Exodus 9:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
4  And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.
5  And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.
6  And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
7  And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Physical blindness from birth is a sad thing. There are so many things that a blind person does not get to appreciate. We are told that those who do not have one or more of their five senses will have a greater sensitivity in the ones they have left. Those who are born with all five senses and then lose one or more over time at least had the opportunity to experience the blessings of all five senses for a time.
The Bible tells us that we are all born spiritually lost. The Bible tells us that as lost people we are not seeking after God. No lost person has enough curiosity in and of themselves to seek after God. It was a natural thing for Charles Darwin to popularize the lie of evolution. It was a natural thing for his grandfather to also muse about the idea of no God and the natural development of things over time. As mentioned this is the natural view of man.

I Corinthians 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The good news is that even though it is the natural thing for man to develop very foolish and ungodly views, the natural man has the capacity to be saved. He or she is not locked into being a natural man. The mercy and grace of God is shown in the fact that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of all people to draw them to the truth. It is a tragedy that so many have hardened themselves against the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
In our text we continue to see the foolish thinking and actions of Pharaoh. He was not alone in that foolishness. The nation of Egypt was still backing him up. They were just as foolish as he was. They still believed that things would go well with them even though they rejected the true God. They assumed that at death they would enter into a place of peace.
I listened to a person who was reporting on the sudden increase of doctors who have died since the mandated shots in Canada. This reporter stated that all those dead doctors had gone to heaven. That is the assumption of many lost people. They assume that at death, they will go to heaven. They might believe some very wicked people go to hell, but they believe that most people will go to heaven at death. They have their own standard of “good”. The Bible does not support that philosophy, but that does not matter because those people do not believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. As we see in our text, it is a sad thing to witness how a person will destroy their life as they reject God’s working in them.
Moses was again told to go and tell Pharaoh to let the LORD’s people go that they might serve Him. God also told Moses to put some more “meat” behind that demand. It was not just a matter of Moses making the demand but then walking away empty handed with no recourse. Moses was given “fire power” from the God of Creation.
This time the attack would come in a more devastating manner against the cattle and the horses, the asses and the camels and the oxen and the sheep of the nation of Egypt. It was against all four legged creatures that were for food and for food production. This time it would be a “grievous murrain” that would come upon them. We are not told exactly what this grievous murrain was, except that it was deadly.
Once again the LORD would sever the land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt. None of the cattle of the Hebrews would be affected by this plague.
The LORD once again set the precise time for this to take place. Pharaoh and the people knew exactly when to expect this plague to hit them. They had a choice. They could let the Hebrews go, or they could face this plague. Pharaoh and his people already had more than enough evidence to know that God was not blowing off some steam. They knew this was a serious matter.
However, we read in verse 6 that the LORD needed to act on His Word. He needed to bring this plague upon the nation of Egypt. We read that all the cattle of Egypt died, but the cattle of the children of Israel were untouched. God kept this plague from spreading beyond the borders of the land of Egypt.
Plagues and viruses do not generally stop at a border. Although you would think from the actions of our government, that they do. In Canada, we were generally far more gullible. However, in the U.S. a couple of states rejected the lock down mandates and they did not suffer the severe consequences that others suffered. We noticed as well that you could take your mask off to eat and somehow the virus did not spread, but if you dared to walk around with no mask, the virus was deadly, at least so we were told. We were told that as a church we could be guilty of manslaughter if some person in our church had the virus and spread it to someone outside of our church. Yet I never heard of anyone going to Walmart or to Costco being threatened with manslaughter charges if they spread the virus. It has been a strange situation that most have just blindly followed along with.
In verse 7 of our text we read that Pharaoh went to check on the cattle of the Hebrews and he found that none of them died. He saw the evidence, but he still hardened his heart. He refused to recognize the powerful hand of God. He refused to let the Hebrews go. He was no longer benefitting from having them in his land. They were a major cost to him. It was his insistence on keeping them bound in his land that was bringing the plagues from the LORD. All he needed to do was to let the Hebrews go and serve the LORD and the plagues would have stopped. Pharaoh refused to do that. He chose to remain blind. Keep in mind that he chose spiritual blindness.
As we have already mentioned, he was not the only one to make this extremely foolish choice. Thousands of people have died and gone to hell even though the Bible is abundantly clear that a person must be born again. Children have grown up in God-fearing homes and they have chosen to reject the truth they heard in their youth. They have been reminded of the truth as adults, but they still reject it. They would sooner believe liars, than the truth. As we mentioned in our opening words, they have no excuse. God is working in the hearts of all people to show them their need to be saved. The facts are presented to them just as clearly as they were to Pharaoh. Even in a godless home, the children could listen to God and repent and be saved. Children do not need to follow their parents to hell. Parents who deliberately send their children to hell will be accountable for that. Those children will also be accountable for rejecting God’s working in their hearts in seeking to draw them to Himself.
God is showing us some very sobering truths here. I do not know how many people will take them seriously, but it is not because they do not know better. If you are reading this as a lost person, you have been given enough light to be saved. You can know the truth. You can listen to God and you can reach out to some godly individual who will help you to see more clearly your need to be saved. Eternity is a very, very long time. It is not something that should be shrugged off. It is something that should be considered very carefully. Our prayer is that many would turn to God today in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Pastor Bartel