For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
(Romans 9:17)
This morning I was meditating on the story of the Exodus. Obviously, this is a well known story for Jews and Christians alike, but I have been thinking about it in a new light recently. There are some basics of the story that I find to be devastating when I apply them to my own life. For instance:
- God's people are slaves in a foreign land
- God uses an exile (from two groups of people) to free His people
- God's speech to the powerful goes ignored
- 9 plagues aren't enough to get Pharaoh's attention
- It takes the death of the Pharaoh's firstborn to break him
As much as I wish that I could write about how I can relate to the oppression and yearning for freedom of the Hebrews, I have more in common with another character in the story. Unfortunately, that character is the Pharaoh. Pharaoh believes that he has power over the world, and his own nation's religion tells him that he is the most important. Pharaoh has a very clear message spoken to him by God's appointed messenger, but his response is very much like my own. I make excuses, I justify myself, and then I refuse to listen. Pharaoh's whole existence is built around preserving the status quo, if he can just keep going about his normal business and just ignore God's voice, everything will be fine.
Unfortunately, this is not the reality God has in mind. God's plan is to turn the status quo upside down. Things cannot continue as normal because only God is allowed to dictate what is normal. We would prefer for God to comfort us and love us for "who we are," but that is not the message of the Bible. Instead we hear:
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thought.(Isaiah 55:6-9)
People like reading the second part of this passage as encouragement that God has a plan for their life and it will all work out well. While this may in fact be the case, they need heed the first part. We are called to forsake our wicked thoughts and ways. Just because we are forgiven by God does not mean we may continue living in open rebellion to him. If our sin is a sword of destruction, we must begin beating it into a plowshare of obedience (Isaiah 2:4).
When Jesus says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39), he is not being poetic. God made demands of Pharaoh and unfortunately Pharaoh refused to comply. I do not want to live like Pharaoh refusing to listen to God's clear commands on my life. Jesus, save me from the plagues of disobedience to your will.
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