Exodus 9:8-12

Exodus 9:8-12

[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;  was upon the magicians,  [12] And the LORD  hardened  the heart  of Pharaoh,  and he hearkened  not unto them; as the LORD  had spoken  unto Moses. 

What does Exodus 9:8-12 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The "soot from a kiln" ( Exodus 9:8) was significant in two respects. First, the soot was black and symbolized the blackness of skin in the disease linking the cause with the effect. Second, the kiln was probably one of the furnaces in which the Israelites baked bricks for Pharaoh as his slaves. These furnaces became a symbol of Israel"s slavery ( Exodus 1:14; Exodus 5:7-19). God turned the suffering of the Israelites in the furnace of Egypt so that they and what they produced became a source of suffering to the Egyptians.
"The natural substratum of this plague is discovered by most commentators in the Song of Solomon -called Nile-blisters, which come out in innumerable little pimples upon the scarlet-coloured skin, and change in a short space of time into small, round, and thickly-crowded blisters. This is called by the Egyptians Hamm el Nil, or the heat of the inundation. According to Dr. Bilharz, it is a rash, which occurs in summer, chiefly towards the close at the time of the overflowing of the Nile, and produces a burning and pricking sensation upon the skin; or, in Seetzen"s words, "it consists of small, red, and slightly rounded elevations in the skin, which give strong twitches and slight stinging sensations, resembling those of scarlet fever" (p209). The cause of this eruption, which occurs only in men and not in animals, has not been determined; some attributing it to the water, and others to the heat." [1]
"This plague, like previous ones, most assuredly had theological implications for the Egyptians. While it did not bring death, it was serious and painful enough to cause many to seek relief from many of the Egyptian deities charged with the responsibility of healing. Serapis was one such deity. One is also reminded of Imhotep, the god of medicine and the guardian of healing sciences. The inability of these gods to act in behalf of the Egyptian surely must have led to deep despair and frustration. Magicians, priests, princes, and commoners were all equally affected by the pain of this judgment, a reminder that the God of the Hebrews was a sovereign God and superior to all Prayer of Manasseh -made idols." [2]
"In this plague account we learn that the magicians were still hard at work opposing the signs of Moses [3]. A new twist, however, is put on their work here. Their problem now is not that they cannot duplicate the sign-something which they would not likely have wanted to do; rather, they cannot "stand before Moses because of the boils." This is apparently intended to show that, like the earlier plagues, this plague did not affect the Israelites, represented here by Moses and Aaron. It also provides a graphic picture of the ultimate failure of the magicians to oppose the work of Moses and Aaron. The magicians lay helpless in their sickbed before the work of Moses and Aaron." [4]
This is the first time we read that God hardened Pharaoh"s heart ( Exodus 9:12). If a person continues to harden his own heart, God will then harden it further in judgment (cf. Romans 1). It is also the first indication that the Egyptian learned men could no longer resist Moses and his God.
"The lesson here is that when one ignores the prompting of the Lord time and time again (see Exodus 7:13; Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:19; Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:7), the Lord will confirm that resistance and make belief impossible." [4]2