The cows were all lying dead in the field one day, and their keepers were lying dead beside them. Whatever could have happened? Let me tell you the story. And since this is one of God’s stories, we may be sure that it is true.
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was using the children of Israel as slaves to make bricks for his building projects. God told Pharaoh, “Let My people go!”
No! said Pharaoh. He wanted to keep them as slaves.
Perhaps you said “No” to God and to His Son Jesus yesterday when He reminded you again of your sins. Nothing bad happened, and you got up this morning healthy and well. So did the Egyptian people . . . for a while. But God sent them nine warnings before He sent the tenth one - death. Has He sent warnings to you?
One of those nine warnings was a furious storm of thunder, lightning and hail so huge and heavy it pounded everything flat, including people and animals. If the weather forecast warned you of a terrible storm like that, you would make sure that you and everything you owned were in a safe shelter. But this warning to Pharaoh was not from the weatherman; it was from God, and Pharaoh did not listen.
Do you listen to God? He never makes mistakes. His Word tells you over and over again that God will judge this sinful world. Do you have a safe shelter from that judgment?
Perhaps you don’t know where to find shelter. That’s why God gave us the Bible, and that’s why we are telling you this story. Jesus, the Savior of sinners -Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again - Jesus, the Son of God, is the perfect and only shelter from that judgment which God has warned is coming against sin and sinners.
There were some Egyptians who feared God and listened, and they brought their livestock home. But I’m afraid that word “some” did not include very many. There was no escape from the pounding hail and fiery lightning for anyone or anything left outside. The fields were strewn with the dead bodies of people and animals.
Pharaoh cried out to Moses to ask God to stop the deadly storm. You notice that Pharaoh himself did not cry to God. He had to beg Moses to ask God to stop the storm. But God loves you, and He wants to hear a cry from your own heart, not just asking for peace and good health, but to cleanse you from all your sins by the precious blood of Jesus. Do you see that sin is the real deep-down problem in your life?
Moses stretched forth his hands toward heaven and the hailstorm stopped. This did not bring life again to the cows and keepers, and it did not teach Pharaoh his lesson-that God is true and He must be obeyed.
From the rest of the story in the Book of Exodus, it is plain that Pharaoh never learned. Will you listen and learn? You can never get past the power of God, and you can never guess the love of His heart until you come to Him through Jesus. You will find that “God is love” (1 John 4:1616And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)). What He will do for you is a million times better than stopping a hailstorm! In His mighty power, He will do far more than all you ask or think.