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The Plagues and Pharaoh's Heart

Today's reading is from Genesis 7, 8, 9.

Almost all of the reading today concerns the plagues that hit the Egyptians as Moses repeatedly let's Pharaoh know that he must let the Israelites go.
Each of these plagues are significant and tie directly into the text when Pharaoh is said to "harden his heart", or "God hardens his heart".

A couple of quick notes:
1. Each of the plagues relates back to a "god" in Egypt. In fact, Pharaoh is believed to be a god, and so each plague, in essence, becomes a contest between the gods of Egypt and Israel's God - Yahweh.
Blood
Frogs
Gnats
Flies
Disease on Cattle
Boils
Hail

2. Pharaoh's hard heart. The text is clear, Pharaoh's heart was inclined to reject Yahweh as The God of the universe, and exalt the pantheon of gods, including himself, as the gods of the universe. The text repeatedly defines his heart as either "God hardens", or "Pharaoh hardens" his heart.

Early on in chpt. 7, God says:
"But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt,"

After the confrontation with the rod that turns into a snake the text says,
"Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the lord had said."

After the first two: The Nile river (thought to be a god) and the Frogs (why anyone would think a frog was a god, I don't know); the remark is the same:
"But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the lord had said."

There's one time in the remaining text where God is said to harden Pharaoh's heart; but in all of the rest of the cases it is Pharaoh who is said to harden his heart towards the signs God displays through Moses.
People have chosen sides in this - some claiming it was God who hardened Pharaoh's heart, others that it was all Pharaoh. What is clear from the text is that in the vast majority of times, Pharaoh is the one who makes the decision, and choosing to ignore, deny, even despise God is based on his own false assumption that he was simply dealing with a "god" like his own. What God does is confront the lie, and the plagues gave Pharaoh plenty of opportunities to turn in repentance and faith towards Yahweh...he chose not to.

Peace.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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