The other day we experienced a hailstorm in Council. Quarter-sized hail fell in a torrential downpour. The hail battered against our windows and roof and bounced off the lawn like popcorn. My wife was on the phone with her dad in Minnesota when it was happening. She recalled the time that softball-sized hail hit their hometown of New London and everyone in town got a new roof. I couldn’t imagine being outside during a storm like that!
The seventh plague that fell upon Egypt during the time of Moses was a tremendous hailstorm. The Lord spoke through Moses to the Pharaoh, “Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.” Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field. (Exodus 9:19-21)
What you have to understand is that the Egyptians had already experienced their river turning into blood, frogs, gnats, frogs, a plague on their livestock and boils. You would think that they would have all taken the Lord seriously and protected their animals and slaves from the hail. But there were some that ignored the word of the Lord and lost everything– crops, animals and slaves. How sad it is that life had to be lost before they admitted that they were wrong. Yet even after the Pharaoh’s admission and Moses spreading out his hands to the Lord to stop the hail, “Pharaoh sinned again: he and his officials hardened their hearts …and he would not let the Israelites go.” (Exodus 9:30-31)
What can we learn from this story? First, there were some Egyptians who heeded the warning from the Lord enough to save their livestock and slaves. They had nominal faith that God would do what he said he would do. However, when the threat of hail was over, they fell back into their old patterns of sin. That is typical of many in this world who turn to God during the storms of life, yet turn away from him when skies are blue.
Second, we see that God spares his own people from his hand of judgment. “The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.” Much like the Israelites were covered from the hailstones, the blood of Jesus Christ covers the sin of those who place their trust in him. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) While we still may experience storms in our lives, we have the assurance of eternal life through Jesus Christ who died and rose again! Will you call on Him today?
