In Exodus chapter nine, verse sixteen, God declares to Moses that He has raised him before Pharaoh the King of Egypt and his Egyptians to represent the Hebrews and be a servant to demonstrate His power. The Lord instructs Moses to go to Pharoah early in the morning to tell him to let God’s people go or face the seventh plague.
Moses stretched his hands toward the sky and brought on the hail. The hailstorm was unlike any they had experienced before: a mix of fire within it. The people were not doomed to suffer this plague. It was clear anyone outside during the storm would be punished, but if they would go inside and take any animals in with them, then be spared the harshness of the storm. The storm destroyed many crops, people, and animals in the fields. However, again punishment did not come to the land of Goshen.
Pharoah deserves doom when he first states to Moses, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice.” Pharoah did not know anyone or deity above him or believed to be a god other than himself. Therefore he became surprised by Moses’ comments. Pharaoh knows Moses, from his youth living in Egypt, suddenly approaches the King of Egypt about a God of Israel? Instead of destroying Pharoah, God allowed him to experience plague after plague so he would know that God has power and that not only he but the entire world would witness God’s power.
Today, some people believe in their money and public status, that there is nobody or a deity other than themselves. However, some of them experience what Pharoah encounters, where personal achievements may not help or save them from a natural disaster. These same people realize a higher power but fail to admit and submit to it.