Mensa Otabil - Pharaoh's Frustration (11/05/2025)
Exodus 10:28 — 29: Then Pharaoh said to him, «Get away from me; take heed to yourself and see my face no more, for the day you see my face, you shall die.» So Moses said, «You have spoken well; I will never see your face again.»
Pharaoh brought the negotiation with Moses to an abrupt end. By this time, he had tried every trick he knew, and Moses had resisted them. He thought Moses would accept all the half offers, but Moses didn’t take them and signaled that nothing had changed from his initial position. His initial position was, «I’m not going to let the people go; my economy depends on them.» So he stood where he had stood from day one, and Moses stood where he had stood from day one. After nine plagues, no movement had been made; everybody was standing where they had been from day one. He was not going to let the people go.
I want you to note the words that Pharaoh used. First, he said to Moses, «Get away from me.» You can almost feel the intensity; he probably screamed it. He was so frustrated and angry that these people would dare to resist him and his offer. So he said, «Get away from me,» and then he said, «I don’t want you to see my face again, and I don’t want to see you again.» In other words, diplomatic relations were cut; «You don’t have access to my palace. I will not be nice to you when you see me. I will not be kind to you. I will not extend any courtesies to you.» Thirdly, he said, «The day you see me, you shall surely die.» Now, this is very dire. Pharaoh had changed from the nice king, trying to persuade Moses and the Hebrews to stay, to one who was angry and ready to destroy Moses.
So the negotiation came to an end. Now, it’s important to note that God did not stop the negotiation; Pharaoh stopped it. So any consequence from then on is from Pharaoh. He said, «I’m not going to go any further. I don’t want to talk to you; I don’t want to listen to God. This is the end.» So whatever happens is on Pharaoh’s head, and whatever will happen subsequently would be because he stopped seeking to negotiate with God’s people.
I like Moses’s response to Pharaoh. He said, «You’ve said the very thing; I will not keep seeing your face, because probably he’s also saying in his head this has been a waste of time and effort. I don’t want to see you again.» And you have said it. Moses is saying to Pharaoh, «You’ve prophesied how this thing is going to end. You’ve stated it with your mouth that the next time I see you, I’m dead. But it’s going to be the other way around; it’s you who is going to die, not me.» So Moses fully understood that there was no other way but to trust God to complete the process which He had started.
You know, sometimes, unfortunately, when we make an effort to make something work, it gets to a point where there’s no movement, and it doesn’t work. And that’s what happened. Egypt is about to have disaster hit them, and it’s going to hit them because they have a leader who was not ready to make the right compromises, and it’s going to hit them severely, including the leader himself. May the Lord keep us from stubbornly pushing ourselves to self-destruction.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, deliver me from self-destruction as a result of my self-will and stubbornness. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»