V1-2 – God says He will make Moses like God before Pharaoh and Aaron like Moses’s prophet. This scripture section is very critical in showing who a prophet is. As we shall see here in the story, Aaron would do what Moses commands, and remember that Aaron was the spokesperson. I clearly see therefore that the prophet is a spokesperson but in addition, is God’s servant to do whatever God wants to do for his purposes.
This is an important lesson. A prophet of the Living God does not operate from himself/herself. The prophet is God’s tool to be used for God’s purposes and in all things, the prophet’s actions will glorify the one who sent/sends them.
V3-5 – Pharaoh’s response to Moses and Aaron the first time they went to Him was like a mockery. He had said in Exodus 5:2 NIV:
Exodus 5:2 NIV: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”
Pharaoh and the Egyptians did not know the Lord and did not honor Him as God. And so the Lord here tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart and raise his powerful hand over them and they will know that He is the Lord.
The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart therefore was because of his lack of acknowledging who the Lord is. This was also the case for the Egyptians. And so God would reveal himself to them powerfully. He will reveal that He is the creator of all and the all-powerful God. He would do it for his glory.
I see here that the hardening of the heart and the subsequent punishment comes because of rebellion and stubbornness toward God. And this same script happens a lot throughout scripture. For example, the Israelite nation would get punished many times because of forgetting the Lord their God. When they acted in rebellion, the Lord would leave them and they would thus suffer pain but before that, God would keep asking them “return to me.”
Does the Lord have to go to the extent of letting me experience pain so that I can listen to Him?
What eventually happens to those who refused to acknowledge and obey God? They die. Why? Because that is just what sin is and the wages of sin is death. Sin is rebellion against God and that breeds death.
Ephesians 4: 17-18 NIV – So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
V6-7 – God uses those who obey Him. And note that God is using Moses and Aaron in their very old age. God has no limit as to the age his servants are because He is not defined by time.
V8-13 – Pharaoh would demand for a miracle from Moses and Aaron. He was testing to see what God this is. Moses and Aaron perform the miracle but Pharaoh’s sorcerers and magicians do the same thing.
However, even if they do the same thing, God still glorifies himself by making Aaron’s snake swallow the other snakes. He stamps his power and authority over these other false powers.
But even after being shown the miracle, Pharaoh’s heart is still very hard just as God has predicted. The goal of asking for the miracle was not to obey but rather to test God. If it was in his heart to let the Israelites go, He would have let them go even without any miracle. The command from God was clear and no extra thing was needed for Pharaoh to Obey God. And that is why God would do it forcefully. As seen in the later chapters of Exodus, even when Pharaoh let them go on that night of death, He later followed them and wanted to capture them back. Why did He do that? Because He was never ready to obey God.
We do not need any extra thing to obey God. He does not have to convince you in any other way. His initial word and direction is enough. Listen and obey!
I Samuel 15:22 MEV – Samuel said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, a listening ear than the fat of rams.
V14-18 – God’s message remains clear – Let my people go so that they can worship me in the wilderness. All the miracles and signs will accompany the message which remains clear. They are not the message. They are not the end in themselves. They are tools that God will use to ensure Pharaoh will know that He is the Lord.
V19-22 – And the Lord greatly shows his power because not only does the water in the Nile become blood but all other water that was even in the bowls in Egypt turned to blood.
That’s astonishing. It happened instantly at that moment everywhere in Egypt. That was the superiority of God’s power. Because the magicians were called and they too turned the water into blood but could they turn all water into blood, even what was in the bowls and instantly?
No, they couldn’t.
V23 – Pharaoh returned to his palace and continues to harden his heart. In fact, He put the whole thing out of his mind.
This is how hard hearts behave: they put God’s word out of their hearts and forget it about as if nothing had happened. You see, Pharaoh indeed heard God’s word, over and over but it did not do anything in his heart. His heart remained hard and He never repented.
The Lord warns us against this hard heartedness where God’s word does nothing in our lives yet we indeed hear it.
James 1:23-27 NLT – For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Do not live as if you have not heard his word. Live a honest life before God, readily and willingly obeying his word.