Exodus 9: Every Livestock Dies, ☧ Makes Enemy Heavy

Rev. Chris Matthis, pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 9. “All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.” An epidemic strikes in Exodus 9. As the plagues intensify, the first deaths come. But if all the livestock died in the epidemic, why are they later described in the plagues of boils and hail? This misunderstanding disappears under close reading. God gradually intensifies the plagues so as to make Pharaoh dig in his heels, isolating him from his subjects. God thus opens the door for some of the Egyptians to turn and know Him, just as Christ isolated Satan that the Gentiles might come to know His Father.