EARS WIDE OPEN (EXODUS 5:1-12:30)
A father once tried to talk to his son about how college was going. The father said, “How are things going?” The son said, “Good.”
The father said, “And the dormitory?” He said, “Good.”
The father said, “How are your studies going?” He said, “Good.”
The father said, “Have you decided on a job yet?” He said, “Yes.”
“Well, what is it?” asked the father. The son said, “Communication.” (William J. Carl III, Church People Beware! C.S.S. Publishing Company.)
The typical way people communicate today is like this fax reply to a recorded message: “What do you mean we don’t communicate? Just yesterday I faxed you a reply to the recorded message you left on my answering machine!”
Listening, as experts see it, is intentional, active and responsive. It is a science and an art – study and practice are essential. The heart, mind and will are involved. That’s why it’s been said, “People hear what they want to hear.”
In Exodus 5-12, Moses was in a running battle with Pharaoh. Moses thundered “This is what the Lord says” eight times (Ex 5:1, 7:17, 8:1, 8:20, 9:1, 9:13, 10:3, 11:4) – seven times to Pharaoh and once to the Israelites. The counter response from Pharaoh and his men in Hebrew - “This is what Pharaoh says” - occurs just once (Ex 5:10), shortly before the plagues arrived. At the onset, Pharaoh made fun of Moses’ signature remark but it backfired on him and he did not try that arrogant stunt again.
Moses’ announcement to Pharaoh followed an unusual pattern. The 2-1 pattern was repeated three times. Moses visited Pharaoh and stated the first two plagues (7:17, 8:1), but then he failed to show when the third plague occurred; confronting Pharaoh again for the fourth and fifth plague (8:20, 9:1) before skipping the sixth plague’s outbreak, and reappearing for the seventh and eighth plague (9:13, 10:3) but missing the ninth plague.
Pharaoh was a hard nut to crack. Worse, he was impossible to talk to or reason with. Pharaoh’ response was similar up to the seventh plague; the Hebrew text says, “He would not listen.” (7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 9:12) Moses’ last visit to Pharaoh ended with Pharaoh’s warning ringing in his ears: “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” (Ex 10:28)
Pharaoh did not listen well - to Moses, Aaron or the Lord, the God of the Hebrews (7:16, 9:1, 13, 10:3). Even his officials, who failed to persuade Pharaoh the only time they spoke up, protested: “Do you not yet realized that Egypt is ruined?” (Ex 10:7).
Are you a good listener? Do you know how to communicate with others? Why do we need to listen more and talk less? What needs to happen when God intervenes, through words, events or people?
Show a Respectful Attitude
10 Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’“ 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” 14 The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh’s slave drivers were beaten and were asked, “Why didn’t you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”
(Ex 5:10-14)
A black man went to a recognizable church, and after the service he approached the pastor and told the pastor he wanted very much to join the church. The pastor did not think he fit into the establishment and did not want to appear cruel and harsh, so he said to the man, “Uh, why don’t you go home and pray for two weeks for the Lord to guide you definitely whether He wants you to join this church.”
The man took the advice, went home, and two weeks later came again to the church. After the service, the pastor said to him, “So, what was the guidance of God for you?” “Oh, the man said, “the Lord said, Go elsewhere, forget about it.” The pastor was stunned, and asked. “Why?” The black man said, “God said, ‘I have been trying to get in here for the past fifteen years and I have not succeeded, so you had better give up trying where even I cannot find an entrance.’” (Adapted from Pulpit Helps)
When Moses and Aaron requested for a three days’ leave (Ex 5:3), Pharaoh not only denied the request, he instructed that the Israelites be given less resources (Ex 5:7) and called them names (Ex 5:8). Pharaoh could care less about Israel taking a three-day journey to sacrifice to the Lord (Ex 5:3, 8, 17); all he could think of was lost labor, work stoppage and unmet quotas if the Israelites were to leave. Pharaoh ordered his taskmasters to nag Israel about their daily tasks (Ex 5:13, 14, 19).
Why it so difficult to get along with disrespectful people like Pharaoh?
Pharaoh humiliated the Israelites repeatedly, harmed them physically and hurt them emotionally. According to Pharaoh (5:17), the only reason the Israelites were not working was because they were lazy. The word “lazy” was mentioned three times in chapter 5, once in 5:8 and twice in 5:17 alone, where Pharaoh repeated the charge in the Israelite foremen’s face.
Not only were they called names, Israel’s foremen were injured, interrogated and insulted (Ex 5:14). Their crimes were failing to produce something out of nothing (Ex 5:16), being indisposed to working and daydreaming of freedom (Ex 5:17).
Pharaoh’s calculated actions paid off handsomely. He confused the Israelite community, caused them to direct their anger at Moses and Aaron and made the two leaders miserable before the Lord (5:21-22). Without doubt, the foremen’s accusation in Exodus 5:21 hurt Moses’ feelings; the exact Hebrew words “judge” and “kill” reminded him of a fellow Hebrew’s accusation forty years ago, who challenged Moses’ fitness to be a judge and his right to kill (Ex 2:14). The foremen complained that they were now a stench; however, in the Hebrew text, the Egyptians, and not the Israelites, were the on the receiving end of the real stench - from dead fish (Ex 7:18) and frogs (Ex 8:14). Moses was so distraught that the Hebrew text says it provoked in him the first of two accusations that he charged God with: bringing “evil” - upon Israel this time (Ex 5:22) and upon himself the other (Num 11:11).
Show a Responsible Reply
A mother repeatedly told his son to sit down but the boy continued to stand until, finally, the mother went to him and plopped him down in a chair. Fuming the boy said, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I AM STANDING ON THE INSIDE!” (Adapted and edited Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, Paul Lee Tan # 6074)
The age-old failure to communicate to each other is loud and clear. Parents often complain about their kids, “You don’t listen,” to which their kids promptly retort, “You don’t understand.”
Nowadays we have to define, parse and write every word. People change their minds so much so that firm handshakes and oral agreements or “in principle” are not worth much. It boils down to what I did not say, what you think I mean and what is public opinion. Sadly, many people now resort to recording phone calls and retrieving e-mail messages.
Pharaoh was not responsible for his words. The Hebrew text records that the first four times Pharaoh spoke to Moses, he implored Moses to pray for him (8:8, 28, 9:28, 10:17), invoking the Lord’s name each time. The “I have sinned” confession at times seems genuine: “This time I have sinned, The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong” (Ex 9:27) and “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord for your God to take this deadly plague away from me” (10:16). Even as the miracles piled up his words of contrition became more reasonable, elegant and accurate theologically, but Pharaoh’s words were hollow.
Pharaoh did not really repent; he was just acting coy, buying time and killing interest. The wily king tried his hand to delay, deceive and divide the Israelites. Pharaoh relentlessly attempted to stall Moses with stipulations on time – “tomorrow” (8:10), space – “sacrifice to your God here in the land” (8:25) and “not go very far away” (8:28), and magnitude – just the men. His conditions include “not now” - “tomorrow” (8:10), “not far away” (8:28), “not the women and children” (10:10-11), and “not the livestock” (Ex 10:24). Without livestock, there would be no sacrifice (20:25), food, possessions or income. Without family, Israel would be homesick. However, Moses had the last word on the Hebrew word “no,” which is same as “not” or “never”: “Our livestock too must go with us; “not a hoof is to be left behind” (Ex 10:26) and “I will ‘never’ appear before you again.”
As Moses pointed out, Pharaoh was an expert in evasive answers, false assurances and downright lies: “Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD” (Ex 8:29). Moses used the words “deceitfully again” to describe Pharaoh’s actions – continuously, without interruption.
Show a Reachable Heart
Charles Swindoll told of a young boy who lived with his grandfather on the top of the mountain in the Swiss Alps. Often, just to hear the sound of his own voice echoing back to him, he would go outside, cup his hands around his mouth and shout, “HELLO!” Up from the canyons the reply reverberated, “HELLO...HELLO...hello...hello...” Then he would call out, “I LOVE YOU...I LOVE YOU...I love you...I love you...love you...”
One day the boy seriously misbehaved and his grandfather disciplined him severely. Reacting violently, the child shook his fist and screamed, “I HATE YOU!”
What did he hear in return? “I HATE YOU...I HATE YOU...I hate you...hate you...hate you.” (Charles R. Swindoll, “Home Where Life Makes Up Its Mind” p. 21, Multnomah Press, 1980)
Pharaoh had become unreachable; his heart was hardened. The word “hardened” in Hebrew occurs as much as 13 times (4:21, 7:13, 22; 8:19, 9:2, 12, 35; 10:20, 27, 11:10, 12:33, 14:4, 8, 17) before the battle ended. Another Hebrew verb for “heavy,” or the Hebrew word for “glory,” was used five times to describe Pharaoh’s response (Ex 8:15, 32, 9:7, 34, 10:1). Sadly, in the end even the Egyptians were affected – the last “hardened” word was reserved for them (14:17). True, the text says “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” but the next line always charges Pharaoh with responsibility: “he would not listen to Moses” (9:12), “he would not let the Israelites go” (10:20), “he was not willing to let them go” (10:27), “he would not let the Israelites go out of his country” (11:10). The last “hardened” word resulted in Pharaoh’s relentless pursuit of the Israelites (ex 14:17). From a hardened heart, Pharaoh progressed to a deaf ear – “he would not listen,” and finally, an unyielding will – he would not let the Israelites go (10:20, 27, 11:10) and a hot pursuit (14:8).
How did Pharaoh find himself in such a position? Did the Lord give Pharaoh chances?
The first five plagues ended with the Hebrew clause “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” (7:22, 8:19, 9:7) or “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (8:15, 32) – the responsibility lied with Pharaoh. However, a struggle for dominance broke out in plagues 6 and 7, alternating between “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (9:12) and reversing back to “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” (9:35). Because of Pharaoh’s stubborn rebellion, the outcome was more striking and definitive with the eight and ninth plague, concluding with “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (10:20, 27). God punished Pharaoh by intensifying his behavior, causing his officials to challenge him (10:7), and bringing down his people and kingdom along with him (12:29-30).
A native Indian explained how the heart works as he laid his hand on his heart:
“I know what my conscience is. It is a three-cornered thing in here that stands still when I am good; but when I am bad it turns around, and the corners hurt very much. But if I keep on doing wrong, by and by the corners wear off and it doesn’t hurt anymore.” (Quotable Quotations 80).
There is a difference between God’s permissive will and His perfect will. He permits people to disobey Him, to defy and deny Him, but He also punishes disobedience and perfects things for His purpose. The Israelites plundered the Egyptians of their silver and gold and whatever else was asked from them (Ex 12:35-36). Pharaoh unwittingly fulfilled God’s words to Abraham in Genesis 15:14, “But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” A Russian proverb tells of man’s foolishness: “No man is so tall that he can knock his head against heaven.”
Conclusion: Pharaoh’s theology was occasionally right and touching, but incomplete overall. Do you practice what you preach? Do you repent with stirring words but no action? Do we ask others to pray for us rather than with us? Is your repentance turning to God, turning from sin, turning into a new leaf, or just simply turning a corner or a page? Do you profess or mouth your sins, or confess them? Do you ask God for forgiveness and correction? Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21)
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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