Moses’ Third Prayer—God forces the Pharaoh to be stubborn (Exodus 10.17-18)

“…Do forgive my sin just this once, and pray to the LORD your God that at the least he remove this deadly thing from me.” So, he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.

Background

After the plague of a hailstorm pounds Egypt with a vengeance, the familiar pattern of discourse between Moses and the Pharaoh repeats. Now (as noted in the last chapter), it is God who is causing the Pharaoh to be stubborn. God gave him five chances to do the right thing; Pharaoh refused each time. Subsequently, God used the Pharaoh’s stubbornness against him to show God’s mighty power over creation. It may seem that God had “given up” on Pharaoh, but He has not. He grants Moses’ prayers for the Pharaoh twice during the next five plagues. 

This prayer comes after the ninth plague: locusts. These terrible pests strip the land of all vegetation. The Pharaoh’s advisors tell him to let these Israelites go before they destroy Egypt. But his stubbornness gets the best of him yet again, and he refuses. The plague comes, and the locusts eat everything left after the destruction wrought by the hail. 

Again, the Pharaoh is repentant. “I have sinned,” he says once more. He asks for forgiveness and for Moses to pray for him again. Once more, God hears the prayer and the locusts go away. Yet, as we have come to expect, God makes the Pharaoh stubborn once more. It will be the last time.

Meaning

As noted in the previous chapter, it seems unfair of God to make the Pharaoh stubborn even after he admits that he has sinned. God forces the king of Egypt to resist Him so that God can then punish him. Yet once the Pharaoh relents (after the tenth plague) and agrees to let the Israelites go, God brings an eleventh plague upon Egypt—the most horrific of all. Egypt could recover from the other plagues, but this one involved the death of every firstborn human and animal. Doesn’t this seem vengeful? God has won, after all. Why kill children?

There may not be a satisfying answer to this question for us, but there is a reason for it. God is demonstrating his sovereignty. The lesson is that continued stubbornness against him can lead to disastrous results. He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything, he is in charge of everything; therefore he can do anything he wants. We might cry, “unfair!” but that would be like telling an artist that he cannot scrub out a section of his painting and redo it, or telling an author she cannot delete a paragraph. We might think the artist was wrong, and we might criticize, but we should be able to admit that it is the artist’s work to do with as the artist pleases. Job affirmed this about God when he says, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1.21). It is what Malachi meant when he writes that the Lord loved Jacob (Israel), but he hated Esau (the Edomites) in 1.2-3. It is what Paul meant when he quotes that passage in Romans 9.13. 

Prayer is not about getting God to do what we want. He is not a divine Santa Claus. Nor he is a distant Zeus who sits on high and hurls lightning bolts. He is unique in his person and dealings with us.

Think about some of the best parents you know. They have certain characteristics in common: they love their children and show it; they have the children’s best interests in mind; they have clear guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable behavior; they practice consistent consequences for violating those guidelines; they are always willing to forgive and forget once the children confess and repent. Likewise, they are parents that always offer second chances, and never connect the punishment of a child with the value of a child. They are good parents because they are mimicking God in many ways, who is the model of the perfect parent. 

God wanted the Pharaoh to relent. He wanted the Pharaoh to have a relationship with Him. Even when the Pharaoh continued to reject God and continued to hurt God’s children, God continued to give him a chance to change. But the Pharaoh is not God’s only child. When it came time to choose between the well-being of the Israelites over the Pharaoh, God acted with decisiveness and justice. Though it may seem unfair for God to force the Pharaoh to be stubborn, two things may help us understand. First, we do not see the whole picture as God does; we have no overarching view of history and the universe. So, we need to trust that He knows what He is doing. Second, the problem did not begin with God—the problem is those who continually refuse Him and hurt others despite His mercy.

When we offer intercessions for others, we should remember those characteristics. God desires all people to be in a relationship with Him. He is the ultimate Creator and can do whatever he wants—but he offers us the opportunity to be a part of it all. This powerful, sovereign, terrifying God, says to us, “come and be with me…tell me what you think…be a part of my Plan.” When we offer prayers for others, this is what we do—we become part of God’s plans. Scripture indicates that it is possible for us to influence God (see Genesis 18, for instance). Maybe, because God knows everything and we don’t, He will not take our advice. Sometimes He will do as we ask. But the great gift is that we are allowed to be part of it.

At the time of Paul of Tarsus, the Emperors of Rome had a circle of friends and family that he consulted for advice while he ruled the Empire. They were not officials, but they were the closest people to him. They were called the “Friends of Caesar.” Believers are part of the “Friends of God” when we intercede for others—we are giving Him our input.

Application

This image is helpful as we work to enrich our prayer lives. When you offer intercessions, imagine yourself going up to God’s palace. When the guards challenge you, you say, “I am a Friend of God.” The guards bow, lower their weapons and allow you to pass. Enter the hall and sit before God on his throne, and tell Him what you think about these others on whose behalf you pray.

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