Increasingly, I am aware that the hostility I feel toward Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is misplaced. Pharaoh is the “villain” from a human standpoint. The Hebrews are the oppressed in need of a deliverer. Moses and Aaron are the heroes. But that is not really the way the story is supposed to be read.

You see, God is the hero of every story in the Bible. Though human beings falter and fail, God remains constant. God’s mercy and justice, His grace and judgment, reflect the impeccable nature of the sovereign who always reigns over His creation.

This means the enemy is not the unrepentant ones in the stories. Sinners merely carry out the scheme of Sin in the world by acting sinfully (Capital ‘S’ the thing that is at work in fallen creation–little ‘s’ the acts produced by capital ‘S’in in us). You see, the real power standing opposed to God is and will always be defiance in the heart of the creature.

That brings me back to Pharaoh. God spares Pharaoh time and time again. God offers grace after grace to Pharaoh, and yet, Pharaoh refuses Yahweh God. You and I are more like Pharaoh than we like to admit. God’s call with grace upon grace is, “Repent and Believe.” But still, the creature rebels.

Romans 3 reminds us, “None is righteous, no not one,” and, “No one seeks for God.” These sobering quotes should remind us to turn to God through Christ because, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 3:10,11 5:8 ESV) 

When we read of the hardened heart of Pharaoh, let us be mindful of the fact that we, too, would continue in our rebellion apart from God’s sovereign grace that bought us and made us new.

May the Exodus message make us yield to God and follow after Him in Christ Jesus our LORD!!!