For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
If Pharaoh refused to let Israel go and continued to hold them still, judgment would follow in the form of a plague upon the cattle. The threatened plague was a fatal disease, the murrain, falling upon the cattle of Egypt. It made a distinction between the two peoples, for the afflicted cattle of the Egyptians died and were destroyed, while the cattle of Israel were preserved so that not one of them died and none was even afflicted.
The plague was announced beforehand with its time stated, so that it could not be dismissed as happening by chance. That advance announcement was meant to show the Egyptians that the whole earth is under the command of the God of the Hebrews and that thunder, hail, and storm obey His voice. The destruction of the Egyptian cattle while Israel's were spared struck at Egypt's worship of animals, displayed the supremacy of Jehovah, and pressed the demand for Israel's deliverance.
After learning that Israel had been spared, Pharaoh hardened his heart and still refused to let the people go. His persistent refusal brought further judgments of boils upon man and beast, from which even the magicians could not shield themselves, followed by hail mingled with fire accompanied by lightning and thunder. Those judgments humbled the proud king who had asked who the Lord was, leading him to confess sin, to declare the Lord righteous and himself and his people wicked, and to plead for intercession to stop the thunder and lightning.
If Pharaoh refused to let Israel go and continued to hold them still, judgment would follow in the form of a plague upon the cattle. The threatened plague was a fatal disease, the murrain, falling upon the cattle of Egypt. It made a distinction between the two peoples, for the afflicted cattle of the Egyptians died and were destroyed, while the cattle of Israel were preserved so that not one of them died and none was even afflicted.
The plague was announced beforehand with its time stated, so that it could not be dismissed as happening by chance. That advance announcement was meant to show the Egyptians that the whole earth is under the command of the God of the Hebrews and that thunder, hail, and storm obey His voice. The destruction of the Egyptian cattle while Israel's were spared struck at Egypt's worship of animals, displayed the supremacy of Jehovah, and pressed the demand for Israel's deliverance.
After learning that Israel had been spared, Pharaoh hardened his heart and still refused to let the people go. His persistent refusal brought further judgments of boils upon man and beast, from which even the magicians could not shield themselves, followed by hail mingled with fire accompanied by lightning and thunder. Those judgments humbled the proud king who had asked who the Lord was, leading him to confess sin, to declare the Lord righteous and himself and his people wicked, and to plead for intercession to stop the thunder and lightning.