Learning from Pharaoh

In Romans 15:4 the apostle Paul made the following statement about the scriptures:

“Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction.”

If you stop to consider how many years are covered in the scriptures, there are really not that many stories recorded. This only enforces how important the stories are that were chosen. While we all tend to like the “good” stories and the heroic characters, the fact is we can receive instruction from all the stories and characters – even ones we don’t really like! A good example of this is found in the story of Pharaoh and the 10 plagues.

The well-known story of God striking Egypt with 10 plagues is found in Exodus 7-12. Most of us probably remember the story from childhood – how, at God’s command, Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh and told him to let God’s people go. Pharaoh refused, and so God began to strike the land with 10 calamities. After each calamity, Moses and Aaron would return to Pharaoh and repeat God’s order to let His people go.

Each time, we are told that Pharaoh “hardened his heart” and again refused to let God’s people go, even though after several of the plagues he said that he would.

As a result of this story, Pharaoh has been seen in a bad light throughout history – and with good reason. After all, Pharaoh has the distinct claim of having God use his hardened heart to make a point for all mankind to learn from. But I think if we look at Pharaoh a little closer, we will find out that many of us are not so different from him in certain respects when it comes to how we react to God.

Notice in Exodus 8:8 that, after the plague of frogs, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them that if they would ask God to remove the frogs from the land, he would let God’s people go. Moses agreed, and even let Pharaoh choose the time when the plague of frogs would subside from the land. Moses then went and prayed, and God killed all the frogs at the time that Pharaoh had chosen. Then in Exodus 8:15 we read these words:

“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart.”

While he was feeling the pressure of God’s corrective and judging hand, Pharaoh’s heart was receptive and submissive to God’s word. But as soon as the pressure of God’s hand was lifted and he had “relief,” he hardened his heart. This same thing happened after the plague of thunder and hail. In Exodus 9:27 Pharaoh confessed to Moses and Aaron that he had sinned, and even said that God was righteous, and he and his people were wicked! He then again said that he would let God’s people go if Moses would to pray that the plague would stop. Moses did so, and the thunder and hail ceased. Then, in 9:34 we read:

“But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again, and hardened his heart.”

Once again, when he was feeling the pain of God’s disciplining hand, he was humble and contrite – confessing his sin and declaring that God was righteous. But as soon as the pain ceased, he again hardened his heart. While we are quick to condemn Pharaoh, are we really so different? Haven’t we done this same thing ourselves? Maybe its a pain in our chest and doctor’s report that cause us to swear that we will change our eating habits, only to return to those habits the moment the pain is gone. Or maybe it’s a season of spiritual weakness and confusion that leads us to promise to spend more time in God’s word and prayer, and yet once the season has past we change nothing. I think we can all learn a lesson from Pharaoh – the same one David referred to in Psalm Ps 66:13-14:

“Let me fulfill the vows… my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.”