Moments With God

Exodus 9

Proverbs 28:14 says, "Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble." Believers who trust in the Lord will face trials in this life, but because the Lord protects His children, they are "more than conquerors" through Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:37) Those who harden their hearts in rebellion against the Lord, however, do not experience the Lord’s peace and joy. Instead they experience God’s wrath.

Pharaoh, ancient king of Egypt, hardened his heart over and over against God and His clear commands. Repeatedly Moses had come to Pharaoh and said, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert." (Exodus 7:16) When Pharaoh disobeyed this command to let God’s Old Testament people leave Egypt, God sent ten terrible plagues on Egypt. First God sent the plague of blood. Blood was in the Nile River, in all the ponds and streams, and even in the containers found in their homes. Next came the plagues of the frogs, gnats, and flies. After the onset of each plague Pharaoh would ask Moses to pray to God to remove the plague. When the plague was no longer existent, however, Pharaoh would harden his heart time and again against God’s clear command to let God’s people leave Egypt.

Then came the fifth plague. This was the plague on the livestock. Moses warned Pharaoh that if he did not let God’s Old Testament people leave Egypt "the hand of the Lord" would bring a terrible plague on their various animals in the field. (Exodus 9:3) For the believer "the hand of the Lord" is a blessed thing. Psalm 37:24b says of the child of God, "the Lord upholds him with His hand." For those who continue to harden their heart against the Lord, however, "the hand of the Lord" is a fearsome thing. Yet Pharaoh continued to harden his heart against the Lord. So the Lord did indeed send that terrible plague on the livestock; and then later God sent the sixth plague, the plague of the boils. These boils covered all the Egyptian people and all their animals. Whereas the previous plague had affected only the animals in the field, this plague affected all the animals and people. Animals and animal-headed deities were often worshipped by the Egyptians, but once again these false deities did not help them at all in their time of crisis. Only our God can protect and help. He alone is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

The seventh plague that God sent on Pharaoh and the Egyptians was the plague of hail. Hail fell and killed all the animals and people who were out in the field. It also "beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree." (Exodus 9:25b) Not only was there hail, but the lighting and thunder that accompanied the hail was horrendous. "It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation." (Exodus 9:24b) The only place this storm did not hit was in the land of Goshen where God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites, lived. Once again as with the other plagues Pharaoh summoned Aaron and Moses. Pharaoh said, "This time I have sinned---The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer." (Exodus 9:27) This is the first time Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and began to have a glimmer of understanding about the consequences of his sin. So Moses prayed and the hail and thunder disappeared. As soon as the hail storm disappeared, however, Pharaoh chose to harden his heart and disobey God once again; and he refused to let God’s people leave Egypt. Pharaoh was going to be visited with three more plagues before he would submit to God’s command to let God’s people go. Let us be very sure that we protect our hearts from becoming hard or indifferent. May our hearts instead be filled with a passion to serve and obey our Lord!