Year 1, Day 58, Exodus 9

Death In The Plagues

Exodus 9 gives us some more serious plagues to consider, and the consequences of the plagues begin to ramp up.  The truth is that we cannot say that this is the first chapter of plagues to bring about death.  Back in the very first plague we saw the death of everything in the Nile that depended on the water to live.

Hardening of the Heart, Continued

Chapter 9 gives us yet another clue in the “hardening of the heart saga” that is the plagues.  Here for the first time we have Pharaoh coming to Moses with a true confession.  Pharaoh says to Moses that he has sinned before God.

The reason I believe this to be a true confession is because Exodus 9:34 tells us that after the hail stops Pharaoh sinned yet again.  Had the confession not been true, it would have made more sense to say that Pharaoh continued in his sin.  I realize that I am splitting a very fine hair and I fully admit that I could be in the wrong and that Pharaoh’s confession was not honest.  But at least for the time being I will read it as to give Pharaoh the benefit of the doubt.  At the very least, we are beginning to see that Pharaoh’s bravado is being weakened by God’s displays of power.

Of course, this gives us an important point to consider.  Is true confession the same as true repentance?  I do not believe so.  True confession is simply an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.  True confession merely says “I am in the wrong, God is in the right.”  Notice that these are actually Pharaoh’s exact words.  On the other hand, true repentance takes confession one step further.  True repentance takes confession and brings it together with changed behavior. 

That is precisely what we don’t get here out of Pharaoh.  He is willing to confess, but not willing to repent.  He confesses, but when the plague is removed Pharaoh doesn’t change.  This is changed behavior, this is continued behavior.  There may be true confession here, but there is in no way true repentance.

God’s Declaration

The one other point that I would like to bring out here is God’s declaration in Exodus 9:15.  God declares that by now He could have easily wiped Egypt off of the face of the map.  That is precisely true.  God could have easily destroyed the Pharaoh and his kingdom with any of these plagues.  The fact that they are still alive implies that their destruction is not God’s true end. 

If their destruction is not God’s true end, then the hypothesis that I spoke about yesterday on the plagues has even more merit.  These are not judgments as much as they are opportunities to come face-to-face with the power of the Creator.  If God simply wanted to judge the Egyptians and bring His people out of Egypt, he could have slaughtered all the Egyptians in righteous judgment for their sinful humanity.  But God didn’t do that.  The destruction of the Egyptians was not His true end.  God allowed them to witness His power and attempt to give them time to change.  God desires true repentance, not judgment.

There’s another neat outcome of this line of thinking.  Have you ever wondered why God would use ten progressively worse plagues when He could have just gone straight for the jugular?  After all, He’s God.  He knew which buttons He could push to get His people out.  But He doesn’t go there right away.  God sends progressively worse plagues to allow the Egyptian people time to discern their relationship with God.

To see this in action, look at the middle of the seventh plague.  Do you see something unusual?  God warns the Hebrew people about what He is going to do and intentionally allows them to have time to remove their livestock from the fields.  Exodus 9:20 specifically identifies that those who feared the Lord removed their livestock from the fields.  Only a God who was concerned with relationship would give the Egyptians time to save themselves.

Of course, this scenario applies to any of us.  By this point in our lives, any one of us has committed enough sin to truly come face to face with the reality that we deserve to die condemned.  But here we are, still reading!  We are not dead, and we have not yet come to that point of judgment in our lives.  Repentance is still possible!  Here we are with the possibility of being in a relationship with God!

Of course, those who truly follow the Lord Jesus Christ ultimately need not fear judgment.  Yes, we will all stand guilty before the Lord, even those in Christ.  But those in Christ are promised eternal life knowing that Jesus Christ has already paid our due.  Jesus Christ has already taken the punishment upon Himself so that we need not bear it.  While we will all endure judgment, those in Christ need to fear it.  Like the God-fearers among the plagues in Egypt, we might see judgment around us but we will come through unscathed.

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