DOTS!
Part 3
of 3 in What’s the Deal, Pharaoh? Series
Exodus
10
Exodus
10:7: “Pharaoh’s officials said to him,
‘How long will this man be a snare to us?
Let the people go so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?’”
After the frogs, God brought a
plague of gnats (Exodus 8:16-18), followed by a plague of flies (Exodus
8:20-24). Pharaoh lied again that “the
people may go to...offer sacrifices to the LORD their God” in verses 25-32.
So, God sent a livestock plague in
Exodus 9:1-7. All the Egyptian horses,
donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats died.
But every animal belonging to the Israelites lived. A plague of boils followed in Exodus
9:8-12. One could say that Pharaoh’s
magicians were too “boiled” to show up to work.
Yet Pharaoh still didn’t give
in.
So God sent a plague of hail in
Exodus 9:13-15. Every living thing that
was outside died—animals and slaves alike.
“The only place where it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the
Israelites were.” (Exodus 9:26).
“How long will you refuse to humble
yourself before Me?” God asked Pharaoh through Moses in Exodus 10:3.
Then God sent a plague of locusts in
Exodus 10:4-6.
That’s when Pharaoh’s officials
demanded answers in the opening Scripture.
Was Pharaoh’s hard shell
cracking?
During the plague of darkness in
Exodus 10:21-28, Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me
again! The day you see my face you will
die.”
Cause and effect. Pharaoh was warned time and again what WOULD
happen IF he didn’t let the Israelites go.
Now that’s arrogance. The second character trait besides anger that Maimonides—the medieval
philosopher introduced in Frogs! devotion—taught
that has no middle ground. Pharaoh saw
the plagues’ destruction, yet stubbornly refused to obey God: the Israelites
remained slaves.
Pharaoh was very angry—AND was also
extremely arrogant. Pharaoh held firm on
his self-destructive path.
We would say today that Pharaoh
couldn’t connect the dots. His very
officials tried advising him to let the people go. They couldn’t believe he was so stubborn! Connecting the dots told them that Egypt is
ruined.
Take Home Nugget
Pharaoh’s arrogance blinded him to
see that he was losing the battle to God Almighty. His country, his people’s welfare were at
stake! His ego, the great man he
imagined himself to be was crumbling before his eyes. See the lesson linked below.
Let us learn from Pharaoh. May we never think more highly of ourselves
than we ought. Perhaps we can learn to
listen to people who give us advice?
Teach
me wisdom, Lord, so that I obey wise advice and never plow a path of
self-destruction, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Adapted from “Connecting the
Dots” by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. January
31, 2017. www.holylandmoments.com
J.D. Griffith
Here’s another eBook by J.D. Griffith:
To order “The Thing is…” click here
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