God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD.” Exodus 6:2 (Chapters 5-10)
God said that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. This is not an attempt on God’s part to violate His own gift of free will. He was letting Moses know He was not going to interfere in the heart of carnal man. Pharaoh was not going to give up his own autonomy or his free labor without a fight. Pharaohs were considered gods/intermediaries themselves, so to be threatened by another ‘god’ was a fight he absolutely couldn’t lose if he was to remain a ruler.
The plagues were designed to give proof of the power of God over the gods of Egypt. The Hebrews must know their God was the One True, All Powerful God and become a nation based on this faith alone. For 400 years they had been aliens in this foreign land and they needed their faith focus reset. Over the next six months to a year, they renewed the knowledge of a God that protects, keeps His promises and delivers them from bondage.
The plagues were very methodical and purposeful. First, the Nile, the heart of Egyptian economy and worship, turned to blood. Fish died and frogs were driven from its waters into the homes of Egyptians. The Israelites were spared the discomfort. Gnats and flies were drawn to the carcasses of rotting fish and frogs, disease strikes cattle and humans are struck with skin infections. Hail and thunderstorms ruin the flax and barley crops, another economic disaster, but again, the Hebrews are spared. Following the storms, swarms of locust rob the land of everything left that is green, and again the Hebrew children’s crops were not touched. Lastly, the sun god Ru, was irrefutably conquered when ‘he’ was blotted out of the sky for three days.
God demonstrated His absolute authority and trustworthiness. When He was finished, there was no doubt who was God and who was not.
Have a great Wednesday,
Gretchen