Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 9:31 - 10:11
Humans tend to be proud. Pride can be a good thing. When we feel a sense of satisfaction upon the completion of a difficult talk, that is pride, but it is a good pride that motivates us to accomplish even more.
Pride can also be negative. If we refuse to admit our limits, or have a higher opinion of ourselves than is justified, then pride is not good. Pride can lead to negative consequences.
In some ways, the story of Moses forcing Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery is a lesson about pride. We will read some verses today that illustrate the cost of being proud.
Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go worship Yahweh, so Yahweh brought a hailstorm upon the land of Egypt. The storm included thunder and lightning. It was the most severe storm in the history of Egypt.
Ex. 9:31 (Now the flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud.
Stalks of grain turn brown as they become ready for harvest; thus, they become fragile. As grain ripens, it becomes easier and easier to destroy it. The flax and barley plants were not able to recover after being damaged by hail.
Ex. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, for they are late-ripening.)
The wheat and spelt were still green; thus, those stalks were able to recover after being damaged by the hail.
Ex. 9:33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunder and the hail ceased, and rain no longer poured on the earth.
Ex. 9:34 But Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased. So he sinned again and hardened his heart with firmness, he and his servants.
In prior passages it says Pharaoh hardened his heart. In this verse we see that Pharaoh’s servants also hardened their hearts.
Ex. 9:35 And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Moses.
Ex. 10:1 ¶ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants with firmness, that I may set these signs of Mine among them,
Ex. 10:2 and that you may recount in the hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I dealt severely with the Egyptians, and how I put My signs among them, that you may know that I am Yahweh.”
Look at the phrase “recount in the hearing of your son”. Yahweh could have caused Pharaoh to release the Israelites at the first request. However, by allowing and causing Pharaoh to harden his heart, Yahweh was creating a dramatic sequence of events which the Israelites could use in all future generations to teach the existence and power of Yahweh. The Israelites have done that in each generation since, and they still do that today.
Ex. 10:3 ¶ Then Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Notice the word “humble”. Part of the problem was Pharaoh’s pride. Pharaoh was used to being the highest authority in the land of Egypt. He did not want to acknowledge that Yahweh was superior to himself. At this point in the confrontation, Moses directly confronted Pharaoh with the fact that pride was preventing Pharaoh from humbling himself before Yahweh.
Ex. 10:4 For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.
Ex. 10:5 And they shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what remains for you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field.
Ex. 10:6 Then your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians shall be filled, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
Ex. 10:7 And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”
Don’t overlook the wisdom of the question posed to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was so focused on protecting his status as the ruler of Egypt that he was missing the fact that the land he ruled over was being completely destroyed. Pharaoh didn’t want to release the Israelites because they provided slave labor, but the cost of the destruction Egypt was experiencing was far greater than the value of the slave labor being provided by the Israelites.
Pharaoh’s pride, his refusal to humble himself, was proving to be very costly.
Ex. 10:8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God! Who are the ones that are going?”
Ex. 10:9 And Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for it is a feast of Yahweh for us.”
Ex. 10:10 Then he said to them, “Thus may Yahweh be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! See, for evil is on your faces.
Pharaoh understood that if the men only went into the wilderness and left their wives and children in Egypt, then the men would return. However, if the men took their families and all their possessions, then they would not return.
Ex. 10:11 Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve Yahweh, for that is what you are seeking.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
Pharaoh was used to being the highest authority in the land of Egypt. He did not want to humble himself and acknowledge that Yahweh was superior to himself. Pharaoh was so focused on protecting his status as the ruler of Egypt that he was missing the fact that the land he ruled over was being completely destroyed. Pharaoh’s pride was very costly.
How is your pride causing you to be blind to the consequences of your lack of humility?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”