & the Swarm of Flies Plague **YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE SERIES WOULD BE HERE**
173) How Far Are You Willing to Go 175) Although Exempted - They Still Endured 176) Moses You Can Go & Serve Your God - Only If... 177) God vs The Egyptian Bull Cults 178) A Hard Lesson for Pharaoh 179) God Brings Boils Upon Man & Beast 181) God Tells Pharaoh: You Owe Me Everything! 183) <-CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE PAGE-> 184) Moses Tell Your God - I've Sinned 185) The Lord Giveth and Taketh 186) God Tells Moses - Keep A Record 188) Pharaoh's Moment of Intervention 
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