Exodus 9:13, commentary and pictures

The Lord directed Moses to rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh with a demand in the name of the Lord God of the Hebrews to let Israel go that they might serve Him. This command opens the warning before the seventh plague, in which God declared He would send all His plagues to prove there is none like Him in all the earth and to declare His name throughout all the earth. The warning explained that God had raised Pharaoh up to show His power in him, and it rebuked Pharaoh for exalting himself against Israel.

It foretold a very grievous and devastating hail on the next day, such as Egypt had never seen. Judgment was joined with merciful direction to gather cattle and all that were in the field into shelter, giving those who heeded a chance to protect people and animals. That offer tested the pride of the Egyptians and divided those whose hearts were affected and who feared the word of the Lord, so that they housed their servants and cattle, from those who hardened their hearts like Pharaoh and left them in the field to die.

The hail judgment distinguished Goshen from the rest of Egypt. The hail mingled with fire had its timing announced beforehand, showing that it did not happen by chance and that the God of the Hebrews rules the earth and commands thunder, hail, and storm. The plague led Pharaoh to acknowledge his sin and God's righteousness, to confess that he and his people were wicked, and to ask Moses to intercede so the storm would cease.