“Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). I can easily imagine these words being spoken with a deliberate level of contempt and defiance. Perhaps they came after a scornful laugh at the sheer audacity of it all. Pharaoh wasn’t impressed with the demands of Moses’ God. After all, he wasn’t used to taking orders from anyone, especially from the helpless deity of an enslaved people. Pharaoh dismisses God’s messengers with a promise to increase the workload of lazy slaves. If they have time to dream up this kind of foolishness, they aren’t working hard enough!
But the demands of God upon Pharaoh continued, and this time they were accompanied by terrible plagues that wreaked havoc upon the nation of Egypt. For a while, Pharaoh remained defiant. Then, as the plagues began to take their toll, he tried to bargain. When Moses refused to make a deal, the Egyptian leader became angry and ordered him out of his presence. This set the stage for the final, decisive plague – the death of the firstborn. This proved to be the final straw for the rebellious monarch. Surrounded by his devastated country and grief-stricken over the death of his own son, Pharaoh finally relents and orders the Israelites to leave just as God demanded.
I guess Pharaoh and God were finally introduced! Sadly, it took a master’s level course entitled “Introduction to the Power and Authority of the Living God” to facilitate the meeting. Never again could Pharaoh defiantly claim ignorance of the true God. And never again would he uninformed regarding the price of rebelling against God’s commands.
Many in our world still arrogantly follow Pharaoh’s example of defiance against God. But make no mistake. Modern day rebels, like Pharaoh, will also one day learn that “…it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). According to the scriptures, their ignorance and arrogance brands them as fools (Psalm 53:1).
God loves you!
Mike
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