Recognizing God

Passage: Exodus 9:13-29; 11:1-3

By plague number eight (of ten) the Egyptians are starting to recognize a trend. Particularly Pharaoh’s officials, those who have been party to the conversations between Pharaoh and Moses, have noticed that the stuff Moses threatens will happen tends to happen. Moses says something like, “God says, 'Let my people go, or your land will be overrun with frogs.” Pharaoh says, “Get bent.” The next day, the land is teeming with frogs. Pharaoh seems not to have made the connection. But the people close to him have. Exodus 9 includes the account of the plague of hail – plague number eight. Moses tells Pharaoh:

“You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.”

The narrator then adds this little detail:

Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside.

Presumably these few Egyptians are spared much of the damage suffered by their neighbors. How? By heeding God’s warning.

The Egyptians never hear God’s Word directly. But they repeatedly witness God’s hand at work. Those who respond to what they see end up benefiting. By the end of the story, we’re told:

The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people.

Pharaoh reaps the terrible consequences of hardening his heart to God’s testimony. But many of his people see, and believe, that God is real.

How much easier would it have been for Pharaoh if he’d believed right away – or even after the first plague?

How has God shown himself to you? Have you believed, or have you, like Pharaoh, refused to recognize what's right in front of you?