Then HaShem said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am Hashem.” (10:1-2)
God was not only doing these extraordinary signs or miracles to glorify His Name currently, but so that future generations would know who He is! We still look back at these events to remind and encourage us how great God is and that He is in control.
The eighth plague was locusts, and I hope you are reading from your Bible or Bible app the passages I highlight in the subject heading before reading what I write – the biblical description of all that is going on is rich! This plague was bad enough that “Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against HaShem your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with HaShem to remove this death from me’” (10:16-17). Of course, God gets rid of the locusts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.
So, God went on to the next plague – a darkness so thick that it could be felt – for three days! Pharaoh then told Moses that they could go serve HaShem, but they were to leave their animals behind. Moses said that they had to take everything, but Pharaoh wasn’t having that. He was shrewd enough to figure that once the Israelites left with everything, they wouldn’t return.
God wants and deserves full obedience – He calls the shots, not we, not our leaders, be they congregational leaders or government leaders. Our primary allegiance is to God. It can be tricky, when authorities in our lives are leading or making rules contrary to what God says. Nevertheless, our allegiance is to God, and we must follow Him, not altering what He says, even If we have to suffer unpleasant consequences.
Your superior at work might tell you to lie, you might be expected to affirm something that God calls sin, you might be told not to visit sick people (which God expressly wants His children to do), there are so many opportunities in our society where we have to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
In Pharaoh’s case, no one was pushing him to disobey God, just himself. We sometimes have to deal with that as well when our own desires do not align with God’s will. In those cases, we have to choose to realign our will with God’s. Maybe we want to avoid someone rather than putting in the effort to make peace or reconcile with them. Maybe we want to hold on to unforgiveness or bitterness. Maybe God wants us to serve in a certain area and we don’t want to. Recently, I didn’t want to go and help some sick people because I didn’t want to get sick. I prayed about it and felt that God wanted me to do so, so I did.
Full obedience is the only wise choice. Pharaoh is not there. Too bad for him and his people.
Prayer: God, I do know that full obedience to You is the only wise, life-giving way to go. Please show me any areas where I am not in obedience to You, and give me the will and strength to align myself with you. Amen.
