Plagues 5, 6, and 7: Fire, Brimstone, and Disease
- Plague #5 comes sweeping in. All Egyptian-owned livestock—donkeys, cows, sheep, camels, and horses—are hit with a nasty thing called pestilence, a disease that wipes them out. All Israelite livestock are spared. Natch.
- Pharaoh again refuses to let the Israelites go. He's really not getting the picture.
- Plague #6 is a nasty one. Moses takes some kiln soot (dust gathering at the bottom of a pottery oven), throws it in Pharaoh's face, and nasty boils pop up all over all the Egyptians' bodies. Ew.
- Pharaoh's magicians not only can't fix this plague, but they actually fall before Moses.
- God again makes Pharaoh stubborn, and so Pharaoh plays his part and refuses to let the Israelites go.
- God explains to Moses why he continues to "harden Pharaoh's heart," saying, "I have let you [Pharaoh] live to show you my power and to make my name resound through all the earth" (9:16). So this is all for self-exaltation?
- God unleashes Plague #7. This is it, folks. The original fire and brimstone passage. The seventh plague is a huge amount of hail, accompanied by fire raining from the sky. And guess what? None of it hits the Israelites.
- Pharaoh finally relents, and tells Moses to call off the fire. Moses does so, but then Pharaoh decides—surprise!—to keep the Israelites in slavery.