By: Will Savell
Moses was able to see firsthand how the Lord distinguished a group of people from everyone else. And He saw that distinction around every turn, but especially in his dealings with Pharaoh.
If one has ever read the book of Exodus, then they probably have seen that little statement, “…and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart…” It’s all over the Exodus account. Where it jumps out the most to me is in Exodus 11:10 where it is written,
“Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.”
Did you know that there was a reason for that? And the reason is worth taking note of. There is a reason why God would actually harden a ruler’s heart, and this is important even for today, lest we think that God is a changing God. Verse 7 of the same chapter states,
“…that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”
Why would God harden someone’s heart? And why would he distinguish one group over another?
We’ve been hearing a lot on Sunday mornings about having the correct view of God, and how that view affects the way we view the world and our circumstances.
If we have a view of God that supposes that He is here to serve man and be our magic 8-ball or our lucky lottery ticket, then we might have a real problem with this idea of distinction.
However, if our view of God becomes a little bit bigger and the view of ourselves becomes a little bit smaller, then we’ll understand and love verse 9 a little bit more:
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’”
I think Moses knew that he was a part of something big. And I think he also knew that he wasn’t the main character in the unfolding drama, but because he was part of the distinguished people, he could be a part of something that multiplied the wonders of God throughout all the nations for generations to come.
As part of God’s royal priesthood, holy nation, and chosen people, may we attempt to wrap our minds around a bigger purpose than our own, and a bigger story than one where we are the primary character. That might be a shift in perspective and perhaps might change the way we view this difficult thing called life. It is then when we will perhaps be able experience a little bit of what Moses experienced: the multiplied wonders of the Lord.
