Pharoahs brash and arrogant leadership present a unique set of circumstances where God can accomplish a miraculous revelation of His glory. The manner that Pharaoh mocks and ignores God is certainly a major part of this work. God’s rightly focuses on the hardhearted nature of this vicious tyrant, but He also levels His energy against the false idols of the Egyptian culture. As God reveals His power to Pharaoh in a series of plagues, he is systematically dismantling the false beliefs the Egyptians have relied on for generations. Using a plague of flies or frogs is nothing short of irony. The Egyptian culture was replete with “other” gods, but none more visible and demanding as Pharoah himself. During God’s intervention and distribution of judgement via the plagues Pharoah felt something we are not strangers to in our modern times. Pharoah’s word was spinning out of control. All Pharaoh had to do was surrender and it would be done and over. Yet he persisted in stubborn pride.
When do you feel that the world is spinning out of control? What do you need from God in those times?
Let me take you back to your playground days. On any given Saturday morning while you grew up, streets and playgrounds were no doubt packed with kids hungry for adventure and big game aspirations. All would be fine until that one kid, you know which one, he would get mad because things weren’t going his way. He would then say the worst imaginable thing, “I am not playing this game, and I am taking my ball and going home!”
The game isn’t being played by rules that favor him is what it comes down to and the result is a pouty exit that leaves everyone bored and looking for another outlet for their new frustrations and innate desire to play. Pharaoh and little kids throughout the world unite in this seemingly simple but childish expression. We all want life to be done how we think is best. When God threatens that bubble of selfishness, and He will, we react adversely to His involvement. The reaction is telling… we rise up in anger, frustration, rebellion, or pride, etc and run away and pout. The unique thing about this scene is that our friend always ends up in the playground the next weekend (sometimes later that day). The game always seems to win. We can’t resist the pull of play and competition…so we go back and slink our way back into the good graces of our friends. God is no different, He wins, and in grace we can come back. It is a terrible cycle, but reality nonetheless.
We have the benefit of looking at a historical book like Exodus to tell us the futility of resisting God. But somehow we find ourselves engaged in a recurring battle in our lives, not too dissimilar to Pharaoh’s. Pharaoh opposed God, with devastating consequences. God will also challenge your right to do as you please. This lesson shows that it’s futile to resist.
Read Exodus 7-10
Questions for greater study:
- What was the sign of God’s supremacy (7:8-13)?
- How did Pharaoh react to these “mighty acts of judgment,” as God called them (7:4; 8:8, 25-32)?
- What was the basic issue between God and Pharaoh (7:5, 17; 8:10, 22)?
- What new disclosure does God make to Pharaoh about his power (8:22-23)?
- Some of the Egyptians responded positively to this outbreak of judgments (9:20). How do people interpret natural disasters today?
- What pattern of behavior has by this time become well established in Pharaoh (8:15, 30-32; 9:34-35)?
Responding in Prayer
Give thanks to your loving, gracious Father, who “has raised you up for this very purpose”—to demonstrate his power and proclaim his name in all the earth.
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