8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron , "Take for yourselves handfuls e of soot from a kiln , and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh . 9 "It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt , and will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt ." 10 So they took soot from a kiln , and stood before Pharaoh ; and Moses threw it toward the sky , and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast . 11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because e of the boils , for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians . 12 And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart , and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses .
13 Then the Lord said to Moses , " Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews , " Let My people go , that they may serve Me. 14 "For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people , so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth . 15 "For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence , you would then have been cut off from the earth . 16 "But, indeed , for this reason I have allowed you to remain , in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth . 17 "Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 9:8-17
Commentary on Exodus 9:8-12
(Read Exodus 9:8-12)
When the Egyptians were not wrought upon by the death of their cattle, God sent a plague that seized their own bodies. If lesser judgments do not work, God will send greater. Sometimes God shows men their sin in their punishment. They had oppressed Israel in the furnaces, and now the ashes of the furnace are made a terror to them. The plague itself was very grievous. The magicians themselves were struck with these boils. Their power was restrained before; but they continued to withstand Moses, and to confirm Pharaoh in his unbelief, till they were forced to give way. Pharaoh continued obstinate. He had hardened his own heart, and now God justly gave him up to his own heart's lusts, permitting Satan to blind and harden him. If men shut their eyes against the light, it is just with God to close their eyes. This is the sorest judgment a man can be under out of hell.
Commentary on Exodus 9:13-21
(Read Exodus 9:13-21)
Moses is here ordered to deliver a dreadful message to Pharaoh. Providence ordered it, that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit as this Pharaoh to deal with; and every thing made it a most signal instance of the power of God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. When God's justice threatens ruin, his mercy at the same time shows a way of escape from it. God not only distinguished between Egyptians and Israelites, but between some Egyptians and others. If Pharaoh will not yield, and so prevent the judgment itself, yet those that will take warning, may take shelter. Some believed the things which were spoken, and they feared, and housed their servants and cattle, and it was their wisdom. Even among the servants of Pharaoh, some trembled at God's word; and shall not the sons of Israel dread it? But others believed not, and left their cattle in the field. Obstinate unbelief is deaf to the fairest warnings, and the wisest counsels, which leaves the blood of those that perish upon their own heads.