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The Sixth Plague: Boils

“8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw it in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 It shall become fine dust all over the land of Egypt, and shall cause festering boils on humans and animals throughout the whole land of Egypt.’ 10 So they took soot from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and it caused festering boils on humans and animals. 11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils afflicted the magicians as well as all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses” Exodus 9:8-12.

This is the sixth plague, and did you notice that there was no mention of any verbal confrontation with Pharaoh. All that happened was that both Pharaoh and his magicians were compelled to witness the horrible and symbolic action of God. While this is the shortest of the plague accounts, its severity is felt in the words of v. 11, “The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils afflicted the magicians as well as all the Egyptians.” This was the most debilitating plague that prevented the mobility of all Egyptians. No one could ignore this plague or easily explain away as trivial. No magician could match this plague!

Verse 12 closes out the brief plague with yet another, by now predictable, statement that Pharaoh remained unyielding. It is clear that Moses did not want the reader to forget that God caused this, according to the plan He had announced to Moses and Aaron from the start.

Dear friends, God’s ways and God’s plans are not our plans and ways. We have all suffered sometimes in our lives from the plans of God. We must accept them as God’s mysterious and perfect ways of acting in our lives. 

I do not wish to question God’s decisions, as difficult and mysterious as these are from time to time. In this story God is clearly causing this plague, while in many other situations in our lives, we can only wonder why God permits or allows us to suffer. 

For me, this is the lesson of Job. We all must remain faithful to God despite the suffering we experience. After all, is this not one of the primary lessons of Good Friday? Jesus took on unspeakable personal suffering while remaining faithful to his Father. That is why we must learn to remain faithful, and when we are not faithful, we have to return to God asap! We have to learn to live with great mystery in life.

I, for one, will choose to follow Christ, and when I don’t, I will humbly ask for God’s forgiveness and the grace of God to return to Him. How about you?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.