Mensa Otabil - Pharaoh Assesses the Damage
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It’s been a devastating period for Pharaoh, and we look at the conclusion of the fifth plague in Exodus, chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. Then Pharaoh said, «Indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites is dead.» But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.
You know, if at first Pharaoh had no regard for God, by this time he knows without any shadow of a doubt what he’s dealing with. He’s dealing with the supreme ruler of the universe because his gods have been judged, his magicians have been put out of commission, and he himself has had attacks on his body. Nothing that he thought would protect him is protecting him. So, by this time, he knows without any shadow of a doubt this is bigger than he bargained for, but his heart is so set on his superiority that he’s not giving in. When you read the Bible, there is an interesting indication here, and I like that about the Bible. When I study the Bible, I see little details of things that you may easily not pay attention to.
Now, this is the first time that Pharaoh goes to assess the damage that has been done. The other plagues occurred, and he took them for what they were, but this time God said none of the livestock of the Israelites would die. So Pharaoh sends people to go to Goshen and says, «Go check out if they lost any livestock.» His officers go to Goshen where the Israelites lived, and, of course, all the goats are bleating joyfully, and the cows are moving, and all the animals are there. There’s no calamity; none of them have been affected by any disease. There’s no animal that is dying, so Pharaoh knows that this is the finger of God.
Now, how does he respond? How would you have responded? He doesn’t change. You know, there are people who say that if only God would do something great in the world, if God would show a sign in the heavens, everybody would repent. Listen to me: people’s hearts are so set a certain way that sometimes nothing changes the condition of their hearts. Pharaoh knows what is going on, but his heart is hardened.
A hardened heart is not easily moved and may not even be moved by a miracle. It is only moved by humility. If we humble ourselves, then our hearts will be moved to acknowledge God; otherwise, no sign or miracle would change a hardened heart. And that’s what we’re seeing here. Maybe one of the reasons why Pharaoh was hard-hearted was because he thought, you know, he went to Goshen and saw that there were live animals there. He said, «Well, the Israelites are good shepherds and they have a lot of livestock, so they didn’t lose any of their livestock.»
Thus, he thought he could easily go to Goshen and ransack all their cattle and all their goats, and we would replenish our stock. So he didn’t see this as major damage to him because by his own wisdom, he could figure out a way to avoid the calamity that is coming. And that, unfortunately, is what a lot of people do when they see the hand of God: they invent a way to secure themselves and think they can always avoid God’s judgment. You can’t, because this thing doesn’t end at number five; it goes all the way up to number ten. I pray that the Lord God will help each one of us to acknowledge His work in our lives.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, bring down every evil system that is working against Your purposes on earth. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»