Morning Light – Exodus 7

[Exodus 7] Moses Confronts Pharaoh. After many protests, Moses returns to Pharaoh, knowing that the king will not let the people go. It seems like a fool’s errand, but undeniably what God wants Moses to do. Have you ever experienced this? Have you ever felt God is leading you to do something but see absolutely no way you will succeed? This is what Moses faced, and if we are going to be a people who obey God when He speaks, we will face such things as well.

[Exo 7:1-25 KJV] 1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, [and] my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. 6 And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they. 7 And Moses [was] fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh. 8 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast [it] before Pharaoh, [and] it shall become a serpent. 10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart [is] hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. 15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. 16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. 17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that [is] in mine hand upon the waters which [are] in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that [is] in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and [that] there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in [vessels of] wood, and in [vessels of] stone. 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that [were] in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that [were] in the river were turned to blood. 21 And the fish that [was] in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. 24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

In the last verse of the previous chapter, we leave Moses strongly objecting to God’s instruction to return to Pharaoh. He complains that he is a man of uncircumcised lips, an apparent speech impediment that robs him of his confidence to confront the king of Egypt. More than once, Moses made statements like this in other places, describing himself as “slow of speech.” In Ex. 4:10, he uses language that translates in Hebrew as “to stutter or to stammer.” One extra-biblical story, a rabbinical tradition, says that as an infant, Moses’ tongue was burned with a lump of hot coal, resulting from a primitive, failed test often given to infants in ancient Egypt. Whatever the case may be, Moses was deeply affected by it and felt no confidence to stand and speak publicly.

What about you? What are the unchangeable defects in your life or person that make you feel unqualified to fulfill God’s call on your life? God does not choose us for our strengths but our weaknesses. It is a fact that those most qualified to perform a task or fulfill a role in the things of God are often the least anointed from on high for doing so. Paul speaks of this:

[1Co 1:27-28 KJV] 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

The fact of the matter is that the Father often chooses us for that we are least equipped to accomplish without His divine grace to see us through. That being the case, why do we, in Christian culture, work so hard to qualify ourselves for what God calls us to do when scripture plainly indicates that God’s first choice will be the unqualified and incapable?

In Moses’ case, how will he ever be successful in confronting Pharaoh with a severe speech defect inhibiting his ability to communicate effectively? In v. 1, we see the answer. God promises to make Moses “a god” to the king, and Aaron shall be Moses’ “prophet.” In v. 2, the Father declares that Moses will tell Aaron what God says to him and that Aaron will repeat the same words back to Pharaoh. Interestingly, this arrangement doesn’t seem to be how things went because when Moses and Aaron do go before Pharaoh, it seems apparent that Moses does all the talking.

In v. 3, the Lord prepares Moses for Pharaoh’s response by stating that the king’s heart initially will be hardened, and he will not agree to let the people go. Why is this the case? Because the Father hardens the king’s heart to set the stage for multiplying His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt before the exodus toward the promised land. Pharaoh will not listen to Moses (v. 4), and God will subsequently “send forth His armies” and bring the people out not by Pharaoh’s clemency but by God’s mighty and awful judgments. The scripture does not record what Moses and Aaron’s response to all this is, but we do see (v. 6) that they did comply will all they were instructed to do.

In v. 7, we see that Moses was 80 years old when he stood before Pharaoh. He wasn’t a young man then. In today’s culture, we don’t revere the older generation as they did in ancient times. What would be your response if God sent an 80-year-old man to lead you into a hostile environment that would change all your plans, uproot your life and immigrate into a nation utterly devoted to your personal destruction? Likewise, if you are an older person, don’t count yourself out of God’s plan to make use of your life even in your sunset years.

Moses and Aaron make their way to the king’s court and, by God’s direction, give the command as to what must happen. In support of their authority to make their demand, Moses’ rod turns into a serpent. Pharaoh turns to his magicians and sorcerer’s, and they do likewise, so the king is not impressed. Here is where we need to learn the lesson that not everything spiritual or supernatural is of God. In Pentecostal, Charismatic circles, people tend to run after the report of signs, miracles, and wonders, but we need to exercise discernment. Just because someone lays hands for healing, and a miracle happens, doesn’t mean they are moving in the Spirit of God. Thus we see (v. 13) that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, and he will not let the people God.

In v. 14, the Lord reaffirms to Moses that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened by His design and that (v. 15) Moses is to return to Pharaoh again the next day for a second confrontation. This will be repeated many times before the command is given to release the Israelites. As to God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart, there are different schools of thought regarding what this actually entailed and what it means for us.

In considering the subject of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, some suggest that this is a poor translation and that the Hebrew tense and grammatical structure actually indicate that God didn’t harden the king’s heart, rather Pharaoh’s heart was hardened because of his own choice, or stubbornness. Still other interpretations suggest that as the sun hardens dry earth in the desert so God, being who He is, had this effect on Pharaoh in a passive way, but not by any direct action on the Lord’s part. What are we to believe?

It is helpful to learn that scripture interprets scripture. Let’s read Proverbs 16:4-5:

[Pro 16:4-5 KJV] 4 The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. 5 Every one [that is] proud in heart [is] an abomination to the LORD: [though] hand [join] in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

This verse suggests, and plainly states that God makes the wicked for destruction. There are many questions we might ask about this, and doctrinal inquiry could undoubtedly be made, but the overall understanding we must accept is this: God is God, and He can do anything He wants, any time He wants, and He doesn’t have to check with anyone. It is not God’s will that any should perish, but long before God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, his life was predisposed to evil toward the Israelites, and his repeated refusal to let the people go only resulted in him reaping the consequences for harboring those attitudes.

In v. 14-22, Moses returns to Pharaoh, and in sight of all his magicians, the waters of the Nile are turned to blood. Even by today’s standard, that is a stupefying act of miraculous proportions, but unfortunately (v. 22), the magicians of Egypt do the same thing, and Pharaoh’s response, again, is the refusal to let the people go. At this point, the contest of wills between Moses and Pharaoh is having a severe impact on all the people of Egypt. The Nile is undrinkable, and they set about digging wells in the river valley in search of fresh water. This will go on for seven days before, in the next chapter, Moses returns to Pharaoh to once again demand that the king let the people go.