Day 32

I can’t believe how fast January went by. Welcome to February!

God said to Moses, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron his prophet (7:1). My interpretation of this is that for every assignment I am given, I am like God. I have his creative abilities to see and navigate through a task from start to finish. He would also make the resources I need available to me. God works to and through me in every way.

God repeated severally during today’s reading that He’ll make Pharaoh stubborn. Does this mean Pharaoh didn’t have a choice in all of these? If so, why not?

The first set of signs Moses did, Pharaoh’s magicians also did. It was no wonder he didn’t take Moses and the warning seriously. And that is how it is. When we take things for granted or feel we can do what someone else can, we tend to minimise their gifts, especially if we are familiar with the person. The bible says Pharaoh wasn’t impressed. While his magicians could do some of the things Moses did, they couldn’t make the plagues go away.

Each time a plague went away, Pharaoh reneged on his promises. Before judging Pharaoh, doesn’t this sound familiar? We pray to get out of a situation and even promise that we will become better once we are better. The moment there is some sort of respite, we go back to our old ways.

Eventually, Pharaoh's magicians admitted that they could no longer replicate what Moses and Aaron did when they got to the plague of the lies (8:19). But Pharaoh didn’t listen. Pharaoh then suggested that the Israelites offer sacrifices within Egypt — partially obeying God’s instruction. Moses said no.

In order to make my name known in the whole world. Was this why God kept hardening Pharaoh's heart? 9:13–16 seems to answer my question as to if Pharaoh had a say or not. God said in 9:16, “… for this purpose, you (Pharaoh) were raised, so I show my power and…”.

When the 7th plague (hail) was to happen, Egyptians that took Moses words seriously kept their livestock inside for shelter. They had seen all that had happened and needed no further warning. Unfortunately, their leader didn’t see this. Instead, Pharaoh chose to be manipulative, and his stubbornness caused many people (Egyptians) to suffer.

Reflecting on my own life as a leader, spouse, mother, human being, how do my actions (acts of stubbornness) affect the people surrounding me? There may not be plagues like we saw in Egypt, but these are things to ponder on. A good example which most of us can relate to is traffic situation, where we know we are right and sometimes want to prove it and we are just stubborn to let go, thereby delaying every other road user. You can relate to this if you are from my part of the world. My (in)actions can cause another to stumble, especially if they don’t have my level of maturity. So reactions are usually also putting the people we lead, who are watching, into consideration.

I also noted how God answered Moses’ exact prayer requests.