Year 1, Day 59: Exodus 10

To Know I Am Lord

Before I begin in earnest, I want to give God some glory.  Some of those who are reading may have been following Tom’s and my conversation in the comments regarding God’s nature with respect to the hardening of the hearts.  That has led both of us to a new understanding regarding God’s purpose in the plagues!  For me at least, that new understanding in purpose is not so much judgment upon the Egyptians but rather an opportunity for all to see the power of the Creator.

Not only is this Creator powerful, but as Tom pointed out a day or so ago – God is also specifically powerful in that He can target an audience (Egypt) and simultaneously spare an audience (Goshen).  I know that this has fundamentally changed my understanding of the purpose of the plagues.  Then I hit Exodus 10:2:  “… 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 the Lord.”

It really hit me and I thought the following.  “Here it is, Lord, plain as day.  You had spelled out your purpose all along: to ‘know that I am Lord.’  It’s just that all the other times when I read this passage I focused on the ‘dealt harshly with the Egyptians’ part instead of the ‘know that I am Lord’ part.  Oh God, how could I have been so singular in my focus that I totally miss what you set so plainly before me?”  How many other places in scripture do I pick up on the words I want to read and ignore the words that God is trying to use to convey His full truth?

So there you go.  They say confession is good for the soul, so I have set a bit of confession for the world to see.  I love when God takes a simple task like “read the Bible and post on a blog” and totally works out a big and bold new theological understanding out of it.  Exodus 10:2 has really hit me hard today in making sure that I do not forget that the plagues were not judgments as much as they were opportunities to know God.

Compromise

Beyond that, Exodus 10 has so much great stuff left in it.  We only have 2 plagues – locusts and darkness – but these two plagues reveal so much about human nature and the struggle against God.  So let’s dive right into this work and realize the extent that Pharaoh will go to compromise with God.  This compromise, of course, is so that Pharaoh can retain some semblance of remaining powerful and in control even in God’s presence.

First, notice that when threatened with locusts Pharaoh “decides” to let the men go and worship but the women and livestock must remain behind.  Pharaoh’s bravado his taken a pretty big hit as his country is being assaulted and he is powerless to stop it.  Even Pharaoh’s advisors and the people of Egypt begin to come to Pharaoh and say, “Let them go, for we are being ruined.”  So Pharaoh does what all human beings do when faced with a decision they do not desire to make: compromise.  Pharaoh looks for an opportunity to still exert his will.  He capitulates, but he capitulates on his terms.  Only the men can go.

Now, I’m assuming we all understand the worldly reason for this.  If only the men go, then they will be sure to come back because their wives, daughters, and livestock are still in Egypt.  This is clearly an attempt by Pharaoh to remain in control.  That is really sad. 

When God really gets a hold of a person, he doesn’t want compromise.  God wants complete control.  God wants confession that God is truly in absolute control.  God doesn’t want to share us with the world; God wants us so that through us He can also gain the world!  Pharaoh just doesn’t get that.  But in truth, who among us can say that we always get it, either?

Pharaoh is at a point in his life where He cannot deny the existence of God or even God’s power.  But he is refusing to be humble and let God be in control.  Ultimately it is his inability to get beyond this fact that will get him killed.  Human pride, human greed, and human dominance are all incredibly dangerous weapons antagonistic to the walk of a person following God.  Because Pharaoh will never let go of the control, even his path to compromise will be his undoing.

Declining Relationships

Before we get to the humanity revealed in the ninth plague, notice something new here.  God leads Moses directly from locust to darkness.  As the ninth plague begins, we miss out on the customary warning trip from Moses to Pharaoh.  Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, and we move straight into darkness with no warning.  God’s patience greatly exceeds our own, by God’s patience also has limits.  Pharaoh has shown his last card.  Pharaoh is not willing to embrace the truth that he must let go of control.  Pharaoh is not willing to let go of his pride, his greed, or his dominion.  So God moves through the ninth plague and sets us up for the tenth plague.

Exposing the Core of Humanity

As the ninth plague comes to a close, notice the nature of humanity that is exposed by Pharaoh.  Exodus 10:28 tells us that Pharaoh drives Moses out of his presence forever.  Here we have the ultimate truth of what pure humanity is about.  Pure humanity is about the terrible-twos.  Pure humanity is about throwing a tantrum when things don’t go our way.  Pure humanity is about turning our back on the only source of help that we need because it isn’t on our terms.  Pure humanity is self-centered.  Pure humanity is that part in us that says, “I’ll take my ball and my bat and go home if I can’t have my way.”

Pharaoh drives Moses and Aaron out of his presence because God has called his bluff and continued to tell Pharaoh that Pharaoh cannot share the stage of power with God.  So Pharaoh throws his tantrum and turns his back on God completely.  Pharaoh chooses separation from God and ultimately death because he mandates that life must be orchestrated on his terms.

How often is that true for us?  For me?  How many times do I miss out on what God is doing being I’m too pig-headed to let go of my humanity and instead follow God?  How often do I not make a disciple for Jesus Christ because I’m too concerned with myself and satisfying my thoughts and making sure it gets done my way?  Far too often, I’m afraid.  Far too often I miss out on what God is doing because I’m just too human.  I’m just too self-centered on my plans and my agendas to really get to doing what God wants me to do.  I have far too much Pharaoh in me than I would care to admit.

Huh.  I guess this is really the same thing I confess in the beginning.  For all my life I have been too focused on my own desire to see the plagues as judgment that I missed out on what God is really doing.  So it seems I have another reason to give glory to God today.  God has been able to use Exodus 10 to bring me full circle and teach me the same lesson in two completely different ways.  I guess this is a pretty important lesson for me to learn.  God has gone to great lengths to teach this to me on this day.

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