Exodus 9:1-7

9:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Send my people away, so that they may serve me. ² Because if you refuse to send them away and still hold on to them, ³ see, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very brutal plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴ But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the sons of Israel will die.”‘” ⁵ And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” ⁶ And the next day the LORD did this thing. All over the place, the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the sons of Israel died. ⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and see, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not send the people away.

having thoroughly investigated…

One of the distinctive things about the aftermath of this fifth plague is that Pharaoh authorized a thorough investigation of its results. While dead livestock were found all over the land of Egypt (that is the sense in which I translate the word “all” in verse 6), there were no signs of a mass death among the livestock in Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

What does Pharaoh do with the outcome of this investigation? He ignores it, because the data do not conform to his wishes. Such is the case with numerous thorough investigations into the claims of the gospel today. People find that the evidence for what the Bible says is there, but more often than not, they take Pharaoh’s response. The gospel is true. The evidence is there. But it will take the power of the Holy Spirit unleashed through our prayers for people in bondage to accept that evidence.

LORD, make us a praying people, because witnessing truth alone will not release people from the spiritual bondage they are in.