Going 12 Rounds

Chapters 5-11

Chpt. 5 - It's Tough Being the Leader - God tells Moses/Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh says, "no way." He decides that this request has come because the Israelites are lazy, so he ups the ante on their work load and will no longer provide the straw to make bricks. It's a definite hardship on the Israelites. Moses's obedience to God is resulting in pain for his "family." This has got to be one of the hardest things about spiritual leadership (of a family or a group or a church or whatever) - leading those you love and/or care about into something that makes life more difficult for them (temporarily).

Chpt. 7-8 - Why 12 Plagues? - as we'll see in the chapters to come, God uses the 12 plagues to finally bring His people out of slavery in Egypt. However, one may wonder why it took 12 - why it couldn't have been accomplished with 1 - just go right to the Passover angel (the last one). The Israelites had to put up with the effects of the first 11 just like Pharaoh and the Egyptians did, even thought the plagues were given to change Pharaoh's heart. One possible reason is that the Israelites got to see God's supernatural power through all this. These same people would have a chance to trust Him when they get "stuck" at the Red Sea. It sure would seem to be easier to trust God to get you out of that predicament if you've seen Him do some amazing things in the days leading up to that. Also, these memories would also probably serve them well in passing down their faith to the next generation(s) - remember, most of this generation perished in the 40 years in the wilderness and their children may not have known as much about God's power to save and rescue. Yes, God provided manna every morning (read: miracle), but they became caloused to that too.

One other point here: as one reads about the 12 plagues, you see this back-and-forth between Pharaoh hardening his heart (mostly) and God hardening Pharaoh's heart (a couple of times). It brings up the age old question of God's will: do we have free will to make decisions or does God force decisions on us. The answer I've come to is "yes." Did Pharaoh harden his heart toward God and the Israelites? Yes. Was God going to use all these plagues and use Pharaoh as instruments to spring His people outta there? Yes. Did God know this battle would go 12 rounds? Yes. Do we understand exaclty how these two truths intersect and work all the time? No. Sometimes God steps in and does something unilaterally, but most of the time He orchestrates from behind the scenes so that His providential will is accomplished, all the while we are thinking that we make all the decisions and have sway over our lives/the world around us. If I keep my daughter from eating all day and then put out the options of brussel sprouts or cake for a meal that evening, I am orchestrating things and I have foreknowledge of what will happen. Does she still have a free-will choice to choose what she wants to eat? Yes. Do I know what she is going to eat and have I put things in place to bring that about? Yes. While this illustration seems simple, it's probably even more simple from God's point of view.