The Nile had turned to blood. Frogs, gnats, and flies had invaded the land. Livestock had died and people and animals had suffered festering boils. God then promised destructive hail. God had revealed His amazing power, and He would continue to do so. But don’t miss what He told Moses to pass along to Pharaoh before the hail: “For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth” (9:15).

The power the Egyptians and Israelites were seeing was a sliver of what God is capable of. The same God who created the universe by His words could also speak the Egyptians out of existence. Egypt was not seeing God’s full power for one reason: grace. It was God’s grace that withheld the rightful judgment the Egyptians and Israelites deserved. This same grace holds His judgment today. This is the message of the Gospel. God is holy and powerful, and we deserve judgment. At the same time, God is loving and merciful, so He withholds His judgment from us and placed it on His Son instead.

• How aware are you of God’s grace day by day, and minute by minute?