“He gave them rain showers of hailstones,

And flames of fire in their land.

He smote their vines and their figs

And he smashed into fragments

The trees within their borders.”

(Psalm 105:32-33)

We now arrive at the seventh plague — that of hail and fire. If you live in a part of the world where large hail is common, you know just how damaging that hail can be. In this case, the text describes the trees as being shattered into splinters or fragments. What the Psalmist does not record is that the remaining livestock and the people who remained in the field were also killed by these great falling hailstones (Exodus 9:19). As such, the economy of Egypt was decimated (except for the wheat, which was late to come up – Exodus 9:32), yet again, God preserved his people in Goshen (Exodus 9:26).

What is the purpose of such violence against Egypt? They are idolaters, most certainly, and deserve such judgment. They have wickedly oppressed God’s people. Yet, Moses preserves the ultimate reason for this violence — a reason that the Apostle Paul applies to all of the reprobate; God is doing this to show his mighty power that it may be proclaimed throughout the earth (Exodus 9:16; Romans 9:22-23). 

In the Egyptian pantheon, they recognized Tefnut and Shuas twins who ruled the moisture (rain) and air, respectively. Here, God demonstrates that these false gods are unable to stop Him from raining down terror by controlling their domains. Once again, the pagan gods are demonstrated as being inept and impotent when faced with the God of the Bible.