Exodus 9:13-21
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.  For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.  Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.  Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.' "

 Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside.  But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.

As I have been reading the Biblical account of Moses, it’s been challenging to read about the plagues that God not only allowed, but ordained.  It also is clear to me that it was God himself who hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  Too many times, these seeming acts of cruelty are glossed over because one can’t imagine a loving God hardening a leader’s heart and punishing people.  
I love the verses above.  They shout of God’s mercy and redemption.  He wants the people to know that there is no one like Him!  Because of Egypt’s devastation, God’s power and His name were proclaimed to “all the earth”!  Not only that, Egyptians who “feared the word of the Lord” were able to escape some of the plagues by simply following Moses’ instructions.  I’d like to remember in turbulent times that what may seem like evil from a human perspective could be God’s means of miraculous redemption.  

Joy