even more brutal. And then what we've seen last week and this week is through the ten plagues,
God proceeds to show Himself to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians and to the Israelites and
ultimately to the whole world as we read this text today. Now, last week,
Pastor Nick's sermon focused on what the plagues are all about.
And he said the plagues are ultimately about God magnifying His name in His judgments and in His
salvation. But today we're focusing on the same narrative, chapters 7 through 10, but we're
focusing in particular on the character of Pharaoh and Pharaoh's response to God over the course of
the plagues. I want to begin by reading from the account of the first, the beginning of the plagues
in chapter 7. So that's page 49. I'm going to read chapter 7 starting at verse 1.
And the Lord said to Moses,
See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people
of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though I multiply my signs
and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt
and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts
of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt
and bring out the people of Israel from among them. Moses and Aaron did so. They did just as the
Lord commanded them. Now look down to verse 14.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he's
going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him and take in your hand the staff that
turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you,
saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far you have not obeyed.
Thus says the Lord, By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, with the staff that is in my
hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile
shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.
And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of
Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may
become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and
vessels of stone. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight
of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the
Nile turned to blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could
not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened,
and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house,
and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink,
for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be
for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced or cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears
looms but the horror of the shade. And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how narrow the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.
So wrote William Ernest Henley in 1875 in a poem entitled Invictus, which means unconquered or invincible.
At the age of 12, Henley had contracted tuberculosis. He battled the effects of that throughout his life.
One of his legs had to be amputated below the knee, and he endured multiple surgeries on his other foot
in order to save his remaining leg. He wrote the poem while recovering in the hospital.
Now, many people have actually found this poem very inspiring as an expression of confidence and
resilience in the face of adversity. Winston Churchill quoted it in a speech. Nelson Mandela recited it
when he was imprisoned. U.S. prisoners of war in North Vietnam passed it along to each other.
School children recited it at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
But the poem is not just an expression of human resilience.
It's also an expression of unyielding self-reliance.
Not just defiance in the face of difficult circumstances, but defiance in the face of death
and judgment and ultimately in the face of God. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.
Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was also inspired by this poem. He chose it as his
final statement before his execution. And Invictus could well have been the motto of the character
that we're looking at this morning, Pharaoh. Pharaoh boasted that he was invincible. Not just the master
of his own fate, but the sovereign ruler over all of Egypt. He even claimed to be the incarnation of a
God. The son of the sun god, Amun-Re. And yet what we'll see this morning is that in the face of the
one true God, Pharaoh was not invincible. He was not the captain of his fate. He was not the master of his
soul. He was a mere mortal who stood under the righteous judgment of the one true God.
This morning, I want us to consider two lessons that we can learn from the character of Pharaoh.
Now, over the centuries, people have approached the character of Pharaoh from a variety of angles.
Perhaps someone could look at the negotiations between Pharaoh and Moses and write something
about political diplomacy. I haven't found that yet. There's a lot about the philosophy of divine
and human causation. Some people have debated, what about the plagues? To what extent were they
natural events? To what extent were they direct supernatural occurrences? What about the magicians?
Well, you know, were they just playing tricks, or were they accessing spiritual powers?
But here's the question I've asked myself this week.
If Moses was writing these chapters of Exodus, or retelling aloud the story of the plagues to the
Israelites after they had left Egypt and as they were journeying through the wilderness,
what would Moses have wanted the children of Israel to learn from the character of Pharaoh?
I think there are two primary lessons for the Israelites back then and for us today.
And the first one is this. God is sovereign even over a man like Pharaoh.
God magnifies His name not only despite Pharaoh's hardened heart, but even through Pharaoh's hardened heart.
Now, according to the ancient Egyptian religion, Pharaoh's heart was supposed to be pure.
The ancient Egyptians believed, not very differently from any of us, that the essence of a person is
found in their heart. And they also believed that after death, your heart would be weighed.
The god Anubis would weigh the dead person's heart on a scale, balancing it against the feather
of righteousness. So, one scholar writes, anyone whose heart was weighed down with misdeeds would be
annihilated, while anyone whose heart was filled with integrity, truth, and good acts would be escorted
to heavenly bliss. And according to the Egyptian religion, the Pharaoh was the incarnation of the sun god,
the manifestation of the sun god. And he supposedly had a pure heart, light as a feather.
But one thing we see in this narrative is that the one true God judged otherwise.
Chapter 7, verse 14, the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened.
Now, from chapter 4 all the way to chapter 14, there are a total of 20 statements, roughly depending
on how you count them, about Pharaoh's heart being hardened. Sometimes it says Pharaoh's hardened
his own heart. Sometimes it says Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Sometimes it says the Lord hardened
Pharaoh's heart. There are two different Hebrew words that are translated the same way in our English
Bibles as hardened in reference to Pharaoh's heart. Now, the word in chapter 7, verse 14,
appears eight times over the course of these chapters, and it's a word that is commonly translated
heavy or dense. So, in chapter 5, verse 9, the same word refers to heavy work, burdensome labor.
In chapter 9, it refers to heavy hail. Chapters 8 and 10, it refers to dense swarms of flies and locusts.
So, this word in chapter 14, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, you could literally translate it,
Pharaoh's heart is heavy. And what that means in the Egyptian context is Pharaoh's heart is heavy with
evil. It's not pure and light as a feather. It's weighed down with evil. The one true God has weighed
Pharaoh's heart and found it wanting. But Pharaoh claimed not only to possess divine purity of heart,
he also claimed to possess divine sovereignty. In other words, he claimed to be in charge,
invincible. In Pharaoh's mind, he could do whatever he wanted with the people who lived within his
borders. He could do whatever he wanted with the Israelites. He could enslave them. He could tell them
to make more bricks without straw. He could beat them. He could do whatever.
He ruled over Egypt with absolute authority. There were no checks and balances.
One scholar writes, the Egyptians believed that Pharaoh's heart was the all-controlling factor in
history and society. But once again, what we see in this narrative is that the one true God judged
otherwise. Pharaoh was not pure, and Pharaoh was not ultimately in control.
From God's vantage point, which is the only vantage point that ultimately matters,
Pharaoh was not invincible. And what we see through this whole story is that God is in complete control
even over Pharaoh's own heart. Look back at chapter 4, verse 21.
I skipped over this verse when I preached on this chapter. Some of you might have noticed that.
But I wasn't trying to avoid it.
Chapter 4, verse 21, the Lord says to Moses,
When you go back to Egypt, do before Pharaoh all the miracles I've put in your power, but
I will harden his heart
so that he will not let the people go.
Even before the plagues began, God declared in advance that he would harden Pharaoh's heart.
And that one by one through the ten plagues, God would demonstrate the emptiness and powerlessness
of all the gods of Egypt. That's what Pastor Nick talked about in his sermon last week.
That each of the plagues targeted one or more of the false gods that the Egyptians worshipped.
They worshipped the Nile River. That was one of the major gods. The Nile was seen as the giver and taker of life.
When the Nile water turns to blood, God's showing,
the Nile is not worthy of your worship.
And one by one, God is
knocking down the idols of Egypt
and saying,
I am the only true God worthy of your worship.
So God declared that he would harden Pharaoh's heart,
that he would demonstrate the emptiness and powerlessness
of the gods of Egypt, and ultimately he would set his people free.
And many times,
such as chapter 7, verse 13,
it says something like,
Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them
as the Lord had said.
God's word was being fulfilled.
His plan was being carried
forward.
Now, the verb translated hardened
in 421
is the other main verb
that appears throughout these
ten chapters or so
in reference to Pharaoh's heart.
It appears a total of twelve times,
and it's a word that commonly means
to make strong.
So it's, now,
it's not as if Pharaoh's heart
was previously soft
and God added something
to harden it
from the outside.
Okay?
It's not as if Pharaoh's heart
was previously pure
and God
put a few drops of poison
in Pharaoh's heart
to make him act
in an evil way.
No.
The Bible is always very clear.
Sin does not originate
with God.
Sin originates
with us.
And in Pharaoh's case,
you can go all the way back
to chapter 3, verse 19,
where God says to Moses,
I know that the king of Egypt
will not let you go.
No.
Not by a mighty hand.
In other words,
no human power,
no human force
will be able to persuade
or force
the king of Egypt
to let the Israelites go.
Pharaoh was dead set
against
the liberation
of God's people
from the very beginning.
So,
Mike Wilkerson
puts it this way.
What we see
in the plague narrative
is that God
is ultimately
sovereign over Egypt,
even over the heart
of its king.
And
God did not violate
Pharaoh's will
in bringing about
the occasions
for his sinful heart
to be further exposed
and increasingly hardened.
In other words,
God strengthened
Pharaoh's heart,
which was already heavy
and weighed down
with evil.
And the result was
Pharaoh persisted
in his stubborn rebellion
against the Lord.
That's what it means
when it says,
the Lord hardened
Pharaoh's heart.
It's a strong statement.
It's a scary statement.
It's framed
in the active voice.
It's a manifestation
of God's judgment
on Pharaoh.
Pharaoh.
Someone else wrote
one of the ways
that God punishes sin
is to allow the sin
to continue
and to take
its destructive course.
You know,
every day,
God shows
extraordinary mercy
to this world
by restraining
all kinds of people
from doing
all kinds of evil
that in their hearts
they want to carry out.
I mean,
even,
how many times
have you wanted
to do something
and you got distracted
or you couldn't
find the person
so you didn't say
what you wanted
to say to them?
All kinds of things.
Every day,
God in His providence
prevents the world
from devolving
into utter chaos.
And God does
most of this
without even
anyone asking Him to.
And most of the time
without us even
recognizing it.
It's called
common grace.
Every single one
of us here
has experienced it
and benefited
from it.
And yet,
in God's divine justice,
God does not
always restrain
every evil inclination
of every human heart.
Isn't it often true
that the more
God mercifully
restrains
our evil inclinations
and protects us
from the consequences
of our sin,
the more we try
to deny
that we actually
have evil inclinations?
And that might be
the worst deception
of all.
And so,
sometimes,
God chooses
to give us over
to our evil
inclinations,
to harden
our hearts
in the direction
we're already
headed,
to put on display
the exceeding
sinfulness
of our sin.
And it's not
a pretty picture.
God does not
restrain Pharaoh
from continuing
in his evil ways.
God does not
immediately wipe
Pharaoh out.
God deliberately
keeps him alive
and sustains him,
even gives him
strength
in Pharaoh's
ongoing willful
rebellion
against the Lord.
But the irony is,
the harder Pharaoh
tries to resist
God's purpose,
the more he ends
up serving it.
That's what God
says in chapter 9,
verse 15 and 16,
which is a key
part of the plague
narrative that
helps us understand
what's going on.
Moses says this
to Pharaoh
on behalf of,
or God's,
Moses is speaking
on behalf of the
Lord,
saying,
thus says the
Lord,
he's saying this
to Pharaoh,
verse 15,
for by now I
could have put
out my hand
and struck you
and your people
with pestilence
and you would
have been cut
off from the
earth.
But I have
raised you up
for this very
purpose,
that I might
show you my
power,
so that my name
may be proclaimed
in all the earth.
See,
Pharaoh and his
hardened heart
was not merely
an obstacle
to God's plan
to magnify
his name.
He became
one of the means
through which
God magnified
his name.
Because with
every successive
plague,
God was
publicly toppling
one more
Egyptian idol
and revealing
himself more
and more
completely as
the only true
and living God
worthy of our
worship.
And he was
revealing this
to the Israelites,
to the Egyptians,
and ultimately
to future generations,
including us.
God is going
to show his
glory to the
world,
and he is
going to carry
out his plan
of salvation
for his people
whether you
want him to
or not.
Even if you
are dead set
on exalting
yourself above
Pharaoh,
above God,
like Pharaoh,
you will not
ultimately be able
to stop God's
plan no matter
how hard
you try.
God is
sovereign.
He rules
even over
someone as
stubborn and
unyielding as
Pharaoh.
Now,
if you are
stubbornly
resisting God,
this is a
terrifying warning.
You may end up
a slave to your
own worst
tendencies,
but you will
not succeed
in resisting
God's ultimate
plans.
But if you
are being
severely
mistreated
or persecuted
like the
people of
Israel were
in Egypt
for the
sake of
obedience
to God,
this truth
can actually
bring great
comfort and
confidence.
Imagine
being a
Christian right
now in
North Korea.
America or
in an area
controlled by
ISIS.
Do you
see how
this truth
that God
is sovereign
even over
a man like
Pharaoh could
actually be a
source of
great comfort?
Sometimes
God's people
come face
to face
with tyrants
like Pharaoh
who are
obstinate and
unyielding in
their opposition
to the Lord
and their
hostile
persecution
of God's
people.
And God
wants His
people to
know that
He is not
surprised and
that despite
their boasting,
the Pharaohs of
this world are
not stronger
than the Lord
Jesus Christ
who will
ultimately triumph
over them.
There are two
Psalms that
specifically speak
about the
ten plagues.
One of them
is Psalm 105
and it's a
psalm of
confident praise.
It begins
this way,
O give
thanks to
the Lord,
call upon
His name,
make known
His deeds
among the
peoples,
sing to
Him,
sing praises
to Him,
tell of all
His wondrous
works,
glory in
His holy
name.
Let the
hearts of
those who
seek the
Lord rejoice,
seek the
Lord in
His strength,
seek His
presence
continually.
Remember the
wondrous works
that He
has done,
His miracles
and the
judgments
He uttered,
O offspring
of Abraham
His servant,
children of
Jacob His
chosen ones.
And the
Psalm goes
on to
narrate
many of
God's
works,
but including
the ten
plagues
in detail.
That's the
first lesson
for God's
people.
God is
sovereign even
over a
man like
Pharaoh.
God
magnified His
name even
through
Pharaoh's
stubbornness.
So remember
God's
wondrous
works and
His great
power and
praise Him
with confidence.
Now the
second lesson
for God's
people is
this.
Don't
harden your
heart like
Pharaoh did.
Again,
imagine the
people of
Israel after
they've left
Egypt and
Moses is
writing the
book of
Exodus or
retelling
aloud these
stories to
the people.
And what
does he want
them to
learn from
the character
of Pharaoh?
And from
the statements
over and
over that
Pharaoh
hardened his
heart or
the heart of
Pharaoh was
hard or
the Lord
hardened
Pharaoh's
heart.
Well,
they needed
to remember
that God
was sovereign
even over
someone like
Pharaoh.
That would
give them
confidence in
the face of
adversity and
opposition.
That would
give them
resilience.
But they
also needed
to know
that even
as God's
redeemed
people,
that they
too were
prone to
harden their
hearts, to
become stubborn.
They needed
not only
confidence in
the face of
external
adversity and
opposition, but
also humility
in the face
of their own
internal
spiritual and
moral weakness.
as I said
earlier, there
are only two
psalms that
speak specifically
about the
plagues.
Psalm 105,
a psalm of
praise to
God for
His sovereignty,
and the
other psalm is
Psalm 78,
which is a
rebuke to the
people of
Israel for
their stubbornness.
If you look
at Psalm 78,
it's a long
psalm, but if
you go to
verse 37,
Psalm 78,
verse 37,
describes the
Israelites in
the wilderness,
and it says,
their heart
was not
steadfast
toward God.
They were
not faithful
to His
covenant.
If you go
down to
verse 41,
it continues,
how often
they rebelled
against Him in
the wilderness
and grieved
Him in the
desert.
They tested
God again
and again
and provoked
the Holy
One of
Israel.
They did
not remember
His
power or
the day
when He
redeemed
them from
the foe,
when He
performed
His signs
in Egypt
and His
marvels
in the
fields
of zone.
And then
the psalm
goes on
to speak
about the
ten plagues
one by
one.
Here's the
point of
Psalm 78.
The Israelites
forgot God's
judgments on
Pharaoh and
the gods of
Egypt,
and as a
result,
their hearts
were not
steadfastly
oriented
toward
faithfulness
to God.
They
too began
worshiping
idols.
Psalm 78
basically says,
remember the
plagues
so that you
don't harden
your heart
like Pharaoh
hardened
his.
It's the same
warning we heard
from the book
of Hebrews
in the New
Testament.
Today,
if you hear
God's voice,
do not harden
your hearts.
Exhort one
another every
day,
as long as
it is called
today,
so that none
of you may be
hardened by
the deceitfulness
of sin.
You see,
the Bible says
that every one
of us is
vulnerable
to the
hardening
effects of
sin.
Even God's
redeemed
people who
have been
given a new
heart,
right?
If we've
come to
faith in
Jesus,
He's given
us a new
heart,
taken out
our heart
of stone,
given us
a heart
of flesh,
but we
are still
in danger
of becoming
stubborn and
resistant against
the Lord,
and God
gives us
warnings and
exhortations
to protect
us so that
we don't
end up
where Pharaoh
ended up.
But we
need to have
the humility
to recognize
that Pharaoh's
condition is
not just a
problem for
a few
tyrants
who rule
over
nations of
the world.
The problem
of a
hardened
heart
is something
that we
need to
take very
seriously
for each
one of
us.
Now,
the book of
Exodus does
not hold out
much hope for
Pharaoh,
but the Bible
says there is
hope for you
if you will
listen to God's
voice today
and not
harden your
heart.
So,
what I want
to do is
to do what
Hebrews 3,
13 tells us
to do,
to exhort
one another
so that we
are not
hardened by
the deceitfulness
of sin.
And what I
want to do
is show you
five specific
ways that
Pharaoh's
hardened heart
manifested
itself in
order to
warn us
and guard
us against
falling into
the same
patterns.
So,
let me give
you these
five specific
ways that
through the
narrative of
Exodus 7
through 10
we see
Pharaoh's
hardened
heart
manifesting
itself.
First,
Pharaoh ignored
God in his
prosperity and
he raged
against God
in his
adversity.
For much
of his life
God had
prospered
Pharaoh.
He was on
top of the
world.
He was the
ruler of
one of the
most powerful
nations of
the ancient
world.
He could
appreciate
great
architecture.
He could
enjoy delicious
food.
He could
accomplish
great
exploits.
And he
denied the
reality of
God.
He says,
who is the
Lord that I
should obey
his voice?
I don't know
the Lord and
I won't let
his people go.
Pharaoh had
no interest
in seeking
God.
He had
everything he
could want
and that was
all that
mattered to
him.
Pharaoh.
And then
God afflicted
Pharaoh with
one painful
plague after
another.
And so
Pharaoh couldn't
simply ignore
and deny the
reality of God
anymore, but as
time went on, he
becomes increasingly
hostile toward God's
messengers.
The last two
plagues, the
eighth and ninth
plague, he drives
Moses and Aaron
out of his
presence.
Chapter 10, verse
11, it says
Moses and Aaron
were driven out
of Pharaoh's
presence.
Chapter 10, verse
28, Pharaoh
says to Moses,
get away from
me.
Take care to
never see my
face again.
On the day you
see my face, you
shall die.
Pharaoh rages
against God and
God's messengers in
the midst of his
adversity.
And in the book
of Revelation,
chapter 16,
God's future
judgment on the
world is depicted
as a series of
plagues reminiscent
of the ones in
Egypt.
Waters turn to
blood, skies are
darkened, locusts
destroying locusts,
painful sores,
thunder and
lightning and
hail, but the
consistent response
of the people in
the book of
Revelation is
indifference and
hostility toward
God.
It says,
they cursed the
name of God who
had power over
these plagues.
They did not
repent and give
him glory.
People nod their
tongues in anguish
and curse the God
of heaven for
their pain.
They did not
repent of their
deeds.
They cursed God
for the plague of
the hail.
So here's a
warning.
How are you
responding to God
in your prosperity?
If God's given
you success and
power and wealth
and comfort,
have you relegated
God to the
sidelines of your
life?
Have you taken
the credit for
yourself when
really it's
ultimately all a
gift?
or if God has
afflicted you,
are you leaning
into Him in
prayer?
Jesus Christ is a
merciful and
compassionate and
strong Savior.
Or are you cursing
God in your heart
and becoming
increasingly bitter
and hostile toward
God and toward His
Word in your
adversity?
Second,
Pharaoh began by
resisting God and
His messengers.
He ended by
ruining his own
people.
From the very
beginning, Pharaoh
rejected the Lord
and the Lord's
messengers.
He could care less
about the Israelites,
but over time, we
see that Pharaoh's
heart was not just
hardened toward the
Lord and the Lord's
messengers and the
Lord's people, but he
was hardened and
indifferent to his
own people's
suffering and even
his own family's
well-being.
The end of chapter
7 that we read at
the beginning, the
water in the Nile
turns to blood.
Pharaoh gets his
magicians to do the
same thing, however
they do it, and his
heart remains hardened.
And it just says,
Pharaoh turned and
went into his house,
and he didn't take it
to heart.
Pharaoh says,
well, I have
servants.
They can go dig a
hole and get me
water and bring it
to me.
This won't really
bother me.
Pharaoh didn't
really care that all
the Egyptians had to
dig for clean water.
But then one by one,
the plagues gradually
hit Pharaoh closer and
closer to home.
First, the magicians in
his court seemed to
take Pharaoh's side.
They can duplicate the
plagues.
Of course, they can
never reverse them.
But by round three,
pretty early in the
game, the magicians say,
this is the finger of
God.
And it says, Pharaoh
hardened his heart and
would not listen to them.
He didn't just reject
Moses and Aaron.
He even rejected his own
magicians.
When they said, this is
the one true God.
And finally, in chapter 10,
verse 7, some of his
officials take initiative
to plead with Pharaoh.
They say, don't you yet
understand?
Egypt is ruined.
And finally, Moses threatens
the tenth and final plague
in chapter 11.
Every firstborn in the land
of Egypt shall die.
Now, in those days, Pharaoh's
firstborn represented his
legacy, the future of his
dynasty, his most treasured
child.
Pharaoh's resistance to the
Lord resulted in the ruin,
not only of his own country,
but even his own family.
And again, this is a sober
warning.
If you're refusing to take
to heart God's Word, it's not
just an issue between you and
God.
You may end up causing the
ruin of those nearest and
dearest to you without even
realizing it.
Your own family, even.
Third, Pharaoh is sorry about
the consequences, but he's not
sorry for his sin.
Several times along the way,
Pharaoh pleads for relief as
things get worse and worse.
Starts with the second plague,
chapter 8, verse 8.
Pharaoh doesn't like all the
frogs jumping up on him.
He says, plead with the Lord to
take away the frogs from me and
my people, and I will let the
people go to sacrifice to the
Lord.
Later on, plead with the Lord for
there's been enough of God's
thunder and hail.
Chapter 10, verse 17, when the
locusts come, plead with the
Lord your God to remove this
death from me.
Pharaoh pleads for relief.
He doesn't like the consequences
of his sin.
Now, by the seventh and eighth
plague, he even says, I have
sinned.
Chapter 9, verse 27, after the
plague of hail.
Pharaoh sent and called Moses and
Aaron and said to them, this time I
have sinned.
The Lord is in the right, and I and
my people are in the wrong.
Plead with the Lord.
There's been enough of God's thunder
and hail.
I'll let you go.
You shall stay no longer.
And then 10, 16, after the plague
of locusts, Pharaoh hastily called
Moses and Aaron and said, I have
sinned against the Lord your God
and against you.
Interestingly, that's the very same
language the prodigal son uses when
he's coming home.
May call into question the sincerity
of his repentance, but that's
another topic.
Now, therefore, forgive my sin,
please, only this once.
But I want you to notice two things
about Pharaoh's supposed
confessions.
Number one, Pharaoh says, this time
I have sinned.
The next time he says, forgive my sin,
please, only this once.
Even a very, very stubborn person
can be argued into a corner and
forced to admit that they were wrong
just this once.
That doesn't actually mean you're
repentant.
If you say, it only happened once.
It wasn't a pattern.
It's not a character flaw.
It was just a mistake.
But the Bible says that sin is never
just a one-time mistake.
Jesus said, out of the abundance of
the heart, the mouth speaks.
James says, sinful actions begin
with our desires.
Desire gives birth to sin, and sin,
when it is fully grown, brings forth
death.
All the unpleasant consequences.
Sin is rooted in our hearts,
in our misplaced desires.
And the only way to really change
is to acknowledge and expose
those idols of our heart.
Pharaoh never does that.
He only reluctantly admits just this
once that he has sinned.
Moses responds to Pharaoh's first
confession of sin in verse 30 of
chapter 9 by saying, I know that you
do not yet fear the Lord God.
In other words, your confession
is motivated not by a genuine
reverence for God, but simply by a
desire to get relief from unpleasant
consequences.
And of course, we see that when the
plagues are removed, when the
unpleasant consequences go away,
Pharaoh immediately returns to his
old ways.
When Pharaoh saw that the rain and
the hail and the thunder had ceased,
he sinned yet again and hardened
his heart.
Are you sorry for your sin?
Or are you just sorry for all the
pain it causes you?
Have you come to realize that your
sin is even worse than all the
unpleasant consequences that follow
from it?
That's what the Bible says.
Fourth, Pharaoh is willing to
negotiate, but not to surrender.
Over time, Pharaoh makes some
concessions.
Chapter 8, verse 25, he says, go
sacrifice to the Lord within the
land.
Then 8, 28, I'll let you sacrifice
to the Lord your God in the
wilderness, only not very far away.
Chapter 10, verse 11, let the men
go.
The women and children have to stay.
Chapter 10, verse 24, all the people
can go, but your livestock have to
stay.
Pharaoh is willing to negotiate with
the Lord as if they were peers, but
he's not willing to surrender and
acknowledge that God is not his peer,
that God is God and Pharaoh is not.
And God does not meet Pharaoh halfway.
God is not a negotiator.
He will not compromise his standards.
He is not your peer.
He alone is the immortal, invisible, only,
wise God.
But even more than that, he is the only
God who shed his blood for you, who gave
himself completely and without reservation,
and laid his life down as a full and perfect and
sufficient sacrifice for us so that we might
be his completely without any reservations.
Charles Spurgeon said,
God's demand is not that his people should have some
little liberty, some little relief in the middle of
their sin.
No, that they should go right out of Egypt and go through
the wilderness to the promised land.
Christ did not come into the world merely to make our sin
more tolerable, but to deliver us from it.
He did not come to make hell a little less hot, or sin a
little less damnable, or our lust a little less mighty,
but to put all these things far away from us, to deliver us
from death and hell and from the power of sin, to work,
to give us joy and peace in believing in him.
Finally, five, Pharaoh asked for prayer, but he never prays.
Pharaoh always wants someone else to deal with God on his
behalf.
He's always asking Moses, plead with the Lord.
Pray for me.
It's not wrong to ask somebody else to pray for you.
In the New Testament, James says, if you're sick, call the
elders of the church to come and pray for you.
It goes on and says, confess your sins to one another and pray
for one another so that you may be healed.
This is a good thing when we're weak physically, emotionally,
or spiritually.
Sometimes we can hold on to and be held by the faith and prayer
of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and that's a means of
grace that God uses.
But if you're only asking other people to pray for you, and
you're not dealing with God yourself, it's a sign that you're not
right with God.
Many times people have come to me, and in the course of a
conversation have acknowledged that they have sinned in one way or
another.
And one of the questions I always try to ask is, have you confessed that
sin to God?
Sometimes the answer is no.
And so I say, why don't you begin by confessing that sin to God?
I'm here to listen, and then I'll pray for you, that you would know God's
peace and forgiveness and His strength and find the accountability you need and
know His hope for the future.
You see, the way to get right with God is not to ask somebody else to pray to God
on your behalf or deal with God on your behalf, but to turn to Jesus.
The Bible says Jesus is the one mediator between God and humanity.
Admit that you're a sinner.
Believe and receive the Savior.
So we pray now.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you that we can come to you in prayer in the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ.
We thank you that there is a sacrifice sufficient, complete to cover our sin.
Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit who renews our hearts.
Your Holy Spirit who gives us a new heart
and draws us to Christ, but who continually dwells within us
and softens our heart and turns us to you.
We pray that we would hear your voice and not harden your hearts,
not harden our hearts before you today.
We praise you.
We bow before you.
You are the King of glory.
You are the only true and living God.
You are King forever.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.