Exodus Chapter 9 Verses 1-7

:1 “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. 5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.”

One of the biggest negatives for Pharaoh if he let the children of Israel go was a loss in potential wealth produced by the labors of the Hebrew slaves.  With the above judgment, the LORD is really hitting hard the wealth of the Egyptians and Pharaoh.  To lose the cattle, horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep would be a loss of a large portion of Egypt’s wealth and work a heavy hardship upon the Egyptians as these animals provided so many things to the people of Egypt.  Largely, these animals provided much of the foodstuff, clothing, burden bearing and transportation of the Egyptians. 

There is a big difference in this judgment from the previous judgments.  The previous judgments affected both the Egyptian people and the people of Israel.  In this judgment, the children of Israel are sparred the destruction of their animals.  This is like God’s eternal judgment of sin.  Through the sacrificial atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the elect children of God are sparred eternal judgment upon them personally, whereas the non-elect are cast into the lake of fire for eternal judgment of sin.   

Despite the loss of the cattle, horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep, Pharaoh still hardened his heart and would not let the children of Israel go as God had said he would react.  This is typical of the unregenerate who will harden their necks and back against the word of God and the judgments of God.   

Verses 8-12 

:8 “And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.”

Boils are a type of skin ulcer.  Blains are the result of the eruption of the boils.  This, no doubt, was quite painful to those who had them.  Now we see that the LORD is not only affecting negatively the wealth of Egypt, but he is also affecting negatively the health of all the Egyptians.   

Moreover, the magicians with all their magic and deceitfulness had not been able to duplicate the last few judgments, now are themselves being affected with the judgment of boils and blains.