Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Pharaoh, Pharaoh... OHHH BABY!

Have you ever read the book of Exodus? Well, I can now say that I have. Get. Excited. I mean I have really read through, studied, compared the meaning of the Hebrew words -- ahhh the text is SO RICH. 

Well I want to talk about our friend, good ol' Pharaoh. Ya know, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh, OHHH baby, let my people go. HUHHH, yah...yah... yah..." (had to drop that in here) Anyway, Pharaoh. That dude who was enslaving people making them build massive temples of adoration to none other than himself. The one and only who believed himself to be a god, a god who controlled the sun. That is our guy! Big round of applause people- this guy is a winner! 
Ok, so maybe he's not a winner, but I do think there is something we can take away from knowing Pharaoh - or at least that I can take away from all of this Exodus reading I have been doing. 

Many times throughout the struggle between Moses and Pharaoh we read of "God hardening Pharaoh's heart" and I think if I was just to plainly read it and move on it would not mean that much to me; maybe other than this being why it took so long to get the Israelites out of Dodge.  But the past few days it has just been on my mind constantly. What does it mean for God to harden Pharaoh's heart? 

I think after a few weeks of thought I have come to a simple conclusion - that is really kind of a 'duh' moment, but nevertheless... God hardens Pharaoh's heart for what I believe to be one really crazy beautiful reason - to show HIS glory.  If Mo had just walked up to Pharaoh, sang his ditty and P-dizzle was like "Yo- I WILL -let yo people go" then would the Israelites gotten to see very much of God's glory, nope. 

God is big and mighty, and does as He pleases, WHEN and HOW he pleases. But man did He get this right. By hardening Pharaoh's heart, it allowed for 10 times more of an impact that it would have, if he had the grace to just let the people go. My favorite part of Pharaoh's story is found at the edge of the Red Sea as he and all his men are swept away by the crashing waves. You see, Pharaoh did let the people go, but what led him to chase after them? Oh, that was God - hardening his heart. 

At the very end of Exodus (after this last attempt from Pharaoh) it says that after the Israelites had witnessed what God had done with the Egyptians that they finally BELIEVED GOD WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS - no longer were they walking alone, God showed His rich glory and protection and now He would 'try' to lead them to the life He always longed for them to have.

AWE-SOME. But hey what does that have to do with you or me? Well let me tell you (as my long windedness has already runneth ova). 

Has God ever hardened your heart so that you might just have a clearer view of HIS GLORY? I am not saying that I am my own personal Pharaoh - I mean I actually do believe in and fear God. But seriously I think that there have been many days, or even periods in my life that God has hardened my heart.  Call me crazy but sometimes I am not compassionate. Sometimes I am mean. Sometimes pride empties my heart so much that I forget that the only vacancy I need to fill it with is Jesus. Sometimes I am judgmental, stubborn, greedy, angry, the works you name it. But what I love about God so much is that it is through those times that He knocks me out with His love. It is seeing His compassion, His Grace, His love, His Just-ness, His generosity, and hope that re-sets my wandering heart ablaze. 
Again, call me crazy, but I think God may have a purpose for my hard heart - and I think that just like our buddy the Pharaoh, it is to show us, to show the world HIS GLORY. And that my friends is beautiful because I am not any of those good things mentioned above, apart from my Savior. 

Amen.