I have heard people say, "Show me a miracle and I will believe in God!" Of course, one cannot show someone a miracle! I see miracles everyday, in the smile of a child, the antics of a kitten, a puppy barking at a squirrel. God makes miracles happen among us and for us all the time. We just don't always recognize what we see and hear as miracles because this happens everyday. Perhaps, Pharaoh was really a bit of a curmudgeon and expected miracles to be bigger than the Nile River turning from water to blood, as if it happened every day. At any rate, he would not be moved by what new thing he would see week after week, and Moses and Aaron were becoming disheartened. But God would not let them give up!
So, the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early tomorrow and confront Pharaoh and say, "This is what the Lord says: "'Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let them go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials,, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground around them. This miracle will happen tomorrow."
And the following day, the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt. The land was ruined by flies. Then, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go. Sacrifice to your God here in the land." But Moses said, "That won't work! The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if they detest us, will they not stone us? We must make a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord, as he has commanded us." So Pharaoh said, "All right. I will let you go to the desert--but don't go very far! Now will you pray for me?" Amazing, the Pharaoh had begun to see the power in the Hebrew God, and asked Moses for prayer!
The flies left Egypt, Pharaoh's officials and his people. Not a fly remained. But the Pharaoh hardened his heart and once again would not let the people go. Then the Lord said to Moses, again: "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, "This is what my Lord says, "Let my people go so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. But the Lord will hurt only the livestock of the Egyptians and not the Israelite animals. No animal of ours will die. Tomorrow this will happen." And the next day, the Lord did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Yet Pharaoh's heart was unyielding and would not let the people go.
What's a person to do? Moses was getting frustrated, as was God. Moses was instructed to get up early the following morning to confront Pharaoh once again. He was to say to him, "My Lord says, 'Let my people go, so they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and all your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. By now, I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you out. I have raised you up for the purpose that I might show you my power and so that you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have to a place of shelter, because hail will fall upon every man and animal that is still in the field, and they will die."
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky," and when he did, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. It was the worst storm in all of Egypt since it had become a nation. Moses told the Pharaoh that he had the power to stop the hail, as the Lord had told him. Yet he knew Pharaoh would still not fear the Lord God. And Moses went out of the city, as Pharaoh and his officials had once again hardened their hearts and would not let Moses' people go.
Amazing! According to the study in my bible, God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to obey Moses' warnings. But finally God seemed to say, "Have your own way, Pharaoh!" And Pharaoh's heart became permanently hardened. Did God intentionally harden Pharaoh's heart and overrule his free will? No, he simply confirmed that Pharaoh freely chose a life of resisting God. Similarly, after a lifetime of resisting God, one may find it impossible to turn to him. Let's not wait until just the right time before turning to God. If anyone has not already done it, do it now, for eventually we will not be able to hear God's voice at all.
Listen. God may be calling!
Jo INMN
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