THEN there is another demand from Jehovah.
Then Jehovah said to Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and shalt retain them still, behold, the hand of Jehovah shall be on thy cattle which is in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep, with a very grievous plague (9:1-3).
This is the fifth judgment. And the Lord appointed a set time; He said “Tomorrow” (vs. 5).
I do not think we can read into verse 6 that all the cattle were exterminated; but, from those enumerated in verse 3, it appears that every kind was affected, not every animal. But of the cattle of Israel not one died.
And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to yourselves handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens before the eyes of Pharaoh. And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall become boils on man, and on cattle, breaking out [with] blisters, throughout the land of Egypt (9:8, 9).
Pharaoh hardening his heart in face of the second miracle mentioned in verse 7. leads to the sixth judgment. And the magicians could not stand before this (ver. 11). Then we get the seventh judgment.
And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward the heavens, that there may be hail throughout the land of Egypt, upon men, and upon cattle, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt (9:22).
This judgment caused Pharaoh to call for Moses and Aaron, and to say, “I have sinned.” It was not real repentance; it was not the confession of a broken and contrite heart. Saul said he had sinned when Samuel brought home to him that he had rejected the word of the Lord (1 Sam. 15:2424And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. (1 Samuel 15:24)). So did Judas when convicted that he had betrayed the innocent blood (Matt. 27:44Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. (Matthew 27:4)). But in each case there was no true repentance; it was more the language of a distressed soul at the time. So here. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail, and the thunders ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.