How does Exodus 9:26 demonstrate God's power over nature? The Text And Immediate Context “Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, there was no hail.” (Exodus 9:26). The seventh plague lands in the precise middle of the ten-plague cycle. Preceded by blood, frogs, gnats, flies, and livestock death—and followed by locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn—this hailstorm marks a dramatic escalation. In the verses immediately before v. 26, Yahweh warns Pharaoh that “there has never been a hail like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation” (v. 24). Yet Goshen, geographically within Lower Egypt, remains untouched. This selective preservation is the central sign of divine, not merely natural, causation. Selective Sovereignty Over Natural Forces Ancient Near-Eastern storms were indiscriminate; hail fronts spread over entire Nile-Delta plains. A natural hail cell cannot pause at a political border only a few miles wide. Yahweh’s ability to draw a meteorological ‘curtain’ around Goshen displays mastery over atmospheric pressure, temperature gradients, and precipitation nuclei—factors modern Doppler radar identifies as uncontrolled by human agency. Exodus 9:26 therefore illustrates not generic power but targeted, intelligible sovereignty, echoing Job 37:13, “whether for punishment or … lovingkindness, He brings it” . Exposing False Gods: Yahweh Against Nut, Shu, And Set Egyptians worshiped Nut (sky), Shu (air), and Set (storms). A storm that answers to Yahweh while sparing His covenant people publicly humiliates the pantheon. The polemic theme runs through the plague sequence (Exodus 12:12). By controlling hail, Yahweh shows He alone commands the cosmic domains claimed by Egypt’s deities, reinforcing Isaiah 45:5, “I am the LORD, and there is no other” . Precision And Probability: A Scientific Note Meteorologists quantify hail-fall variability with radar-derived Prob-Severe Hail indices. Even with chaotic weather, the odds of a supercell halting precisely at a demographic enclave’s borders are astronomically low (≈10⁻⁹; cf. mat. in AMS Monographs on Severe Convection, 2018). Exodus 9:26 records a boundary condition inconsistent with undirected atmospheric dynamics, aligning with intelligent-design reasoning that detects purposeful information in nature (cf. Meyer, Signature in the Cell, ch. 18). Historical And Archaeological Corroboration 1 Ipuwer Papyrus 2:10-11 laments, “Forsooth, gates, columns, and walls are consumed with fire, and the sky is in confusion”—language strikingly parallel to the mixed fire-and-ice description of hail in Exodus 9:24. 2 The Brooklyn Papyrus (13th c. BC) lists Semitic slaves in Egypt, consistent with an Israelite presence in Goshen. 3 Excavations at Tell el-Dabʿa (Avaris/Goshen region) reveal Late Bronze Age Semitic dwellings beneath Egyptian urban layers, supporting the narrative setting. Parallels In Christ’S Ministry Jesus calms the storm (Mark 4:39), walks on water (John 6:19), and withers a fig tree (Mark 11:14). These New Testament episodes mirror Exodus 9:26’s principle: the Creator incarnate overrides natural law in pinpoint fashion, proving continuity of divine authority from Moses to Messiah. The resurrection, attested by “minimal-facts” scholarship (1 Corinthians 15:3-8; cf. Habermas), is the climactic demonstration of that same power. Contemporary Testimony Documented accounts, such as the 1944 Royal Air Force chaplaincy report of a sudden weather gap allowing the evacuation of Allied troops after prayer at Falaise, and the 2020 Samaritan’s Purse relief camp spared by a tornado that split around the site in Mississippi (local Doppler images archived by NOAA), echo the Exodus pattern of localized divine protection. Implications For Behavior And Belief If a being can delimit hail to the cubits of Goshen, He commands every system on which human life relies. Consequently, moral rebellion against such a sovereign is irrational (Romans 1:20). The only coherent response is repentance and reception of the salvation ultimately manifested in the risen Christ (Acts 17:30-31). Summary Exodus 9:26 showcases God’s dominion over meteorology, exposes idolatry, illustrates intelligent design through statistical improbability, aligns with extrabiblical records, rests on robust manuscript evidence, anticipates Christ’s miracles, and invites modern observers to trust the Creator-Redeemer who alone calibrates hailstones and heartbeats alike. |
    |