Pharaoh Said One Thing And Did Another
May 25, 2021
Commentary
Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron to come to him through the storm (v. 27). He told them he had sinned and that the Lord is righteous and that he and his people are wicked. He wanted Moses to get rid of the hailstorm and the thunderings (v. 28). He told Moses that your people can go; they don’t have to stay in Egypt any longer. Moses told Pharaoh he would pray but that he knew they did not fear the Lord God (vv. 29-30). Meanwhile, the flax and barley crops had been destroyed by the storm because they were ready to ripen (v. 31). However the wheat crops ripen later and they were not damaged (v. 32).
After Moses left the king’s palace he went outside the city and prayed (v. 33). At once, the Lord caused the thunder to stop and there was no more hail nor rain. When Pharaoh realized the storm was over he hardened his heart once more and would not let the children of Israel go as the Lord had told him through Moses (vv. 34-35). This was exactly what the Lord said would happen. Pharaoh’s predictable cycle of behavior was to say one thing and do another.
Application
Is there anything God has asked me to do and perhaps during a difficult time I told the Lord I would do it? Then, when times were good, I forget about the promise. Today would be a good time for me to make those promises right with the Lord if that is the case. A wise person is one that not only hears the Word but does it.
Exodus 9:27– 35 (NET)
27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. 28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty thunderings and hail are too much! I will release you and you will stay no longer.”
29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”
31 (Now the flax and the barley were struck by the hail, for the barley had ripened and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are later crops.)
33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: both he and his servants hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he did not release the Israelites, as the Lord had predicted through Moses.