Then HaShem said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says HaShem, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 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. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.” (9:13-17)
Pharaoh had his reasons for not wanting to let the Israelites go: he didn’t want to lose his slave workforce. After six plagues, he still has no intention of complying with HaShem’s demands through Moses. Yet, HaShem is not daunted.
Pharaoh is warned that the next plague will be such heavy hail falling that it will kill anyone, man or beast, on whom it falls. By then, many of Pharaoh’s servants feared the word of HaShem and hurried their slaves and their livestock into the houses, while those who didn’t pay attention to HaShem’s word, left their slaves and livestock in the fields, and they died. Where the Israelites were in Goshen, there was no hail. The hail was everything God said it would be, and Pharaoh momentarily and superficially humbled himself, saying, “This time I have sinned, (what about the other times?) HaShem is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer” (9:27-28). Moses did as Pharaoh asked, and the hail stopped. And surprise, surprise when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants” (9:34).
It is interesting that by now some of Pharaoh’s own servants are seeing the power of HaShem, the God of the Israelites. They believe that He will do as Moses said He will do and act accordingly, because that is what they have been seeing.
As we walk in obedience to God, it can potentially affect others.
We obey for our own good and for God’s glory. Our society, having discarded God’s ways, is suffering the consequences. People get STDs because they don’t follow God’s instructions for physical intimacy, for example. How dare we think we know better than God’s expressed word on this and other matters such as the value of life, family issues, education, and so much more!
As we continue to read God’s Word and let it direct us and transform our minds and our lives, others will notice. A few years ago, my brother-in-law was inquiring about my siblings and learned that all three were divorced. He was surprised. “How are you and Alan still together?” He asked me. “I mean, besides God?” (He is not a believer.) “There is no “besides God,” I told him. Without God, we would be divorced. But with God, we are still married.” When Alan and I have had problems in our relationship, we have sought God, His Word, and His transforming power. The result, a marriage that lasts, is a testimony to God in this day and age.
Prayer: O God, may you empower me to obey you willingly, happily, and thoroughly, for my good but even more so that Your Name may be glorified! Amen.
