Was Pharaoh’s repentance short lived, like a recovering addict, like a dog that returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, that returns to wallow in the mire (2 Peter 2:22)? If God did not give up on Pharaoh, will He easily give up on us? Let’s look at Exodus 9.
Livestock Plague
What did God next instruct Moses to tell Pharaoh?
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. (Exodus 9:1-3 ESV)
Did the Lord again protect Israel from yet another plague?
But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die.” And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died. (Exodus 9:4-6 HCSB)
Did Pharaoh check to see if the plague had affected Israel? Did he change his stubborn heart?
Then Pharaoh inquired and discovered that not a single one of the livestock of Israel had died, but Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn and he would not let the people go. (Exodus 9:7 ISV)
Boils
What was the next plague? Did it also affect the magicians? Was Pharaoh responsible for his own evil? Did God confirm Pharaoh’s hard heart and use it for divine purposes?
And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. (Exodus 9:8-12 KJV)
What was God’s warning to Pharaoh? How patient was he with Pharaoh’s stubbornness?
And Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For this time I will send all My plagues against your heart and amongst your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had sent forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been wiped out from the earth. But, indeed, for this reason I have caused you to stand, in order to show you My power and in order to recount My name through all the earth. Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go. (Exodus 9:13-17 LSB)
Hail
What is the next plague that God would send on Pharaoh?
Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. So now, send word, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every person and animal that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.”’” Everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring his servants and his livestock into the houses; but everyone who did not pay regard to the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field. (Exodus 9:18-21 NASB)
How bad was the hail? Where did it not strike?
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were. (Exodus 9:22-26 NIV)
Did the vacillating Pharaoh again change his mind? What did Moses answer him?
Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he confessed. “The Lord is the righteous one, and my people and I are wrong. Please beg the Lord to end this terrifying thunder and hail. We’ve had enough. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.” “All right,” Moses replied. “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands and pray to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail will stop, and you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.” (Exodus 9:27-30 NLT)
How bad was the hail storm? Was Pharaoh’s repentance again short lived?
The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses. (Exodus 9:31-35 WEB)
Was Pharaoh’s repentance short lived, like a recovering addict, like a dog that returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, that returns to wallow in the mire? If God did not give up on Pharaoh, will He easily give up on us? You decide!
