Then the Egyptians Will Know

Observe the commissioning speech at the start of chapter 7. God tells Moses that he has made him like God to Pharaoh, with Aaron as his prophet. Moses is to say everything he is commanded. God says he will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply his signs and wonders in Egypt, that Pharaoh will not listen, and that God will then lay his hand on Egypt and bring out his people. The stated goal is in verse 5: the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD. Moses is eighty and Aaron eighty-three when they speak to Pharaoh.

Interpreting, notice that the purpose clause comes before any plague. The point of what follows is knowledge. Egypt worshiped the Nile, the sun, the frog-headed goddess of fertility, the cattle; the plagues strike at the things Egypt trusted, one by one, until the ruler who asked in chapter 5 who the LORD was has his answer. The hardening is real and troubling, and the text will also say Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Both are true. But the aim is revelation, not spite.

Applying it, we should expect that God's works in the world are meant to make him known, including to those who oppose him. And we should note the age of the men he used. Eighty is not too late.

When you read of judgment in Scripture, do you look for what it reveals about God? Which of the things your culture trusts might God be exposing as powerless? And what would it mean for you to say everything he commands, as Moses was told to?