Note: This article is an AI-generated adaptation of a spoken transcript and may not fully capture the nuances of the original presentation.
What happens when we harden our hearts against God, even after God has given us clear warnings? What happens if we continue to disobey God, even after He’s made it very obvious that there will be consequences? Well, that’s what our text today is dealing with from Exodus chapter 9 verses 1 to 7. Let’s have a look.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘Let my people go, so that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing at all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.’”“ And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.”
Now, this plague on the livestock of Egypt is striking because it moves from a mere inconvenience that really the previous plagues had been. You know, having frogs in your bowls and in your beds is inconvenient, but doesn’t really do anything. But this plague on the livestock really struck at the heart of who Egypt was. It deeply affects their economy and their economic and emotional situation. Livestock were Egypt’s source of food, there was a source of labor, it was really a source of their wealth and even their religious identity. And so here God touches the very things that Egypt had trusted in and he exposed the futility of trusting in these idols that cannot save.
So again the Lord here makes a sharp distinction between his people and the Egyptians and he shows that his covenant with Israel sets his people apart. He is still faithful to the promises that he gave to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, and then to Israel as a nation. So Pharaoh sent—that means that Pharaoh sent for people to go and have a look—and Pharaoh’s investigation confirms that none of Israel’s flocks have been harmed, but only Egypt’s. And yet even despite this clear evidence, his heart still remains hard.
In fact, the text tells us that he hardened his heart even more. So even in the face of this evidence from God, Pharaoh continues to refuse God.
Now, theologically, this episode shows us that God is sovereign and that sin is deceitful. So firstly, God is sovereign because he sets aside Israel and he chooses where the disease will hit. He clearly sets apart Israel’s flocks so that they are kept safe and Egypt’s flocks are hit. This is not like COVID where really everyone got sick. It’s just the Egyptians’ livestock.
Pharaoh’s heart is not really just stubborn. It’s not a personality trait. He’s hardened his heart against God. So he’s been deceived even in clear evidence of God’s action and power. He’s deceived to keep his own control over the situation. And the plague shows us that there is a real cost to this kind of pride.
Even when God in his mercy gives a warning to Pharaoh, Pharaoh continues to reject that. Each judgment here is a punishment, yes, but it’s really a call to repentance as well. So every time something bad goes on, Pharaoh has the opportunity to come to God and to worship him, to let his people go as God had instructed, but of course Pharaoh fails to do that.
Now this is important for us because God, just like back in the days of Pharaoh, he still confronts our idols today and he calls us to submit to him in this. Our hard-heartedness against what God calls us to always leads to loss. It always has a cost. Disobedience and sin always has a cost.
Now for the Christian, because God loves us enough, he will actually call us to repentance and that cost will be good for us in the long run. And so even though we might feel the rebuke and the punishment and the pain of our rebellion and our sin, we will nevertheless be better off for it because God cares enough to let us feel those consequences. And because the Christian has the Holy Spirit, because we love the Lord and the Lord lives in our hearts, God does these things for us for our good.
And so there’s this temptation in modern day Christianity that only good things will ever happen to a Christian. Well good according to whose standard is really the question we should ask. Is it good just by our own experience? Does it feel good? Well no, that’s not the point. It is good even when it feels bad because it shapes our spirit to return us back to God, to really bring us to repentance and to turn us back to Jesus. And so God loves his people enough to bring about punishment on hard-heartedness in his own so that he may bring them back.
Now, there are some clear applications for us here. Firstly, we have to recognize where we are resisting God’s call. Pharaoh’s story tells us that there is a danger in this kind of repeated resistance and hard-heartedness against God. So every time we ignore a conviction that the Spirit brings us, our hearts continue to grow duller. The New Testament calls this a searing of the conscience and we have a part to play in that.
Secondly, we can trust in our suffering that God is still bringing about our good. So even when the things we depend on are shaken, we can remain confident that God is not being cruel. He’s actually calling us out of the trust in this idol to trusting in him alone. And that’s a wonderful thing.
So let’s pray.
Gracious Lord, you are patient and just. Forgive us for the times when we have resisted your leading and have clung to our idols and worshiped them instead. Soften our hearts, we pray, to your word. Help us to trust in Jesus alone for mercy and for life. Teach us to see your kindness and discipline and teach us to yield to you even when we don’t want to be obedient. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well that’s it for today’s devotion. I hope you found this helpful. Please like and subscribe and join me again next time as we continue exploring the book of Exodus and what God has for us. We’ll see you then.