Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 9 before reading the devotional below.
The plagues we have read about up to this point were things that were ultimately taken away. Frogs come, frogs go. In today’s chapter God raises the stakes and essentially destroys the entire economy. The Egyptians are watching their wealth vanish as their livestock and crops are killed. Amazingly, with all that they had seen up to this point, some did not listen to the warnings from God to bring in any remaining livestock before the hail storms came. Don’t say he didn’t warn you.
Remember that Egyptian gods had supposed power over things like the fertility of livestock and the fruitfulness of crops and the severity of the weather. God is demonstrating his power over any other gods by doing things that none of their gods had ever done. The magicians couldn’t even try out their powers anymore — they too were covered in painful boils all over their bodies.
Here’s your freedom for today: God always gives you a chance to change. Even in the midst of God bringing plagues to a land that had no regard for him, he warned them about what was coming. He gave them a chance to repent, and even gave them a chance to listen to him in order to save some of their remaining belongings. God wants you to turn to him. His actions are always meant as a way to bring you back to repentance. God does not delight when we learn things the hard way. Is there a warning he has given you? What can you turn from today before it is too late?