Pharaoh's Hardened Heart

even more brutal. And then what we've seen last week and this week is through the ten plagues,

God proceeds to show Himself to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians and to the Israelites and

ultimately to the whole world as we read this text today. Now, last week,

Pastor Nick's sermon focused on what the plagues are all about.

And he said the plagues are ultimately about God magnifying His name in His judgments and in His

salvation. But today we're focusing on the same narrative, chapters 7 through 10, but we're

focusing in particular on the character of Pharaoh and Pharaoh's response to God over the course of

the plagues. I want to begin by reading from the account of the first, the beginning of the plagues

in chapter 7. So that's page 49. I'm going to read chapter 7 starting at verse 1.

And the Lord said to Moses,

See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.

You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people

of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though I multiply my signs

and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt

and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts

of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt

and bring out the people of Israel from among them. Moses and Aaron did so. They did just as the

Lord commanded them. Now look down to verse 14.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he's

going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him and take in your hand the staff that

turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you,

saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far you have not obeyed.

Thus says the Lord, By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, with the staff that is in my

hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile

shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of

Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may

become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and

vessels of stone. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight

of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the

Nile turned to blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could

not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened,

and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house,

and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink,

for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be

for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced or cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears

looms but the horror of the shade. And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how narrow the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

So wrote William Ernest Henley in 1875 in a poem entitled Invictus, which means unconquered or invincible.

At the age of 12, Henley had contracted tuberculosis. He battled the effects of that throughout his life.

One of his legs had to be amputated below the knee, and he endured multiple surgeries on his other foot

in order to save his remaining leg. He wrote the poem while recovering in the hospital.

Now, many people have actually found this poem very inspiring as an expression of confidence and

resilience in the face of adversity. Winston Churchill quoted it in a speech. Nelson Mandela recited it

when he was imprisoned. U.S. prisoners of war in North Vietnam passed it along to each other.

School children recited it at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

But the poem is not just an expression of human resilience.

It's also an expression of unyielding self-reliance.

Not just defiance in the face of difficult circumstances, but defiance in the face of death

and judgment and ultimately in the face of God. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was also inspired by this poem. He chose it as his

final statement before his execution. And Invictus could well have been the motto of the character

that we're looking at this morning, Pharaoh. Pharaoh boasted that he was invincible. Not just the master

of his own fate, but the sovereign ruler over all of Egypt. He even claimed to be the incarnation of a

God. The son of the sun god, Amun-Re. And yet what we'll see this morning is that in the face of the

one true God, Pharaoh was not invincible. He was not the captain of his fate. He was not the master of his

soul. He was a mere mortal who stood under the righteous judgment of the one true God.

This morning, I want us to consider two lessons that we can learn from the character of Pharaoh.

Now, over the centuries, people have approached the character of Pharaoh from a variety of angles.

Perhaps someone could look at the negotiations between Pharaoh and Moses and write something

about political diplomacy. I haven't found that yet. There's a lot about the philosophy of divine

and human causation. Some people have debated, what about the plagues? To what extent were they

natural events? To what extent were they direct supernatural occurrences? What about the magicians?

Well, you know, were they just playing tricks, or were they accessing spiritual powers?

But here's the question I've asked myself this week.

If Moses was writing these chapters of Exodus, or retelling aloud the story of the plagues to the

Israelites after they had left Egypt and as they were journeying through the wilderness,

what would Moses have wanted the children of Israel to learn from the character of Pharaoh?

I think there are two primary lessons for the Israelites back then and for us today.

And the first one is this. God is sovereign even over a man like Pharaoh.

God magnifies His name not only despite Pharaoh's hardened heart, but even through Pharaoh's hardened heart.

Now, according to the ancient Egyptian religion, Pharaoh's heart was supposed to be pure.

The ancient Egyptians believed, not very differently from any of us, that the essence of a person is

found in their heart. And they also believed that after death, your heart would be weighed.

The god Anubis would weigh the dead person's heart on a scale, balancing it against the feather

of righteousness. So, one scholar writes, anyone whose heart was weighed down with misdeeds would be

annihilated, while anyone whose heart was filled with integrity, truth, and good acts would be escorted

to heavenly bliss. And according to the Egyptian religion, the Pharaoh was the incarnation of the sun god,

the manifestation of the sun god. And he supposedly had a pure heart, light as a feather.

But one thing we see in this narrative is that the one true God judged otherwise.

Chapter 7, verse 14, the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened.

Now, from chapter 4 all the way to chapter 14, there are a total of 20 statements, roughly depending

on how you count them, about Pharaoh's heart being hardened. Sometimes it says Pharaoh's hardened

his own heart. Sometimes it says Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Sometimes it says the Lord hardened

Pharaoh's heart. There are two different Hebrew words that are translated the same way in our English

Bibles as hardened in reference to Pharaoh's heart. Now, the word in chapter 7, verse 14,

appears eight times over the course of these chapters, and it's a word that is commonly translated

heavy or dense. So, in chapter 5, verse 9, the same word refers to heavy work, burdensome labor.

In chapter 9, it refers to heavy hail. Chapters 8 and 10, it refers to dense swarms of flies and locusts.

So, this word in chapter 14, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, you could literally translate it,

Pharaoh's heart is heavy. And what that means in the Egyptian context is Pharaoh's heart is heavy with

evil. It's not pure and light as a feather. It's weighed down with evil. The one true God has weighed

Pharaoh's heart and found it wanting. But Pharaoh claimed not only to possess divine purity of heart,

he also claimed to possess divine sovereignty. In other words, he claimed to be in charge,

invincible. In Pharaoh's mind, he could do whatever he wanted with the people who lived within his

borders. He could do whatever he wanted with the Israelites. He could enslave them. He could tell them

to make more bricks without straw. He could beat them. He could do whatever.

He ruled over Egypt with absolute authority. There were no checks and balances.

One scholar writes, the Egyptians believed that Pharaoh's heart was the all-controlling factor in

history and society. But once again, what we see in this narrative is that the one true God judged

otherwise. Pharaoh was not pure, and Pharaoh was not ultimately in control.

From God's vantage point, which is the only vantage point that ultimately matters,

Pharaoh was not invincible. And what we see through this whole story is that God is in complete control

even over Pharaoh's own heart. Look back at chapter 4, verse 21.

I skipped over this verse when I preached on this chapter. Some of you might have noticed that.

But I wasn't trying to avoid it.

Chapter 4, verse 21, the Lord says to Moses,

When you go back to Egypt, do before Pharaoh all the miracles I've put in your power, but

I will harden his heart

so that he will not let the people go.

Even before the plagues began, God declared in advance that he would harden Pharaoh's heart.

And that one by one through the ten plagues, God would demonstrate the emptiness and powerlessness

of all the gods of Egypt. That's what Pastor Nick talked about in his sermon last week.

That each of the plagues targeted one or more of the false gods that the Egyptians worshipped.

They worshipped the Nile River. That was one of the major gods. The Nile was seen as the giver and taker of life.

When the Nile water turns to blood, God's showing,

the Nile is not worthy of your worship.

And one by one, God is

knocking down the idols of Egypt

and saying,

I am the only true God worthy of your worship.

So God declared that he would harden Pharaoh's heart,

that he would demonstrate the emptiness and powerlessness

of the gods of Egypt, and ultimately he would set his people free.

And many times,

such as chapter 7, verse 13,

it says something like,

Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them

as the Lord had said.

God's word was being fulfilled.

His plan was being carried

forward.

Now, the verb translated hardened

in 421

is the other main verb

that appears throughout these

ten chapters or so

in reference to Pharaoh's heart.

It appears a total of twelve times,

and it's a word that commonly means

to make strong.

So it's, now,

it's not as if Pharaoh's heart

was previously soft

and God added something

to harden it

from the outside.

Okay?

It's not as if Pharaoh's heart

was previously pure

and God

put a few drops of poison

in Pharaoh's heart

to make him act

in an evil way.

No.

The Bible is always very clear.

Sin does not originate

with God.

Sin originates

with us.

And in Pharaoh's case,

you can go all the way back

to chapter 3, verse 19,

where God says to Moses,

I know that the king of Egypt

will not let you go.

No.

Not by a mighty hand.

In other words,

no human power,

no human force

will be able to persuade

or force

the king of Egypt

to let the Israelites go.

Pharaoh was dead set

against

the liberation

of God's people

from the very beginning.

So,

Mike Wilkerson

puts it this way.

What we see

in the plague narrative

is that God

is ultimately

sovereign over Egypt,

even over the heart

of its king.

And

God did not violate

Pharaoh's will

in bringing about

the occasions

for his sinful heart

to be further exposed

and increasingly hardened.

In other words,

God strengthened

Pharaoh's heart,

which was already heavy

and weighed down

with evil.

And the result was

Pharaoh persisted

in his stubborn rebellion

against the Lord.

That's what it means

when it says,

the Lord hardened

Pharaoh's heart.

It's a strong statement.

It's a scary statement.

It's framed

in the active voice.

It's a manifestation

of God's judgment

on Pharaoh.

Pharaoh.

Someone else wrote

one of the ways

that God punishes sin

is to allow the sin

to continue

and to take

its destructive course.

You know,

every day,

God shows

extraordinary mercy

to this world

by restraining

all kinds of people

from doing

all kinds of evil

that in their hearts

they want to carry out.

I mean,

even,

how many times

have you wanted

to do something

and you got distracted

or you couldn't

find the person

so you didn't say

what you wanted

to say to them?

All kinds of things.

Every day,

God in His providence

prevents the world

from devolving

into utter chaos.

And God does

most of this

without even

anyone asking Him to.

And most of the time

without us even

recognizing it.

It's called

common grace.

Every single one

of us here

has experienced it

and benefited

from it.

And yet,

in God's divine justice,

God does not

always restrain

every evil inclination

of every human heart.

Isn't it often true

that the more

God mercifully

restrains

our evil inclinations

and protects us

from the consequences

of our sin,

the more we try

to deny

that we actually

have evil inclinations?

And that might be

the worst deception

of all.

And so,

sometimes,

God chooses

to give us over

to our evil

inclinations,

to harden

our hearts

in the direction

we're already

headed,

to put on display

the exceeding

sinfulness

of our sin.

And it's not

a pretty picture.

God does not

restrain Pharaoh

from continuing

in his evil ways.

God does not

immediately wipe

Pharaoh out.

God deliberately

keeps him alive

and sustains him,

even gives him

strength

in Pharaoh's

ongoing willful

rebellion

against the Lord.

But the irony is,

the harder Pharaoh

tries to resist

God's purpose,

the more he ends

up serving it.

That's what God

says in chapter 9,

verse 15 and 16,

which is a key

part of the plague

narrative that

helps us understand

what's going on.

Moses says this

to Pharaoh

on behalf of,

or God's,

Moses is speaking

on behalf of the

Lord,

saying,

thus says the

Lord,

he's saying this

to Pharaoh,

verse 15,

for by now I

could have put

out my hand

and struck you

and your people

with pestilence

and you would

have been cut

off from the

earth.

But I have

raised you up

for this very

purpose,

that I might

show you my

power,

so that my name

may be proclaimed

in all the earth.

See,

Pharaoh and his

hardened heart

was not merely

an obstacle

to God's plan

to magnify

his name.

He became

one of the means

through which

God magnified

his name.

Because with

every successive

plague,

God was

publicly toppling

one more

Egyptian idol

and revealing

himself more

and more

completely as

the only true

and living God

worthy of our

worship.

And he was

revealing this

to the Israelites,

to the Egyptians,

and ultimately

to future generations,

including us.

God is going

to show his

glory to the

world,

and he is

going to carry

out his plan

of salvation

for his people

whether you

want him to

or not.

Even if you

are dead set

on exalting

yourself above

Pharaoh,

above God,

like Pharaoh,

you will not

ultimately be able

to stop God's

plan no matter

how hard

you try.

God is

sovereign.

He rules

even over

someone as

stubborn and

unyielding as

Pharaoh.

Now,

if you are

stubbornly

resisting God,

this is a

terrifying warning.

You may end up

a slave to your

own worst

tendencies,

but you will

not succeed

in resisting

God's ultimate

plans.

But if you

are being

severely

mistreated

or persecuted

like the

people of

Israel were

in Egypt

for the

sake of

obedience

to God,

this truth

can actually

bring great

comfort and

confidence.

Imagine

being a

Christian right

now in

North Korea.

America or

in an area

controlled by

ISIS.

Do you

see how

this truth

that God

is sovereign

even over

a man like

Pharaoh could

actually be a

source of

great comfort?

Sometimes

God's people

come face

to face

with tyrants

like Pharaoh

who are

obstinate and

unyielding in

their opposition

to the Lord

and their

hostile

persecution

of God's

people.

And God

wants His

people to

know that

He is not

surprised and

that despite

their boasting,

the Pharaohs of

this world are

not stronger

than the Lord

Jesus Christ

who will

ultimately triumph

over them.

There are two

Psalms that

specifically speak

about the

ten plagues.

One of them

is Psalm 105

and it's a

psalm of

confident praise.

It begins

this way,

O give

thanks to

the Lord,

call upon

His name,

make known

His deeds

among the

peoples,

sing to

Him,

sing praises

to Him,

tell of all

His wondrous

works,

glory in

His holy

name.

Let the

hearts of

those who

seek the

Lord rejoice,

seek the

Lord in

His strength,

seek His

presence

continually.

Remember the

wondrous works

that He

has done,

His miracles

and the

judgments

He uttered,

O offspring

of Abraham

His servant,

children of

Jacob His

chosen ones.

And the

Psalm goes

on to

narrate

many of

God's

works,

but including

the ten

plagues

in detail.

That's the

first lesson

for God's

people.

God is

sovereign even

over a

man like

Pharaoh.

God

magnified His

name even

through

Pharaoh's

stubbornness.

So remember

God's

wondrous

works and

His great

power and

praise Him

with confidence.

Now the

second lesson

for God's

people is

this.

Don't

harden your

heart like

Pharaoh did.

Again,

imagine the

people of

Israel after

they've left

Egypt and

Moses is

writing the

book of

Exodus or

retelling

aloud these

stories to

the people.

And what

does he want

them to

learn from

the character

of Pharaoh?

And from

the statements

over and

over that

Pharaoh

hardened his

heart or

the heart of

Pharaoh was

hard or

the Lord

hardened

Pharaoh's

heart.

Well,

they needed

to remember

that God

was sovereign

even over

someone like

Pharaoh.

That would

give them

confidence in

the face of

adversity and

opposition.

That would

give them

resilience.

But they

also needed

to know

that even

as God's

redeemed

people,

that they

too were

prone to

harden their

hearts, to

become stubborn.

They needed

not only

confidence in

the face of

external

adversity and

opposition, but

also humility

in the face

of their own

internal

spiritual and

moral weakness.

as I said

earlier, there

are only two

psalms that

speak specifically

about the

plagues.

Psalm 105,

a psalm of

praise to

God for

His sovereignty,

and the

other psalm is

Psalm 78,

which is a

rebuke to the

people of

Israel for

their stubbornness.

If you look

at Psalm 78,

it's a long

psalm, but if

you go to

verse 37,

Psalm 78,

Psalms 78:37

verse 37,

describes the

Israelites in

the wilderness,

and it says,

their heart

was not

steadfast

toward God.

They were

not faithful

to His

covenant.

If you go

down to

verse 41,

it continues,

how often

they rebelled

against Him in

the wilderness

and grieved

Him in the

desert.

They tested

God again

and again

and provoked

the Holy

One of

Israel.

They did

not remember

His

power or

the day

when He

redeemed

them from

the foe,

when He

performed

His signs

in Egypt

and His

marvels

in the

fields

of zone.

And then

the psalm

goes on

to speak

about the

ten plagues

one by

one.

Here's the

point of

Psalm 78.

The Israelites

forgot God's

judgments on

Pharaoh and

the gods of

Egypt,

and as a

result,

their hearts

were not

steadfastly

oriented

toward

faithfulness

to God.

They

too began

worshiping

idols.

Psalm 78

basically says,

remember the

plagues

so that you

don't harden

your heart

like Pharaoh

hardened

his.

It's the same

warning we heard

from the book

of Hebrews

in the New

Testament.

Today,

if you hear

God's voice,

do not harden

your hearts.

Exhort one

another every

day,

as long as

it is called

today,

so that none

of you may be

hardened by

the deceitfulness

of sin.

You see,

the Bible says

that every one

of us is

vulnerable

to the

hardening

effects of

sin.

Even God's

redeemed

people who

have been

given a new

heart,

right?

If we've

come to

faith in

Jesus,

He's given

us a new

heart,

taken out

our heart

of stone,

given us

a heart

of flesh,

but we

are still

in danger

of becoming

stubborn and

resistant against

the Lord,

and God

gives us

warnings and

exhortations

to protect

us so that

we don't

end up

where Pharaoh

ended up.

But we

need to have

the humility

to recognize

that Pharaoh's

condition is

not just a

problem for

a few

tyrants

who rule

over

nations of

the world.

The problem

of a

hardened

heart

is something

that we

need to

take very

seriously

for each

one of

us.

Now,

the book of

Exodus does

not hold out

much hope for

Pharaoh,

but the Bible

says there is

hope for you

if you will

listen to God's

voice today

and not

harden your

heart.

So,

what I want

to do is

to do what

Hebrews 3,

13 tells us

to do,

to exhort

one another

so that we

are not

hardened by

the deceitfulness

of sin.

And what I

want to do

is show you

five specific

ways that

Pharaoh's

hardened heart

manifested

itself in

order to

warn us

and guard

us against

falling into

the same

patterns.

So,

let me give

you these

five specific

ways that

through the

narrative of

Exodus 7

through 10

we see

Pharaoh's

hardened

heart

manifesting

itself.

First,

Pharaoh ignored

God in his

prosperity and

he raged

against God

in his

adversity.

For much

of his life

God had

prospered

Pharaoh.

He was on

top of the

world.

He was the

ruler of

one of the

most powerful

nations of

the ancient

world.

He could

appreciate

great

architecture.

He could

enjoy delicious

food.

He could

accomplish

great

exploits.

And he

denied the

reality of

God.

He says,

who is the

Lord that I

should obey

his voice?

I don't know

the Lord and

I won't let

his people go.

Pharaoh had

no interest

in seeking

God.

He had

everything he

could want

and that was

all that

mattered to

him.

Pharaoh.

And then

God afflicted

Pharaoh with

one painful

plague after

another.

And so

Pharaoh couldn't

simply ignore

and deny the

reality of God

anymore, but as

time went on, he

becomes increasingly

hostile toward God's

messengers.

The last two

plagues, the

eighth and ninth

plague, he drives

Moses and Aaron

out of his

presence.

Chapter 10, verse

11, it says

Moses and Aaron

were driven out

of Pharaoh's

presence.

Chapter 10, verse

28, Pharaoh

says to Moses,

get away from

me.

Take care to

never see my

face again.

On the day you

see my face, you

shall die.

Pharaoh rages

against God and

God's messengers in

the midst of his

adversity.

And in the book

of Revelation,

Revelation 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16,

God's future

judgment on the

world is depicted

as a series of

plagues reminiscent

of the ones in

Egypt.

Waters turn to

blood, skies are

darkened, locusts

destroying locusts,

painful sores,

thunder and

lightning and

hail, but the

consistent response

of the people in

the book of

Revelation is

indifference and

hostility toward

God.

It says,

they cursed the

name of God who

had power over

these plagues.

They did not

repent and give

him glory.

People nod their

tongues in anguish

and curse the God

of heaven for

their pain.

They did not

repent of their

deeds.

They cursed God

for the plague of

the hail.

So here's a

warning.

How are you

responding to God

in your prosperity?

If God's given

you success and

power and wealth

and comfort,

have you relegated

God to the

sidelines of your

life?

Have you taken

the credit for

yourself when

really it's

ultimately all a

gift?

or if God has

afflicted you,

are you leaning

into Him in

prayer?

Jesus Christ is a

merciful and

compassionate and

strong Savior.

Or are you cursing

God in your heart

and becoming

increasingly bitter

and hostile toward

God and toward His

Word in your

adversity?

Second,

Pharaoh began by

resisting God and

His messengers.

He ended by

ruining his own

people.

From the very

beginning, Pharaoh

rejected the Lord

and the Lord's

messengers.

He could care less

about the Israelites,

but over time, we

see that Pharaoh's

heart was not just

hardened toward the

Lord and the Lord's

messengers and the

Lord's people, but he

was hardened and

indifferent to his

own people's

suffering and even

his own family's

well-being.

The end of chapter

7 that we read at

the beginning, the

water in the Nile

turns to blood.

Pharaoh gets his

magicians to do the

same thing, however

they do it, and his

heart remains hardened.

And it just says,

Pharaoh turned and

went into his house,

and he didn't take it

to heart.

Pharaoh says,

well, I have

servants.

They can go dig a

hole and get me

water and bring it

to me.

This won't really

bother me.

Pharaoh didn't

really care that all

the Egyptians had to

dig for clean water.

But then one by one,

the plagues gradually

hit Pharaoh closer and

closer to home.

First, the magicians in

his court seemed to

take Pharaoh's side.

They can duplicate the

plagues.

Of course, they can

never reverse them.

But by round three,

pretty early in the

game, the magicians say,

this is the finger of

God.

And it says, Pharaoh

hardened his heart and

would not listen to them.

He didn't just reject

Moses and Aaron.

He even rejected his own

magicians.

When they said, this is

the one true God.

And finally, in chapter 10,

verse 7, some of his

officials take initiative

to plead with Pharaoh.

They say, don't you yet

understand?

Egypt is ruined.

And finally, Moses threatens

the tenth and final plague

in chapter 11.

Every firstborn in the land

of Egypt shall die.

Now, in those days, Pharaoh's

firstborn represented his

legacy, the future of his

dynasty, his most treasured

child.

Pharaoh's resistance to the

Lord resulted in the ruin,

not only of his own country,

but even his own family.

And again, this is a sober

warning.

If you're refusing to take

to heart God's Word, it's not

just an issue between you and

God.

You may end up causing the

ruin of those nearest and

dearest to you without even

realizing it.

Your own family, even.

Third, Pharaoh is sorry about

the consequences, but he's not

sorry for his sin.

Several times along the way,

Pharaoh pleads for relief as

things get worse and worse.

Starts with the second plague,

chapter 8, verse 8.

Pharaoh doesn't like all the

frogs jumping up on him.

He says, plead with the Lord to

take away the frogs from me and

my people, and I will let the

people go to sacrifice to the

Lord.

Later on, plead with the Lord for

there's been enough of God's

thunder and hail.

Chapter 10, verse 17, when the

locusts come, plead with the

Lord your God to remove this

death from me.

Pharaoh pleads for relief.

He doesn't like the consequences

of his sin.

Now, by the seventh and eighth

plague, he even says, I have

sinned.

Chapter 9, verse 27, after the

plague of hail.

Pharaoh sent and called Moses and

Aaron and said to them, this time I

have sinned.

The Lord is in the right, and I and

my people are in the wrong.

Plead with the Lord.

There's been enough of God's thunder

and hail.

I'll let you go.

You shall stay no longer.

And then 10, 16, after the plague

of locusts, Pharaoh hastily called

Moses and Aaron and said, I have

sinned against the Lord your God

and against you.

Interestingly, that's the very same

language the prodigal son uses when

he's coming home.

May call into question the sincerity

of his repentance, but that's

another topic.

Now, therefore, forgive my sin,

please, only this once.

But I want you to notice two things

about Pharaoh's supposed

confessions.

Number one, Pharaoh says, this time

I have sinned.

The next time he says, forgive my sin,

please, only this once.

Even a very, very stubborn person

can be argued into a corner and

forced to admit that they were wrong

just this once.

That doesn't actually mean you're

repentant.

If you say, it only happened once.

It wasn't a pattern.

It's not a character flaw.

It was just a mistake.

But the Bible says that sin is never

just a one-time mistake.

Jesus said, out of the abundance of

the heart, the mouth speaks.

James says, sinful actions begin

with our desires.

Desire gives birth to sin, and sin,

when it is fully grown, brings forth

death.

All the unpleasant consequences.

Sin is rooted in our hearts,

in our misplaced desires.

And the only way to really change

is to acknowledge and expose

those idols of our heart.

Pharaoh never does that.

He only reluctantly admits just this

once that he has sinned.

Moses responds to Pharaoh's first

confession of sin in verse 30 of

chapter 9 by saying, I know that you

do not yet fear the Lord God.

In other words, your confession

is motivated not by a genuine

reverence for God, but simply by a

desire to get relief from unpleasant

consequences.

And of course, we see that when the

plagues are removed, when the

unpleasant consequences go away,

Pharaoh immediately returns to his

old ways.

When Pharaoh saw that the rain and

the hail and the thunder had ceased,

he sinned yet again and hardened

his heart.

Are you sorry for your sin?

Or are you just sorry for all the

pain it causes you?

Have you come to realize that your

sin is even worse than all the

unpleasant consequences that follow

from it?

That's what the Bible says.

Fourth, Pharaoh is willing to

negotiate, but not to surrender.

Over time, Pharaoh makes some

concessions.

Chapter 8, verse 25, he says, go

sacrifice to the Lord within the

land.

Then 8, 28, I'll let you sacrifice

to the Lord your God in the

wilderness, only not very far away.

Chapter 10, verse 11, let the men

go.

The women and children have to stay.

Chapter 10, verse 24, all the people

can go, but your livestock have to

stay.

Pharaoh is willing to negotiate with

the Lord as if they were peers, but

he's not willing to surrender and

acknowledge that God is not his peer,

that God is God and Pharaoh is not.

And God does not meet Pharaoh halfway.

God is not a negotiator.

He will not compromise his standards.

He is not your peer.

He alone is the immortal, invisible, only,

wise God.

But even more than that, he is the only

God who shed his blood for you, who gave

himself completely and without reservation,

and laid his life down as a full and perfect and

sufficient sacrifice for us so that we might

be his completely without any reservations.

Charles Spurgeon said,

God's demand is not that his people should have some

little liberty, some little relief in the middle of

their sin.

No, that they should go right out of Egypt and go through

the wilderness to the promised land.

Christ did not come into the world merely to make our sin

more tolerable, but to deliver us from it.

He did not come to make hell a little less hot, or sin a

little less damnable, or our lust a little less mighty,

but to put all these things far away from us, to deliver us

from death and hell and from the power of sin, to work,

to give us joy and peace in believing in him.

Finally, five, Pharaoh asked for prayer, but he never prays.

Pharaoh always wants someone else to deal with God on his

behalf.

He's always asking Moses, plead with the Lord.

Pray for me.

It's not wrong to ask somebody else to pray for you.

In the New Testament, James says, if you're sick, call the

elders of the church to come and pray for you.

It goes on and says, confess your sins to one another and pray

for one another so that you may be healed.

This is a good thing when we're weak physically, emotionally,

or spiritually.

Sometimes we can hold on to and be held by the faith and prayer

of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and that's a means of

grace that God uses.

But if you're only asking other people to pray for you, and

you're not dealing with God yourself, it's a sign that you're not

right with God.

Many times people have come to me, and in the course of a

conversation have acknowledged that they have sinned in one way or

another.

And one of the questions I always try to ask is, have you confessed that

sin to God?

Sometimes the answer is no.

And so I say, why don't you begin by confessing that sin to God?

I'm here to listen, and then I'll pray for you, that you would know God's

peace and forgiveness and His strength and find the accountability you need and

know His hope for the future.

You see, the way to get right with God is not to ask somebody else to pray to God

on your behalf or deal with God on your behalf, but to turn to Jesus.

The Bible says Jesus is the one mediator between God and humanity.

Admit that you're a sinner.

Believe and receive the Savior.

So we pray now.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you that we can come to you in prayer in the name of your Son,

Jesus Christ.

We thank you that there is a sacrifice sufficient, complete to cover our sin.

Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit who renews our hearts.

Your Holy Spirit who gives us a new heart

and draws us to Christ, but who continually dwells within us

and softens our heart and turns us to you.

We pray that we would hear your voice and not harden your hearts,

not harden our hearts before you today.

We praise you.

We bow before you.

You are the King of glory.

You are the only true and living God.

You are King forever.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.