Will Yahweh Be A Big God, For You? (Exodus 9:1-12) Series

Sickness is a terrible thing.

So it's remarkable that Pharaoh is still holding strong in all of this. We have an unstoppable force, against an immovable object. Who will win?

Now, I say that, but why is Pharaoh still holding strong? How is this possible? Let's reread verse 12:

(12) and Yahweh strengthened the heart/resolve of Pharaoh,

and he didn't listen to them,

just as Yahweh said to Moses.

Here, for the first time, Yahweh helps Pharaoh, perversely, by strengthening his resolve. What should happen here, is that Pharaoh realizes he's doomed.

If God can send a disease that brings your nation to its knees, that gives you horrible, erupting boils, but doesn't seem to kill anyone, then what else can God do? And what's left, at this point? How else can God make things worse for you?

The only thing left for God to do, is to start killing people. Right? What else is there? But God strengthens Pharaoh's resolve, so that he doesn't stop, and learn from what he's seeing. Instead, God makes sure that Pharaoh does the impossible-- he resists.

At this point, let's back up, and reread Exodus 9:1-2:

(1) And Yahweh said to Moses,

"Go to Pharaoh,

and tell him,

"Thus has said Yahweh the God of the Hebrews: Release my people, that they may serve me,

(2) because if refusing, you [are], to release, and still strengthening against them, LOOK! The hand of Yahweh is against your livestock that [are] in the fields, against the horses, against the donkeys, against the camels, against the herds, and against the sheep--- a very heavy pestilence/plague,"

At the start of chapter 9, Pharaoh is warned about what will happen if he keeps "strengthening" against Israel.

Yahweh commands him to stop doing this.

But he doesn't.

And now, it's too late for Pharaoh. From now on, whenever Pharaoh weakens, God will strengthen his resolve, to make sure he doesn't repent.

What we see here, is something we see throughout the Bible. The day comes, when it's too late to repent. The day comes, when the only thing left, is God's judgment. Let's read from Psalm 95:6-11:

6 O come, let us worship and bow down,

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!

8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

["hardening" here is "hardening," not "strengthening." Same verb found in Exodus 7:3]

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your ancestors tested me,

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

10 For forty years I loathed that generation

and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,

and they do not regard my ways.”

11 Therefore in my anger I swore,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

The day to repent is "today." Because later, might be too late.

Pharaoh has hit that day.

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For an application today, let's focus on God. I will try to do my very best, to help you revel in God, and God's power.